Wolves of Memory (Harpur and Iles Series #22)

by Bill James

Overview

"Savagely comic and expertly choreographed." —The Guardian

A large, carefully plotted "cash-in-transit" raid goes hopelessly awry when armed policemen intervene to seize the perpetrators. Relatives and friends of the incarcerated are convinced that information—the date, the time—was leaked by the only man to escape before his arrest. Deputy Constable Colin Harpur and Assistant Constable Desmond Iles are delegated the job of hiding and protecting the informant and his family.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780881507812
Publisher:	Countryman Press, The
Publication date:	09/17/2007
Series:	Harpur and Iles Series , #22
Pages:	242
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Bill James has been called "the Elmore Leonard of Britain's underworld" (Kirkus Reviews) and has been named a "Master of Crime" in a mystery roundup by the London Sunday Times, which said, "There is nothing else quite like this series of police procedurals. James is concerned with the dilemmas and difficulties of policing Britain's inner cities, and he addresses these in hard-edged narratives that leave readers gasping and flinching, praying the people in these stories never come to live in their streets." In addition to the Harpur and Iles series, James is the author of other mystery series and a book on Anthony Powell. He lives in Wales.

Editorial Reviews

A mordantly funny 22nd go-round for Harpur and Iles and London's less-than-master criminals. Assistant Chief Constable Desmond Iles and the man he can't forgive for cuckolding him, Deputy Constable Colin Harpur, have the unenviable task of protecting Ian Ballion and his family from the gang he ratted on with the best intentions. Alas, the Met, under PC Piers Callic, has finked on the deal. Rather than merely aborting the ill-conceived "cash-in-transit" raid Ballion snitched on, they carted everyone off to gaol-except, of course, for Ian, who now faces the wrath of mob boss Melvane. So Ian and his wife, Eleanor, renamed Robert and Jane Templedon, and their kids are relocated. Only they don't want to stay hidden. Ian has the outrageous idea that if he appeals to Melvane, the mobster will understand that he didn't mean for his son to get caught. Eleanor, under the spell of the same notion, convinces Harpur to accompany her to Melvane's while she intercedes for her husband. Then Ian takes it into his head to execute Callic and present his killing to Melvane as a peace offering. The Ballion kids, meanwhile, are repeating their new names so robotically that everyone knows something is fishy. James (The Girl with the Long Back, 2004, etc.) has never been feistier or trickier. Fans of police noir, and the human comedy, will be well served.

Kirkus Reviews