DEAD MEN'S WAGES

Paperback. The author, the granddaughter of Alfred "Charlie" Taylor, uptown villain, observes his life as though watching a grainy newsreel of 20th century London. It is a beguiling performance: nostalgic, deadpan, humorous, authoritative, knowingly resigned to a family history of crime and greed that did not leave the author untainted. With Family Tree. Includes police corruption. 272pp. p/back. From the library of former Det. Chief Supt. Leonard 'Nipper' Read, and includes loosely inserted handwritten letter to Nipper, part of which asks :"Question. If my cousins friend who cleans the first class cabins on BA planes happens to 'find' this book on the bookshelf, then gives it to my cousin, who sends it to me. Then I send it to you - does that make us guilty of handling or receiving?..." Vg. with minimal creasing to covers.