Roller-Coaster

A Grand Master of the Crime Writers Association, Gilbert ( Anything for a Quiet Life ) installs his series detective Patrick Petrella in a gritty East London crime scene ruled by brutish thugs, bent Old School businessmen and a police force beleaguered by both press and public. A minor newsstand fracas ties in with a boys' school scandal, and puts Petrella on the scent of a kiddie porn ring run by City scions, with the help of thugs and cops. While his boss, Morrisey--head of the Serious Crime Squad--gambles on a secret plan to crack the worst of the local gangs, Petrella battles department politics and Peer pressure to fight the good fight in modern-day London. The murder of a muckracking reporter digging for evidence of police violence in the West Indian neighborhood of Petrella's district turns up the heat. Petrella calls on a few tough cops for manpower and his wife and old comrades for advice to unhinge the frameup aimed at deflecting him from the porn ring's well-connected supporters. Gilbert's detective is bitter and wary, somewhat racist and definitely reactionary in the face of mounting crime, diminished respect for police and apparent waffling under by higher ups. The frustrations of procedural red tape and thankless duty are clearly trumpeted. (Jan.)