Barrister and sometime detective Frankie Richmond has never been any good at saying no – a fatal weakness that always leads to big trouble.

In Birmingham for a child abuse inquiry, Frankie reluctantly agrees to fill in at a corpseless murder trial for one day only. But walking away from a juicy crime brief was never going to be easy. Especially when the defendant’s girlfriend, who begs her for help to prove his innocence, is Frankie’s idea of gorgeous.

Soon she knows far more about the Birmingham underworld – and the leather sofa business – than is sensible for someone who’s off the case. Add to that a spot of breaking and entering, joy riding and bullet dodging and Frankie needs to track down the real murderer fast – if there’s been a murder at all.

Frankie’s chaotic approach to crime solving whistles along to the strains of Joe Cocker and the Four Tops in this follow up to Motown murder mystery Good Bad Woman.

'A book to read in great gulps' Sheila Newberry 'Beautifully written . . . she has a real talent' Mary Gibson Perfect for fans of Daisy Styles and Rosie Clarke. If you loved An Education, Good Girls Revolt and Made in Dagenham then this is for you. It's 1964. England has shaken off its post-war gloom and the world is full of possibilities. Best friends Sandra and Linda live on a housing estate in Essex. They are aspiring mods: they have the music, the coffee bar and Ready Steady Go! on a Friday night. Having landed their first jobs, Linda and Sandra look set. But the world is changing rapidly, and both girls have difficult choices to make. As Sandra blindly pursues a proposal, Linda finds herself drawn to causes she knows are worth fighting for. But when Sandra's quest leads her to local bad boy Danny, she lands both her and Linda in more trouble than they bargained for . . .