Take two musicians: ... Sean Green, a gifted Irish songwriter and -talented musician, but with a voice that makes Tiny Tim sound like Otis Redding ... and Wilko Robertson, about as soulful a singer as a Scotsman can be. They worked together in Circles, a band in the 1970s, but fame elluded them. Back together for a gig at Dingwalls Dancehall in Camden Town, this is meant to be the start of a successful come-back tour. But after taking a break from the show, Wilko is found dead in his locked dressing room. Then another body shows up - in another room that's locked from the inside. Pretty soon Camden Town's very own Detective Inspector Christy Kennedy is faced with two locked room mysteries and a host of suspects. And when he's elbow deep in bodies, Kennedy's partner, ann rea (always lower case), springs a few surprises of her own.

Paul Charles is a leading music agent (Elvis Costello, Tom Waites, Nick Lowe, Jackson Browne, etc), promoter, author and Beatles fan. The Ballad of Sean and Wilko is his fourth Kennedy novel, and follows the increasingly popular / Love The Sound of Breaking Glass, Lost Boat to Camden Town and Fountain of Sorrow. They are currently being developed for television and should hit our screens in 2002.

When you're a private detective and life's dealing you all the wrong cards, you can never afford to say 'no' to a case.
Two strangers come through Martin Jackson's door on that fateful day. One sad husband looking for his missing wife and a gorgeous redhead anxious to find her little sister and a stolen book. The investigation take the PI from London to Amsterdam and then to New Orleans and New York, as the search for two missing women curiously coincide.
Then there's Cornelia, a woman who combines the roles of hit woman, strip-tease artist and book collector. A woman whose path it's better not to cross.
No wonder things are starting to turn sour for Jackson...

Maxim Jakubowski is a former publisher and owner of the world-famous Murder One bookshop in London's Charing Cross Road. As well as being a writer and editor of various cult publishing imprints, he is acknowledged as a disturbin and controversial voice in contemporary fiction. His collections have sold massively, he is a regular on TV and radio where he is an expert on crime, erotica and film, and a Guardian columnist. He is lierary director of the prestigious Crime Scene 2000 festival to be held in London this July.