Synopsis
When Bernard 'Tenderness' Mellick maims Ivor Wright with a blowtorch, Wright retaliates from his hospital bed by sending his men to kidnap Mellick's 11-year old son.
At the same time, a colleague of Harpur's, Hubert Scott, is the subject of an internal investigation. Scott's longterm underworld contact just happens to be 'Tenderness' Mellick, and it is Mellick's plight which gives Scott an idea that if successful, could tie up a number of loose ends and clear him in the eyes of the department.
As with all Bill James' novels, there is once again a steadily mounting sense of inevitability as the lives and aspirations of policemen and the criminals they pursue entwine.
In the end, it all comes down to protection: who is looking out for whom? And at what cost?
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About the Author
Bill James is a former journalist who worked for the Western Mail and South Wales Echo, the Daily Mirror and the Sunday Times. He is the author of the Harpur and Iles crime series, a hidden gem of crime fiction.
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