What do you think?
Rate this book
John Mayo #1
The Black Fedora
The town of Lichfield is celebrating Festival week. The highlight of this year’s Festival is a reconstruction of the siege of the cathedral by Parliamentarian troops during the Civil War. The police have big problems: assassination threats have been issued against the guest of honour, Polish Premier Kosminski, reputed to be descended from Jack the Ripper; the priceless Lichfield Gospels are under threat of vandalism and theft; and they receive a tip off that the Antichrist is scheduled for a personal appearance and the man in the black fedora is at the centre of it all.
236 pages, Paperback
First published February 21, 1991
1 person is currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
Guy N. Smith
176 books303 followersI was born on November 21, 1939, in the small village of Hopwas, near Tamworth, Staffordshire, England. My mother was a pre-war historical novelist (E. M. Weale) and she always encouraged me to write.
I was first published at the age of 12 in The Tettenhall Observer, a local weekly newspaper. Between 1952-57 I wrote 56 stories for them, many serialized. In 1990 I collated these into a book entitled Fifty Tales from the Fifties.
My father was a dedicated bank manager and I was destined for banking from birth. I accepted it but never found it very interesting. During the early years when I was working in Birmingham, I spent most of my lunch hours in the Birmingham gun quarter. I would have loved to have served an apprenticeship in the gun trade but my father would not hear of it.
Shooting (hunting) was my first love, and all my spare time was spent in this way. In 1961 I designed and made a 12-bore shotgun, intending to follow it up with six more, but I did not have the money to do this. I still use the Guy N. Smith short-barrelled magnum. During 1960-67 I operated a small shotgun cartridge loading business but this finished when my components suppliers closed down and I could no longer obtain components at competitive prices.
My writing in those days only concerned shooting. I wrote regularly for most of the sporting magazines, interspersed with fiction for such magazines as the legendary London Mystery Selection, a quarterly anthology for which I contributed 18 stories between 1972-82.
In 1972 I launched my second hand bookselling business which eventually became Black Hill Books. Originally my intention was to concentrate on this and maybe build it up to a full-time business which would enable me to leave banking. Although we still have this business, writing came along and this proved to be the vehicle which gave me my freedom.
I wrote a horror novel for the New English Library in 1974 entitled Werewolf by Moonlight. This was followed by a couple more, but it was Night of the Crabs in 1976 which really launched me as a writer. It was a bestseller, spawning five sequels, and was followed by another 60 or so horror novels through to the mid-1990's. Amicus bought the film rights to Crabs in 1976 and this gave me the chance to leave banking and by my own place, including my shoot, on the Black Hill.
The Guy N. Smith Fan Club was formed in 1990 and still has an active membership. We hold a convention every year at my home which is always well attended.
Around this time I became Poland's best-selling author. Phantom Press published two GNS books each month, mostly with print runs of around 100,000.
I have written much, much more than just horror; crime and mystery (as Gavin Newman), and children's animal novels (as Jonathan Guy). I have written a dozen or so shooting and countryside books, a book on Writing Horror Fiction (A. & C. Black). In 1997 my first full length western novel, The Pony Riders was published by Pinnacle in the States.
With 100-plus books to my credit, I was looking for new challenges. In 1999 I formed my own publishing company and began to publish my own books. They did rather well and gave me a lot of satisfaction. We plan to publish one or two every year.
Still regretting that I had not served an apprenticeship in the gun trade, the best job of my life dropped into my lap in 1999 when I was offered the post of Gun Editor of The Countryman's Weekly, a weekly magazine which covers all field sports. This entails my writing five illustrated feature articles a week on guns, cartridges, deer stalking, big game hunting etc.
Alongside this we have expanded our mail order second hand crime fiction business, still publish a few books, and I find as much time as possible for shooting.
Jean, my wife, helps with the business. Our four children, Rowan, Tara, Gavin and Angus have all moved away from home but they visit on a regular basis.
I would not want to live anywhere other than m
I was first published at the age of 12 in The Tettenhall Observer, a local weekly newspaper. Between 1952-57 I wrote 56 stories for them, many serialized. In 1990 I collated these into a book entitled Fifty Tales from the Fifties.
My father was a dedicated bank manager and I was destined for banking from birth. I accepted it but never found it very interesting. During the early years when I was working in Birmingham, I spent most of my lunch hours in the Birmingham gun quarter. I would have loved to have served an apprenticeship in the gun trade but my father would not hear of it.
Shooting (hunting) was my first love, and all my spare time was spent in this way. In 1961 I designed and made a 12-bore shotgun, intending to follow it up with six more, but I did not have the money to do this. I still use the Guy N. Smith short-barrelled magnum. During 1960-67 I operated a small shotgun cartridge loading business but this finished when my components suppliers closed down and I could no longer obtain components at competitive prices.
My writing in those days only concerned shooting. I wrote regularly for most of the sporting magazines, interspersed with fiction for such magazines as the legendary London Mystery Selection, a quarterly anthology for which I contributed 18 stories between 1972-82.
