‘One London Day’ by Chris Humphreys

Published by Allison & Busby,
22 January 2026.
ISBN: 978-0-74903335-4 (HB)

The book basically concerns a few days in the life of a contract killer and a rogue MI5 Unit. 

The setting is the hot summer of 2018, and the author makes his knowledge of London known via his absolutely spot on description of various places in and around East London and its environs.  

The rogue MI5 outfit nicknamed The Shadows - is headed by Sebastien who appears to be  psychopath.  Sebastien sends a hitman - Mr Phipps - to kill the respectable London businessman Joseph Severin who has a side line in false accounting and to retrieve the books when it becomes clear that their game is up and they have been rumbled. 

There is a far-reaching spider web of potential collateral damage involving innocent musician Lottie and Sonya - a Russian prostitute who has heart-breaking reasons for her chosen temporary profession.  A shadowy Ellerby from MI5 has them all in her sights. 

This is a fast-paced thriller which I understand is the first in a planned series stepping into the murky world of the intelligence services.  I look forward to the next in the series!
-------
Reviewer: Toni Russell 

Chris Humphreys was born in Toronto and raised in London. His acting career has taken him from the West End to Hollywood with stops along the way for The Bill and at the Rovers Return on Coronation Street. His debut novel, The French Executioner, was shortlisted for the CWA Steel Dagger and more recently Plague won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel. After a dozen years on a remote island in British Columbia, he is now living in Totnes, Devon.

Toni Russell is a retired teacher who has lived in London all her life and loves the city.  She says, ‘I enjoy museums, galleries and the theatre but probably my favourite pastime is reading.  I found myself reading detective fiction almost for the first time during lockdown and have particularly enjoyed old fashioned detective fiction rather than the nordic noir variety.  I am a member of a book club at the local library and have previously attended literature classes at our local Adult Education Centre.