Back of Town Blues — D.G. Compton

Alec Duncan, King of Swing, it says on the billboard outside Tony's. a black man playing a white piano; just what you need to tart up a dodgy Liverpool nightspot. Forty quid a session, plus tips - about all a black Scots ex-copper with nimble fingers and a record of violence on the job can hope for.

But now, with Trevor Bladon, his girlfriend's killer, safely banged up for the rest of his natural, it's time for Alex to put it all behind him. Get on with his life. But first he needs to go and sort out a couple of things with Trevor in his cell. He's not sure exactly why, but he goes anyway. And it's not a good idea - he ends up prime suspect in another murder . . .