Death of an Editor

Fleet Street in the 1980s positively thrived on intrigue and malicious rumour and the phrase 'stab in the back' was synonymous with a journalist being summarily sacked, often whilst in the pub. [Indeed, The White Hart on New Fetter Lane became known as The Stab in the Back.] The Daily Post has a new proprietor who seems determined to drag the paper down-market, promote extreme political views and ride roughshod over the trades unions and industrial relations. Gossip columnist Rain Morgan feels far from secure in her job, but neither does anyone else, especially when the new proprietor is found, quite literally, stabbed in the back at his desk. As London swelters in a heat-wave summer, life in the offices of the Daily Post becomes even more chaotic than usual, with invasions by protestors (both left and right wing) and a printers' strike heightening the sense of megalomania, jealousy and paranoia. The discovery of typewritten death threats and the intervention of the bizarre, publicity-seeking psychic Ruby Dobby, do nothing to lower the temperature. And then knives, similar if not identical to the murder weapon, start being delivered to various members of staff, including Rain.


Genre: Mystery