Weirdo

Twenty years ago, a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl named Corrine Woodrow was convicted of murdering one of her classmates. But now new forensic evidence indicates that Corrine didn't act alone, and Sean Ward - a private investigator whose promising career in the Met was cut short by a teenage drug dealer with an automatic weapon - travels to the seaside town of Ernemouth, to try to discover what really happened all those years ago. But he quickly realises that what's ultimately at stake is not Corrine's reputation, but those of the people who ran the place then - and still run it now. In order to get to the truth, he has to take on not just retired Detective Inspector Len Rivett - the man who headed up the original case and wants to keep it firmly closed -- but also the mindset of an entire town that has always known how to look after its own. Review '''Unsworth's best yet, as sharp as vinegar on chips' (FT) 'A serious talent... she has brilliantly captured that desperate sense of teenage boredom, isolation, danger and mayhem' (Daily Mirror) 'A creepy, credible page-turner that delights and disturbs' (Metro) 'A great, page-turning read. The sense of place... is spot on. I think the whole package works beautifully: memory traces, bad magic, sounds, smells' (Iain Sinclair)'' About the Author Cathi Unsworth began a career in journalism at ninetten on the music weekly Sounds, and has since worked on for many music, arts, film and alternative lifestyle journals. She is the author of three other novels, The Not Knowing [9781852428921], The Singer [9781846686405] and Bad Penny Blues [9781846686788], and the editor of the award-winning crime compendium London Noir, all published by Serpent's Tail. She lives in London. London, March 1992. Nearly A Year After The Release Of Brit Noir Sensation, Bent, The Capital Is Still In The Grip Of Its Cultural And Stylistic Impact. Diana Kemp, Journalist On The Alternative Arts Magazine Lux, Is Dismissive Of The Film's Cult Following But Admires The Technique Of Its Debut Director, Jon Jackson. In Fact, Some Of Her Admiration Has A More Personal Nature And When Jon Disappears Following A Triumphant Guardian Lecture, She Feels The Loss, Acutely. Two Weeks' Later, Jackson's Body Is Found In A Condemned Lock-up In The Arches Behind Camden Market. A Victim Of His Own Success? Perhaps - The Murder Site Resembles The Particularly Bloody Final Scene Of Bent. But Why Would Anyone Want To Destroy The Golden Boy In Such A Way? Attempting To Put A Lid On The Past, Diana Buries Herself In Work. But An Assignment, At The Ica's Crimewave Festival, Leads Her On A Voyage Of Discovery Where Not Knowing Might Be The Only Thing That Saves Her. Cathi Unsworth. The legend goes like this: Vincent Smith met bandmates Stevie Mullin and Lynton Powell at a Sex Pistols concert, where he tried to kiss Sid Vicious? guitar and got a bloody nose. Together they formed Blood Simple, and for a while they made a lot of noise, a bit of money and caused a sensation wherever they went. Then Vincent eloped with Sylvana, singer for the ethereal Mood Violet, and it all went wrong. Six months later Sylvana committed suicide, the band fell apart, and Vincent disappeared. That was 1981 and twenty years on, journalist Eddie Bracknell hopes the story of Blood Simple will be the making of him. He?s got a book contract and the right contacts, it?s just that he can?t get the different stories he?s heard to fit together, never mind trying to work out what happened to Vincent. A compelling crime novel and a very modern fable, The Singer brings the intoxicating days of punk back onstage, with all its noisy creativity and explosive violence. A tender ode to London in the 1960's - a novel with a twisted mystery at its heart. Police Constable Pete Bradley has one year in the force and dreams of moving up the ladder. He's assigned as an aid to CID and working a routine nightshift with his partner when they stumble across a young woman's body. She was working as a prostitute when she was strangled, her body dumped by a riverbank. His search for her killer brings him deep into Soho's underbelly. Meanwhile Stella, a young fashion designer with a promising career ahead of her, is woken by terrifying nightmares that echo the last hours of the dead women. 1960s London explodes in all its ferocious colour, with fascists and Teds, migrants and hippies living in close proximity. Bad Penny Blues is a tender paean to the city, a novel with a twisted mystery at its heart. Police Constable Pete Bradley has one year in the force and dreams of moving up the ladder. He's assigned as an aid to CID and working a routine nightshift with his partner when they stumble across a young woman's body. She was working as a prostitute when she was strangled, her body dumped by a riverbank. His search for her killer brings him deep into Soho's underbelly. Meanwhile Stella, a young fashion designer with a promising career ahead of her, is woken by terrifying nightmares that echo the last hours of the dead women. Sixties London explodes in all its ferocious colour, with fascists and Teds, migrants and hippies living in close proximity. Bad Penny Blues is a tender paean to the city, a novel with a twisted mystery at its heart. Jon Jackson, the famous film director, is found savagely murdered under the railway arches of Camden Town in a gruesome re-creation of a scene from his hit gangster film Bent . His death strikes a chord with many, including the staff at Lux magazine in possession of the last-ever interview with Jackson. Journalists Barry Hudson and Diana Kemp knew Jackson in the old days before he was a celebrityDiana having known Jackson a little more intimately than most. As Diana is drawn ever closer to the killer, The Not Knowing vividly captures the seamy side of London life. Cathi Unsworth began her journalistic career at 19 on the music paper Sounds . A music journalist for many years, she lives in West London. Vincent Smith met bandmates Stevie Mullin and Lynton Powell at a Sex Pistols concert. Together they formed Blood Truth, and for a while they made a lot of noise, a bit of money and caused a sensation wherever they went. Then Vincent eloped with Sylvana, singer for the Mood Violet, and it all went wrong. In 1960s London, Police Constable Pete Bradley's discovery of a prostitute's dead body leads to the investigation into Soho where more bodies are found