Up and coming drug lord Keith Vine likes the fine work of his best pusher, but when her eye wanders to another supplier, he kills her, setting off a murderous struggle for turf. At the centre of a tense, shifting group if criminals and police is " Lovely Mover", a lurking stranger from the London syndicate, whom the locals fear is planning a take over. Detective Chief Inspector Colin Harpur, working undercover as Vince's supposed partner, finds himself in increasing danger.
If you are looking for anything remotely resembling a nice character in a Bill James crime novel don't bother ever starting one.
In this one the criminals are weak, cowardly and immature. As for the police, Harpur is shacked up with a 19 year old and although undercover is sailing very close to being just another crook and his boss Iles is attempting to seduce his 16 year old daughter, its all very dysfunctional.
What sets this apart from the ones I've read previously is the lack of the normal really black humour and because of this the story drags. Its just crooks killing each other in a sad little corner of the world.
James has written much better so leave this one until last.
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