Bad Penny Blues

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.

About the Author :
Cathi Unsworth began her journalistic career at 19 while still studying at the London College of Fashion. Headhunted by Melody Maker, she worked there as a freelance feature writer/reviewer for several years before joining Bizarre magazine. Her writing is inspired by the late Derek Raymond, whom she interviewed for Melody Maker and who encouraged her to follow the crime-writing path. She is the editor of London Noir, a collection of London crime stories published by Serpent's Tail. Her novels are The Not Knowing, The Singer and the forthcoming Bad Penny Blues. She lives in London.

Review :
[Advance praise for BPB]: Bad Penny Blues is the English Black Dahlia and will establish Cathi Unsworth as the First Lady of Noir Fiction. -- David Peace David Peace (Advance praise for Bad Penny Blues:) A haunting and utterly absorbing London noir that takes us to all the bright lights and dark places of the big city -- Jake Arnott London's leading lady of noir fiction -- Iain Aitch Guardian Guide One of the upcoming stars of British crime fiction. -- N/A The Bookseller Another tour de force... Cathi Unsworth's ability to create the feel of the period is such that background knowledge is immaterial... Authentically atmospheric and very evocative, the book's song-title chapter headings supply an inbuilt soundtrack. -- Laura Wilson Guardian [A] fast-paced tale sure to please fans of crime writers Ken Bruen and Jake Arnott... a confident and convincing voice. -- Jennifer Ryan Image Cements her reputation for eerie plots, evocative settings and deeply-drawn characters, should propel her into a new league... the story, which is loaded with pace, Unsworth has incorporated a true murder mystery... Unsworth brilliantly captures the era... -- Henry Sutton Daily Mirror Bad Penny Blues isn't only one of the best crime novels this year, it's one of the best of the decade. -- Gordon Harries NeedleScratchStatic.com There's something about the textured layers of Cathi Unsworth's third novel that effortlessly draw the reader into the dark and disturbing environment she creates... Unsworth lives up to her growing reputation as one of the UK's stars of noir crime fiction, combining hardboiled prose with vivid characters and a lucid sense of place... a wholly absorbing thriller, heralding an accomplished author who could soon become a stalwart of the British crime scene. -- Yasmin Sulaiman The List A meticulous examination of the postwar British beehive... Unsworth thrashes her fellow practitioners in the field... Period vernacular is placed in young mouths in a way that makes slang feel as fresh as if you were watching a monochrome classic for the first time... she enters a pantheon of writers exploring London lowlife that extends from Patrick Hamilton and Colin MacInnes. Like the crackling jukebox tunes of the time, Bad Penny Blues unwinds toward an inevitable refrain that deepens the reading pleasure. It's smart noir entertainment with the bitter aftertaste of truth. -- Christopher Fowler FT A gripping page-turner. -- N/A Stylist A magnificent tapestry of period and place, confirming her status as one of Britain's most potent writers of noir. The exciting, dangerous, experimental mood of Notting Hill is conveyed with realistic harshness and a tinge of nostalgia... Unsworth's fictional characters move effortlessly through the ambiguous realities of the troubled era. Her subtle evocation of constant menace reminds me of the novels of Derek Raymond; I cannot praise much higher than that. -- Marcel Berlins The Times Gripping noir fiction... her narrative deftly weaves its way between the ever-present curls of cigarette smoke and the pockets of blackness that dot the city night. -- Ross Bennett Mojo The kind of swinging rock'n'roll crime novel that your folks should have warned you about... it's one quality counter-cultural thriller... What more could you want on a cold winter's night? -- Leonie Cooper NME The book the Irish Tatler team can't stop talking about. Noir fiction doesn't come much better than Bad Penny Blues -- N/A Irish Tatler Enthralling... a must-read -- N/A Spirit and Destiny An unexpectedly fascinating read. -- Ailin Quinlan Irish Examiner This bright, beautifully written fictionalisation of an actual series of crimes is the fruit of careful research... She uses historical material and images of popular culture to create an exciting story and convincingly evokes times and place. -- Jessica Mann Literary Review It's a provocative mix of real history and imagined crime, shot through with a sordid police-corruption angle that recalls James Ellroy's L.A. Quartet. Booklist USA The novel is an entertaining yet serious experience...Unsworth's novel is ripe with the idioms and expressions of the time, and readers will want to understand the nuances of every word.' ForeWord Reviews, USA