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Tommy Fox #8
Blue Murder
Murder doesn’t get much sleazier…
To command the International and Organised Crime branch at the heart of the CID’s London operation is the dream of every Scotland Yard detective. When offered to Tommy Fox, however, it is the Met’s last chance of reining in its most brilliant, single-minded and tempestuous detective before his unorthodox investigative practices overstep the mark once and for all.
But only a matter of seconds into his new job a case is handed to Commander Fox that is too inviting to leave to his subordinates.
In a yacht moored off the Cyprus coast a British businessman, Michael Leighton, and his two female ‘companions’ have been found murdered, the victims of twenty-seven rounds from an assault rifle.
With a cache of cocaine on board, it seems just another drug-smuggling murder enquiry is about to get under way — but Fox, taking personal charge of the investigation in Cyprus and London, is on the scent of something infinitely more revealing …
When sexually explicit videos and photographs are discovered at the dead man’s company premises in Fulham, Fox and his team realise they have stumbled upon Leighton Leisure Services’ profitable sideline in pornographic movies — with in-house production techniques and a Europe-wide distribution network.
The star of these masterpieces? None other than the late, and apparently rather energetic, Mr Michael Leighton himself.
And the recent death of a young woman in suspicious circumstances raises the heat of the investigation further, particularly as enquiries show she was the daughter of one of Fox’s oldest and most slippery adversaries in the criminal underworld.
Despite uncovering a plethora of suspects, the vice trade is proving a difficult nut for Fox to crack in the hunt for a triple-murderer, who may be covering his tracks by killing again; but as its co-ordinator and chief investigator, there is no better man than Tommy Fox in getting to the bottom of this case’s decidedly murky depths …
‘Altogether, a police procedural to put beside McBain. In other words, top of the
class.’ Julian Symons, Independent
‘Goes through the motions convincingly, treating Cabinet Ministers and crooks with equal cynicism.’ Marcel Berlins, The Times
‘Funny, knowing cops-and- robbers exercise which turns nasty … very engaging,
very classy.’ Literary Reiview
Graham Ison was a law clerk, a regular soldier, sold carpets and carbon paper, and worked for London Transport before becoming a policeman. Though he walked a beat for four years, he spent most of his sendee in the CID at Scotland Yard, eventually becoming a detective chief superintendent and gathering much of the experience which forms the background for his novels.
Now a full-time author and after-dinner speaker, Graham Ison lives in Alton.
Hampshire.
To command the International and Organised Crime branch at the heart of the CID’s London operation is the dream of every Scotland Yard detective. When offered to Tommy Fox, however, it is the Met’s last chance of reining in its most brilliant, single-minded and tempestuous detective before his unorthodox investigative practices overstep the mark once and for all.
But only a matter of seconds into his new job a case is handed to Commander Fox that is too inviting to leave to his subordinates.
In a yacht moored off the Cyprus coast a British businessman, Michael Leighton, and his two female ‘companions’ have been found murdered, the victims of twenty-seven rounds from an assault rifle.
With a cache of cocaine on board, it seems just another drug-smuggling murder enquiry is about to get under way — but Fox, taking personal charge of the investigation in Cyprus and London, is on the scent of something infinitely more revealing …
When sexually explicit videos and photographs are discovered at the dead man’s company premises in Fulham, Fox and his team realise they have stumbled upon Leighton Leisure Services’ profitable sideline in pornographic movies — with in-house production techniques and a Europe-wide distribution network.
The star of these masterpieces? None other than the late, and apparently rather energetic, Mr Michael Leighton himself.
And the recent death of a young woman in suspicious circumstances raises the heat of the investigation further, particularly as enquiries show she was the daughter of one of Fox’s oldest and most slippery adversaries in the criminal underworld.
Despite uncovering a plethora of suspects, the vice trade is proving a difficult nut for Fox to crack in the hunt for a triple-murderer, who may be covering his tracks by killing again; but as its co-ordinator and chief investigator, there is no better man than Tommy Fox in getting to the bottom of this case’s decidedly murky depths …
‘Altogether, a police procedural to put beside McBain. In other words, top of the
class.’ Julian Symons, Independent
‘Goes through the motions convincingly, treating Cabinet Ministers and crooks with equal cynicism.’ Marcel Berlins, The Times
‘Funny, knowing cops-and- robbers exercise which turns nasty … very engaging,
very classy.’ Literary Reiview
Graham Ison was a law clerk, a regular soldier, sold carpets and carbon paper, and worked for London Transport before becoming a policeman. Though he walked a beat for four years, he spent most of his sendee in the CID at Scotland Yard, eventually becoming a detective chief superintendent and gathering much of the experience which forms the background for his novels.
