Dead Centre - Hardcover

It is 1887, the year of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, and London is in turmoil, particularly at the dead centre, Trafalgar Square. Here, the angry unemployed gather daily to protest and nightly to sleep. The police are worn out by endless duty and bitter about the accusations of brutality from the protesters and blame from others for not doing more to prevent the disorder.Adding fuel to the fire, a prominent member of one of the new socialist organisations leading the protests is found dead at the foot of Nelson's column and Detective Inspector Earnest Best catches a fleeting glimpse of Stark a man he knows was guilty of a dreadful crime in Whitechapel. Tension builds. Something terrible is about to happen.

Ex-Nurse and policewoman, Joan Lock, is the author of eleven non-fiction police/crime books. These include two on Scotland Yard's First Detectives and the history of the British Women Police - a subject on which she is an authority. Joan has also written radio plays and documentaries, plus many features for Police Review, the leading police magazine, and Red Herrings, the journal of the Crime Writers Association. The CWA awarded her a Red Herring for her services and the Leo Harris Award for the best contribution. Since Joan turned to crime fiction she has produced one modern crime novel, Death in Perspective, and seven of a Victorian series featuring the charismatic Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Ernest Best. Dead Centre is the latest of these.