London Calling - James Craig [134]
His mind went completely blank.
Finishing his coffee, he tossed the empty cup into a nearby waste bin. A car pulled up at a nearby red light, The Clash’s ‘London Calling’ blasting from its stereo. Singing along under his breath, Carlyle watched a young boy happily chasing a pair of pigeons across the grass, oblivious to the couple snogging enthusiastically right in front of him. Behind their heads, a poster stuck to the outside of a phone box proclaimed ‘Capitalism Isn’t Working’. Inside the booth, the selection of cards offering a wide range of services from ‘Japanese schoolgirls’, ‘Indian models’ and pre-op transsexuals suggested otherwise.
After a short while spent contemplating all of the city’s bounty, Carlyle left the shade of the tree, heading for home. Feeling the sun on his back and the stone beneath his feet, he smiled.
About the Author
James Craig has worked in London as a journalist and consultant for almost thirty years. He lives in Covent Garden with his family.
This is the first Inspector John Carlyle novel. For more information visit www.james-craig.co.uk.
Copyright
Constable & Robinson Ltd
3 The Lanchesters
162 Fulham Palace Road
London W6 9ER
www.constablerobinson.com
First published in the UK by Constable, an imprint of Constable & Robinson, 2011
First US edition published by SohoConstable, an imprint of Soho Press, 2011
Soho Press, Inc.
853 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
www.sohopress.com
Copyright © James Craig, 2011
The right of James Craig to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library
UK ISBN: 978–1–84901–781–7
US ISBN: 978–1–56947–991–9
US Library of Congress number: 2010053874
Table of Contents
Title Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Epigraph
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
THIRTY-ONE
THIRTY-TWO
THIRTY-THREE
THIRTY-FOUR
THIRTY-FIVE
THIRTY-SIX
About the Author
Copyright