Europe totters on the brink of WW1. The British government needs millions of soldiers, and fit young men who play football are the first target. The starting point will be two matches between League Champions Blackburn Rovers and the famous amateur club, the Corinthians, even if these sons of the country’s ruling class are at first reluctant to take part.
A series of burglaries strips celebrated golf clubs of valuable memorabilia, including the Royal Dorset, where Chris is helping to re-design the course.
Chris Ludlow’s life is in disarray. He is working for a shady ‘entrepreneur’ with interests in sport and the media; and his girlfriend, Jane, cannot shake off the attentions of her estranged husband, the unstable Hugo
It is mid-1914 and Europe totters on the brink of a devastating war. The British government needs millions of soldiers, and fit young men who play football are the first target. The starting point will be two matches between League Champions Blackburn Rovers and the famous amateur club, the Corinthians, even if these sons of the country’s ruling class are at first reluctant to take part.
The Corinthians are under pressure from all sides, even from politicians like Lloyd George and Winston Churchill, who want to fix the matches for their own ends; and the fraudster, Horatio Bottomley, has huge bets riding on the games and will stop at nothing to obtain the results he wants.
Nobody is in more trouble than James Clifton, a pillar of the Corinthians’ team. His life is in danger as he attempts to infiltrate a German spy-ring. He is also being framed for murder by the CID, and two of his team-mates are being blackmailed. It is time for him and his fellow-Corinthians to fight back and they do not hesitate to use their own brand of ‘dirty tricks’ in their battle for survival.
‘A bright debut in the sports thriller genre’ - Daily Mail
The author has used his inside knowledge of the professional game to create a very readable thriller’ - Sunday Telegraph
‘Cracking fast-paced action set against the background of the Open Championship’ - Yorkshire Evening Press
‘The man who can putt is a match for anyone’ is a golf truism; and Brian Harley, a journeyman pro with an unsavoury past, is proving its truth, with the help of an ultra-high-tech putter. Suddenly he’s winning tournaments and even the Open seems to be within his grasp. But Chris Ludlow, dubbed the ‘upper-crust’ caddie by the tabloid Press, is suspicious of Harley and his associates, especially when two of his caddies end up dead. Plunged into an alarming sequence of murder and treachery, Chris Ludlow has to solve the mystery, and has to do it during the final round of the Open Championship.
‘Unusual, fast-moving, perceptive and as a thriller, definitely up to scratch’ - Daily Mail
Chris Ludlow’s new job as caddie to the elegant but erratic newcomer, Rollo Hardinge, is taxing enough, but he is also involved in the share flotation of a TV production company. Their big project is a sit-com, but its star, the glamorous Amanda Newhart, dies in a fall from her penthouse apartment. But did she really fall or was she pushed? Chris must unravel the mystery of her death and, just as difficult, solve the puzzle of Rollo Hardinge’s golfing method and unlock his talent.
‘Death Trap is written with flair and knowledge. What Dick Francis has done for racing, Malcolm Hamer must surely do for golf’ - South Wales Evening Post
‘A highly entertaining sports thriller – smooth as a manicured green’ - Manchester Evening News
‘The plot is water-tight’ - Sunday Times
‘A pacy novel’ - The Observer
Chris Ludlow’s life is in turmoil. Having been fired from his City firm, he finds a job carrying the bag of the brilliant young Ben Massey, a member of Europe’s Ryder Cup team.
But scandal and discord follow the team all the way to California, and Chris suspects a ‘dirty tricks’ campaign by the Americans, who seem determined to win back the Ryder Cup at any cost.
The focus is especially strong on Ben Massey, who is accused of murdering his roughneck brother, and also on the past of the European Captain, Ross Bentley.
With the unsteady support of his journalist friend, Toby Greenslade, Chris has to find a way through a minefield of deceit – and also help Ben and his team to win the Ryder Cup.
