MOBSTERS have handed out some intriguing names to their associates. There are the obvious ones like Scarface, which was attached to the most well-known of all the gangsters, Chicago's Al Capone (above, centre, with the Mayor of Havana and another 'pal'), while Bugsy, Machine Gun and Far Tony are others that spring to mind. That last one, a real-life Genovese crime family boss Anthony Salerno, inspired the fictional mobster in The Simpsons. John Gotti's ability to slip through

MEL SHERRATT is a bit of a publishing phenomenon just now and her latest police procedural Hush Hush has received acclaim from many of her peers, including genre big-hitters Ian Rankin and Rachel Abbott. Since 2012 she has sold over one million books. All 11 of her crime novels have been bestsellers, each one climbing into the Kindle UK top 10, and there have been several Number Ones. This latest project involves a new detective, DS Grace Allendale, who is trying to cope with

KERRY BARNES certainly didn't take the normal route to becoming an author of gangland novels. Having grown up on a council estate in the South East of England she began life as a microbiologist and then went into medicine. It was only when her daughter was born that she began to take her writing seriously and by the time her children were grown, she had written four novels. Ruthless and Ruby's Palace were the first books she wrote and before rushing to judgement I will probab

NO self-respecting gangster blog can be complete without featuring the work of the master. Mario Puzo's Godfather is a tour de force that set the standards and guidelines for all other gangland crime thriller writers to follow. I read it a long time ago - along with several other Puzo publications - so thought I would refresh the memory by downloading it on Audible and listening to it on the tube. What a ride! I barely registered the trip from Leytonstone to Mile End and near

I THOUGHT I would move away from fiction this week and take a fascinating look into the world of true crime, from the small fry who serve drugs on street corners to the Mr Big characters whose influence spans continents. A former crime correspondent of the Observer, Tony Thompson is widely regarded as one of Britain's top true-crime writers and this book demonstrates why. By building up a network of “anonymous” contacts, Thompson is able to give an in-depth insight into the g

*Click on Book Cover to go to Amazon Sales page IF you like your gangsters of the rough and ready 'oop north' variety, it seems Mandasue Heller is the go-to author that fits the bill. Having spent 10 years living on Manchester's notorious Hulme Crescents estates she uses this background for many of her novels. And Mandasue likes to keep herself busy, singing in cabaret and rock groups, 70s cover bands and blues jam bands. As part of that scene, I'm sure she has built up a we

* click covers to go to Amazon sales pages IT MAY be pushing it a bit to put Lynda La Plante in the gangster fiction genre, but having been brought up on the Prime Suspect series with Helen Mirren I think there are enough dodgy characters involved to make out a good case for including her. Of course, perhaps the first crime gang you can associate with Lynda is the Widows, who took centre stage in a popular TV series back in the early 80s. Dolly and her crew got together to f

CASEY is being touted as an up-and-coming star in the genre and seems to have built up quite a following. I thought I would give The Promise a try, the story of young sisters Georgie and Marnie Parker, who are left to fight their own corner when their mother is jailed for a horrific crime. While the premise sounds good, unfortunately I found this slow and rambling, and could feel no affinity or sympathy with any of the characters, even the two little girls, who don’t really t

IT WAS 20 years ago that the Queen of London gangland fiction, Martina Cole, first released The Runaway, and I’ve only just got around to reading it. Crikey! It’s one hell of a tome. Covering several decades it follows the fortunes of prostitute's daughter Cathy Connor and drunkard's son Eamonn Docherty. Having been brought up together as kids while their parents shared a combustible relationship, eventually they are forced apart due to Eamonn’s dad’s roving eye. Their lives

I'LL ADMIT IT: I'm jealous of SE Hinton. To write such an iconic book when she was in her teens is an achievement of monumental proportions. The Outsiders is the age old story of disaffected youth and clashes between two cultures. The writing is refreshing and bright and the names and the characters are fascinating in themselves. At times I did find it hard to get a handle on all Ponyboy's Greasers... maybe fewer characters would have made it an even better book. Still, I wil