PUBLISHERS BLURB
London, 1947. A hard-nosed American detective with a hard-boiled mystery to solve.
It’s Christmastime 1947, in the City of London’s square mile of high finance. A seeming vice killing spooks a City councilor into hiring Newman, an expatriate American shamus, to keep his name out of a murder. Newman’s private inquiries split two different ways.
One takes him to the rackets, to the police murder investigation, and to the City’s own grandees. The second takes him into the ruins left behind by the blitz, to make sense of what he’s finding out about his own client.
In a square mile where money interests hold all the aces, Louis the hotel barber is his sage: Choices you make, Mr. Newman, are not such a complicated thing…
“Elegant and spare but still cloaks itself in a terrific atmosphere. I liked the backstreet whores and the tipster barbers; the gold-leaf dining rooms and the tenement bedrooms. A grey-skied, British ‘Big Sleep’.” ATLANTIC BOOKS
If you love Chandler and the golden-age detectives, you will enjoy this hard-boiled thriller set in the financial heart of London in the early days of the cold war. An American detective has to be tough if he cannot carry a gun.
Captures the period and London locations perfectly. They were under the cloud of the A-bomb, but dammit they knew how to dress.
MY REVIEW
Set in London, 1947. This is a murder mystery in a classic, noir style. A proper whodunnit very reminiscent of Sam Spade et al.
In this tale there have been several murders and PI Newman is tasked with finding the killer. But the story is so much more than just that, there’s a vice ring, corruption at every turn, more murders and even an archeological discovery which could put paid to plans, by a wealthy cabal, to rebuild a damaged London.
Beautifully written and highly descriptive, it is so atmospheric you can almost smell the smoky air……a book to take your time over and savour.
Thank you to Ben at Cameron Publicity & Marketing for the opportunity to read this for free. This is my honest and unbiased review.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JANET ROGER: Lumberjack. Head of special education. Head of software testing in the City. Owner of a tech startup. Bought out by a FTSE 100 Company. Crime writer.
Shamus Dust is available for pre-order now on Amazon and will be available at all good outlets in ebook and paperback upon publication. Find out more at: janetroger.com
