Full of Money [Hardcover]

Bill James (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2009

Part social satire, part police procedural, Bill James returns with the stunning prequel to Tip Top - In the drug-ridden Whitsun and Temperate housing estates a connection, once made, is only ever one thing: trouble. Trouble for the journalist whose investigation into the estates leads to his murder; trouble for policewoman Esther Davidson, whose job it is to arrest the killer; and trouble for TV producer Larry Edgehill, who becomes more involved with a Romeo and Juliet-esque cross-estate romance than he ever would have wanted .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dodgy doings abound in James's ho-hum police procedural set in 1998 London, the prequel to Tip Top (2006). When Det. Chief Supt. Esther Davidson investigates the shooting death of crime journalist Gervaise Manciple Tasker, she discovers from Tasker's notes that he'd learned too much about drug dealers at the rival Whitsun Festival and Temperate Park Acres council estates, in particular Whitsun gang leader Adrian Pellotte. As Davidson digs deeper, Larry Edgehill, the producer of a TV discussion show, A Week in Review, attracts Pellotte's unwanted attention. In a Romeo and Juliet scenario, a star presenter on A Week in Review, Rupert Bale (of Temperate), has become involved with Pellotte's daughter Dione (of Whitsun). Pellotte wants Edgehill to make sure Dione's treated properly. James's spotty gang warfare tale, hampered by unsympathetic characters and British cultural references that many American readers will find obscure, sputters to an unsatisfying conclusion. (Dec.)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* The always reliable James proffers a gripping London-based tale of drugs, murder, and revenge, liberally laced with his trademark dark humor and sharp dialogue. Journalist Gervaise Manciple Tasker has been brutally murdered for digging too deeply into the affairs of drug kingpin Adrian Pellotte. Meanwhile, Pellotte’s daughter, Dione, is dating television personality Rupert Bale; unfortunately, Bale hails from the Temperate Park Acres housing estate, which is a direct rival to Pellotte’s own Whitsun Festival patch. Worse, Bale has a sexy new cohost on his show, and Pellotte wants the show’s producer, the innocent and naive Larry Edgehill, to make sure there’s no funny business between Bale and his costar. Detective Chief Superintendent Esther Davidson is sure that a big drug war is about to break out between Pellotte’s Whitsun gang and his rivals from Temperate, and the pressure is on to prevent open warfare and arrest Tasker’s killer quickly, allowing London’s image as a safe, calm city to remain untarnished when the city puts in its bid to host the 2012 Olympics. The darkly hilarious dialogue, crisp writing, twisted plot, cryptic characters, and slam-bang ending make this another winner from one of Britain’s best crime writers. --Emily Melton

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Publishers (December 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0727868136
• ISBN-13: 978-0727868138
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,638,211 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Some charming dialogue and interesting situation but needs some character goals, April 28, 2010

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Full of Money (Hardcover)

Reporter Gervaise Tasker was murdered and left on childrens' playground equipment when his investigation into London drug dealing apparently rubbed someone the wrong way. Police Detective Chief Superintendent Ester Davidson is charged with finding the killer but with a drug war apparently about to break out between two London neighborhoods, there are plenty of suspects.

Druglord Adrian Pellotte has profited from the drug traffic for years--the money has supported his family and a host of dependents. Now his daughter is dating a man from the rival neighborhood and the conflict has caused his followers to wonder whether he can be shaken from his post. There are always rivals for leadership. Meanwhile, Pellotte tries to help his daughter's boyfriend--all the while concerned that the young man may be sleeping with another woman.

Author Bill James has a wonderful flair for dialogue and he uses it fully here. Conversations are never direct, always convoluted, full of non-answers, of indirect suggestions, of meanings that are the opposite of the words beings spoken. This is often very funny. I found, however, the rest of the story to be disappointing. Ester never really did much to solve the crime, semi-protagonist Larry Edgehill is not especially interesting. The real characters of interest were Adrian and his bodyguard/deputy Dean Feston. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see enough of these two--the scene where they shake down one of Adrian's dealers followed by their attending a literary festival, suit jackets filled with money. is the high point of the short novel.

I'm a fan of Bill James's Harpur and Iles stories. In these, we have Harpur and Iles on the police side, Panicking Ralph and others on the criminal side, and real character growth and motivation. I missed these in FULL OF MONEY.