He Kills Coppers: Jake Arnott

I had a slightly love-hate relationship with this novel.  More hate really.  I had read The Long Firm (the two books form part of a trilogy) with some - um - not enjoyment; it's far too grungy for that, and expected to react similarly to this one.  He Kills Coppers spans three decades from the 1960s to the 1980s.  There are stories of corruption, in the Police service principally, but also in the world of journalism: it reminds us, in the section recording developments in the ‘80’s, of the sheer nastiness of much of Thatcher's Britain.  

The three main characters, who take turns with the narrative, are hard to warm to and are somewhat two dimensional, while all other participants in the narrative remain strictly one dimensional.  Each, in their different ways, has an interest in small time criminal-turned-murderer Billy Porter.  

I remained fairly unengaged by the story.  But as a memorial to country going though profound social change, corrupt in many of its institutions, it makes an interesting if rather horrifying read..