Smith is incredibly underestimated. He never writes a commonplace sentence; his descriptions and settings and phrases as choreographed as Astaire and Rogers. Nothing mawkish, nothing dull, nothing out of place - each character original, as real as my neighbors, and far more interesting.

Where so many of today's writers use the same format book after book changing names and places, with, sadly, inevitable touches of sadism, Smith's books are original and enjoyable, and Renko is a terrific protagonist.