Now a full-time author and after-dinner speaker, Graham Ison lives in Alton.
Hampshire.
197 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 27, 2017
44 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Graham Ison
54 books20 followersDuring Graham Ison's thirty-year career in Scotland Yard's Special Branch he was involved in several espionage cases and the investigation into the escape of the spy George Blake. He spent four years at 10 Downing Street as Protection Officer to two Prime Ministers and also served as second-in-command of the Diplomatic Protection Group.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 14, 2017
Surprisingly somewhat above the average Endeavor press quality, this police procedural tuned out to be a decent read. A triple murder in the international waters off of Cyprus and it's up to Scotland Yard's finest to solve it. You're thinking blue murder because it's on the water, right? Wrong, actually. It's because there are blue movies involved a.k.a. pornography. Also cocaine. Also prostitutes. Also pimps. Also a very classy old school gangster. It's a fun cast of characters, really, and once you get used to the general flippant tone and realize it's meant to be a comedy of sorts (distinctly British humorous take on law and order), it's actually plenty entertaining in a mindless B movie sort of way. Or maybe a less serious less sophisticated BBC cop drama. Reads like the first in the series and, of course, so it is. Not something to go crazy over, but a decently diverting way to spend an evening. And it was a freebie. And a very quick read too.
August 18, 2017
Competently Written, But Not Nearly As Exciting As Book's Promo "Blurb" Suggests
First off, I have to say I am generally not a big fan of "English/British" mysteries and thrillers. Not sure if this is due to my lack of knowledge of "their" justice system, cultural differences I don't understand, or just a general ethnocentric bias on my part. Anyway, I decided to read this "Kindle Unlimited" book because it sounded like it could be interesting, and, more importantly, it was one of the few English books in this genre that I'd seen in quite some time that wasn't promoting itself as "a gripping, psychological thriller with amazing twists"; those books always let you down. Unfortunately, while this book was competently written with a cohesive narrative that "tied up" all of its various storylines, it lacked that spark of creativity or uniqueness needed to elevate it above being "just another run of the mill" book. I do think the author did a fairly good job of developing his lead character, Commander Fox, though my judgment here is undoubtably influenced by the fact that I liked the old man's contrariness. And a couple of the villians were fairly well-crafted. The same cannot be said, however, for several of the book's " supporting good guys and gals" who were presented almost as one-dimensional "stck figures". Sitting here 2 hours after reading the book, all I can rember about Kate, a subordinate of Commander Fox, is that she was often chosen by Fox to accompany him in his investigative interviews, and that she had an Australian accent, which often not only came as a shock to the London citizens they served, but which could be "amped up" to intimidate these same citizens. ( And she did have one memorable "verbal kick-ass" interrogation with a prostitute.) One last comment I want to make concerns, somewhat ironically, the promotional blurb used to describe the content of this book. While the book does, in fact, "deliver" all of the scenarios and incidents described therein, the delivery is not nearly as exciting as suggested. There is no "big time" look, much less glimpse, into a European-wide porn industry. Just 3 local Londoners who have set up a studio to make porn films with local prostitutes; the one and only business deal involving the selling of these tapes (that we are told about in the book) is a shipment of 64 movies to Belgium, which is actually confiscated by the police. Oh well. I guess that I will now have to think about adding English/British books that are "promoed" with a European-wide "spin" as a category to "pass over" when choosing books to read.
First off, I have to say I am generally not a big fan of "English/British" mysteries and thrillers. Not sure if this is due to my lack of knowledge of "their" justice system, cultural differences I don't understand, or just a general ethnocentric bias on my part. Anyway, I decided to read this "Kindle Unlimited" book because it sounded like it could be interesting, and, more importantly, it was one of the few English books in this genre that I'd seen in quite some time that wasn't promoting itself as "a gripping, psychological thriller with amazing twists"; those books always let you down. Unfortunately, while this book was competently written with a cohesive narrative that "tied up" all of its various storylines, it lacked that spark of creativity or uniqueness needed to elevate it above being "just another run of the mill" book. I do think the author did a fairly good job of developing his lead character, Commander Fox, though my judgment here is undoubtably influenced by the fact that I liked the old man's contrariness. And a couple of the villians were fairly well-crafted. The same cannot be said, however, for several of the book's " supporting good guys and gals" who were presented almost as one-dimensional "stck figures". Sitting here 2 hours after reading the book, all I can rember about Kate, a subordinate of Commander Fox, is that she was often chosen by Fox to accompany him in his investigative interviews, and that she had an Australian accent, which often not only came as a shock to the London citizens they served, but which could be "amped up" to intimidate these same citizens. ( And she did have one memorable "verbal kick-ass" interrogation with a prostitute.) One last comment I want to make concerns, somewhat ironically, the promotional blurb used to describe the content of this book. While the book does, in fact, "deliver" all of the scenarios and incidents described therein, the delivery is not nearly as exciting as suggested. There is no "big time" look, much less glimpse, into a European-wide porn industry. Just 3 local Londoners who have set up a studio to make porn films with local prostitutes; the one and only business deal involving the selling of these tapes (that we are told about in the book) is a shipment of 64 movies to Belgium, which is actually confiscated by the police. Oh well. I guess that I will now have to think about adding English/British books that are "promoed" with a European-wide "spin" as a category to "pass over" when choosing books to read.
