Published by Quercus, 29 August 2013.
ISBN: 978-1-78206-305-6
The atmosphere of rising
menace in 1960s London
is palpable. The problems caused by the arrivals of many black immigrants who
then live in a crowded area of London
are expressed firstly in harsh words but then in actions. The slums in which
the new arrivals are forced to live cheek by jowl with some of those who resent
them worsen the situation. Added to this explosive mix are other troubled
individuals - Jewish escapees from Hitler's mistreatment who carry their own
traumas.
Laura Wilson brilliantly conveys this seething hive of activity enabling the reader to appreciate individual characters and responses. Detective Inspector Stratton has just moved to Notting Hill and has to find out very quickly how his new manor works. As he investigates a murder of the rent collector for one of the notorious landlords, ex-Polish refugee Danny Perlman, and meets the vulnerable Irene who is teetering on the edge of going on the game the cauldron spills over into racial violence.
The story is a gripping one and Stratton is an appealing protagonist. There are previous books about him and they are occasionally alluded to but this book stands alone successfully. Laura is a mistress of the psychological crime novel.
Laura Wilson brilliantly conveys this seething hive of activity enabling the reader to appreciate individual characters and responses. Detective Inspector Stratton has just moved to Notting Hill and has to find out very quickly how his new manor works. As he investigates a murder of the rent collector for one of the notorious landlords, ex-Polish refugee Danny Perlman, and meets the vulnerable Irene who is teetering on the edge of going on the game the cauldron spills over into racial violence.
The story is a gripping one and Stratton is an appealing protagonist. There are previous books about him and they are occasionally alluded to but this book stands alone successfully. Laura is a mistress of the psychological crime novel.
------
Reviewer: Jennifer
Palmer
Laura Wilson was brought up
in London and has degrees in English literature
from Somerville College,
Oxford, and UCL, London. She lives in Islington, London, where she is
currently working on her twelfth novel. She is the crime fiction reviewer for
the Guardian newspaper, and teaches on the City University Crime Thriller Novel
Creative Writing MA course.
Jennifer Palmer Throughout my reading life crime
fiction has been a constant interest; I really enjoyed my 15 years as an
expatriate in the Far East, the Netherlands
& the USA
but occasionally the solace of closing my door to the outside world and sitting
reading was highly therapeutic. I now lecture to adults on historical topics
including Famous Historical Mysteries.
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