William Shaw’s Sympathy for the Devil sways to the samba beat of 1960s London as DS Cathal Breen investigates the death of a Polish prostitute. Soon the intelligence services and higher forces are taking an interest and Breen smells a conspiracy as he tries to pin down the murderer. His partner and ex-copper, Helen Tozer, is heavily pregnant with his baby in the sweltering summer but that doesn’t stop her delving into the death of Rolling Stone Brian Jones. Shaw weaves together the strands into a superior police procedural that is strong on atmosphere and catches the zeitgeist of a decade where liberal ideals clashed head-on with traditional values.

Read Mal McEwan’s full review here.