IoS paperback review: Dial M for Murdoch, By Tom Watson and Martin Hickman

News of the underworld: a toxic culture of scandal and corruption

Topical in the fallout from the Leveson inquiry, this tale of skullduggery and cover-up will continue to grip long after the headlines have moved on.

Written by MP Watson and Independent journalist Hickman, both of whom investigated the News Corp scandal, this reads like a thriller, with hacking, bribery and corruption, intimidation, bent cops, and a gruesome, unsolved murder.

For years, Murdoch's papers were a law unto themselves: no politician or police officer dared challenge them. An unsavoury wriggling mass of crooks and bullies is revealed beneath the stone that Watson and Hickman tug aside – not just a collection of mean individuals, but a whole culture that was toxic from the top down.