A Darker Shade of Blue
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
A collection of short stories from the Cartier Diamond Dagger winner and Sunday Times bestseller.
John Harvey has been described as the master of British crime and in A Darker Shade of Blue he has collected together some of his very best writing.
From the killing fields of the East Midlands to the mean streets of London, from the jazz clubs and clip joints of Soho to the barren fenlands of East Anglia, this is a world of broken families and run-down estates, revenge killings and prostitution, drugs, guns and corruption; a world of overstretched police forces and underpaid detectives, men and women who strive nonetheless for a kind of justice; a world in which everything, even friendship, has a price.
Featuring characters like Frank Elder, who tried to turn his back on police work and failed; Jack Kiley, ex-copper and one-time professional footballer, now a London-based PI; and the renowned jazz loving and much-loved Detective Inspector Charlie Resnick, John Harvey's finely-crafted vignettes perfectly encapsulate life in the badlands of modern Britain.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The 18 crime stories in this sterling collection show Harvey, winner of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for sustained excellence, at the top of his game. His best-known character, Nottingham Det. Insp. Charlie Resnick, appears in four selections, but the strongest are the seven featuring PI Jack Kiley, an ex-cop and ex-professional footballer. In "Truth," an exemplar of the short story form, former police officer Dave Marshall, now working as a contractor, asks Kiley to intervene with his wife, who's been posting signs around London accusing Marshall of abandoning his family and warning prospective clients to steer clear. While Kiley accepts the job, he carries it out in a way that's consistent with his moral sense, though the ending makes clear that there are limits to his ability to set the world right. Readers will hope Harvey eventually features Kiley in a novel.
