Nick Guymer is a freelance Teesside
journalist with a passion for football (the Boro) and music (specifically retro
vinyl) and when a local Tees Radio DJ is murdered during the opening of a pal’s
record shop, he inevitably gets involved.
Unusually for a crime thriller, he’s not
having a mid-life crisis - he’s off the beer, his depression is under control,
and he’s in a great relationship with girlfriend Jules.
As the case of DJ Tees develops, most of
those involved turn out to be lads he knew at school – the Detective Inspector,
a couple of suspects, and a few witnesses (small world, Stockton on Tees). One new
face is the charismatic Davey James, local entrepreneur and flavour of the
month guy with the media.
Nick and Jules attract his attention for
different reasons: Nick is a cool operator with attitude that he could use in
his business; Jules just gives him the hots. The attraction is not mutual and
their unease with him is strengthened when Mrs James turns up at the women’s
refuge where Jules helps out.
The idea of male violence worries Nick, not
least as he often resorts to it in a way that later sickens him.
The plot twists and turns, stretching
credibility in parts as multiple and mixed up motives provoke characters to
unlikely actions. But it moves at a fast pace, and its attraction for Teessiders
(I just about qualify) is the geographic and cultural detail that anchors the
book firmly in its distinctive location – Stockton, the ‘Boro’, and ‘Darlo’.
This is book four in the Nick Guymer series;
the jury is out on seeking out numbers 1 to 3.
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