Published by the Book Guild Ltd, price: £8.99
They say you should write about what you know and Evan Baldock has cleverly drawn on his experiences of crime and football to produce a gripping novel.
The author left the Metropolitan Police in 2011 after 30 years’ service. In that time he policed Millwall matches for five years and later became the football intelligence officer attached to Crystal Palace.
Away from work duties, it was his wife Virginia, who he describes as a ‘madkeen Burnley supporter’, who helped him get the Clarets bug. He estimates they travel to between 12 and 15 matches from their home in Kent to watch Burnley every season.
He said: “We meet with a group of supporters (just like in the book), and it was this group which posed the question: “Why has a crime novel never been written involving football fans like us?”
“I realised they were right and knew that if I could write a story incorporating the match day experience for fans, alongside a crime thriller, it would appeal on two fronts to huge numbers of supporters who attend matches throughout the country each week.”
If that gives you the background to the book, then it’s to Baldock’s credit that he delivers it so well.
The Claret Pals are just an ordinary group of Burnley fans who meet up at a pub before each away fixture to eat, drink and sing raucous football songs. But a series of gruesome murders begin occurring around the country on matchdays close to the pubs they’re meeting in and the killer leaves clues seemingly trying to frame the group. I don’t think it’s giving too much away to say that we find out the identity of the killer early on in the book. That could be a drawback, but Baldock skilfully weaves the story together and The Claret Pals soon become entangled in the police net.
There are plenty of twists and turns, some more believable than others, but the story romps along at pace and you’re eager to know what happens next. The drama ramps up as we reach the dramatic finale and the Pals take things into their own hands.
With good dialogue and dollops of humour, Burnley fans will no doubt lap it up, but it should appeal to a much wider audience.
RATING OUT OF 10: 9
