What We're Reading

REVIEW
Combining the real lives of the East End's most notorious villains with a fictional gangster family is an unusual concept.

It's what GF Newman, the creator of Judge John Deed has attempted in his novel Crime And Punishment, which was released in paperback last month.

The author uses newspaper reports and biographies to draw on real-life incidents involving the Kray and Richardson gangs, as a backdrop to the fictional story of the Oldmans spanning an epic four decades.

The result is a fantastic insight into the dark side of London's East End.

It's a great story with the highlight being some fascinating character development made possible by the bulk of the tome, with the story running slowly but smoothly throughout.

Unlike Dostoevsky's novel of the same name, which focuses on the ethics of criminality, Newman's work is an extensive investigation into how a normal family ends up the wrong side of the law.

As the story progresses there are some areas which are somewhat redundant and a period in the second part drags.

But overall it's a good page-turner and an eye-opener on the recent history of this part of London.