In 1972 I launched my second hand bookselling business which eventually became Black Hill Books. Originally my intention was to concentrate on this and maybe build it up to a full-time business which would enable me to leave banking. Although we still have this business, writing came along and this proved to be the vehicle which gave me my freedom.
I wrote a horror novel for the New English Library in 1974 entitled Werewolf by Moonlight. This was followed by a couple more, but it was Night of the Crabs in 1976 which really launched me as a writer. It was a bestseller, spawning five sequels, and was followed by another 60 or so horror novels through to the mid-1990's. Amicus bought the film rights to Crabs in 1976 and this gave me the chance to leave banking and by my own place, including my shoot, on the Black Hill.
The Guy N. Smith Fan Club was formed in 1990 and still has an active membership. We hold a convention every year at my home which is always well attended.
Around this time I became Poland's best-selling author. Phantom Press published two GNS books each month, mostly with print runs of around 100,000.
I have written much, much more than just horror; crime and mystery (as Gavin Newman), and children's animal novels (as Jonathan Guy). I have written a dozen or so shooting and countryside books, a book on Writing Horror Fiction (A. & C. Black). In 1997 my first full length western novel, The Pony Riders was published by Pinnacle in the States.
With 100-plus books to my credit, I was looking for new challenges. In 1999 I formed my own publishing company and began to publish my own books. They did rather well and gave me a lot of satisfaction. We plan to publish one or two every year.
Still regretting that I had not served an apprenticeship in the gun trade, the best job of my life dropped into my lap in 1999 when I was offered the post of Gun Editor of The Countryman's Weekly, a weekly magazine which covers all field sports. This entails my writing five illustrated feature articles a week on guns, cartridges, deer stalking, big game hunting etc.
Alongside this we have expanded our mail order second hand crime fiction business, still publish a few books, and I find as much time as possible for shooting.
Jean, my wife, helps with the business. Our four children, Rowan, Tara, Gavin and Angus have all moved away from home but they visit on a regular basis.
I would not want to live anywhere other than m
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 18, 2022
"The man in black was alongside him, rubbing shoulders with him, his closeness as cold as death itself."
July 15, 2012
One of mr Smith's best in my opinion. Always enjoy his books but this one stood out for me.
October 23, 2025
Not gonna lie.. I picked this one up purely because of the cover. That eerie, supernatural artwork had me expecting something creepy or occult. You know, a cursed fedora that whispers evil secrets or maybe a detective who moonlights as a demon hunter.
But nope. Despite the spooky vibe, this one turned out to be a straight-up crime thriller — no ghosts, no monsters, no supernatural twists. Just good old-fashioned crooks, murder, and mayhem. It’s honestly kind of weird to see such a horror-style cover slapped on a book that’s basically a gritty police story.
That said, it wasn’t bad — just not what I signed up for. The pacing’s quick, the tone pulpy, and Guy N. Smith clearly knows his crime fiction structure. Still, I couldn’t help feeling like I’d been promised a séance and got a stakeout instead.
I took a peek at the second book, and it looks like it continues the same pattern — crime with a spooky cover disguise. So if you’re in it for mystery and grit rather than ghouls, this might still scratch the itch.
Rating: 3.2 quacks out of 5 🦆🦆🦆✨
Mood: Mildly betrayed by marketing.
Final Thought: Sometimes the real crime is misleading cover art.
But nope. Despite the spooky vibe, this one turned out to be a straight-up crime thriller — no ghosts, no monsters, no supernatural twists. Just good old-fashioned crooks, murder, and mayhem. It’s honestly kind of weird to see such a horror-style cover slapped on a book that’s basically a gritty police story.
That said, it wasn’t bad — just not what I signed up for. The pacing’s quick, the tone pulpy, and Guy N. Smith clearly knows his crime fiction structure. Still, I couldn’t help feeling like I’d been promised a séance and got a stakeout instead.
I took a peek at the second book, and it looks like it continues the same pattern — crime with a spooky cover disguise. So if you’re in it for mystery and grit rather than ghouls, this might still scratch the itch.
Rating: 3.2 quacks out of 5 🦆🦆🦆✨
Mood: Mildly betrayed by marketing.
Final Thought: Sometimes the real crime is misleading cover art.
March 1, 2025
Why do I keep coming back to Guy N. Smith? I don't know. Maybe because his books are short (often under 200 pages) and never outstay their welcome. They're over before they have a chance to become tiresome.
And that's maybe the first failing with this one. It's a bit longer than usual, and yeah, I got pretty bored before the end. The second failing is that there's nothing to care about in the narrative. A Russian official visits a country village in the UK. It's likely there will be an assassination attempt. He's a thoroughly dislikable character, so there's no incentive to care about what happens to him.
Haggard, the mysterious man in the black fedora, carries a gun with him, and I guess we're supposed to think he might be the assassin. A mysterious lawman called John Mayo shows up two thirds of the way into the story, and the big reveal at the end is ... Haggard and Mayo are the same person - which I guessed from "The Black Fedora" being referred to as the first John Mayo novel. Sheesh.
