Synopsis:
The story of a shy south London boy from a respectable family who became a shadowy but powerful figure in Soho, Mayfair and Brighton underworlds. Smartly dressed and well spoken, Billy Howard dominated the London crime scene for 30 years, a reign punctuated only by short stays in prison. The Krays said he feared no one and that Howard was the one man they truly respected.
The Soho Don is a gripping account of Howard's violent life and it exposes the links between the vicious gangland bosses, the police, the celebrity hothouses of Mayfair clubs, high-class prostitution and international gambling. It portrays his slide from power, and finally his pathetic death in 1984.
"It has the feel of Graham Greene's Brighton Rock... a style and era that I never tired of reading about" The Mirror newspaper.
"Great read..." Chris Tarrant, TV personality.
"I have never started a book that made such an impact... we were innocents in a wicked world" Barry Cryer, writer and comedian
"A good read... not in the normal true crime genre...this is a love story written in the third person" Steve Allen, producer LBC radio
