A Scream in Soho

August 4, 2014
Brandon’s novel, first published in 1940, presents Scotland Yard’s Insp. Patrick Aloysius McCarthy as a hero for his time: WWII-era London. Under the blackout, it can be hard to see your hand in front of your face. But as long as Soho native McCarthy is on the job, even the most heinous of criminals, including spies and murderers, will be brought to justice. Leaning on underworld figures like Floriello “Flo” Mascagni and Danny “the Dip” Regan, the sleuth dives into a case with national security implications: will the wily “Teutons” be able to smuggle stolen anti-aircraft defense plans out of England? Brandon, an Australian-born professional boxer credited with over 120 novels, has, by contemporary standards, an overwritten style and a propensity for casually racist and sexist commentary. But the novel’s hero doesn’t disappoint; McCarthy knows his beat, trusts his hunches, and has no qualms about knocking heads together.

May 1, 2016
This republished mystery from the early days of WWII, part of the British Library's Crime Classics series, will give today's readers an insider's look at London during the blackouts, from the perspective of both criminals and police. The setting is then-seedy but scintillating Soho Square, a mash-up of victims and predators. During one of the air-raid blackouts, a woman's scream is heard. When Detective Inspector MacCarthy arrives, a stiletto blade and a woman's lace handkerchief are found, but no body. The evidence is puzzling: the stiletto is the kind that women hide in their bodices; the handkerchief could be the victim's or the murderer's. MacCarthy is a pleasure to watch, as he doggedly tries to piece together the clues that eventually lead to a plot to steal anti-aircraft defense plans. The writing is overblown by today's standards, but most of the interest comes from the ways this period piece illuminates what it was like to try to investigate crimes during blackouts, when cops literally had to feel their way along their beats. Pair this one with Cathi Unsworth's Without the Moon (2016).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)