London, August 2012, and the city is gripped by the Olympics. Londoners are proud to be putting on a great show for the watching world. And positively stunned to find that Brits they had never heard of are winning medals in events they had no idea of. Against this background of euphoria, in the well-to-do and usually quiet suburb of Chislehurst, three murders are committed. First, of a petty thief and cigarette smuggler. Then, of a young police officer investigating the first crime. Last, of a prominent Swiss banker shot on his doorstep. Under pressure from the Mayor, Number 10 and Lord Coe - all of whom worry a long-running investigation will ruin the Olympic party - the Commissioner sends his head of Serious Crimes down to 'help' the young and inexperienced CID team. Connections are soon found to serious and organised crime. Not least to the infamous Brinks Mat gold robbery and the police corruption that ensured it went unsolved. And, with that a further connection between the first victim and a violent pimp and drug dealer based on a grim, high-rise estate a few miles from the killings. But none of the theories quite fit the evidence until, inspired by the intuitive logic of their youngest member - Trainee Detective Constable Martha Cunningham - the team start to make a different set of connections; connections to a sad and very personal story. In this debut, Francis Szeben places us right inside the police investigation. We are with them collecting and collating evidence, trying out theories, chasing down new leads, interviewing witnesses and suspects. Szeben also introduces Martha Cunningham. One the Metropolitan Police's fast-track graduate recruits, she is clever, posh, pretty and sometimes just a little full of herself at times. But she is also committed, playful, independent and insightful. And it is her insight that helps us see clearly what the evidence really points to. The 2nd Cunningham File - The Chislehurst Connection - is now available. The next - The Chislehurst Avengers - will be published late 2015.
