Danny Miller Books In Order

Publication Order of Vince Treadwell Books

Publication Order of DI Jack Frost Prequel Books

Danny Miller is a Brighton- born English author of mystery novels best known for his Vince Treadwell trilogy. He has also contributed to A Lethal Frost and The Murder Map the 5th and 6th books in DI Jack Frost series. Born and raised in Brighton, Danny Miller studied English and Drama at the University of London in Goldsmiths. As a playwright, his work has been performed at the National Theatre Studio, the Theatre Royal Stratford East, and the Bush Theatre. He has worked for the Chanel 4, BBC, and ITV as a scriptwriter.

Kiss Me Quick

Kiss Me Quick is the first novel in Vince Treadwell series by Danny Miller. The story is set in 1960’s England. We are soon introduced to Vince Treadwell, the main character working as a Detective Inspector. We first meet him falling foul to a corrupt superior in London’s Soho sex industry. The 60s Soho was known for sleaze for clubs and trendy eateries. This encounter results in Treadwell being transferred to Brighton on the South Coast. Luckily, Treadwell is a Brighton native, and this makes him all too familiar with gangster Jack Regent who vanished after being involved in a knife killing. His task is to track the gangster down amid the chaos of organized crime, riots involving gangs of Rockers and Mods that were popular in south coast seaside beach resorts in the 60’s and dodgy heroin on the streets.

Treadwell has to carefully navigate the thin line between the criminal gang he’s pursuing, Regent himself, Regent’s psychopathic sidekick Francis Pearce, Reagent’s girlfriend Bobby who later becomes romantically involved and his brother Vaughan, a crack addict who has in the past worked for Pearce. Because of the corruption rooted deep within the police force, Treadwell is unable to trust the people who should be backing him in his mission: his superiors in London and Brighton. Treadwell is in a murky and yet dangerous world and must act swiftly and with great care. Danny Miller captures the corrupt behaviors/activities and the excitement of the 60’s Brighton and the moral enigma of the police force that was far less accounted for and less controlled than it is today.

Kiss Me Quick is an atmospheric and intelligently written novel with a realistic feel of the ’60s. It’s a story of a maverick yet isolated cop who has to work against his superiors and in the criminal underworld. Treadwell is an engaging character with a sense of morality and bravery. The other supporting characters in the story are well fleshed out with substantial backstories that enable the reader to get a better understanding of the main character and the period. The author does a fantastic job of recreating the 60s and the feel and the vibe of the era. Two aspects make this book a unique read: the historical rootedness and the characterization. The story is fast-paced with some great action-packed scenes. The violence depicted here is pretty strong.

The Gilded Edge

The first book in Danny Miller’s Vince Treadwell trilogy series was a well-crafted and thoroughly compelling story lifting the lid for the reader to get a sneak peek on the murky side of Brighton in the 60s with its rockers and mods tearing up the porn baron, Mafiosi, the beaches and corrupt cops. In the midst of all this came Detective Inspector Vince Treadwell, an exemplary working-class lad and the very representation of the 60s meritocracy with his quick fists and sharp suits. Now both Vince and Danny are back for a second outing, The Gilded Edge.

The book opens up with the killing of Marcy Jones, a black nurse ailing from Notting Hill. She has been battered with a hammer in her own home, and the only witness to the murder crime is her little young girl, who has no information about the assailant. On the same day, another murder is committed. Johnny Beresford is shot dead in his Belgravia home amid half-smoked and champagne bottle joints. A well-known gambler with a circle of friends from Debrett’s and a double-barreled femme fatale for a girlfriend, it’s almost impossible for Vince to find the connection between the two murders. But this is London, and most lives are connected in the least expected ways.

The detective dives into the noble society of the Montcler Club, a gambling den characterized by perverts and eccentrics, where is sure he will find Beresford’s killer. Beresford’s beautiful and troubled girlfriend Isabel Saxmore-Blaine is the implicated as the main suspect- even she suspects that she killed him. Vince is increasingly convinced that she is innocent and their relationship seems bound to complicate matters. Is it possible to cross the thick lines between the worlds of high and low life? Well Vince discovers that crossing the tracks is the quickest of trips and he’s not the only one to make it.
Marcy Jones murder investigations begin to spin Vince closer to Montclair set. Via Soho drinking dens, specialist brothels where his fellow officers’ associate with the wealthy in the land, private hospitals and Turkish baths, Vince realizes that Marcy Jones had skeletons in the closet and connections which could have been the cause of her death. She had a fiancé with strange liking and an ex-boyfriend with links to the emerging Black Power Movement. The problem is, threatening the freedom of such influential men might get our detective killed too.

The Gilded Edge, like the first book in the series, is a thoroughly engaging novel, and the author handles the extensive character list and the intricate plot with confidence that jumps off the page. The period the series is set is lovingly evoked in vividly descriptive prose which of corrupt affluence and hash smoke, and whether you’re in the bowels of a police station or an upscale nightclub, you will feel the authenticity in every single line. The main strength of this novel is the main character, Vince Treadwell. He is an engaging protagonist brimming with confidence of the 1960s man. He is the type of character you will want to read more about.