Crime In Brief: The Debt<br/> Smoked<br/>

The Debt by Roberta Kray (CONSTABLE £17.99 £16.99 (P&P FREE) 08700 798 897)

Well into Martina Cole territory, Roberta Kray's first novel gets under the skin of the London underworld with no problem.

Johnny Frank, a convicted murderer, is released into society with only one thought in his mind: revenge against the person who sent him to jail. The debt he has to pay. Hence the title of the book. But things don't always work out as planned, and - when a beautiful woman enters the picture - they start to go badly wrong for all concerned.

Told from the point of view of the main characters, turn and turnabout, Reggie Kray's widow proves she knows a thing or two about what's what, and she brings this to a smashing conclusion. With a name like hers, how can this one possibly fail?

Smoked by Patrick Quinlan (REVIEW £10 £9 (P&P FREE) 08700 798 897)

Years ago, when she was young and innocent, Lola Bell was gang-raped. Now it's about to happen again. Or maybe not. Lola's not so young and innocent anymore, but she's in a bad situation. Not as bad, however, as the two chancers who think she's going to be easy meat.

On Lola's shoulder is tattooed "Girls kick ass" and she does. In the worst way, which leaves the villains wishing they'd never got out of bed that bad morning. So begins Smoked, and it just gets better and better.

Smoke is a man who makes bombs. But one of his bombs is used to kill a whole bunch of innocent people on a plane. So Smoke gets a conscience, steals a load of cash from the man who commissioned the bomb, and gets the hell out of Dodge.

Lola is his girlfriend, and together they create much mayhem as they come up against hired killers who want them dead. But not before they pay for their sins. In blood and tears. But never underestimate the power of love.

This novel is up for a big push this spring. Watch out for it. A superb debut. A great crime novel. Brilliant is the word.