What do you think?
Rate this book
Sam Dean #4
An Image to Die For
The brutal murders of a young woman and her children on a London housing estate seem straightforward to the police - the husband is arrested and convicted. But independent TV producer Wyndham Davis, has unearthed crucial evidence which could overturn the conviction.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 995
1 person is currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Mike Phillips
13 books8 followersMike Phillips was born in Georgetown, Guyana. He came to Britain as a child and grew up in London. He was educated at the University of London and the University of Essex, and gained a Postgraduate Certificate of Education at Goldsmiths College, London.
He worked for the BBC as a journalist and broadcaster between 1972 and 1983 on television programmes including The Late Show and Omnibus, before becoming a lecturer in media studies at the University of Westminster. He has written full-time since 1992. He is best known for his crime fiction, including four novels featuring black journalist Sam Dean: Blood Rights (1989), which was adapted for BBC television, The Late Candidate (1990), winner of the Crime Writers' Association Macallan Silver Dagger for Fiction, Point of Darkness (1994) and An Image to Die For (1995). The Dancing Face (1997) is a thriller centred on a priceless Benin mask. His most recent novel, A Shadow of Myself (2000), is a thriller about a black documentary filmmaker working in Prague and a man who claims to be his brother. He is currently working on a sequel.
Mike Phillips co-wrote Windrush: The Irresistible Rise of Multi-Racial Britain (1998) to accompany a BBC television series telling the story of the Caribbean migrant workers who settled in post-war Britain. His book, London Crossings: A Biography of Black Britain (2001), is a series of interlinked essays and stories, a portrait of the city seen from locations as diverse as New York and Nairobi, London and Lodz, Washington and Warsaw.
His latest book is Kind of Union (2005).
He worked for the BBC as a journalist and broadcaster between 1972 and 1983 on television programmes including The Late Show and Omnibus, before becoming a lecturer in media studies at the University of Westminster. He has written full-time since 1992. He is best known for his crime fiction, including four novels featuring black journalist Sam Dean: Blood Rights (1989), which was adapted for BBC television, The Late Candidate (1990), winner of the Crime Writers' Association Macallan Silver Dagger for Fiction, Point of Darkness (1994) and An Image to Die For (1995). The Dancing Face (1997) is a thriller centred on a priceless Benin mask. His most recent novel, A Shadow of Myself (2000), is a thriller about a black documentary filmmaker working in Prague and a man who claims to be his brother. He is currently working on a sequel.
Mike Phillips co-wrote Windrush: The Irresistible Rise of Multi-Racial Britain (1998) to accompany a BBC television series telling the story of the Caribbean migrant workers who settled in post-war Britain. His book, London Crossings: A Biography of Black Britain (2001), is a series of interlinked essays and stories, a portrait of the city seen from locations as diverse as New York and Nairobi, London and Lodz, Washington and Warsaw.
His latest book is Kind of Union (2005).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 5, 2018
The story was ok, the characters stand out good. I wouldn't say it's my favourite read, just it was ok.
November 8, 2013
This seems somewhat disconnected, since the previous book took place in New York (primarily) and that trip isn't even mentioned here.
Still, how can you not read a book with a first sentence like this:
OK, I knew who was setting up all the problems here about 50 pages before Sam did, but I couldn't quite figure out why. And I couldn't quite put the book down, since every single character is fully pictured. Even that girl on the first page...the reader can see her, and that's her full contribution to the story. Oh, well, and her death, of course. There's a taxi driver in the story, too, who is magnificent, and yet he only appears on 3-4 pages. Amazing little character studies.
Sam once again finds himself on the outs with his original employer, hired by someone else working with his original employer, pushed out by them, sleeping with yet another potential employer, and bringing death, destruction, arson, and car accidents with him wherever he goes, this time working on the backstory for a true-crime documentary TV series. Very cynical, very noir.
Still, how can you not read a book with a first sentence like this:
"When I walked past the girl in the white sweater she had less than half an hour to live, but judging by the way she smiled at me, the last thing on her mind was the thought of sudden death."Brilliant!
OK, I knew who was setting up all the problems here about 50 pages before Sam did, but I couldn't quite figure out why. And I couldn't quite put the book down, since every single character is fully pictured. Even that girl on the first page...the reader can see her, and that's her full contribution to the story. Oh, well, and her death, of course. There's a taxi driver in the story, too, who is magnificent, and yet he only appears on 3-4 pages. Amazing little character studies.
Sam once again finds himself on the outs with his original employer, hired by someone else working with his original employer, pushed out by them, sleeping with yet another potential employer, and bringing death, destruction, arson, and car accidents with him wherever he goes, this time working on the backstory for a true-crime documentary TV series. Very cynical, very noir.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews