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A Reg Calloway Mystery #1
Blood & Cinders
London 1949. Speedway fever runs high.Its stars are the working class heroes of a Blitz-torn city emerging from the ravages of war. With cash in their wallets and hoards of adoring fans, these dirt-track chancers enjoy a life of speed, celebrity and sex.But as Bermondsey Bullets defend their league title, they are rocked by the death of star rider Des Fenton in a mid-race smash.It's the start of a new and dangerous chapter for stadium security boss Reg Calloway, as he's dragged into the dark side of life at the track, with echoes of his own troubled wartime past.
240 pages, Paperback
Published February 4, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 29, 2020
First off, I can't believe I'm the first person to review this on Goodreads! And I paid for it by the way (and I don't know the author).
Reg Calloway is the manager of a stadium used for greyhounds and speedway, and it's a story set in '49, during the great post-war speedway boom. The riders are big names, celebrities. Calloway, though, is a loner. He has a past that kind of haunts him. All that, you know.
Anyway, the story begins with a death, a crash, and the team owner is suspicious and Calloway is asked to look into it. In the story that follows we meet the riders and their significant others and an array of local denizens and hoodlums, from the vagrant Joe Smoke to the local bigwigs. There's even a celebrity cameo.
Now, I bought this book for the cover, and because I thought my dad might like the motorbikes. But actually I've got to say this book was bloody brilliant. It starts quite slowly. I liked it, but I wasn't completely sold, but by the time I got to the halfway point, man, I was proper hooked!
The writing of 'Blood and Cinders' is goood, really good. The plotting and pacing is absolutely top-level. I mean really great. Seriously, as I read, I had that feeling that I haven't had since I read Chandler for the first time. The backstory was gripping and tied in just enough to the main action.
God, I loved this book.
Getting to the end was bittersweet - sad it was all over, thrilled to have read it. The ending was good, and satisfying ... but ... it wasn't quite as mindblowingly brilliant as I was hoping for, and it felt like a set up for sequel (which I will DEFINITELY read), but, you know...
All in, 'Blood and Cinders' is an amazing book, properly amazing, and if you like noir, do yourself a favour. Read it.
Rating: *****
Reg Calloway is the manager of a stadium used for greyhounds and speedway, and it's a story set in '49, during the great post-war speedway boom. The riders are big names, celebrities. Calloway, though, is a loner. He has a past that kind of haunts him. All that, you know.
Anyway, the story begins with a death, a crash, and the team owner is suspicious and Calloway is asked to look into it. In the story that follows we meet the riders and their significant others and an array of local denizens and hoodlums, from the vagrant Joe Smoke to the local bigwigs. There's even a celebrity cameo.
Now, I bought this book for the cover, and because I thought my dad might like the motorbikes. But actually I've got to say this book was bloody brilliant. It starts quite slowly. I liked it, but I wasn't completely sold, but by the time I got to the halfway point, man, I was proper hooked!
The writing of 'Blood and Cinders' is goood, really good. The plotting and pacing is absolutely top-level. I mean really great. Seriously, as I read, I had that feeling that I haven't had since I read Chandler for the first time. The backstory was gripping and tied in just enough to the main action.
God, I loved this book.
Getting to the end was bittersweet - sad it was all over, thrilled to have read it. The ending was good, and satisfying ... but ... it wasn't quite as mindblowingly brilliant as I was hoping for, and it felt like a set up for sequel (which I will DEFINITELY read), but, you know...
All in, 'Blood and Cinders' is an amazing book, properly amazing, and if you like noir, do yourself a favour. Read it.
Rating: *****
June 14, 2021
It's 1949 and people are flocking to speedway for entertainment and action after the years of restriction imposed by war.
An on track death causes the female owner to question whether it was an accident or something more sinister. She asks her head of security Reg Calloway, who was involved in military intelligence during the war, to investigate. He uncovers a tale of blackmail and betrayal which reaches back into his war-time past.
An interesting and engaging thriller which digs into a dark part of the war with sensitivity.
The cracking book cover is also available as a tee shirt from the publisher.
An on track death causes the female owner to question whether it was an accident or something more sinister. She asks her head of security Reg Calloway, who was involved in military intelligence during the war, to investigate. He uncovers a tale of blackmail and betrayal which reaches back into his war-time past.
An interesting and engaging thriller which digs into a dark part of the war with sensitivity.
The cracking book cover is also available as a tee shirt from the publisher.
May 21, 2023
Blood & Cinders by DDC Morgan (2020) started off great...It's 1949 in the rubble landscape of South London. A popular sporting event for the lower-class (this is England) is attending the oval dirt bike races at the local dilapidated stadium where Reg Calloway is the head of security. A favorite racer is killed in a crash...or was he murdered? Thus sets the stage for Calloway's investigation. Highlights of the book is the setting and strong characters through-out which brings the book to life...But...But...Just past the half-way point the plot-line shifts in a new direction, that of a bunch of Nazi-nonsense and it's accompanying dead-weight. Unfortunately the story never pulls out of it relegating the dirt-bike scene to pretty much minor sub-plot status. It would have been a better & tighter story if it kept it's focus centered on the dirt bike mystery alone... A big let down...2 outta 5 Stars...-Odd, this is the second book in a row I've read where the story line dove in to Nazi-junk with a bunch of propaganda attached (see my review of The Quest for Anna Klein written in 2012). What's up with that?
July 11, 2022
Yep, Dashing Des comes a cropper early on. And Pattie Moxon - owner of the Bermondsey Bullets speedway team - smells foul play. Head of stadium security, Reg Calloway, is put on the case. What Reg uncovers is beyond anything even his dour view of humanity can imagine.
As Reg follows one lead after another through the dark streets of post-war London, delving beneath the glamour of the speedway scene, the shadow of the war looms over all. It is 1949. London is still largely a bombsite peopled by the broken and the lost. One of them being Reg, himself. Connections to the war run deep throughout the novel, portrayed brilliantly by Morgan.
Indeed, the era is portrayed so superbly, so genuinely, it felt at times I was living in 1949 and reading a just published novel. It is hard to describe how Morgan achieves this effect. Maybe it is dilligent research. Maybe it is the strong characterisation and magnificent use of the popularity of the post-war speedway scene as a backdrop. Or the references to the popular films and music of the day. In truth, all of these play a part. Ultimately, though, it is only the quality of the writing that can produce such a stunning effect.
The plot rattles along at a cracking pace, driven by Reg's desire for the truth - however awful it turns out to be. What raises Reg above many a protagonist is his own sense of the darkness within himself. A darkness he knows is capable of the most extreme violence.
A brilliant novel.
As Reg follows one lead after another through the dark streets of post-war London, delving beneath the glamour of the speedway scene, the shadow of the war looms over all. It is 1949. London is still largely a bombsite peopled by the broken and the lost. One of them being Reg, himself. Connections to the war run deep throughout the novel, portrayed brilliantly by Morgan.
Indeed, the era is portrayed so superbly, so genuinely, it felt at times I was living in 1949 and reading a just published novel. It is hard to describe how Morgan achieves this effect. Maybe it is dilligent research. Maybe it is the strong characterisation and magnificent use of the popularity of the post-war speedway scene as a backdrop. Or the references to the popular films and music of the day. In truth, all of these play a part. Ultimately, though, it is only the quality of the writing that can produce such a stunning effect.
The plot rattles along at a cracking pace, driven by Reg's desire for the truth - however awful it turns out to be. What raises Reg above many a protagonist is his own sense of the darkness within himself. A darkness he knows is capable of the most extreme violence.
A brilliant novel.
January 13, 2022
Blood & Cinders introduces us to Reg Calloway. It's the late forties and he is working as track security officer at a London stadium, home of the Bermondsey Bullets speedway team.
When their star rider dies in a terrible crash, the team's boss Pattie Moxon asks Calloway to investigate. His instinct is to refuse, but she is a hard woman to deny and he takes the case.
What follows is a gritty thriller, full of intrigue, violence, seedy venues and downright unpleasant characters. DDC Morgan brilliantly evokes the world of postwar speedway - the tension of the races is palpable, you can almost see the sparks as the riders' metal soled boots scrape the track and taste the grease, dust and oil. He also digs into a little known and disturbing area of WWII and its legacy casts a shadow over much of the plot.
I will definitely be reading more of this series.
When their star rider dies in a terrible crash, the team's boss Pattie Moxon asks Calloway to investigate. His instinct is to refuse, but she is a hard woman to deny and he takes the case.
What follows is a gritty thriller, full of intrigue, violence, seedy venues and downright unpleasant characters. DDC Morgan brilliantly evokes the world of postwar speedway - the tension of the races is palpable, you can almost see the sparks as the riders' metal soled boots scrape the track and taste the grease, dust and oil. He also digs into a little known and disturbing area of WWII and its legacy casts a shadow over much of the plot.
I will definitely be reading more of this series.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews