MOTV review at 'Best Selling Crime Thrillers'

Mask Of The Verdoy by Phil Lecomber

Greatly Recommended – 5 STARS!

George Harley, private detective and ex-Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), is out and about in London in 1932, when a lavender boy (homosexual) is set upon by “Iron” Billy Boyd and an Italian. Harley manages to beat them off and rescues the lad. So begins an exciting and complex story, based around the happenings of the early 1930s In England, when London had smog and rent boys and prostitutes were on every corner.

It is a time of suspicion, with anarchists, foreigners and fascists to the fore.

Harley, our early twentieth century gumshoe, has to piece together intricate parts of a jigsaw of a plot. Aubrey, the rescued boy, is one of a trio of lads involved with one of the gentry, who in turn, is heavily involved with a plot to tarnish, and eventually overthrow, the coalition government of the day.

There is also an Oswald Mosley type figure in Sir Pelham Devereux St Clair, the leader and organiser of the British Brotherhood of Fascists (BBF), who is making hay out of the difficult situation that the country is in.

Phil Lecomber has written an enthralling book which takes the reader into the very heart (or should it be the bowels?) of the city of London.

It feels as though the reader is actually walking the cobbled streets and rubbing shoulders with the Londoners of this period. The plot moves with unremitting pace and it is a great tribute to Mr Lecomber that he manages to keep up both the tempo and the suspense until the very last page.

The author has added a Glossary of Slang at the back of the book, as he uses authentic 1930s slang. Whilst this may seem a little unwieldy at first, it greatly enhances the reader’s knowledge and – for me – adds an extra dimension of humour to the book.

I very much look forward to the next George Harley adventure.

“Sméagol”

Star Rating: Five Stars

Reviewed at: Best Selling Crime Thrillers