PAUL DALE
THE LIST Sunday Telegraph

To the uninitiated, Victor Headley is the Jamaican born writer of a superb string of crime novels that entranced the UK in the late 80’s, early 90’s and made a bucket of cash for black publishing house the x press. Telling the story of a clever if vicious London Yardie, the books were intimate, pulpy, delicious reading but then Headley disappeared top the Congo for a decade. This welcome return is the story of a deep relationship between two police officers from west Kingston. Fifteen years after they first meet, Rico is gunned down on his wedding day in London and Carlton vows to find the killer. But the bloody trail leads him back to the gang ties of his youth and into a wall of corruption from his Met colleagues. Off Duty is a witty, compelling thriller that never lets up. Despite the long lay off, Headley has clearly lost none of his unique defiant voice

GREG EDEN
THE BOOKSELLER

Victor Headley’s Off Duty Is a raw, powerful thriller that switches between contemporary London and the backstreets of Kingston Jamaica, in the 1980s, recounting a violent tale of gangland murder and drug running and following a Jamaican police officer as he pursues his former mentor’s killers through east London’s gangland. A tightly-constructed novel, full of well-drawn, rounded characters, and crackling with authentic streetwise dialogue that raises it above the standard of the average mass market gangland thriller. This is Headley’s first book for Hodder, and although he has enjoyed cult success with previous books such as Yardie! And Yush! the increased publicity and marketing support afforded by a big publisher should help to give both his profile and sales a deserved lift.

Riding shotgun with Carlton, a dedicated Jamaican cop, we tour the underworld areas of both Kingston and London. Carlton was once a rising star in a Kingston criminal gang and his off duty investigation brings him into contact with many associates from his pre law enforcement days. In London without the authority of accreditation or jurisdiction, Carlton is looking for the killer of his friend, mentor and former brother-in-law. Being on foreign turf he is forced to rely on acquaintances of questionable motive. He must negotiate unfamiliar territory without his usual support systems and finds the parameters of his case increasingly deepening. Headley avoids many of the problems that can beset novels of this sort and manages to draw mostly fully fleshed out characters. He demonstrates that the difference between criminal and law enforcer often hinges on a single pivotal moment. If you put aside arguments regarding the merits and demerits of pulp fiction and or gangsta lit, you'll discover a worthwhile page-turner by an increasingly compelling author.

LES RICKFORD
africanwritersabroad.org.uk

Off Duty by Victor Headley (Hodder & Stoughton) depicts Jamaican society from an insider's point of view. The present-day hunt in London for the killer of a former Jamaican policeman is interspersed with flashbacks to the earlier life of both the victim and his friend and colleague, who tells the story. The documentary style of the narrative slows some of the more exciting scenes, but gives a feeling of authenticity to this interesting and thoughtful book, with its sharply-drawn characters and non-judgmental view of a society struggling against poverty, corruption and gangsterism.

Telegraph Arts