An eleven-year-old detective hunts a killer on his London estate — and the killer is hunting him.
Who drives the story
An eleven-year-old from Ghana navigating a London tower block with a detective's notebook and a pigeon for a guardian. He wants to solve the murder, win Poppy Morgan, and keep his family safe — and when he finally refuses the gang, it costs him his life.
Harri's friend and fellow 'detective,' the one who matches his bravado clue for clue. Together they bag evidence the real police would rather they left alone.
A hospital worker whose feet ache from long shifts, trying to shield her children from an estate she knows is dangerous. She loses both children to it in different ways — Lydia to the gang's orbit, Harri to its knife.
Harri's older sister, hiding a phone and a boyfriend her mother would forbid. The boyfriend turns out to be tied to the estate gang, and the revelation tears the family open.
The older boy who runs the protection racket and pulls Harri in — first his dinner money, then a knife, then a robbery. When Harri refuses, Killa delivers the threat that comes true.
The girl with 'hair like a golden river' who makes Harri's heart do backflips. Saying yes to being his girlfriend gives him, in his words, a reason to stay alive.
Harri's believed guardian, flown (he is sure) from Ghana to protect him. A boy stamps it to death — and Harri's own death follows soon after.
Also in the story
Harri's Ghanaian teacher, who spots his goodness before the estate can grind it down and urges him not to let the place change him.
How they are connected
Harrison 'Harri' OpokuThe pigeon
An eleven-year-old from Ghana navigating a London tower block with a detective's notebook and a pigeon for a guardian.
Harrison 'Harri' OpokuPoppy Morgan
He wants to solve the murder, win Poppy Morgan, and keep his family safe — and when he finally refuses the gang, it costs him his life.
She loses both children to it in different ways — Lydia to the gang's orbit, Harri to its knife.
Go deeper
The theft of childhood · Home and belonging · Gangs and the economy of fear · Faith, hope, and small beauties
Themes explainedThe full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
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