The Hoof — Philip McCutchan

Trade unions were not to be believed in, or so thought The Hoof...

So, he decided to do something about it. His crime spree began with the killing of several shop stewards. Caught and jailed for these murders, The Hoof uses the time inside to formulate another plan. Escaping from prison and fleeing to Europe sets his new plan in motion.

When Frankie Locci is found murdered, only confirmed when some of his body parts are pieced together, and further killings of union leaders follow in quick succession, it soon becomes apparent that a serial killer is on the loose. When intel informs Hedge that The Hoof has left Paris, Hedge makes the connection and summons Chief Superintendent Simon Shard to find Hoof.

Shard's investigation takes him on journey that uncovers The Hoof's more sinister objective. The Prime Minister is in danger and there is very little time to stop Hoof's plan … with an army of unemployed rallying to the flag, alongside some neo-nazi's, the recipe for disaster is rife. Hedge is beyond shaken. Rubber bullets ricochet outside the Athenaeum -- to the outrage of Shard's implacable boss, Hedge -- before Shard is able to put a stop to a course of mindless and unremitting carnage.

Philip McCutchan began writing in 1956. Prior to this, he joined the Royal Navy on the outbreak of World War Two as an Ordinary Signalman and ended the war as a lieutenant, having served in destroyers, aircraft carriers, cruisers, a battleships battlecruiser, an armed trawler, and an ocean boarding vessel. For three years after the war he sailed in Orient Liners on the Australian run and then for a time became an assistant master in a preparatory school.