The Dockland Murder

The Dockland Murder
Author: Mike Hollow
Publisher: Allison & Busby Ltd
Total Pages: 323
Release: 2021-03-19
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0749026189

In the depths of the blackout, the silence of London's Royal Albert Dock is broken only by the lap of inky water against the quay and the occasional scurrying of rats' feet. A patrolling policeman is passing the newly arrived freighter SS Magnolia when something catches his eye. A man is sprawled awkwardly across a nearby barge - with an exotic-looking dagger in his back. DI Jago of West Ham CID discovers the victim was a dock worker by day and a Home Guard volunteer by night - and there are things even his wife, bombed out of their flimsy home in Silvertown, doesn't know about his past. Who wanted to kill him? As Jago investigates, he uncovers a widening circle of secrets ranging across family tensions, the last war, and a far-flung corner of the British Empire. And then there's the mysterious spate of thefts from the dock to contend with.

The Soho Murder

The Soho Murder
Author: Mike Hollow
Publisher: Allison & Busby Ltd
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2024-10-24
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0749030445

December 1940. New Year's Eve draws closer, but crowds will not be gathering on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral to celebrate. After a quiet Christmas, the area has suffered London's most devastating air raid since the start of the Blitz and waves of incendiary bombs have burnt the heart of British book publishing to the ground. Detective Inspector John Jago finds a desolate woman sitting among the ruins of her family business and must break the news - her husband's been found shot dead at their home in Soho. An antiquarian bookseller, he'd just acquired a mysterious volume which is priceless - and missing. Did someone covet it enough to kill for it? Obsessive collectors and unscrupulous dealers haunt Jago's descent into Soho's underworld, where he finds criminals are branching out in the shadows of the blackout.

The Covent Garden Murder

The Covent Garden Murder
Author: Mike Hollow
Publisher: Allison & Busby Ltd
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2023-10-19
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0749030275

December, 1940. Christmas is coming, but the season of goodwill is overshadowed by the death and destruction of the Blitz. In London's Covent Garden, where the glamour of theatreland rubs shoulders with the bustle of the capital's biggest fruit and vegetable market, the war has closed the theatres and ruined the market trade. When a daylight air raid hits the Prince Albert Theatre in Drury Lane, rescuers find a man dying in the wreckage. But it wasn't the bomb that's ending his life - he's been stabbed, and with his dying breath he whispers what sounds like a fragmented confession. As Detective Inspector John Jago begins to investigate, there's an underlying question he must grapple with: was the murdered man himself a killer?

The Canning Town Murder

The Canning Town Murder
Author: Mike Hollow
Publisher: Allison & Busby Ltd
Total Pages: 360
Release: 2020-07-23
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0749026871

First Published as Fifth Column.September, 1940. As the Blitz takes its nightly toll on London and Hitler prepares his invasion fleet just across the Channel in occupied France, Britain is full of talk about enemy agents. Suspicion is at an all time high and no one is sure who can be trusted.In Canning Town, rescue workers are unsettled when they return to a damaged street and discover a body that shouldn't be there. When closer examination of the corpse reveals death by strangling, Detective Inspector John Jago is called upon to investigate. But few seem to really care about the woman's death - not even her family. As Jago digs deeper he starts to uncover a trail of deception, betrayal, and romantic entanglements.

The Stratford Murder

The Stratford Murder
Author: Mike Hollow
Publisher: Allison & Busby Ltd
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2020-12-10
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0749026081

First published as Firing Line. October, 1940. Bombs are falling on Stratford when air-raid warden Sylvia Parks sees a house with a shining light, in clear breach of the city's strict blackout rules. With no answer at the door she manages to break in, only to discover the body of a young woman, strangled to death with a stocking. For Detective Inspector John Jago, the scene brings back memories of the gruesome Soho Strangler, who murdered four women a few years ago but has never been caught - could there be a connection?

The Pimlico Murder

The Pimlico Murder
Author: Mike Hollow
Publisher: Allison & Busby Ltd
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2021-11-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0749026898

'Well-written excellent historical fiction' - Historical Novels Review Armistice Day, 1940. The nation remembers the Great War while a new and harrowing conflict rumbles on. The Blitz Detective, John Jago, must set aside his own painful memories to investigate a suspicious death in Pimlico, south-west London. The body of a young man has been discovered in an Anderson shelter, with two white poppies in his pocket. As the investigation progresses, Jago and his assistant, DC Cradock, find themselves knee-deep in Pimlico's shady underworld and connections with Mosley's fascist party. It will take all their skills to uncover the truth behind the young man's brutal death.

