Spike It — Chris Niles

A British journalist with a taste for trouble finds more than he bargained for in this slick, hard-boiled mystery debut.

Radio reporter Sam Ridley is a drunk, but not too drunk to spot a good story. Elaine York's body was found in one of London's less salubrious neighborhoods, and her baby is missing. As the first man on the scene, Ridley's ahead of the news pack -- but not for long.

Within hours, one wrong word puts his job as a radio journalist in jeopardy. He's demoted to a researcher's job in a hard-drinking, hard-living, hard-news reporter's definiteion of hell: Female Am, the station's daily women's program. But now he may have the break he needs.

A man called Shark is on the phone, ready to spill the goods on Elaine's death -- for a price. And when Ridley dives into the murky waters Shark calls home, he's going to find himself face-to-face with loss, love, and one monster of a car repair bill.