"You didn't need to use the shooter," the car passenger complained as they sprinted along the alley and entered the street. "I'm sure he got the message. You didn't have to go and kill him".
"That's just the point," said the driver. "We did have to. Customers have to know the consequences if they don't pay for their stash."
Out for Revenge by Tony Bassett is a crime novel/ police procedural, based around Birmingham and West Midlands.
This is the 4th book in the DCI Roscoe and DS Roy series, and the second one I have read (see my review for Murder on Oxford Lane). It can be read as a standalone, but as often happens in mystery/crime series, you will understand the dynamics of the relationships between the main protagonists better, if you are already familair with them).
Blurb:
When notorious gangland boss Tadeusz Filipowski is released from prison, several people start looking over their shoulder.
A volatile character, not shy of picking fights, Filipowski plans to expand his drugs empire and put his competitors on a backfoot. That's until he turns up dead. Very dead.
DS Sunita Roy of the Heart of England police is handed the case but it's a challenge to find the killer of a man with so many enemies.
DCI Gavin Roscoe would lend more support but he is busy nailing down suspicions of corruption plaguing the force.
Soon, however, the investigations will bump into one another. And unless Roy and Roscoe can get to the bottom of the mystery, they could well become the next victims.
The book starts with a dramatic murder two years before the main story develops. A local artist is ruthlessly killed in his own house for owing money to the organised crime group. This murder sends a clear message to anyone who deals with the gang that they mean business and won't tolerate any refusal to obey their rules.
Two years pass. The head of the OCG, Tadeusz Filipowski arrives to Birmingham after a short spell in Spain. His sidekick Tyrone Blake warns him that the cops will be on the look-out for him. But according to Filipowski, business is business, and he cannot supervise his empire from abroad properly. The "trade"'s going well, and he wants to expand his drugs empire.
Short-tempered and known for his fearsome temper, Filipowski goes nuts at the merest whiff of provocation. There is no reasoning with him. When another driver overtakes their car and makes a two-fingered gesture, Filipowski sees red. The offender's vehicle is rammed and damaged, which brings the incident to the attention of the police.
The police immediately realise that the drug baron is back in the country. Filipowski's nickname is Tiff, because "he's got a temper like a deranged fishwife".
DCI Roscoe receives the news from Chief Superintendent that his suspicions towards the end of the previous year have proved correct. One of their detectives has gone rogue. Now that they've got clear evidence of this, they understand they deal with a serious case of police corruption.
"This concerns a detective inspector at Summerstoke who, for all intents and purposes, is involved in running an OCG linked to the drugs trade". That's the same CID who investigated the death of the artist, and there's a strong suspicion that there was a miscarriage of justice, when wrong people were convicted of the crime.
A new taskforce is set up, with a codename Operation Temple.
DS Sunita Roy and DCI Gavin Roscoe make a formidable team, complementing each other's strengths. As they pursue different cases, tension escalates.
They find out that the corrupt police officer is aiding the drug baron's operations and tipping him off about police activity. There's a suggestion, he may be taking a percentage of the drugs profit.
Rival drugs gangs are targeted if they pose any threat to the 101 Crew's sphere of influence. "The situation's got the potential to turn into a gang war on the streets of Brum".
As Roscoe says, "We want to crack down on them before a gang war breaks out. Senior officers are concerned people are going to get killed and untold damage will be done to the reputation of the police unless we act quickly".
Filipowski's death heralds a change in the echelons of power among the local OCGs. The drug baron has had many enemies. Involved in both drugs and prostitution, he has become a target in the world in which he operated.
Inter-gangs wars, police corruption, infiltrating the OCG to gather information, all these elements of the investigation come together and meet at the crossroads.
Roscoe and Roe are well-developed characters, with background stories enhancing the main plotline.
The organised crime gangs are portrayed convincingly.
Out for Revenge is a fast-paced thriller. I can easily see this series televised on BBC, as there is plenty of drama, unexpected twists and completely absorbing plotlines. Once again, Tony Bassett has created a riveting and credible police procedural story. Intelligent, gripping and engrossing.
This book review is part of the blog tour for Out for Revenge.
Many thanks to Tony Bassett, The Book Folks and Rachel's Random Resources for my copy of the book!
Purchase Links
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BK9PJLHK/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BK9PJLHK/
Author Bio
–
I am a semi-retired journalist who was born in West Kent. While
growing up, I spent hours reading and writing, and, from an early age, nursed
an ambition to become first a journalist and then novelist. My theory was that,
in order to write novels, one had to have life experiences to colour one’s
writing and one could obtain those experiences through journalism.
I was fortunate enough to be named Time-Life Magazine Student
Journalist of the Year in 1971 in a competition organised by the National Union
of Students. At the time, I was editing the student newspaper at Hull University,
where I gained a BA Honours degree in History and Political Studies.
After six years working on provincial newspapers in Sidcup,
Worcester and Cardiff, I became a freelance journalist in London. For 24 years,
I was a reporter on the staff of the Sunday People (now part of Reach plc,
formerly Trinity Mirror). Over the years, I sold tens of thousands of stories
to the national newspapers, including the Daily Mirror, Daily Mail, The Sun,
Daily Star, Daily Telegraph and London Evening Standard. I helped cover the
Jeremy Thorpe trial at the Old Bailey for the Evening Standard. I broke the
news in a Sun newspaper exclusive in April 1989 that Bill Wyman, the Rolling
Stones guitarist aged 52, was to marry 18-year-old Mandy Smith. I bought 200
blank MOT forms to expose a trade in fake certificates.
My speciality was tracking people down. For instance, I found
evidence about Rod Stewart’s secret love child Sarah Streeter by tracing a
retired adoption agent through a library ticket. On one occasion, I took an escaped
gangster back to prison. Some of my stories can be read on my website (see
below); others are generally available online. For thirty years, I was
also employed as a birth and marriage researcher mainly for the Mail on Sunday,
Sunday Mirror, Sunday People and The Sun.
I have a grown-up son and four grown-up daughters who all live in
South Wales.
Social Media Links
– www.tonybassettauthor.com
www.facebook.com/tony.bassett.92505
Tony Bassett writes: Thank you so much for giving space on your website to my crime novel OUT FOR REVENGE. Very much appreciated. By the way, Tony Bennett was a singer!
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