Nineteen Seventy Seven - Red Riding Quartet v. 2

Publisher and industry reviews

UK Kirkus review

Is it possible to create a new genre in crime fiction? Amazingly, the answer seems to be yes: David Peace has come with what can only be called Yorkshire Noir. The caustic delights of his earlier Nineteen Seventy Four, a breathtaking and violent thriller set in Yorkshire, are to be found again in this equally powerful and atmospheric piece. It's the year of the title - the year of punk and the year of the Silver Jubilee. And the Yorkshire Ripper is plying his bloody trade. This is the dark world into which beleaguered copper Bob Fraser and over-the-hill journalist Jack Whitehead are drawn together in their sympathy for the prostitutes of Chapeltown. And as Peace's narrative treads inexorably towards the bonfires of Jubilee night and more grisly deaths, the two men come to the grim conclusion that there may be more than one killer at large. This is tricky work that Peace has undertaken: weaving a real-life tragedy into a work of fiction. But such is his way with idiosyncratic characterisation and remorseless plotting that the result is a totally convincing novel that is also, thankfully, highly responsible. As crime fiction chases its tail and vainly attempts to create innovation in an overcrowded genre, Peace seems able effortlessly to render everything anew in his lacerating and compelling novel. Whitehead is a particularly sharp creation, and worthy at times of comparison with the anti-heroes of Graham Greene. (Kirkus UK)