Own Goals

This breezy debut by sportswriter Andrews is just the ticket for a light crime read when football's not in season. Set in an unnamed Yorkshire city, the story concerns an unemployed and soon to be divorced bloke who stumbles into becoming a detective by happening to be in a nightclub where an Italian soccer star is accused of sexual assault. Soon after, Steve Strong is hired by the local team to find out who is framing their players in apparently compromising situations.Unlike far too many amateur PIs, Strong thrashes about, upsetting the applecart over and over, repeatedly letting the beans spill to the wrong people, and getting in way over his head. The bad guys are a nice mix of thugs and greedy suits, and there's even a love interest or two. With repeated references to Raymond Chandler, the book wears its heroes on its sleeve. It's not an overly ingenious whodunit, but it does has something to say about the relationship professional sports has to television money and the big business interests that price out the average fans. The tale would have been a little more engrossing had the team been real, as Manuel Montalban's use of Barcelona in his footie crime book Offside. Andrews makes up for it by cramming in loads of humor, some of which works quite well, other of which is a little too forced. But if you're looking for a decent, light crime novel to pass the hours, this'll do nicely! And Strong's adventures continue in Goodnight Vienna, which revolves around the national team.