You'd Better Believe It

This is Bill James' first mystery: a dark, menacing novel that introduced Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Harpur to readers in England and the United States. Harpur's domain is a small seaport city south of London. It's not unusual for the big-town criminals to consider such a spot as easy prey. At such times a policeman must rely keenly upon his colleagues, to be sure, and also upon his retinue of "narks," i.e., tipsters. This time it's a Lloyd's branch that's the target. When the heist is postponed, a policeman is killed. One nark, then another, is murdered. As Harpur becomes driven to his limit, he must bypass regulations and settle things once and for all with a vicious crook named Holly. But not necessarily on his own terms.James, Bill is the author of 'You'd Better Believe It' with ISBN 9780881508048 and ISBN 0881508047.