Dark waters and deadly deeds
AUTHOR and former BBC journalist Andy Griffee penned his second Johnson & Wilde mystery before the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, but the repercussions of that conflict make River Rats even more relevant in today’s climate.
The plot centres around a battle by a group of liveaboard boaters to save their permanent mooring – for which they have paid £20,000 each for the privilege – alongside a brownfield development site in Bath bought by the twin sons of a Russian oligarch. But financial inducements to make them move on followed by an orchestrated campaign involving nearby residents and life-threatening action unfold in this gripping thriller.
After the mysterious murder of a prominent magistrate and president of the city’s Georgian Fellowship near the Pulteney Bridge, suspicion turns to a serial ‘canal pusher’ – the subject of Andy’s first novel featuring journalist and boater, divorcee Jack Johnson and his friend Nina Wilde, who is still coming to terms with the loss of her husband on active service.
A daubed slogan near the crime scene turns out to be the emblem of Hell’s Angels gang the Bristol Bulldogs, so they are also in the frame much to the consternation of their portly leader Vince Porlock who sends a young member Bob-the-Prospect to investigate.
Corrupt council officers, Jack’s sensationalist boss at the Bath Chronicle – where he works parttime as a sub-editor – a retired professor and an eagle-eyed widow who captures events unfolding on her strategically placed camera all add to the diverse mix of characters.
Boaters especially will relate to Jack’s life on his narrowboat Jumping Jack Flash with his Border Terrier Eddie and the account of a weekend trip along the Kennet & Avon Canal to Bradford-on-Avon.
But for any lover of murder mysteries this is an absorbing tale set in one of England’s tourism hotspots and is an ideal summer read.
River Rats by Andy Griffee (paperback, 358 pages £8.99) is available from orphanspublishing. co.uk or in EBook format from Amazon Kindle.
ISBN: 978-1-903360-40-8