Tony R Cox is an ex-provincial UK journalist. The Simon Jardine series is based on his memories of the early 70s - the time of sex, drugs and rock 'n roll - when reporters relied on word of mouth and there was no internet, no mobile phones, not even a fax machine.
Intense, hard-hitting, bloody and fatal! And that’s just the golf tournament backdrop that encapsulates this absorbing crime fiction novel.
The two main characters are Detective Chief Inspector Jack Hunter, a dedicated, ‘follow-the-rules’ policeman and ‘hunter’ of vicious criminals, and Adam Stringer a freelance journalist, and a ‘stringer’ in newspaper parlance. They dislike each other with a vengeance as there are deep scores to settle, but their egos don’t get near matching those of the inflated prima donna golfers and those who crowd around them.
Gordon Simpson writes engagingly with a firm grip [pardon the pun] to produce a well-structured novel. It is of little surprise that the author has been one of Britain’s top golf journalists, so he knows the courses intimately, especially Wentworth. It is that closeness that gives the book a flowing, knowledgeable storyline including the intricacies in the world of the sporting media interfacing with the glamourous world of international golfing tournaments. Four Deadly Swings is crime fiction with such depth in its golfing backdrop that it is as educational, as it is a colourfully descriptive crime fiction narrative.
Ryan Slater, destined to be one of the world’s top sportsman, is killed by a driver – the most lethal club in a golfer’s ‘armoury’. The death brings DCI Hunter and Adam Stringer into direct contact. The police inspector is vocationally devoted to bringing the murderer to justice, while Stringer the journalist wants a front page lead-story with his by-line. Both Hunter and Stringer have to use their professional skills as Cop and Journalist to track down the murderer.
The frisson between the pair from the outset is vindictive and personal, growing in intensity as the game is soon afoot. Eventually, they are forced to have work together as they cope with the inflated egos of the professional sportsmen, their entourages and hangers-on who populate the tournament estate.
The author of Four Deadly Swings teaches us about golf course greens, fairways, putting, with a vocabulary that most of us have only heard on television. This crime fiction novel is aimed at golfing addicts as well as enthusiasts, though the narrative is at its core - crime fiction, which unfolds through many twists and turns.
Four Deadly Swings combines sport and crime to form a long, powerful drive through the rough to an eventual, final, successful hole.
Will crime fiction readers enjoy it?
You can bet on it.
