The Devil's Interval — J.J. Salkeld

In the second instalment of the Border City Blues novella series DS Samantha 'Pepper' Wilson faces challenges on all fronts. Her assertive policing style lands her in trouble again, but that's the least of her worries. Because Dai Young, a crime boss with boundless ambition and absolutely no boundaries, is dead set on removing his local competition, and fully intends to use the police to help him achieve his objectives.

So when DC Rex Copeland is contacted by an underworld figure with some potentially career-defining intelligence he is cautious, and not only because he has already learned that informants invariably face in two directions. But, if the information is correct, then Pepper and her team have a golden opportunity to both arrest a dangerous escaped prisoner and undermine Dai Young's whole operation in Carlisle and beyond. It's just too good an opportunity to pass up, isn't it?