LS92

by Billy Morris

Two years have passed, but the events of Bournemouth 90 continue to cast a dark shadow over the lives of everyone who travelled south on that hot Bank Holiday weekend.

Max Jackson is out of jail and trying to re-establish himself in a Leeds underworld being torn apart by gangland warfare. The Yardsley brothers are still paying the price for their actions, with the spectre of Alan Connolly continuing to haunt them. At Millgarth, Sergeant Andy Barton finds himself in the limelight after Bournemouth, but terrace culture is changing, and police intelligence is struggling to adapt to the new normal of the nineties.

At Elland Road, a resurgent United are heading towards their first league title in eighteen years, but a disturbing, malevolent force is threatening to gatecrash the champions' victory party.

Old scores are settled and new ones imagined, as the climax to the title showdown becomes a deadly quest for vengeance, forgiveness and redemption. LS92. Dark crime fiction from a time when it was still grim up north.

178 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 26, 2022

About the author

Billy Morris was born in Leeds, Yorkshire in 1966. He left Leeds in the late 1990's and has lived and worked in Europe and USA. He now lives mainly in South East Asia with regular visits back to Yorkshire.

He wrote his first book 'Bournemouth 90' in 2021 and published the sequel, LS92, in 2022. The books open the 'Eighties Leeds' series - Gritty crime fiction set against the backdrop of a northern English city trying to reinvent itself, as its once famous football team emerges from a period in the doldrums to reclaim its position at the forefront of European football.

In September 2023 Morris published LS65. A prequel to the first two books, the story is set in 1965 and finds one of the key characters from Bournemouth90 arriving in Leeds as a teenager at the height of the swinging 60's. Mods and Rockers, scooters, dance halls and pills form the backdrop to the tale as Alan Connolly tries to establish himself in the criminal underworld while battling his own demons.

Paris 75 is the fourth and final book in the 'Eighties Leeds series'. Set ten years after LS65 and fifteen years before Bournemouth 90, the book contrasts the declining fortunes of the city of Leeds during the economic turmoil of the mid 1970's with the achievements of its football team, who are now chasing the elusive dream of a European cup victory. On the streets of Leeds, a gangland feud spirals out of control and leaves Alan Connolly trying to stay one step ahead of the police, special branch, the Provisional IRA and the demons in his own head.

"If you like crime thrillers with a touch of terrace culture you will enjoy the journey these books take you on."

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR - "I'm often asked which order the 4 'Eighties Leeds' books should be read in. Although each book is a standalone story, so can be read individually, they do feature some of the same characters and reference is occasionally made to previous storylines. I would therefore say that either LS65 (the earliest date in the timeline) or Bournemouth90 (the first book written) are the obvious places to start."

'Birdsong on Holbeck Moor' is Morris's first standalone story, set during the tumultuous period at the end of World War 1. The Leeds Pals have been decimated at the Somme and the soldiers who survived return to find a city in the grip of a global pandemic, with food rationing, unemployment and a football team facing expulsion from the league due to financial irregularities during the war years. Throw in an unhealthy dose of corruption, inter-city gang wars and witchcraft and you have the makings of a dark, gritty, Edwardian thriller.

Morris's 6th book, Spotter, published in April 2025, moves into the new millenium, but follows the same gritty fact-meets-fiction formula of his previous work. It's April 2001. The city of Leeds is reinventing itself as an economic powerhouse, and David O'Leary's young United side are conquering Europe in the champions league. For PC Charlie Mills it couldn't be better time to return to his home town as Leeds' football intelligence 'spotter.' But Charlie and the city have a dark history and when a local gang leader is released from prison to unleash a reign of terror, Charlie is forced to revisit his past and question whose side he's on… and try to remember who he really is.

Morris's latest book is nineteen85, released in Nov 2025. The latest story is set against the usual football background with Leeds United languishing in the second division, in a decaying stadium plagued by the worst hooligans in the country. Margaret Thatcher's government have beaten the miners and the IRA bombers but social unrest is rising. Adversity represents opportunity for 3 men - a politician, a tabloid reporter and a local crime boss who wants to own a football club. 3 men trying to manage a situation which is spiralling out of control in an era of greed, power and corruption.

Follow the author on Twitter @Yorkshire_Tales and Facebook BillyMorrisAuthor

Reviews

[Luke White · Rating 5 out of 5]

LS92 is the sequel to Billy Morris's first book Bournemouth90. You really need to read that before LS92 in order to fully appreciate the characters and the storyline. There are some characters who managed to survive the first book, such as the Yardsley brothers, but we find them suffering teh consequences of their actions in Bournemouth. There are also some new characters, particularly Le Renard who looms large over the whole book in frightening fashion. As with Bournemouth90, the storyline covers gangland in the city of Leeds with the backdrop of the City's football team and its supporters. The chapters are short and fast paced, slitting between the viewpoints of the various characters but it flows well and there is none of the confusion you sometimes get in thrillers describing multiple viewpoints. You're kept guessing right to the end what is going to happen and as with the first book, fiction is skillfully weaved into a narrative based largely on fact. It's very cleverly done and anyone familiar with British football in the early 90s will recognise the personalities and events described in the closing chapters. This was an entertaining, if often very dark, crime thriller which kept me on the edge of my seat to the final chapter.

[John Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sequel to the excellent Bournemouth 90 sees many of the same characters from the first book, as the name suggests, 2 years on from the original. The events of the first book loom large so you really need to read that first to understand the backdrop to the story. The anti-hero in this book is a psychopathic French hit man with a long standing obsession with (then) Leeds United star Eric Cantona. A job in Leeds is too good an opportunity for him to miss and he's soon causing chaos across the city, terrifying even the tough local gangsters from book 1. The book takes the reader on an explosive rollercoaster ride of violence, against the backdrop of Leeds United's quest to win the league championship. The explosive finale keeps you guessing right to the end. I hope there's another book in the series!

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic continuation from Bournemooth 90. Very happy to have come across Billy's work.

[Karl Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed it but you need to read the first book Bournemouth 90 first to understand what's happened before.