The Camden Murder

The Camden Murder
Author: Mike Hollow
Publisher: Allison & Busby Ltd
Total Pages: 335
Release: 2022-12-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0749028793

November 1940. As dawn begins to break, blackout regulations are rendered pointless by a car burning fiercely near the Regent's Canal in Camden Town, north London. In the burnt-out vehicle police find the charred remains of a body. The victim is Les Latham, a commercial traveller for the Baring and Sons confectionery company. He liked to be known as Lucky Les, but it seems his luck has finally run out. Detective Inspector John Jago discovers a mysterious photograph and some suspicious-looking petrol ration books among Latham's belongings. These lead him off on a murky trail of deceit, corruption and murder. It seems that the Blitz Detective will have to make his own luck to bring to light an unexpected killer.

The Custom House Murder

The Custom House Murder
Author: Mike Hollow
Publisher: Allison & Busby Ltd
Total Pages: 355
Release: 2020-12-10
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0749026979

First Published as Enemy Action. September, 1940. With London having endured the Blitz for nearly a month, people are calling for vengeance, but once again the night heralds more destruction. In Custom House, anxious residents dutifully head to the nearest public air-raid shelter as the warning siren wails. When dawn brings the all-clear, people disperse, but one man remains - he is dead, stabbed through the heart. Detective Inspector John Jago discovers that the victim was a pacifist. But why, then, was he carrying a loaded revolver in his pocket?

Death in Soho

Death in Soho
Author: Emily Organ
Publisher: Emily Organ
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2021-10-19
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781838493141

It's the Roaring Twenties. London's bright young things are partying, Soho's nightlife is buzzing and Augusta Peel is hiding in her basement. She has a reason to hide there: it's home to her Bloomsbury workshop where she repairs old, neglected books. After a busy time during the war, all Augusta wants is peace and quiet - even if it is routinely disturbed by the tube trains beneath her feet. But events take a turn when Augusta agrees to chaperone 19-year-old Harriet Jones on a date. Failing to get her home on time, she ends up in a riotous nightclub. She can't imagine the evening getting much worse when the police raid it. But then the murder happens. Who shot Jean Taylor? An old acquaintance at Scotland Yard learns Augusta was near the murder scene and persuades her to help with his investigation. But how can a humble book repairer navigate Soho's world of actresses, gangsters and theatre impresarios to discover the truth?

The Blitz Detective series

The Blitz Detective series
Author: Mike Hollow
Publisher: Allison & Busby Ltd
Total Pages: 1365
Release: 2023-12-21
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0749031360

The Blitz Detective September, 1940. For thousands of Londoners, the Blitz has started and normal life has abruptly ended - but crime has not. A man's body is discovered in an unmarked van in the back streets of West Ham. Detective Inspector John Jago believes that the death looks suspicious, but then a German bomb obliterates all evidence. War or no war, murder is still murder, and it's Jago's job to find the truth. First published as Direct Hit. The Canning Town Murder As the Blitz takes its nightly toll on London and Hitler prepares his invasion fleet just across the Channel in occupied France, Britain is full of talk about enemy agents. No one is sure who can be trusted. In Canning Town, rescue workers are unsettled when they return to a damaged street and discover a body that shouldn't be there. As Detective Inspector John Jago digs deeper he starts to uncover a trail of deception, betrayal, and romantic entanglements... First Published as Fifth Column. The Custom House Murder As London continues to endure the Blitz, people are calling for vengeance, but once again the night heralds more destruction. When dawn brings the all-clear in Custom House, people disperse, but one man remains - he is dead, stabbed through the heart. Detective Inspector John Jago discovers that the victim was a pacifist. But why, then, was he carrying a loaded revolver in his pocket? First Published as Enemy Action. The Stratford Murder When an air-raid warden seeks to enforce the city's strict blackout rules at a lit-up house in Stratford, she discovers the body of a young woman, strangled to death with a stocking. For Detective Inspector John Jago, the scene brings back memories of the gruesome Soho Strangler - could there be a connection? First published as Firing Line.