The Fortune Men

BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • Based on a true event this novel is “a blues song cut straight from the heart ... about the unjust death of an innocent Black man caught up in a corrupt system” (Walter Mosley best-selling author of Devil in a Blue Dress).. In Cardiff Wales in 1952 Mahmood Mattan a young Somali sailor is accused of a crime he did not commit: the brutal killing of Violet Volacki a shopkeeper from Tiger Bay. At first Mahmood believes he can ignore the fingers pointing his way; he may be a gambler and a petty thief but he is no murderer. He is a father of three secure in his innocence and his belief in British justice.. But as the trial draws closer his prospect for freedom dwindles. Now Mahmood must stage a terrifying fight for his life with all the chips stacked against him: a shoddy investigation an inhumane legal system and most evidently pervasive and deep-rooted racism at every step.. Under the shadow of the hangman's noose Mahmood begins to realize that even the truth may not be enough to save him. A haunting tale of miscarried justice this book offers a chilling look at the dark corners of our humanity.