Midnight Streets - (The Piccadilly Noir) by Phil Lecomber (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A pacy, evocative dark historical thriller about a working-class private detective in 1920s London's Soho, who has grown up alongside the morally dubious characters who are key to cracking the cases he investigates, for fans of Dominic Nolan and Laura Shepherd Robinson.

When Cockney private detective George Harley saves a young girl's life on a dark London night in 1929, he doesn't realise it marks the beginning of an investigation which will change his life forever. The incendiary novel which inspired the girl's abduction also seems to be linked to a series of grisly murders that are taking place on Harley's patch, and though he's delighted to be asked by Scotland Yard to help find the killer before they strike again, he could do without the local razor- and cosh-wielding mobsters thinking he's a police informant.

Set during the Golden Age of Crime Fiction, Harley's world is a far cry from the country house of an Agatha Christie whodunnit. This working-class sleuth does his 'sherlocking' in the frowzy alleyways and sleazy nightclubs of Soho - the city's underbelly - peopled with lowlife ponces, jaded streetwalkers, and Jewish and Maltese gangsters: a world of grubby bedsits, all-night cafés, egg and chips, and Gold Flake cigarettes.

Here, the midnight streets are black as pitch and, as Harley finds himself embroiled in the macabre mysteries of a city in which truth is as murky as the pea-souper smog, he begins to realise he may never find a way out.

Review Quotes

Praise for Midnight Streets

'A walk on the wild side of 1920s London. Dark, atmospheric and utterly compelling.'
Jake Arnott, bestselling author of The Long Firm and The Fatal Tree

'It's 1929. While Sam Spade is busy chasing a black bird through the mean streets of San Francisco, war vet and private sherlock George Harley is following the bloody trail of a book of the damned through the streets of Jazz Age London. Phil Lecomber's jaw-dropping debut is exactly what I want from a historical hardboiled novel: passionate nihilism and a tough-as-nails loner making his way through a depraved underworld whose darkness goes all the way down. Actually, I'm lying. I didn't know that's what I wanted until Lecomber served it up to me in Midnight Streets, and I very much hope he has more in store for us."
Duane Swierczynski, New York Times bestselling author of Lion & Lamb, California Bear and Secret Dead Men

'I loved this fast-paced, atmospheric adventure through the smoke and neon of 1920s Soho, vividly written and rich with historical detail. The twists and turns will leave you reeling.'
Alex Pavesi, bestselling author of Eight Detectives

'If Patrick Hamilton and Dashiell Hammett had got hammered in some boozer in old Soho, Midnight Streets is the novel they'd have come up with. Dodging razor-wielding gangsters, ponces, streetwalkers and bent coppers, cockney private eye George Harley armed only with his wits and a pair of knuckledusters, navigates his way through a pitch-black noir cityscape. All of London (low) life is here. A cracking debut.'
Martyn Waites, author of the Joe Donovan crime series

'A polished story set in a vibrant and colourful London between the wars. Full of twists, it gradually unveils a horrific set of crimes. The dogged George Harley will appeal to anyone who loves a private detective story.'
Mick Finlay, author of the Arrowood Mysteries series

'A gripping mystery, steeped in the deliciously seedy side of the Golden Age crime.'
Lucy Barker, author of The Other Side of Mrs Wood

'A clever mix of Silence of the Lambs and Dennis Wheatley, all set in the dark and dangerous world of Jazz Age Soho.'
Stuart Douglas, author of Death at the Dress Rehearsal and Death at the Playhouses

'Absolutely terrific - incredibly gripping... brought the seamy streets and seamier denizens of 1920s London to brutal life.'
Ajay Chowdhury, author of The Waiter and The Cook

'Set in London in 1929 - prime Golden Age territory - Midnight Streets is as dark as any noir classic. In this book, evil has its gloves, and its monocle, off, and we see the darkness we knew was there.'
S. J. Rozan, co-author of the Judge Dee and Lao She mysteries

'An atmospheric thriller set in 1920s London, which reveals Lecomber's keen ear for the off-beat rhythms of the city. Midnight Streets burrows into the darker facets of the glittering Golden Age, with a cast of shadowy characters dragged from the back alleys. Immersive and mysterious, this debut will delight historical crime fans.'
Jo Furniss, author of Dead Mile

Praise for Phil Lecomber's self-published debut The Mask of Verdoy

"The smoky and smoggy atmosphere of 1930s London is captured beautifully... an excellent debut." - Crime Fiction Lover

"Readers will practically see the city's pea-soup smog and smell Harley's ubiquitous Gold Flake cigarettes wafting off the page... An engrossing historical murder mystery." - Kirkus Reviews

"An enthralling tale of murder and manipulation that'll place you in 1930s London." - Crime Thriller Hound

About the Author

Phil Lecomber was born in Slade Green, on the outskirts of South East London. Most of his working life has been spent in and around the capital in a variety of occupations. He has worked as a musician in the city's clubs, pubs and dives; as a steel-fixer helping to build the towering edifices of the square mile (and also working on some of the city's iconic landmarks, such as Tower Bridge); as a designer of stained-glass windows; and - for the last quarter of a century - as the director of a small company in Mayfair, which specialises in the electronic security of some of the world's finest works of art. Twitter/X: @PhilLecomber