The Paperback Sleuth - Like a Bullet

Humorous cosy-crime caper from the author of the beloved, bestselling Vinyl Detective series in which a feisty, amoral book dealer uses her unique skills to solve fiendish crimes, A love letter to Agatha Christie murder mysteries and classic whodunnits.

When rock musician and World War Two nut Erik Make Loud hires Cordelia, the Paperback Sleuth, to track down a series of rare and highly sought-after Commando novels by the blatantly pseudonymous Butch Raider, it seems like a routine job. But Cordelia soon discovers that the series – and in particular the incredibly rare Commando Gold paperback – are all but impossible to track down.

The books’ creator – real name Monty Hanington, once a promising young poet and now an embittered drunk – proves easier to find. And when he reveals to Cordelia that all his stories came from a real ex-commando he’d met on a pub crawl, a man who was only too happy to provide authentic colour to Monty’s stories for a pint or two, she realises the tales might just be a little too authentic. 

For Commando Gold details a 1944 operation in Greece, in which commandos stumbled on a cache of Nazi gold and decided to bring it home with them. The operation was real, the gold is definitely real and the horde still exists – hidden away in England.

And some people are willing to kill to get it.