The Price of Love

Taken from the New York Times bestselling author's riveting collection of short fiction, marked by the piercing psychological insight and brilliant characterization that are hallmarks of his acclaimed novels.

In the story "The Price of Love" a young boy named Tommy tries to uphold his father's memory by pretending to be a police officer. As he delves into a mystery he finds it is more than he can handle.

While vacationing in Blackpool after his constable father's death, thirteen-year-old Tommy finds a tarnished police badge half-buried in the sand. When his mother's flashy companion begins slipping away to secretive meetings, Tommy decides that upholding his father's duty means shadowing the man himself.

Once he unlocks Arthur's wardrobe at the boardinghouse, he discovers a hidden holdall containing crumpled banknotes and a real gun.

• Forced Proximity: Trapped under the roof of Mrs. Newbiggin's boardinghouse, Tommy must keep his suspicions quiet while sharing breakfast and awkward pleasantries with the man he is watching.
• Secrets and Deception: Between hushed late-night whispers about fleeing to Brazil and newspaper reports of a million-pound payroll heist outside Swanscombe, adult motives prove far darker than a child's game.
• British Mysteries: Set against the breezy piers and crowded promenades of 1960s Blackpool, Robinson captures the texture of postwar seaside holidaymakers, where donkey tracks and smoke-filled pubs conceal ruthless criminal bargains.
• Also by This Author: Gallows View, When the Music's Over and Standing in the Shadows.