The Girl Who Played With God by Russell Watson

Joey Netherhill is a private detective who finds himself in the south of England by the circuitous route of an army discharge, a too-violent career with the police, a Glasgow born wife and her thuggish brothers he needs to leave behind. Alone in Southampton he unexpectedly finds a friend and ally in a DS Reid who initially requires his services to find out what his pretty girlfriend is up to. Joey discovers that her strange behavior is due to her concern for an errant brother rather than an illicit lover. Due to this success Joey finds himself the ‘go to’ guy for the local police and soon has his own little PI business and super-smart ex-police researcher Vanda.