The Winter of '63
by Stephen Ainley
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Pub Date 11 Mar 2024 | Archive Date 1 May 2024
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Description
It’s the Winter of 1963, and Detective Inspector Jack White with the unruly haircut and matching attitude, is battling ice, snow, and a cold-blooded killer. The Winter of ’63 is the latest standalone crime thriller from Stephen Ainley and once again, takes the reader back to the post-war unforgettable and unforgiving East End of London.
Spike first introduced DI Jack White. It’s 1961 and London’s Aldgate is rocked by two brutal murders. Spike is a brutal crime novel set in the heart of the 1960s East End that is still recovering from the ravages of World War Two bombings.
The author’s next crime novel was The Broken Detective, with the DI struggling with guilt that no amount of alcohol can assuage. A young girl goes missing, and a man’s wife disappears, but Jack’s own demons won’t stop him from investigating.
The Winter of ’63 is the third Jack White novel from Stephen Ainley.
The author was born in Birmingham, UK, and served in the British Airborne in the 1970s, before moving to Australia. He is widely known for his Dennis Bisskit Series, filled with family, fun, colourful characters, and disasters.
His first serious novel and Amazon Bestseller, Jessup, takes place in 1950 and spans the battlefields of France and Northern Africa, to the East End. Jessup is a heart-rending story of a former soldier with undiagnosed PTSD, with one last chance to turn his life around.
And now comes, The Winter of ’63. It’s the coldest winter in 200 years, so cold in London that people can skate on the river Thames. On one of the worst nights, only two men are unfortunate enough to be out on the streets in the East End, Jack White and the man he finds encased in snow and with an axe wedged in his spine. It’s the unforgettable Winter of 1963.
Join Jack White with his unruly hair and dark humour as he tries to solve these crime thrillers. There are many more to come.
Advance Praise
Peter McKue
5.0 out of 5 stars Another great thriller
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 March 2024
Verified Purchase
Excellent plot, classic Ainley wit and a good read. I had to wear a coat whilst reading it!"
Available Editions
| ISBN | 9780645166644 |
| PRICE | US$3.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 199 |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Carol Elizabeth K, Reviewer
My first read by this author and he didn't disappoint. A very good example of a police procedural set in the London of the sixties during the worst cold England had ever experienced, and a frozen corpse. With this as a backdrop the book is already on a winner. Jack White is a great character, the one liners and quips are an unexpected pleasure and they help to bond the coppers who work with him as well as Peter his DI. It stands alone as a story as we gain a bit of insight into his former life before Betty. One criticism I have which became more annoying as I read on, mom is not a word any English person would use now or then. I have become accustomed to authors using Americanisms when writing British set books but this continued use of MOM bothered me more than is probably warranted. Overall a good crime novel and will likely read more of Stephen Ainleys' series of Jack White. Sorry but he loses a star for the mother issue. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advance copy of The Winter of '63.
Lynda S, Reviewer
For those who don't know, the winter of 63 was a real winter, of arctic cold and ice, and copious amounts of snow. Not a winter most people were used to then, in times that still saw the shadow of post-war hardship. The setting is the East End, where many war-damaged buildings were still waiting for demolition, until the first tower blocks went up.
Snow can cover a multitude of sins. Including murder. Local cop Jack White (White? Not Frost? - the is writer has a sly wit in the background) is on it as he discovers buried corpse at the bus stop with an axe buried in his back, then another body, similarly despatched, is found.
We are introduced to White and his excellent bedside manner as he foils a jumper suicide attempt. These were tougher times. He is paired with rookie family man Peter Campbell, who does not share White's enthusiasm for pubs. But work together they must. A shop owner is savagely beaten, a guy on bonfire night is found to be a guy, literally. A dead guy. Could it be gangsters?
He is reminded that in the case of all crimes and mysteries, the most important step in solving the current crop of felonies. Luckily, White also has the help of a detective colleague who is happy to snoop in a building observing what the immediate neighbours are up to whilst remaining, well, undetected.
The unmasking of the main killer makes for a decently satisfying reveal in itself but in keeping with the original advice to look at the beginning, there are other surprises in store too, as might befit a city that is really a collection of very closely knit village communities. A small and colourful world of characters indeed.
This book is the second in what appears to be part of a standalone series of novels featuring Jack White. Hopefully there will be more.
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