I rolled my eyes when Smith referred to a pentagram as a pentagon ... twice. So that was not a mistake. And this is a writer who has been churning out horror novels with occult themes for over a decade prior.
I chose this novel because I recall Smith mentioning it as one of his favourites. It's my least favourite out of the seven that I've read.
And that's maybe the first failing with this one. It's a bit longer than usual, and yeah, I got pretty bored before the end. The second failing is that there's nothing to care about in the narrative. A Russian official visits a country village in the UK. It's likely there will be an assassination attempt. He's a thoroughly dislikable character, so there's no incentive to care about what happens to him.
Haggard, the mysterious man in the black fedora, carries a gun with him, and I guess we're supposed to think he might be the assassin. A mysterious lawman called John Mayo shows up two thirds of the way into the story, and the big reveal at the end is ... Haggard and Mayo are the same person - which I guessed from "The Black Fedora" being referred to as the first John Mayo novel. Sheesh.
I rolled my eyes when Smith referred to a pentagram as a pentagon ... twice. So that was not a mistake. And this is a writer who has been churning out horror novels with occult themes for over a decade prior.
I chose this novel because I recall Smith mentioning it as one of his favourites. It's my least favourite out of the seven that I've read.
December 17, 2025
Thought it would be a horror, but far from it.
This was such an utterly boring read.
It was a lot of filler that didnt progress the story for pages and pages, and the general plot could have been summarised in half of this book. But it kept dragging on.
This is at the bottom of the list of books i have read, and i tortured myself trough it.
This was such an utterly boring read.
It was a lot of filler that didnt progress the story for pages and pages, and the general plot could have been summarised in half of this book. But it kept dragging on.
This is at the bottom of the list of books i have read, and i tortured myself trough it.
April 20, 2018
Not really a horror book, but more of a thriller.
Reads well, and has unnespected finale...
Reads well, and has unnespected finale...
October 21, 2021
To, wbrew temu, co sugeruje okładka wcale nie jest horrorem, a raczej thrillerem politycznym z kryminałem.
Małe angielskie miasteczko. Historia toczy się wielotorowo. Z jednej strony mamy grupę hippisów, na której czele stoi Ben, pragnący zniszczyć zabytkową, średniowieczną Biblię. Z drugiej strony ma przyjechać polski premier Kośmiński, podejrzewany o bycie potomkiem Kuby Rozpruwacza.
Giną ludzie... Policja ma urwanie głowy, nie tylko musi chronić Biblii i polskiego premiera, ale i prowadzić śledztwo w sprawie zabójstw.
W tym wszystkim przewija się postać tajemniczego, trupiobladego człowieka w czarnym kapeluszu. Kim jest i jaka jest jego rola?
Akcja toczy się tu wolno, co sprawia, że czytanie się dłuży. Policja działa niemrawo. Fabuła została nie do końca przemyślana, dużo tu nieścisłości logicznych. Wątki są pogmatwane, ciężko się w tym wszystkim połapać.
U mnie ta książka, ma plusa za polskie akcenty, odrobinę naszej historii, zwłaszcza poruszenie tematyki zbrodni katyńskiej. Pozwolę sobie zacytować zdanie, które mi się spodobało:
"Jeżeli Lucyfer ma ochotę nas odwiedzić, będzie musiał poczekać, bo pierwszeństwo w tym przypadku ma Polak."
Podsumowując, to książka mająca potencjał, który został zmarnowany. Mogła być świetną historyjką z dreszczykiem grozy, a wyszła nijaka.
Małe angielskie miasteczko. Historia toczy się wielotorowo. Z jednej strony mamy grupę hippisów, na której czele stoi Ben, pragnący zniszczyć zabytkową, średniowieczną Biblię. Z drugiej strony ma przyjechać polski premier Kośmiński, podejrzewany o bycie potomkiem Kuby Rozpruwacza.
Giną ludzie... Policja ma urwanie głowy, nie tylko musi chronić Biblii i polskiego premiera, ale i prowadzić śledztwo w sprawie zabójstw.
W tym wszystkim przewija się postać tajemniczego, trupiobladego człowieka w czarnym kapeluszu. Kim jest i jaka jest jego rola?
Akcja toczy się tu wolno, co sprawia, że czytanie się dłuży. Policja działa niemrawo. Fabuła została nie do końca przemyślana, dużo tu nieścisłości logicznych. Wątki są pogmatwane, ciężko się w tym wszystkim połapać.
U mnie ta książka, ma plusa za polskie akcenty, odrobinę naszej historii, zwłaszcza poruszenie tematyki zbrodni katyńskiej. Pozwolę sobie zacytować zdanie, które mi się spodobało:
"Jeżeli Lucyfer ma ochotę nas odwiedzić, będzie musiał poczekać, bo pierwszeństwo w tym przypadku ma Polak."
Podsumowując, to książka mająca potencjał, który został zmarnowany. Mogła być świetną historyjką z dreszczykiem grozy, a wyszła nijaka.
December 28, 2015
My first book of Guy N Smith. I loved the simplicity. Wonderful storytelling.
Want to read
December 9, 2017the content of the story is very good
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews