The Picasso Scam

Detective Inspector Charlie Priest is the kind of officer who likes to get on with the job, though his unorthodox ways have held him at inspector level for a record-breaking length of time. Yet while few other modern detectives will chase a Rolls Royce down a country lane in an ancient Cortina, Priest does get results. When he’s not putting crooks behind bars, he’s watching out for his team of young constables, only too aware that for them as much as for him the knock about humor of the station is in stark contrast to the dangers they face on the beat. Sheep steeling and shoplifting are everyday crimes in Heckley, but there are local villains with bigger fish to fry. When Charlie suspects a now-respected businessman, with a background of extortion and GBH, of involvement in an international art fraud, he’s taking on an enemy with friends in high places. But Charlie can be persistent to the point of recklessness–and, once he’s realized that there’s a link to the lethal doctored heroin that’s striking down the local kids, no threat will stop him…