London Calling: An Inspector Carlyle Mystery

by James Craig

Overview

What happens in the Merrion Club stays in the Merrion Club . . .

Edgar Carlton is rich, handsome, and in line to be the next Prime Minister. But his rise to the top takes a steep turn downward when somebody begins murdering alumni of the 1984 Merrion Club, an exclusive Cambridge University society to which he belongs. Bullheaded Inspector Carlyle is tasked with handling this delicate case, and to discover the killer, he must question all the members of the 1984 Merrion Club. But finding the truth proves difficult when this group of powerful men is so determined to let events of the past remain in the dark . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062365255
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/21/2014
Series:	Inspector Carlyle Mysteries , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

James Craig has worked in London as a journalist and as a consultant for almost thirty years. He lives in Covent Garden with his wife and daughter.

Editorial Reviews

In this hard-bitten political thriller, the author skillfully portrays Carlyle as a good cop who genuinely struggles with the problems of his job and his lifestyle.  Mr. Craig, a former journalist, writes with brutal candor about crimes as vicious as crimes can get.... It says something about the author’s capacity for the darkest of humor when his description of a corpse superglued to a car can evoke a chuckle from the reader as police try to detach the body.”—Washington Times

“As the title of James Craig's London Calling suggests, The Clash should be the soundtrack for this close to pitch-perfect debut introducing Inspector John Carlyle.”—Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

“Craig lards his familiar tale of revenge served cold with enough expository detail for a primer on politics and enough personal background about his hero to insure that his debut mystery won’t be his last.”—Kirkus Reviews

“So addictive you won’t be able to tear yourself away.”—Library Journal

“James Craig's gutsy, envelope-pushing debut, London Calling, dares to distinguish itself from the rest of the crime drama genre. It is a carefully crafted blend of horror and police procedural that is quite macabre and spellbinding.”—Gumshoe Reviews

From the Publisher

A series of grisly murders spells trouble for the orderly transfer of power in a pivotal British General Election.

Edgar Carlton and his twin Xavier are so rich, so handsome and so media-savvy that they've been dubbed the Golden Twins. Edgar, leader of the opposition in Parliament, is a shoo-in to be the next Prime Minister, with Xavier as his Foreign Secretary. But their royal road to coronation gets a rude jolt when someone begins carving up alumni of the 1984 Merrion Club, an exclusive Cambridge society. Now the brothers, once leading lights, are in imminent danger of both getting killed and, even worse, attracting the glare of publicity. This delicate case falls to bull-headed Inspector John Carlyle, whose repeated refusal to follow the police line and protect his undeserving fellow officers, duly documented in a series of gratuitous flashbacks, has made him an outlier distrusted by his boss, Supt. Carole Simpson, whose financier husband is in bed with the Golden Twins. True to form, Carlyle doesn't exactly shine as a detective. But together with his sergeant, Joe Szyszkowski, he dutifully makes the rounds, asking obligatory questions, working his way up the greasy pole and increasingly getting stonewalled by practiced liars while he waits for inspiration to strike. At length it does, allowing an appropriately jaundiced conclusion.

Journalist/TV producer Craig lards his familiar tale of revenge served cold with enough expository detail for a primer on politics and enough personal background about his hero to insure that his debut mystery won't be his last.

Kirkus Reviews