From the prize-winning author of Richard and Judy Book Club novel, The American Boy, this is the fourth in the acclaimed Lydmouth crime series, set on the Welsh/English border in the confusing years after the Second World War.
When squatters occupy a disused military camp near Lydmouth, public opinion is divided: do they really need shelter or are they merely unpatriotic scroungers and Communist sympathisers
When a man is found murdered in the Bathurst Arms, Detective Inspector Richard Thornhill has no shortage of suspects. One of them is Philip Wemyss-Brown, editor of the Lydmouth Gazette - and friend and employer of Jill Francis.
Once again, Jill and Richard pursue the same answers for conflicting reasons. This time, however, they have a second problem to solve, and this one is even more personal . . .
Taylor is an excellent writer - The Times
How skilfully he recreates the atmosphere of the time through innuendo, attitude and detail rather than dogged description... Taylor is the master of small lives writ large and, in the phrase coined in this era of surly pubs and poor food, he has carved a classic detective story which is deceptively calm and cool, but really smashing - Frances Fyfield, Express
'The latest of Andrew Taylor's Lydmouth series of books, in which he has so effectively created the atmosphere of the 1950s, with its genteel drabness and carefully preserved hierarchy of relationships . . . Is another satisfying read, in which the characters are as important as the events and tension develops naturally without contrivance. - Susanna Yager, Sunday Telegraph
Marvellously creepy - Frances Fyfield, Mail on Sunday
Andrew Taylor is a British crime and historical novelist, winner of the Cartier Diamond Dagger (for lifelong excellence in the genre) and the triple winner of the Historical Dagger. His books include the Sunday Times bestsellers The Ashes of London and The Fire Court, the international bestseller The American Boy (a Richard and Judy selection); the Roth Trilogy (filmed for TV as Fallen Angel); the Lydmouth Series; the William Dougal Series, The Anatomy of Ghosts, shortlisted for the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and The Scent of Death. He lives on the borders of England and Wales. He reviews for the Spectator and The Times.
For more information about Andrew Taylor and his books, see: www.andrew-taylor.co.uk or follow him on twitter: @andrewjrtaylor