The mutilated body of a man is discovered inside a suitcase on Santa Monica Beach, his UK passport wedged between his teeth. One week earlier, the middle son of a wealthy Mexican is found butchered in his Ocean Avenue apartment. The local Santa Monica crime rate may have dropped by forty per cent, but the homicide rate is clearly on the rise.
Failed British actor, failed cop turned private investigator, Mandy is struggling to keep his head above water. Things suddenly change when he is hired by the murdered Mexican man’s family– who do not want the police involved. Why choose him? And why does the less-than-friendly police chief agree to give him a ten-day head start on his own men?
Then a potential witness turns up hanged, the still-warm corpse yielding a disturbing clue. Mandy soon realises that his investigations have only uncovered the tip of an iceberg, and made him the target of criminals far more sinister and powerful than he ever could have imagined.
Reviews:
Book of the Week – CrimeFictionLover.com
‘A terrific idea brought vividly to life with a cast of highly entertaining characters. A cracking thriller that recalls Michael Connelly.’ – Henry Fitzherbert, Sunday Express.
‘A thoroughly enjoyable detective race across LA, with bodies and dames and all the human wreckage. Old-school hardboiled gumshoe, meets CSI. There are even Sternwoods thrown in for the aficionados. And a red Volvo Amazon.’ – A.L.Kennedy, Costa Award winning author of ‘Day.’
‘A racy crime thriller that is also a witty pastiche of Raymond Chandler.’ – Alex Dryden.
‘A page-turning and darkly humours thriller, Jeremy Thomas’ Santa Monica Suicide Club exposes the corrupt heart of the Pacific coast. Too often thrillers these days are ploddingly procedural or pornographically obsessed with the minutiae of violence, but there’s real character, here- and thank God- humour.’ – Sean O’Connor. Author of ‘Handsome Brute’ – and Editor of BBC Radio 4 The Archers.
More Information: www.santamonicasuicideclub.com
