The rules of Tottenham Court Road Defender are simple: you start somewhere near Leicester Square,and walk up Charing Cross Road, then Tottenham Court Road, between the book shops, the camera shops, the musical instrument shops, and the emporia of electronic widgetry, seeing how far you can get before spending any money.
Yesterday was a record low score. We didn’t even get past the newly reopened Murder One, which used to be on the other side of the road. There I found the last Travis McGee novel for our collection, one other John D. MacDonald, and Denise Mina’s The Dead Hour, which is very good indeed: just about as sharply observed as John D. Macdonald, beautifully plotted and told — and with a twist ending which is the exact opposite of a Travis McGee. Very highly recommended.
Next time, I’ll really make an effort to get on to level two.