21 Today!

Although this blog is about crime writing and not about my family, it wouldn’t exist without the young man who designed the template (and updated it recently) and set me on the right road, and who also designed and continues to maintain my website. As Jonathan is 21 today, I should take the chance to pay tribute to his good humoured support and encouragement for his technologically incompetent father, and thank him for all his hard work. And to thank him also for his terrific companionship, not least when he and I went on a short holiday to Rome earlier this year, when the photo was taken.

I still can’t believe that it’s 21 years since that amazing day when he was born. A day which will always remain among the most memorable of my life. Well done on 21 great years, Jonathan, and all the very best in terms of health and happiness in the years to come.

The Incendiary's Trail

One of the books I took with me on holiday, but didn’t get round to reading, was a first novel by James McCreet, The Incendiary’s Trail. It’s part of the excellent Macmillan New Writing enterprise, which has already unearthed such talents as L.C. Tyler. My copy was borrowed by my son Jonathan, who liked the book so much that he has followed up his appraisal of Len’s latest with this review:

‘The Incendiary’s Trail begins in dramatic fashion with the discovery of a grisly murder in a dubious quarter of London. The case is lifted beyond the ordinary as the victims are part of a sideshow troupe: conjoined twins, and rapidly attracts the attention of the leering masses.

The unobtrusive narrator vividly depicts Victorian London and the fever which grips it as events escalate with arson and more murder. As pressure mounts on the fledgling Detective Force, the gloomy Sergeant Williamson must reconcile his drive for justice with pragmatism, and work with the enigmatic prisoner Noah Dyson. In pursuit of the culprit, he is forced to delve into London’s underworld and confront some of the most distasteful aspects of the era. The denouement matches the surreal and sensationalist theme of the book, with a masquerade and hot air balloon chase.

The lurid setting is essential to the novel as otherwise the elaborate plot might seem too outlandish. As it is, The Incendiary’s Trail is a fast-paced, enjoyable and memorable thriller.’