Published by Bantam Press, ‘Streets of Darkness’ is priced at £12.99. For more information visit penguin.co.uk

RAISED in Bradford it is said author A.A. Dhand spent his youth observing the city from behind the counter of a small convenience store.

Indeed, the conversations traded over the counter along with the purchased goods would have no doubt made a great tale or two and obviously inspired the young A.A. Dhand to become a writer.

However, it would appear it wasn’t his first choice of career. After qualifying as a pharmacist he worked in London and travelled extensively before returning to his home city to start his own business and begin writing.

His tome ‘Streets of Darkness’ opens with a murder to solve and a tough character to crack the crime - the Detective Harry Virdee - only he has been suspended due to an IPCC investigation.

His temperament was the problem and Harry was tired of playing nice. References to the statue of textile entrepreneur, Sir Titus Salt, creator of the model village which would become a world heritage site, and Lister Park sets the scene for this interesting tale to play out.

Harry, who hailed from an orthodox Sikh family and his wife Saima, from a strict Muslim household, had been cast out by their families. Life was far from easy anyway and as Saima prepared for the birth of their first child he hadn’t been able to tell her he was out of work and just as the biggest case of the year lands on what would have been his desk.

However, it’s hard to switch off from that type of a profession. With his reputation to restore, Harry is determined to pursue the case and bring the prime suspect to justice - even if it does find him on the other side of the law.

Harry makes the grim discovery and makes the call which prompts the response from the people who were once his colleagues.

Usually he would be at ease with his profession but under the circumstances he feels more like an outcast.

“He had been a boss they all looked up to, but a boss who, this time, had bent the rules so far they had boomeranged and returned to hit him on the a***,” writes A.A. Dhand.

Frustrated that he wasn’t able to be involved, Harry felt as though he was in hostile territory. But may be his time would come, when he could prove himself once again and regain his senior position.

On the cusp of retirement, Detective Superintendent George Simpson, was acutely aware of the crime within the city. Plagued by violence, in the grip of an endemic drug problem and with homicides on the rise whoever took the reins would have a tough job on their hands.

And now the death of high profile businessman, Shakeel Ahmed, who had tried to reverse Bradford’s decline was under investigation.

Simpson had his suspicions and he knows the man who can bring the killer to justice. Harry. And, despite his suspension, he is keen to get the right man for the job.

“I need your help. Off the books. You know the streets better than anyone. I need you to find Shakeel Ahmed’s killer,’ says Simpson, giving his top detective a carte blanch to bring the killer to justice.

“If you have to break the law, then break the bloody law. Only this time, you’ll have my support.”

Finding himself on the other side of the law is a challenge Harry has to deal with in this well-written tome.

Without giving too much else away, readers, particularly those with an interest in crime and detective tales, are in for a thrilling read.