Streets of Town [Hardcover]

John Gardner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2003

The second book in the new detective series from a master storyteller The year is 1941, and London is still at war. After her adventures in Bottled Spider, WPC Suzie Mountford is back, and working the beat in West End Central - a notoriously dangerous patch controlled by the infamous Balvak Twins. When Detective Chief Inspector Tony - Big Toe- Harvey is brought in, ostensibly to swell their ranks, Suzie predicts trouble. For Big Toe is every bit as unpleasant a character as the Balvak brothers, and he has good reason to dislike Suzie...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fine atmospherics partly redeem a shaky plot in Gardner's second entry in his Suzie Mountford series (after 2002's Bottled Spider), set in WWII London. Det. Sergeant Mountford seeks to advance her career by tackling gangsters who have supplemented their usual rackets with a variety of black market swindles aimed at dulling the pain of government-mandated rationing. In order to nail a corrupt superior she suspects of working hand in glove with the most vicious and powerful villains-twins who seem to foreshadow the historic brothers Kray-she fakes a breakup with her aristocratic lover to arrange a reassignment to Soho. Once in position, she diligently enlists a network of informants to probe for any chinks in the twins' armor and plots to seize any opportunity to find a witness willing to testify to their brutalities. In the background, a necrophiliac serial killer, the Ghoul, preys on victims of the intermittent German bombing runs. Unfortunately, the Ghoul flies so far below the radar that neither Mountford or any of her colleagues in the force are aware that he is even at work until the story's end, where several key strands of the book unravel. Most notably, the street-smart and independent Mountford becomes a passive victim not once but twice, in ways that seem only gratuitous. These flaws mar a decent police thriller that makes little pretense to having any mystery elements, but that nicely evokes wartime London and the seamy underworld that thrived amid patriotic sacrifice.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gardner, author of more than 40 novels, including the continuation of Ian Fleming's James Bond series, offers up another cunningly plotted mystery featuring London policewoman Suzie Mountford. Set in 1941, the tale perfectly captures the mood of post-Blitz London: strict rationing, bombed-out homes, and thousands of families torn apart by the war. But it's crime-ridden, Mob-run Soho on which Gardner focuses. WDS Suzie Mountford is sent undercover by Scotland Yard detective Tommy Livermore, also Suzie's lover, to find the link between the Balvak Twins, who control Soho's brothels and nightclubs, and corrupt police inspector Tony "Big Toe" Harvey. Gardner conjures up an inventive plot, intriguing characters, and a spunky heroine in this suspenseful foray into London's postwar underworld. An enthusiastic thumbs-up for this fine combination of atmosphere and suspense. Emily Melton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Publishers (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0727859218
• ISBN-13: 978-0727859211
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #498,499 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book should be better known., February 12, 2006

By 

Dr. Fred R. Eichelman "arous" (Salem,, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Streets of Town (Hardcover)

I am amazed and honored to be the first to review "The Streets of Town" by John Gardner for Amazon. I'm amazed as this series of books, that began with "Bottled Spider", should have been at the top of any list of mysteries and thrillers. I feel honored as I consider John Gardner the very top in his field.

"The Streets of Town" follows the further adventures of Scotland Yard's WDS Suzie Mountford. Again the author gives us beautifully detailed plotting with sub plots galore. There are more surprises than a Hitchcock film and the characterizations are supreme. In this adventure we have a unique picture of the London underworld with the back drop of World War Two in 1941. The description and the dialogue of criminal characters is more colorful than a Damon Runyan tale and definitely more grim and deadly. Suzie has to overcome the prejudice against women who took the place of men as police officers during the war and therefore has to out Sherlock other detectives using her own unique abilities.

If this is your first look at the series you will want to read "Bottled Spider" and the two (three before long) that follow this one. If you have never read any books by John Gardner, then now is the time to start as you have missed a great deal.

I will admit that the Suzie Mountford books may appear at first glance as being geared to an English readership, something that may be new to some American readers. However, that is one of the things that makes this series so distinctive and you will find that the vernacular, some of the the terms, can be sorted out when you consider the whole text and you use your imgaination. John Gardner wants us to feel the texture of the times in London, to understand what life was like in this city at this particular period of history.

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptionall book, October 2, 2011

By 

Srdjan Pesic (Minneapolis, Mn United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Streets of Town (Hardcover)

The late John Gardner, a writer of long and distinguished career, finished his exceptionall opus with the series of 5 novels featuring Det. Sgt Suzie Mountford, set in wartime London.
The first two books that I've read are real gems. The tantalizing atmosphere of foggy, wounded London, the flesh and blood characters that almost leap at us from the pages, the wicked sense of humor-it is all perfect. Mr. Gardner gives a whole new spin on wartime London. It wasn't just the amazing courage and sacrifice of the British people. There was a lot of money to be made, gangsters, hookers, booze and if you had the dough you could buy anything you dreamt of. That slimy, violent London and its heros and villains, make you grieve when the book is finished. I have three more books left, and I will relish them slowly and sparingly.