The Taming of Tango Harris

Tommy Fox #5

by Graham Ison

The body of a murdered prostitute, a black nylon stocking around her neck, is found in a fashionable West End hotel. A few hours later, across London, a lorry is hijacked, the driver abducted and left trussed up in a field, while another man is shot dead, his corpse dumped in the boot of a stolen car.

To Detective Chief Superintendent Tommy Fox of the Flying Squad the lorry heist bears all the hallmarks of one Thomas Walter Harris - known as Tango on account of his nifty footwork at the New Cross Palais during his somewhat murky youth - and the dead man worked for Harris’s rival gangleader, Billy Crombie. Together, the two gangs - involved in every imaginable form of nefarious activity - make up the nastiest gathering of villainry that Fox has encountered for some time.

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

During 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.

Reviews

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 – 3.5 Stars

The Taming of Tango Harris is the fifth 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!

[P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice, tight plot. True, there are but criminals and cops in this one, plus a multitude of crimes, but Tango is well done.

[Alan Main · Rating 5 out of 5]

Usual super Characters, Witty Dialog, great plot, excellent read.