Needless Alley: The critically acclaimed noir crime debut (William Garrett Novels)

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There is so much to like about this book, the language is fresh and the conversations come alive from the page. The shady side of Birmingham is vividly described from the backstreets of the city to the canal basin and its inhabitants. Marlow beautifully distils 1930s Birmingham into a seamy world of moral corruption: anyone can fall and few are left clean.

Needless Alley by Natalie Marlow | Hachette UK Needless Alley by Natalie Marlow | Hachette UK

I. setting up rather sordid encounters with women so he can provide photographic evidence of infidelity for husbands who wish to divorce their wives but then turns into something much darker; pornography, BDSM, drug dealing, murder.The pace then picks up considerably as Billy tries to unravel the contradictions that keep wrongfooting him. He bears the mental scars of war and comes to realise that he will not find happiness and love living the way he is and so becomes a man looking for redemption. This was a time where life was stacked against women (you may argue it still is) with limited rights and divorce laws favouring the husband. Ronnie is an attractive man, a little fey and living a bohemian life, like a streetwise Oscar Wilde but with a deep libertine streak. I was gripped from the start by the main character and how he wrestles morally with the job he has chosen to do, and by the almost tangible setting.

The Bookseller - Rights - Baskerville signs two books in

Not sure we needed as much detail of the pornography either to make the point that some of the characters were involved in that world and the Blackshirts although there to anchor us in a timeline also seemed an add on without any elaboration. My bugbear too much repetition of actions ie lighting and smoking cigarettes or pouring out drinks and the same adjectives throughout the text.

This is one of those crime novels that delves a little deeper into its characters, offering readers more of a lasting glance into their lives, and what an interesting bunch they are. Alongside this, the history that’s woven through is fascinating, knowing almost nothing about the politics of the time. Some stories have multiple perspectives (this doesn't but bear with me here), within which there may be one that you dislike reading.

Needless Alley (William Garrett, book 1) by Natalie Marlow Needless Alley (William Garrett, book 1) by Natalie Marlow

I loved Phyll, his unlikely ally in the spiral of blood and deception he enters and his guide in some of the hidden places he needs to walk. I really needed to know what had happened and found the creeping fascism plot scarily echoing in today’s politics. CW that the book does deal with themes of rape and abuse and there is one fairly gruesome description of a murder scene). he is in a dirty trade, operating honeytraps to obtain compromising photos of those inconvenient wives so they can be divorced. Flawed 36 year old private enquiry agent William Garrett has his office and home in Needless Alley, he is a damaged man from the war and his chaotic childhood spent growing up around the canals.As a neurodiverse adult I often struggle to picture things in my head when I read but due to the excellent writing I could often see what the author wanted me to see. s Birmingham is convincingly evoked, grimy, dangerous, and unforgiving for the stranger, as good a backdrop for period noir as LA. Each part takes a vastly different turn, making it feel like a new novel (think along the lines of Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell). Very gritty, no punches are spared and the reader will need fortitude to get through the maelstrom of violence and anger that is unleashed.