The Kings of London

De: William Shaw

Narrado por: Cameron Stewart

In Breen and Tozer's London, a battle for the soul of the city is being fought between cops and criminals, the corrupt and the corruptible.

London, November 1968. Detective Sergeant Breen has a death threat in his inbox and a mutilated body on his hands. The dead man was the wayward son of a rising politician and everywhere Breen turns to investigate, he finds himself obstructed and increasingly alienated. Breen begins to see that the abuse of power is at every level of society. And when his actions endanger those at the top, he becomes their target.

Out in the cold, banished from a corrupt and fracturing system, Breen is finally forced to fight fire with fire. William Shaw paints the real portrait of London's swinging sixties. Authentic, powerful and poignant, The Kings of London reveals the shadow beyond the spotlight and the crimes committed in the name of liberation.

MORE PLEASE!

I am a snob when it comes to British procedurals, intelligent writing, fully fleshed characters - these 2 books are way way up there - and believe me, I've read them all. Please give us more soon!

Good police procedural with great characters

Just discovered the excellent Breen and Tozer series. All set in London in 68. I lived there then and for several years after and was delighted at the accuracy of the history and the atmosphere Shaw evokes - a special blend of depressing and repressive with huge optimism and creativity. I wish Audible carried the full series but so far they only have 2.

Captures the Atmosphere

What did you love best about The Kings of London?

I was 17 years old and living in the UK in 1968, and as far as I'm concerned the author captured he atmosphere of Britain at that time perfectly. Coupled with the fact that I really cared about the characters, and the story-line was compelling, I give two thumbs-up for this book. Nice narration too!

Not cutesy-cozy, but not hard-boiled; a delight

This second in a series is an excellent mystery, with storylines that hold up for all 13 hours, quirky and well drawn characters, great period setting, some humour. Main character – Breen – gets slightly darker through his experiences in novels 1 and 2: If the series continues for many instalments, he could became a Rebus!

To the squeamish (me): One corpse description near the beginning and one near the end are a little grisly (and as in the first novel, a small passage in the middle could bother sensitive animal lovers). Apart from that, no graphic violence but some good suspense. I work with technology all day, so I welcome older mysteries or period pieces that don’t hang on digital devices. And my inner social history geek loves Shaw’s ‘68-69 London. Of course the plot is good but secondary to the other elements and is as much about petty office politics and corruption as the BIG corruption described in the blurb -- more about how mundane compromises come in shades of grey.

Stewart's narration continues to be excellent EXCEPT that some of his women’s voices are too shrill, almost Pythonoesque. As in the first novel, I found this jarring for the first few chapters but then either my ear adjusted or he found a rhythm.

I so wish there were a dozen in this series rather than two. I stumbled across the first as a Whispersync bargain – and thought I’d found more in Kindle, but it appears that the novel is published under different titles in the UK perhaps –so shop carefully.

I don't usually rate a detective novel 5 stars - but this deserves it as solid, smart entertainment that provokes a little though but no angst.

An Excellent Story

My Review
The Kings of London, also published as the House of Knives, is the second book of the Breen and Tozer trilogy, and satisfyingly begins just where the first book ended. Again we are transported back to 1968, well, some of us are, the rest are taken for a visit, a wonderful visit, and given the chance to learn quite a lot about the late 60's. Me? I'm comfortable there, it's the feel good factor of the book bringing alive again the lure of London, the "In" places, Carnaby Street, Biba, Mary Quant, Op art, "England Swings", all there, in London!
Yet the story also served to remind me of the less attractive underbelly of life in the 60's, the almost taken for granted police bullying along with the untouchable attitude which led to corrupted practices. Ordinary people had no voice, that is until a generation rose up against it, but that's another story, and in the interest of fairness, there must have been a few good and right minded people running the country and enforcing the law.
The Kings of London finds Breem embroiled in a murder investigation hampered at every turn by the far reaching hand of political corruption. Of course, initially he doesn't know this, but the path he takes, the questions he asks rattle the nerves of the establishment, the victim is the estranged son of a politician. Along comes the fixer, who's job is simply to prevent any hint of scandal from reaching the ears of the public.
In the first book, A Song from Dead Lips, Breem realised that he was a bit behind the times, with the help of a thoroughly modern Helen Tozer he became acquainted with the puzzling Beatles phenomenon and also learned a bit about the women of the 60's. Even so, he remained unprepared for the weird world of art and art dealers, of drug use and of the ways of free love, so he sets about learning everything he can.
That's not all he has on his plate, someone is sending him death threats he thinks he knows who, and decides to keep quiet, to sort it out himself. He also has more than one murder to deal with, one of which changes his world, he is suspended from duty, yet this doesn't stop him in his relentless investigations.
He becomes quite friendly with a lady who keeps disappearing - more intrigue and a compelling aspect of the story.
DC Helen Tozer once again proves invaluable to Breem, she knows how to communicate with people, especially the younger ones and she succeeds where Breem often fails. She's smart, they work well together.
Meanwhile Tozers leaving date is due, she has decided she is needed at home on the farm as her dad is sick and unable to keep up with the work.
I enjoyed how along the way Breem learns more than he ever knew about his own father and mother, it highlights how bleak family relationships can be when they lack what to most of us is basic communication.
There's just so much going on, so many layers to this tale, yet the author somehow blends all the components together beautifully to produce yet another entertaining tale to captivate the listener or reader.
I'm so much looking forward to the next book.

Narrator
Once again Cameron Stewart has done the author proud, I enjoy the sound of his voice, he doesn't overdo anything. Just right, a top job.

This audiobook is my own copy purchased from Audible.com, this review is my honest opinion