From Publishers Weekly
A Grand Master of the Crime Writers Association, Gilbert ( Anything for a Quiet Life ) installs his series detective Patrick Petrella in a gritty East London crime scene ruled by brutish thugs, bent Old School businessmen and a police force beleaguered by both press and public. A minor newsstand fracas ties in with a boys' school scandal, and puts Petrella on the scent of a kiddie porn ring run by City scions, with the help of thugs and cops. While his boss, Morrisey--head of the Serious Crime Squad--gambles on a secret plan to crack the worst of the local gangs, Petrella battles department politics and Peer pressure to fight the good fight in modern-day London. The murder of a muckracking reporter digging for evidence of police violence in the West Indian neighborhood of Petrella's district turns up the heat. Petrella calls on a few tough cops for manpower and his wife and old comrades for advice to unhinge the frameup aimed at deflecting him from the porn ring's well-connected supporters. Gilbert's detective is bitter and wary, somewhat racist and definitely reactionary in the face of mounting crime, diminished respect for police and apparent waffling under by higher ups. The frustrations of procedural red tape and thankless duty are clearly trumpeted.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gilbert, with nearly three dozen books to his credit, brings back clever, cynical British cop Patrick Petrella, a sardonic hero whose fine mind, hatred of injustice, and strong moral sense make him an excellent if sometimes tormented detective. Petrella has solved more than his share of tough crimes, but he'll never be a top cop because he's unwilling to play the shabby, corrupt power game of police politics. Just back from a well-earned sabbatical in Morocco with his family, he's immediately pulled into a particularly nasty murder case involving a police informer who's been discovered, "tried," and sentenced to die by the gang he's infiltrated, then murdered in a most horrific manner. Petrella must make full use of his considerable detecting skills to untie this Gordian knot of a case, outwit the cunningly malevolent killers, and dodge over, under, and around the puzzling barriers that his superiors seem intent on putting in his path. Gilbert is a masterly writer, and
Roller-Coaster--obscure, violent, and enigmatic; darkly humorous, somber and intense--takes readers on a stimulating if unnerving ride they're not likely to forget. An early contender for 1994's best mystery lists.
Emily Melton
