Tony R Cox is an ex-provincial UK journalist. The Simon Jardine series is based on his memories of the early 70s - the time of sex, drugs and rock 'n roll - when reporters relied on word of mouth and there was no internet, no mobile phones, not even a fax machine.
Student Adrian Brown makes a mistake when he’s picked up by the most unsuitable man he could imagine. He fends him off and escapes but he’s damaged and frightened. Is this the portent to future dangers?
The Devil’s Smile immerses the reader in an intriguing, action-packed, story from the off, much helped by being based in the exciting world of television and a crime news programme. There is a belt of realism running through the plot, which smacks of a profound knowledge of television, its systems and its machinations. If this isn’t first-hand experience, it demonstrates exceptional research.
The characters, throughout the book, are three, even four, dimensional in their realism. Here is a writer who understands and feeds the importance of the relationship between the reader and the fictional people we are introduced to – their idiosyncrasies, personalities, strengths, and, what should be a vital factor, their weaknesses.
Sheila Hargreaves is the married, heterosexual and very mature, clever, hero. She and Adrian previously encountered the infamous Lollipop Man, about whom she wrote a book, and she is now an anchor on a TV crime programme. Her dislikeable fellow anchor goes missing and is found dead, murdered. The viewing public want the killer found and brought to justice, as does Sheila. At the same time, she and Adrian want to see the man who attacked him in his own kitchen brought to justice. These are two separate investigations, but are they linked.
The Devil’s Smile is not a book that details the night time gay life of Leeds, but it does touch on homosexuality in positive ways, as well as highlighting the threats gay men face. It also delves into the sexual mores of certain groups. These are plainly obscene and may even be criminal. The Devil’s Smile is a well-structured crime thriller that treads carefully, and excitingly, over the city’s potholes of vice and corruption without missing a step and without becoming immersed in salacious detail. It is fast-paced, gripping and an easy read. The phrase ‘page-turner’ has become a cliché – not this time, it nails it. Ideal for an airport and a medium-haul flight to somewhere exotic. Perhaps even Leeds?
