First published 2006
Tommy Akhtar takes cases other investigators won't touch. This Ugandan-Indian private detective drinks too much, fought with the Mujahideen, and knows every corner of multicultural West London. When an alluring sex worker hires him to find her vanished friend, Tommy expects routine work. The missing woman was last spotted entering a seedy bar with a client. But the simple search spirals into something darker. Tommy uncovers a murder that connects London's power brokers with those plotting to destroy them. He must navigate between the establishment and its enemies while the body count rises. The investigation forces Tommy deeper into a world where loyalty shifts like shadows and survival depends on knowing which secrets to keep. His case becomes a battle for his own life in a city where small lights flicker against vast darkness.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, investigation, morally-ambiguous-protagonist
Setting: London, West London
Period: 21st-century
325 pages · Paperback · Riverhead Books
Content warnings: violence