The Riot

This is the 5th historical mystery in the award-winning "Inspector Stratton" series. Having started during the Blitz with Innocent Spy, we have now arrived at the summer of 1958. Detective Inspector Stratton is investigating the murder of a rent collector in Notting Hill, a part of London seething with racial tensions between Caribbean immigrants and their white working class neighbors. And then a second body makes it pretty clear that race is a key element to these murders. Like the rest of the series, The Riot is based on real events and characters, on which it sheds new and revealing light. It is both an involving murder mystery, and a fascinating dive into London life in 1958, full of both details of daily life, and cameos by notorious public figures. If the name "Notting Hill" brings to mind a certain Hugh Grant movie, you will be very surprised to uncover the story of that neighborhood in its much less fancy days.