'The latest in the consistently riveting Chris Ludlow golfing thriller series’ - Golf Monthly
A series of burglaries strips several celebrated golf clubs of their valuable paintings, and memorabilia such as antique golf clubs and balls. One of the targets is the Royal Dorset Golf Club, where Chris Ludlow is helping to re-design the course.
The police even suspect Chis’s friend, the journalist Toby Greenslade, of being implicated; and things get worse when they find the dead body of a Japanese dealer. Then the wife of another dealer is kidnapped. . .
As well as trying to recover a debt for a neighbour from a shady and violent lawyer, Chris must also do battle in the treacherous world of golfing antiques, where nothing is as it seems.
‘Compelling. . .Hamer’s prose is an unexpected pleasure, the story is ingeniously devised, the characters swiftly and effectively drawn. A better class of blockbuster’ - Daily Telegraph
‘Takes the lid off the sports business to reveal a nest of rattlesnakes beneath’ - Golf Monthly
Fate has dealt a winning hand to Steven Shaw. A gifted sportsman, he is also blessed with good looks, an incisive mind, and an overwhelming will to succeed.
His father-in-law’s money sets him up as a sports agent in New York and he swiftly gains control of the superstars who dominate the international sports.
His story unfolds against the backdrop of the major sporting events of our time: Formula One motor racing, tennis at Wimbledon, the Open Golf Championship and the Masters at Augusta, and the Olympic Games.
In his headlong pursuit of success he uses any means to achieve his aims: drugs, bribery, blackmail, and even murder.
Shaw proves to be a winner, the biggest predator in the sporting jungle – but at what price?
Chris is asked to find a publisher for the memoirs of Derek Headlam, one of the most accomplished and prolific art fakers in history. In his later years Headlam fell into the clutches of the mysterious ‘D’, formerly of the British Secret Service and with links to the traitor, Anthony Blunt. With her CIA collaborator the plan is to sell Headlam’s fakes into the art market.
Chris secures a contract for the book, but within days the publisher is murdered. Then Chris and his brother, Max, are warned off the project at the point of a gun.
Has some mega-rich art fancier taken action to protect his collection from Headlam’s revelations? Or have Headlam’s former partners decided to cover their tracks?
Chris is still much involved in the professional golf world. He is helping his journalist friend, Toby Greenslade, to investigate the use of illegal drugs by professional golfers; and supporting golf professional, Jack Mason, in his efforts to expose an illegal betting scam in the game.
Beset by threats of extreme violence from various quarters, not least from a crooked golf agent, Chris, with the invaluable help of his brother Max, sets about resolving all these problems.
Praise for the previous five Chris Ludlow golfing thrillers:
‘Imaginative . . . the plot is water-tight’ Sunday Times
‘Unusual, fast-moving, perceptive’ Daily Mail
‘Very readable’ Sunday Telegraph
‘Goes at a gallop from fairway to green’ Irish Independent
‘A subtly wrought piece of infinite charm and depth’ Time Out
Malcolm’s writing career began when he and his wife, Jill Foster, published the Family Welcome Guide – about family-friendly hotels, pubs and restaurants in the UK. It went into 23 editions during the ‘80s and ‘90s.
The first Chris Ludlow mystery, ‘Sudden Death’, was published in 1991 and four more Chris Ludlow stories followed, along with a blockbuster, ‘Predator’, about a ruthless agent at large in the world of international sport. His other books include a history of the
Ryder Cup and a guide to European golf courses.
Malcolm’s new novel, ‘Patriotic Games’, was published this year and was initially inspired by a photograph of the Corinthians team which toured Canada and the USA in 1906. His speculation about how many of that team might have perished in WW1 provided the impetus for the novel.
Malcolm has been an agent for sportsmen since the early 70s. His clients, past and present, include squash player Jonah Barrington, Muhammad Ali, golfer Johnny Miller, football stars Denis Law and Trevor Brooking, top rugby players including Gareth Edwards and Phil Bennett, and many other sporting heroes.
