Leslie Thomas Books

'If deaths are not investigated, then the authorities cannot be held to account and democracy is threatened. And if deaths are not investigated, we are not a society that values human life.' Inspired from a young age to help the marginalised and voiceless, Leslie Thomas QC has dedicated his career to fighting for the underdog and holding the State to account. This intimate and personal record of some of the most significant, controversial and disturbing legal cases of the last fifty years lays bare the very heart of the law enforcement and judicial process. It's an unforgettable account of an idealistic and outspoken lawyer's coming of age as a Black man in London, and a powerful portrait of the lives of those he has fought for. From the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, to the deaths of Christi and Bobby Shepherd by carbon monoxide poisoning, the Birmingham Pub Bombings and the police shooting of Mark Duggan, Do Right and Fear No One present a blistering argument for a level playing field in the pursuit of justice.

Many of the surviving characters from The Virgin Soldiers live again in these pages: dogged Tasker, the odious Sergeant Wellbeloved, the vulnerable Colonel Bromley Pickering and the comically touching Juicy Lucy. the endearing Welshman, Morris Morris - strong as a horse but bafflingly buxom;

In the spring and early summer of 1944 a huge force, a million and a half strong, spread across Southern England, awaiting the greatest adventure in military history. The invasion of Occupied Europe. This army, mainly Americans, British and Canadians, most of whom had no experience of battle, was to be transported across the English Channel. No one knew how. This is the story of the American "occupation" of a wide district of South Devon to permit realistic war games. Its characters range from the Generals Eisenhower and Montgomery to the village simpleton. The Magic Army is an impressively moving, often very funny novel, which recreates the astonishing operation which preceded the Allied landing in France.

Edward Richardson, manager to one of Heathrow's airlines, lives in the sleepy English village of Bedmansworth, but jets around the world faster than his marriage can tolerate. And when Mrs. Pearl Collingwood and her recently divorced daughter fly in from L.A. and stop-over in the little village, they exert an unforseeable effect on more than one person's life. Available in October.

Known in the London police as the Last Detective, it is no surprise when Det. Dangerous Davies gets beaten up on the job. While recuperating, he is approached by a member of the local Widows Club to investigate the death of her husband 15 years before. A mystery which propels Davies into a double life of casework and moonlighting and a series of outlandish adventures. Available in October.

When his latest case leads him to the unsolved murder of 17-year-old Celia Norris, this is Davies's chance to prove his mettle.

Detective Constable Davies has two things on his min: Jemma Duval, the beautiful, black, hymn-singing social worker, and 'Lofty' Brock, the harmless old eccentric who drowned in the canal. To prove that Lofty's death was no accident, our hero sets out to do some undercover detective work on his own.

Bursting with life and bawdy humour, National Serviceman Brigg is now a Regular Army sergeant defending the Empire in the beds and bars of Hong Kong. Peace-time diversions include sensual fireworks with a pair of delicious Chinese twins and a tender, erotic affair with the lonely wife of an American serviceman.

A delightfully rauchy story... a lovely blend of humour, sexual comedy and pathos' Daily ExpressA rollicking tale of a Welsh sailor with a girl in every port, but only one true love at home...Thomas has a rare gift for words...This is his best book and a celebration of his robust talents, which combine flesh with imagination. He always had a narrative verve, and this saga develops it into a turn of the wheel of life. Revolving Jones comes back at last to his eternal miss, and hopefully, Leslie Thomas will achieve a revolution in his reputation' The TimesThis exciting adventure story is also one man's pilgrimage, a lifetime's odyssey, a ritually layered tale of the quest for humour and love' Daily MailHe inhabits that "bestseller author" territory that includes the likes of Jeffrey Archer, Jack Higgins and Ken Follett, but he is a far better writer than any of them' Marcel Berlins, Sunday Times

But it was safe...'One way or another the Communist guerrilla war in Malaya kept a whole British army occupied from 1948 until 1952.A young virgin like Brigg had to grab his fun while and where he could - in the Liberty Club, in Juicy Lucy's flat or up in Phillipa's room - in one frantic attempt at living before he died or got demobbed...