Richard Jones on Harry Bingham's psychologically damaged detective Fiona Griffiths

Fiona Griffiths has a razor-sharp intellect but is emotionally detached in her personal life. These character traits both drive and constrain her quest to understand where she came from and the challenges she confronts in her police career.

The author’s clear and methodical narrative mirrors his sleuth’s approach to tracking down the creators of a payment fraud which is both audaciously clever and brutally violent. An apparently insignificant death of a woman in an isolated Welsh cottage is painstakingly traced back to a complex criminal operation which ultimately culminates in an explosive and suspense-filled denouement.

This is the third Fiona Griffiths novel from Oxford-based author Harry Bingham but it feels we are still no closer to understanding her true character. As an undercover police officer, Griffiths assumes the identities first of Fiona Grey and then of Jessica Taylor. Like an accomplished method actor, she morphs effortlessly into each personality but the ease with which she makes these transitions calls into question who she really is and what she really wants from life.

Her adversary Henderson becomes a catalyst for questioning her true feelings for her fiancé and the fine line an undercover detective treads between upholding the law and being subverted by the criminal mind. The notion of Stockholm syndrome is certainly evident in the sexual tension that builds as the case reaches its climax.

Bingham’s skill is in building up and dismantling a complex character who will never be rounded but still aspires to normality. The twist comes when we learn that Griffiths suffered from Cotards syndrome as a teenager which leaves the patient feeling as if they are dead.

This revelation is a key piece in the Griffths character jigsaw as we realise that in many ways she has been reborn but is still struggling to live.

Needless to say, in finding a way to live this character will undoubtedly have further crimes to solve.

The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths
By Harry Bingham
Orion, £12.99
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