John Lincoln / John Williams Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.Publication Order of The Cardiff Trilogy Books
Five Pubs, Two Bars And A Nightclub | (1999) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Cardiff Dead | (2000) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Prince of Wales | (2003) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
Temperance Town | (2004) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Fade to Grey | (2019) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Grey in the Dark | (2023) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Anthologies
John Williams is an English author of biography and crime fiction books. He writes mystery books under the pen name John Lincoln. Sir Williams was born, spent his childhood, and works in Cardiff. He has written a number of screenplays and short stories set in a fast-changing Cardiff. His book, Blood Valentine, gives a true account of an infamous miscarriage of justice. Its publication received tons of critics to the extent that the police tried to ban the book unsuccessfully. He has worked for The Sunday Times, as an editor for GQ Magazine and currently works for the Independent and Mail on Sunday.
Five Pubs, Two Bars and a Nightclub
The title of the first book in The Cardiff refers to eight different locations from which these connected stories take place. The crime tingle stories are all set in Butetown, a working-class Caribbean town in Cardiff. The characters in the story move in an out across the stories, most of which are contemporary and involve drugs, crime, and sex. While the stories are characterized by an air of seediness about the lives every person in the small town leads, the author gives each story sufficient humanity and humor to keep the book light, and full of fun.
Cardiff Dead
Mazz returns to Cardiff to pay tribute to his old friend who died alone in his apartment, abandoned by everyone and especially his daughter, Tyra. But the city is not what it was when the young man fled a story of failed love and professional failure. The old city of poor workers is being transformed into a modern city, and entrepreneurs are fighting each other. And that’s when the suspicion arises in the minds of the old members of the ska group: what if Charlie did not die by accident?
This novel tries to give a glimpse of what Cardiff, capital of Wales, was in the 80s and what it became 20 years later. Quays, landmarks of the black community, in the city center populated with typical pubs where mix often poor and alcoholic workers and revolutionary students, the author tries to take us into a world where music is his era. Drug, sex, and alcohol are ubiquitous in the landscape, with deep down: a murder, a love story, and tragedy for all.
Temperance Town
Throughout his writing, John Williams has managed to transform the city of Cardiff into an interesting setting for stories of everyday grafters, schemers, workers, pimps, dreamers, criminals, and musicians.
The first six stories in this story revolve around a man named Mikey. He earns his living through shoplifting and seizes every opportunity to chat with a fine looking lady. In this book we follow Mikey through a couple of misadventures- from his daily shoplifting activities to working for a local gangster named Kenny Ibdullah, to trying to set a Christmas shopping trip, to try to apply for a reality television show to trying to start a girl band with his son. The author has crafted Mikey into a funny and interesting character, and the various misfortunes he finds himself in helping to give the reader a glimpse of his everyday life. The last few short stories star The Colonel, a retired football player as he tries to talks some sense to his pregnant niece.
The second part of this Temperance Town is a novella starring Deryck Davies, a budding star working in the Welsh police department. He’s just arrived on a mission in Cardiff, but the problem is that he doesn’t like the city and can’t stand the thought of meeting with his estranged father, Cyril. Eager to earn his fame, Deryck is told to investigate a seedy import-export company suspected of smuggling goods. At the same time, Deryck struggles to fight his dark side and comes to terms that he might have found his ideal woman matching his dark side. Filled with violence, and corruption, Temperance Town is an interesting novel, a complete contrast to the good stories that precede it. The characters are beautifully crafted from the lead to supporting cast. the setting has become a character itself, and this is evident as the author has set all his book in the Welsh port city of Cardiff.
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