Nik felt the mistake in his bones.
The man in the snakeskin suit reached down towards him and pulled Nik upright by the collar of his coat. Nik didn’t see what happened next but he felt the wall. He cried out and then someone hit him and he closed his eyes and waited for it to be over.

London. 1967.

Nik Christou has been a rent boy since he was 15. He knows the ins and outs of Piccadilly Circus, how to spot a pretty policeman and to interpret a fleeting glance. One summer night his life is turned upside down, first by violence and then by an accusation of murder.

Anna Treadway, fleeing the ghosts of her past, works as a dresser in Soho’s Galaxy theatre. She has learned never to place too much trust in the long arm of the law and, convinced Nik is innocent she determines to find him an alibi.

Merrian Wallis, devoted wife to an MP with a tarnished reputation, just wants proof that her husband couldn’t have been involved.

But how do you recognise the truth when everyone around you is playing a role – and when any spark of scandal is quickly snuffed out by those with power?

As Anna searches for clues amongst a cast of MPs, actors, members of gentlemen’s clubs and a hundred different nightly clients, will anyone be willing to come forward and save Nik from his fate?

‘Miranda Emmerson is a genius at portraying summer nights in the city — with all their “distemper and secretions” — and a cruel, surprisingly small world in which privilege and prejudice quash any compassion. Fortunately, light relief is provided by the backstage goings-on at the Galaxy Theatre in Soho, where, in order to succeed, the actors need “lead stomachs, steel minds and loose knickers”’
The Times, ‘The best crime fiction for August 2020’

‘I absolutely adored Miranda Emmerson’s debut novel, Miss Treadway And The Field Of Stars, and am thrilled that theatre dresser Anna Treadway returns in this literary thriller that peeks behind the curtain of Swinging Sixties London… If you loved A Very English Scandal or The Trial Of Christine Keeler, then this is a must-read.’
Red

‘Entertaining and satisfying, A Little London Scandal is the perfect book for people who enjoyed A Very English Scandal and The Trial of Christine Keeler. The different sides of sixties London are evocative and absorbingly well-drawn, and balanced nicely with a twenty-first century perspective. Anna Treadway is the compassionate detective we need, and a great addition to the world of detection.’
Caroline Hulse, author of The Adults

‘well-plotted, moving and engrossing…A rich portrait of 60s London from the perspective of a range of engaging characters. Particularly moving is the voice the novel gives to the marginalised and disdained’
Rebecca Wait, author of Our Fathers

‘Conjures up the true spirit of multicultural 60s London – with all its charm and danger – with compassion and heart’
Samira Ahmed

‘Weaving its way through the streets and squats of the capital, this novel is both a page-turning mystery and a moving evocation of the prejudice faced by gay people just half a century ago.’
BBC History Magazine

‘This sequel to the excellent Miss Treadway and the Field of Stars is a pitch-perfect evocation of 1960s London with a smart, sharp voice all of its own.’
Sarah Hughes, i News, ‘75 of the best books for autumn’