Her Last Goodnight (DI Finnegan Beck #3) by Michael Scanlon

"Secrets:  something kept unknown or unseen by others."

This is the third book in a series featuring Detective Inspector Finnegan Beck. For earl assigned in Dublin, Beck has been posted to Cross Beg due to indiscretions of a romantic nature up in The Smoke. He's in bad shape and suffers from nightmares and a tendency toward alcoholism because of unresolved issues in his family and personal life.

This installment brings Beck a complicated case that begins with the bludgeoning murder of an old man, Edward Kavanagh. Since he was respected and esteemed by most of the old-timers, no on can figure out why anyone would want to kill him. He's found with an old engagement ring in his pocket and the gossip is that he'd loved and lost a girl in his youth. Beck and his colleague, Detective Garda Claire Somers, question neighbors and other locals but can't find a motive. Then some interesting details come to light that indicate a connection to a traveling brothel, prostitution, kidnapping and sex trafficking. NO SPOILERS.

This was a book that I read in a couple of hours in a single sitting but it wasn't particularly action-packed or fast-paced. Although the elements were there for an exciting crime thriller, the focus on Beck and his "issues" took up too much page time. Although we're supposed to believe he's a brilliant detective, all I could see were the symptoms of a mental illness crisis. Why can't genre detectives be of sound mind and body? That aside, the premise was good but the execution was pedantic and I wasn't surprised at any turn nor did I find this suspenseful. It was a police procedural with Beck "mentoring" Claire about how those procedures are great in books but not in real life. I'll give this series another go, but this one was rather ho-hum. I'm also left wondering how this title relates in any way to the content of the book?

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read and review.

This is the third book in a series. I've read all 3, in order, and suggest others do the same.
Genre - crime thriller, police procedural