You could read this book without having read the [[Death's Door (Bob Skinner Mystery) by Quintin Jardine|previous book]] in the series, but if you're intending to read it at any point you should really read that one first: shouting at a book that they might think they've got it settled but they've got it ''completely'' wrong is not a good look. The cynical might say that it's a good way of getting two books out of what's essentially one plot, but they're both good, satisfying reads and there's no danger of you feeling short changed.
It '''' s getting difficult to follow the who's who of the police personnel. Many of them have been there since the beginning of the series and they're now all of senior rank and ''still'' get involved in the nitty gritty of policing but it's difficult to keep track of who's married to who now and who they used to be married to or having a relationship with: it's almost as though it's a remote tribe with a limited choice of mate rather than a big city. If you can't keep track, just go with the flow and it all sorts itself out eventually! In fact you might even compare it to buses: if you miss one relationship another will be along shortly.
Because of a vision problem I've been restricting the amount of reading that I do and I've listened to the Skinner books as audio downloads, all of which I've bought myself. They're narrated by James Bryce who's nobly taken on the task of telling a story which is heavily populated by middle-aged, middle class Scotsmen and somehow giving them all individual voices - and that is no mean feat. As soon as I finish one, I buy the next download!