posh – upscale (in case of newspapers, “serious” broadsheets as opposed to tabloids)
ructions – trouble, complaints, shit hitting fan
SC&O – Specialist Crime & Operations, unit within the Metropolitan Police Service responsible for dealing with all serious crime in London
SC&O19 – specialist firearms command
screw – prison officer
SIO – senior investigating officer
Special Brew – super-strength lager (9% alcohol by volume) brewed by Carlsberg, AKA “tramp juice”
tags – simple graffiti, usually a set of initials or a nickname
toe-rag – despicable or worthless person
topped – killed
tweaking – obsessive repetition of simple act like scratching face, common to methamphetamine addicts
UDT – unarmed defence (or defensive) tactics
villains – criminals
witness nobbling – threatening or blackmailing witnesses of crimes into not testifying
WPC – woman police constable
Acknowledgments
Many people helped me make this book as good as I could manage. In the order they worked their magic, they are:
The serving and former coppers, Andy Booth, Ross Coombs, Jen Gibbons, Simon Harradine, Sean Memory, Trevor Morgan and Chris Saunby.
Elle Graham-Dixon for allowing me to borrow (and mess around with) the name of her supper club, Good Girls Eat Dinner.
My first readers, Sandy Wallace, who often sees and explains to me things I was only dimly aware of doing, and Simon Alfonso, my sternest critic.
My “sniper spotters”: OJ “Yard Boy” Audet, Ann Finn, Yvonne Henderson, Vanessa Knowles, Nina Rip and Bill Wilson. My cover designer, Nick Castle. My editor, Nicky Lovick. And my proofreader, Liz Ward.
I also want to thank my wife Jo and my sons, Rory and Jacob, who are supportive, patient and forgiving as I run gory criminal scenarios past them at the dinner table.
Andy Maslen, 2019
Copyright
© 2019 Sunfish Ltd
Published by Tyton Press, an imprint of Sunfish Ltd, PO Box 2107, Salisbury SP2 2BW: 0844 502 2061
The right of Andy Maslen to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Requests for permission should be addressed to the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Cover illustration copyright © Cover design by Nick Castle
Author photograph for the print edition © Kin Ho
Edited by Nicola Lovick
Also by Andy Maslen
The Gabriel Wolfe series
Reversal of Fortune (short story)
Blind Impact
Condor
First Casualty
Fury
Rattlesnake
Minefield (novella)
No Further
Torpedo
Three Kingdoms (coming soon)
The DI Stella Cole series
Hit and Run
Hit Back Harder
Hit and Done
Other fiction
Blood Loss - a Vampire Story
Non-fiction
Write to Sell
100 Great Copywriting Ideas
The Copywriting Sourcebook
Write Copy, Make Money
About the Author
Andy Maslen was born in Nottingham, in the UK, home of legendary bowman Robin Hood. Andy once won a medal for archery, although he has never been locked up by the sheriff.
He has worked in a record shop, as a barman, as a door-to-door DIY products salesman and a cook in an Italian restaurant.
As well as the Stella Cole and Gabriel Wolfe thrillers, Andy has published five works of non-fiction, on copywriting and freelancing, with Marshall Cavendish and Kogan Page. They are all available online and in bookshops.
He lives in Wiltshire with his wife, two sons and a whippet named Merlin.
Afterword
To keep up to date with news from Andy, join his Readers’ Group at www.andymaslen.com.
Email Andy at andy@andymaslen.com.
Join Andy’s Facebook group, The Wolfe Pack.