Dope

London, 1919. The war is over but another kind of battle rages in the fog-shrouded streets. A minor lord lies dead in his study, a wealthy socialite has vanished without trace, and both are linked to Kazmah the Dream Reader, an enigmatic fortune-teller who has also disappeared into thin air. Inspector Red Kerry of New Scotland Yard must navigate a labyrinth of theatre people, bohemian degenerates, sailors, and titled decadents to untangle a web of morphia addiction, blackmail, and murder. Based on the real-life death of actress Billie Carleton, this novel pulled no punches in depicting London's drug underworld at a time when the very word "dope" was cause for scandal. Rohmer writes with relentless pace and period flavor, capturing a city still reeling from war, its elite numbing their traumas in private parlors while the working classes struggle in the shadows. The mystery satisfies, but what elevates Dope is its raw honesty about addiction and the social machinery that enables it. This is period crime fiction with an unexpected social conscience, a relic of its era that still pulses with urgency.