A worried Rock Band manager asks for help when his band members appear to be being murdered one by one.
Palmer is sceptical until the manager himself is killed. The trail leads the team into the band’s past and the many people who could harbour a long held grudge.
It’s a needle in a haystack job checking them all until the killer shows himself on Facebook and defies Palmer to find him before the last band member is murdered.
As usual B.L. Faulkner knows the business he is writing about and takes the reader on a fast paced thriller to the explosive end at a major NEC concert.
And even then his signature ‘twist in the tail’ catches you unawares. A cracking crime thriller!
Completely Befuddling!
Another incredibly enjoyable story in this wonderful series!
When Palmer is asked for help from the manager of a Rock Band who is concerned that band members are being murdered, he’s not entirely convinced to take him seriously until, that is, the manager is the next one to die. Palmer and his team need to find this killer, and the clues lead them to checking back through the band’s history to find who could possibly hold a grudge. But it’s not going to be easy and, when the killer shows himself on Facebook taunting Palmer, time is not on their side. Then comes the murder of the final band member making it imperative that they solve this case.
I’m a great believer in reading work by indie authors; some of the best books I’ve read come from writers who self publish and Barry Faulkner is right up there with the best of them. I adore this series; every tale is individual – there is no formula here. Each one takes me by surprise and completely befuddles me when it comes to working out who the protagonist is. In this sixth outing for Palmer, Singh and the rest of the Serious Murder Squad, another puzzling crime with a great cast of characters and sterling writing – with the author’s trademark humour – adds up to a stunning five star read. This is a series I really recommend – don’t miss it! 5*
My thanks to the author for bring my attention to his books originally; I downloaded this one via Kindle Unlimited. This is – as always – my honest, original and unbiased review.
Tags: crime thriller
- Format: ebook, paperback
- Size: 191 pages
- Publisher: BSA Publishing
- Publication Date: 26 December 2016
- Book Links:
- https://www.goodreads.com
- https://www.barnesandnoble.com
- https://www.foyles.co.uk
- https://www.waterstones.com
- https://wordery.com
Faulkner was born into an extended family of petty criminals in Herne Hill, South London, his father, uncle, elder brothers and cousins ran with the notorious Richardson crime gang in the 70s-90s, and at this point we must point out that he did not follow in that family tradition although the characters he met and their escapades he witnessed have added a certain authenticity to his books. He attended the first ever comprehensive school in the UK, William Penn in Peckham and East Dulwich, where he attained no academic qualifications other than GCE ‘O’ level in Art and English and a Prefect’s badge (though some say he stole all three!)
His mother was a fashion model and was determined that her youngest son would not follow the family career path, she had great theatrical aspirations for young Faulkner and pushed him into auditioning for the Morley Academy of Dramatic Art at the Elephant and Castle, where he was accepted but only lasted three months before being asked to leave as no visible talent had surfaced. Mind you, during his time at the Academy he was called to audition for the National Youth Theatre by Trevor Nunn – fifty years later, he’s still waiting for the call back! After several sales jobs and sending advertising ideas to various agencies he was taken on as a copywriter with the major US advertising agency Erwin Wasey Ruthrauff & Ryan in Paddington during which time he got lucky with some light entertainment scripts sent to the BBC and Independent Television and became a script editor and writer on a freelance basis. He worked on most of the LE shows of the 1980-90s and as personal writer to Bob Monkhouse, Tom O’Connor and others. During that period, while living out of a suitcase in UK hotels for a lot of the time, he filled many notebooks with DCS Palmer case plots and in 2017 he finally found time to start putting them in order and into book form. 14 are finished and self published so far, with number 15 on the drawing board. To take a break from Palmer he moved into the ‘thriller’ genre with a series featuring International Private Eye Ben Nevis and his lady partner Alison Gold, known as The Gold Digger. Three are out and number 4 on its way.
Faulkner is a popular speaker and often to be found on Crime Panels at UK Literary Festivals which he embraces and supports wholeheartedly. Before the pandemic he was on Bristol Crime Fest indie panel; HULF Lit Fest and numerous Women’s Institute and other social clubs where he gives an illustrated talk on the big heists in the UK from 1930 to the present day and the ‘geezers watt dun ‘em.’
He has recently been seen on screen giving input in the Channel 5 Narcos UK series, Episode 2 The London Gangs and his DCS Palmer book ‘I’m With The Band’ has been serialised in 16 parts by BBC Radio Bristol. He has been a subject of many radio interviews including Corinium Radio’s Writer’s Room programme, Manchester FM’s Hannah Kate Book show, Hawkesbury Upton Lit. Festival ‘Best of British’ panel, Evesham Festival of Words Crime Panel, in the USA the Howard Lovy nationwide interview and Bristol Crime Fest Indie Crime Author Panel amongst others
As a crime writer Faulkner is quite particular about ‘getting it right’ and as well as his own Facebook page he publishes a page called ‘UK Crime Readers and Writers Page’ which has lots of information about the forensic crime detection methods, police procedurals and other facts of use to both reader and writer of crime and detective books.
Faulkner now lives in the glorious Forest of Dean with his wife and three dogs.
- Website: http://www.barry-faulkner.com
- Twitter: @crimewriter1
- Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00ND8R6OO
Grace J Reviewerlady 
Definitely sounds interesting. Thanks for your post.
LikeLike