The book begins with an interesting foreword by an ex-police colleague of the author and progresses to the prologue, where we learn that the word Mafia might have originated as far back as the 1860s. Considering the word seems more modern than that, this titbit of information was an immediate surprise to me.

Kirby’s wit and extremely dry humour comes on straight away as early as the prologue which, of course, makes reading heavy subjects easier and created a relationship between the author (narrator) and the reader. When you read further, you get a good understanding of pimps and prostitution, slavery and murder, and gangs around the world.

Focussing the content towards London, Kirby adds references about events and people who are mentioned in his and other authors’ books. This is a useful cross-over element for readers of true crime in the historical and contemporary eras.

This book isn’t for the overly-sensitive but if you enjoy reading real life crime from the side of the good guys, then you’ll love Kirby’s Mayfair Mafia.

For the Love of Books

If you’re into policing and social history in London in the early to mid-twentieth century, then I recommend this book.

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Rosie Writes

A highly readable book and warmly recommended.

Ripperologist, October 2019

Kirby’s wit and extremely dry humour comes on straight away as early as the prologue which, of course, makes reading heavy subjects easier and created a relationship between the author (narrator) and the reader. When you read further, you get a good understanding of pimps and prostitution, slavery and murder, and gangs around the world.

Read the full review here

For the Love of Books

Featured in

Police History Society

A detailed and inherently fascinating account of the rise and fall of an organized crime family, "The Mayfair Mafia: The Lives and Crimes of the Messina Brothers" will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to community and academic library Criminology collections and supplemental studies lists.

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Midwest Book Review

Dick Kirby researches extensively and has an ability to draw together a narrative from a number of sources making a seamless tale usually of death and destruction within a long lost London and police force.

Robert Bartlett

So if you’re a seasoned true crime reader, or just someone browsing Amazon for a good read, you will surely enjoy The Mayfair Mafia, for it is one of those little gems that you will not be able to put down.

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Amazon Customer

It is only through meticulous research in various archives and interviewing people that an author like Dick Kirby can complete a truly magnificent book.

Britain’s Gangland Magazine

Dick Kirby has further enhanced his reputation with this book … (he) relies on the court and official records as well as the personal memories from retired police officers that give Dick Kirby’s books such an extra dimension of authenticity.

Alan Moss, author of The Victorian Detective

Dick Kirby has further enhanced his reputation with this book about the Messina brothers and how they came to organise prostitution in London on an industrial scale. It tells a salutary tale of how weak laws and poor enforcement enabled the Messinas to import young women to London, push them into false marriages to secure their residence in Britain, and force them into the prostitution that created an enormously lucrative income during and after WW2.

One of the heroes was the newspaper reporter Duncan Webb who did much to expose the Messina's vice empire; another was a female detective Margaret Heald. Throughout the book the author relies on the court and official records as well as the personal memories from retired police officers that give Dick Kirby's books such an extra dimension of authenticity.

It is a reflection of how street prostitution was not really officially recognised as a serious problem, but was nevertheless a driving force for organised crime; the weakened state of policing and politics after WW2 where those in authority did not grasp the problem until it was publicised by 'The People'; and how the vacuum left by the Messinas was filled by other characters who caused immense problems in the West End for many years afterwards.

There was a White Slavery Branch at Scotland Yard in the late nineteenth century, so the problem was not new; the lure of 'easy money' still runs strong. The lessons for today's police service in Rotherham and elsewhere are very relevant in that we need firm leadership and dedicated, diligent, fearless investigators to uphold, regardless of culture, vice and other laws that do not in themselves create records of reported crimes, but nevertheless exploit and ruin the lives of vulnerable girls and women.

Alan Moss