Adam Baron raises the shock factor for his fourth Billy Rucker crime fiction 'It Was You'; a fast-paced urban noir that draws upon the talents of Rucker, ex-policeman turned-detective, to solve a spate of grisly homicides in Central London, becoming quickly aware that he is the link between them.

The first half of 'It Was You' is gripping. The pages turn fast and Baron creates a realistic tension between underdog and environment. He has a talent for original metaphors and similes that evoke a real sense of the London Rucker inhabits, where 'at night the threat rises up through the pavements like dew'�. Billy Rucker is an interesting character; a fond drinker and social drug user, not wholly likeable and by no means morally sound- a grainy man in a grainy job. His dialogue is often convincing, but most other characters aren't so three-dimensional; it seems Baron takes it for granted that you have read the previous three in the Rucker series, although he does do some mild 'recapping'.
This leads me to the key faults of 'It Was You' as an isolated novel; the unconvincing story and the lack of satisfying structure. The early 'detection' of the culprit reveals a weak plot device, in that they were so conveniently 'mentioned earlier', a problem occurring once more at the deflating climax, which itself plays out as an underdeveloped, unsatisfying conclusion. Later key chapters are boring and cartoon-like in comparison to the stronger, grittier, subtler elements earlier on; in particular the episode with the amusingly named gangster 'Charlie Baby', who instils about as much fear in the reader as a giant chocolate rabbit.

Overall, I was disappointed with 'It Was You'. Baron spends a lot of time building up well-earned tension that somehow slips half-way through into clichéd crime-fantasy. The environment is beautifully evoked, which is a pity when such lack of convincing story leads us to the question; do we really care who 'it' was?

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