April 23, 2024
3 – 3.5 Stars
Blue Murder is the eighth book in the Tommy Fox Series by Graham Ison. I had this pop up as a recommendation and as I love a good British Detective story, I snapped up the series (as a box set) and set off to investigate.
This is a crime and investigation mystery series, with suspense, cops & robbers, conmen, villains, killers, forgers & fraudsters, heists, intrigue, crime rings, drug smuggling rings, a whodunnit feel, old school gangsters, obstacles, challenges, humour, banter, colourful quirky characters, action, drama, and more.
There are a LOT of characters to keep track of in each book, so that somewhat confuses things... And the stories are a little dated in the portrayal of cultural issues, societal norms, and the available technologies (or lack thereof) etc- as the books were written in the early 1990’s and a LOT has changed since then. But the crimes, and the subsequent investigations still made for a good read, but definitely not as ‘thrilling’ as I was hoping for.
We follow Scotland Yard Detective Chief Superintendent Tommy Fox in all his unorthodox, witty, sharp, cynical, contrary ways — as throughout all the investigations he treats police procedure, regulations, and the law with his usual disdain- getting the job done (his way) nonetheless...…
Happy Reading…
Thank you, Graham Ison!
Blue Murder is the eighth book in the Tommy Fox Series by Graham Ison. I had this pop up as a recommendation and as I love a good British Detective story, I snapped up the series (as a box set) and set off to investigate.
This is a crime and investigation mystery series, with suspense, cops & robbers, conmen, villains, killers, forgers & fraudsters, heists, intrigue, crime rings, drug smuggling rings, a whodunnit feel, old school gangsters, obstacles, challenges, humour, banter, colourful quirky characters, action, drama, and more.
There are a LOT of characters to keep track of in each book, so that somewhat confuses things... And the stories are a little dated in the portrayal of cultural issues, societal norms, and the available technologies (or lack thereof) etc- as the books were written in the early 1990’s and a LOT has changed since then. But the crimes, and the subsequent investigations still made for a good read, but definitely not as ‘thrilling’ as I was hoping for.
We follow Scotland Yard Detective Chief Superintendent Tommy Fox in all his unorthodox, witty, sharp, cynical, contrary ways — as throughout all the investigations he treats police procedure, regulations, and the law with his usual disdain- getting the job done (his way) nonetheless...…
Happy Reading…
Thank you, Graham Ison!
December 13, 2017
An author you will either like or dislike. I fall in the former category and devour his offerings in one setting. This book was no exception. An excellent British police mystery with an overall London setting. Being acquainted with many of the areas described in the tale only made it better for its accuracy.
I have given this book a five star rating.
I obtained this book from Amazon in Kindle format
Thank you Frank
Thank you Frank for the review
I have given this book a five star rating.
I obtained this book from Amazon in Kindle format
Thank you Frank
Thank you Frank for the review
February 27, 2018
The last of the Tommys, at least so far. Must admit I am repelled by the story line, but it is well done. OTOH Ison has no idea how to write romance. The brief Tommy/Jane scenes are, almost invariably, he, without notice, shows up to take her to dinner, complains about how she is dressed, she changes, which neither adds nor detracts from the story line, just takes up space.
August 24, 2017
Tommy Fox charges into the brink with abandon. He is a very good copper, though more than a bit self-absorbed. The story holds together very well, albeit with Tommy being a bit glib on occasion. Recommended.
September 18, 2017
Good police procedural
Ison writes with authority and a sure-footedness about the seamy underbelly of London and its denizens. Very good dialogue too, including a lot of slang terms not familiar to most Americans. His character Tommy Fox is well drawn and fully believable.
Ison writes with authority and a sure-footedness about the seamy underbelly of London and its denizens. Very good dialogue too, including a lot of slang terms not familiar to most Americans. His character Tommy Fox is well drawn and fully believable.
August 25, 2017
Good clean entertaining British cops and robbers.
August 5, 2019
This is a great read,the Author writes about the porn industry,without, being the slightest bit seedy. good one Graham.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews