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Dominic Nolan @dominicnolan.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

Fabulous review of VINE STREET by Jeremy Black in The Critic. Satisfying to see a book a few years old make an appearance in press pages, especially with a reviewer not adverse to putting the boot in. "This is a sprawling masterpiece... A major work of great power." thecritic.co.uk/murders-for-...

Review of VINE STREET in The Critic magazine this month: My book of the month is one published in 2021 that I have only just read, Dominic Nolan's Vine Street (Headline). Set pre-war, wartime and post-war, this is a sprawling masterpiece kicked off by the murder of a Soho prostitute that becomes an account of London's dark side as well as a morality tale of power and conviction. Well-written, the book is mostly set pre-war but includes a very powerful account of the Blitz. Murders pile up in a plot that encompasses police, villains, MI5, the Abwehr, the Mitfords, and the pressing physicality of people, buildings, violence, food, sex, drugs, smoking and drink. Leon Geats, the protagonist, a tough cop, fights the Flying Squad as much as the gangs, but also sticks to his last in tracking down a disturbing killer. A major work of great power.

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