The Blue Notes

Border City Blues #3

by J.J. Salkeld

In episode 3 of J J Salkeld's epic Border City Blues novella series DS Samantha 'Pepper' Wilson continues to confront Dai Young, the newly crowned criminal kingpin. Her senior colleagues still seem oblivious, of this and much else besides, but at last an unconventional ally has arrived on the field of battle - a latter-day Robin Hood who seems intent on stealing only from Young, and on giving only to the deserving.

And there's still the whiff of police corruption in the air, as operation after operation is blown. Could it really be that, after a century and a half of clear superiority, the savage cuts to police budgets and capabilities are finally swinging the balance of power away from the police, and towards the dark and violent forces of organised crime?

J J Salkeld is an established crime and thriller writer, whose international best-selling Lakeland Murders series is also available on Kindle. Reviewer R Rhodes said: 'Salkeld is good. Not just as a writer of gripping detective stories; but even more for his feisty exposure of the lunacies of institutions, hierarchies, and power. A refreshing and enlightening anarchist - much needed in these jaded, compliant and consumptive times.'

145 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2015

About the author

J.J. Salkeld (Richard Simpson's pen-name) worked as a journalist and documentary photographer, based in Cumbria, before beginning the Lakeland Murders series of detective novels.