The late great Philip Kerr produced a wonderful series about the Nazi era detective, Bernie Gunther. A finely tuned understanding of the Nazi hierarchy and their corruption, sadism and gangster mentality made the series compelling. As if that wasn’t enough he was well on the way to creating another stunning character, Scott Manson, when he died aged 62 in 2018

 His new character is a black footballer, transformed into a superb manager, with sleuthing skills as a bonus. He’s also a barroom political philosopher, which grated on his liberal readership (me!)

False Nine is a classic ‘whodunit’ with an intricate plot, more-or-less believable characters and written at a page-turning pace. The story is littered with named footballers, which adds to its charm.

Absolutely recommended to all football fans and those who like thrillers.