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- Baskerville
- Baskerville
- Baskerville
- Baskerville
- Baskerville
Crime & mystery, Historical mysteries, Historical fiction
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Imprint
Baskerville
- Paperback Feb 13, 2024 | 9781399801812 | RRP $24.99 Buy Now
- Trade Paperback Apr 25, 2023 | 9781399801805 | RRP $34.99 Buy Now
- Hardback May 9, 2023 | 9781399801799 | RRP $49.99 Buy Now
- e-Book Jan 19, 2023 | 9781399801829 | RRP $12.99 Buy Now
- Audiobook Jan 19, 2023 | 9781399801836 | RRP $39.99 Buy Now
Play Sample0:00 -
Imprint
Baskerville
- Paperback Feb 13, 2024 | 9781399801812 | RRP $24.99 Buy Now
- Trade Paperback Apr 25, 2023 | 9781399801805 | RRP $34.99 Buy Now
- Hardback May 9, 2023 | 9781399801799 | RRP $49.99 Buy Now
- e-Book Jan 19, 2023 | 9781399801829 | RRP $12.99 Buy Now
- Audiobook Jan 19, 2023 | 9781399801836 | RRP $39.99 Buy Now
Play Sample0:00 -
Imprint
Baskerville
- Paperback Feb 13, 2024 | 9781399801812 | RRP $24.99 Buy Now
- Trade Paperback Apr 25, 2023 | 9781399801805 | RRP $34.99 Buy Now
- Hardback May 9, 2023 | 9781399801799 | RRP $49.99 Buy Now
- e-Book Jan 19, 2023 | 9781399801829 | RRP $12.99 Buy Now
- Audiobook Jan 19, 2023 | 9781399801836 | RRP $39.99 Buy Now
Play Sample0:00 -
Imprint
Baskerville
- Paperback Feb 13, 2024 | 9781399801812 | RRP $24.99 Buy Now
- Trade Paperback Apr 25, 2023 | 9781399801805 | RRP $34.99 Buy Now
- Hardback May 9, 2023 | 9781399801799 | RRP $49.99 Buy Now
- e-Book Jan 19, 2023 | 9781399801829 | RRP $12.99 Buy Now
- Audiobook Jan 19, 2023 | 9781399801836 | RRP $39.99 Buy Now
Play Sample0:00 -
Imprint
Baskerville
- Paperback Feb 13, 2024 | 9781399801812 | RRP $24.99 Buy Now
- Trade Paperback Apr 25, 2023 | 9781399801805 | RRP $34.99 Buy Now
- Hardback May 9, 2023 | 9781399801799 | RRP $49.99 Buy Now
- e-Book Jan 19, 2023 | 9781399801829 | RRP $12.99 Buy Now
- Audiobook Jan 19, 2023 | 9781399801836 | RRP $39.99 Buy Now
Play Sample0:00
An outstanding piece of literary noir and the first in a PI series set in 1930s Birmingham.
An FT Best Summer Thriller 2023
'Creates an atmosphere of mounting menace' The Times
'Conjures up a backdrop so vivid you can taste the smoke in the air' Val McDermid, author of 1989
BIRMINGHAM, 1933.Private enquiry agent William Garrett facilitates divorces for the city's male elite. With the help of his best friend - charming, out-of-work actor Ronnie Edgerton - William sets up honey traps. But photographing unsuspecting women in flagrante plagues his conscience and William heaves up his guts with remorse after every job.
William's life changes when he meets the beautiful Clara Morton and falls in love. Little does he know she is the wife of a client - a leading fascist with a dangerous obsession. Soon, what should have been another straightforward job turns into something far more deadly.
Drenched in evocative period atmosphere and starring an unforgettable cast of characters, Needless Alley takes the reader from seedy canal-side pubs, to crumbling Warwickshire manor houses, and into the hidden spaces of Birmingham's Queer, bohemian society.
'Has all the seamy glitter and cynical grime of the genre' Daily Mail
'Marlow's very engaging protagonist may herald the birth of a new genre: Midlands Noir' Financial Times
'Evokes 1930s Birmingham in all its dark glory' Alan Parks, author of Bloody January
'Needless Alley makes for a gripping read that any Peaky Blinder fan is sure to love' Susan Stokes-Chapman, author of PandoraMore books by Natalie Marlow
Praise for Needless Alley: The critically acclaimed historical crime debut
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Deftly plotted, beautifully written, Needless Alley is a delicious slice of Chandleresque Midlands noir. Marlow's pellucid prose shines a brilliant light on 1930s Birmingham and the lives and loves of the exquisitely drawn characters that populate its mean streets and waterways. I loved this book and I can't wait to read more
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A fine writer with a great sense of period and place who creates an atmosphere of mounting menace and dread. A more than promising debut - The Times
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Transplanting the hardboiled Hollywood noir of the 1940s to the backstreets of 1933 Birmingham, [Needless Alley] has all the seamy glitter and cynical grime of the genre - Daily Mail
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Marlow has a nicely theatrical way with a scene, and her witty prose has texture and heft. The city is atmospherically rendered, the narrative has an almost hallucinatory quality and Garrett is an engaging leading man. Needless Alley is an exceptionally well-written first novel that whets the appetite for many sequels - Irish Times
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An atmospheric, hardboiled thriller with a hint of Peaky Blinders about it. - Sun
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This is pulp fiction of the highest quality, marking the arrival of a fabulous new thriller writer - Tortoise
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Marlow's very engaging protagonist may herald the birth of a new genre: Midlands Noir - Financial Times
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Needless Alley not only evokes 1930s Birmingham in all its dark glory - it introduces characters that are impossible to forget. Read it
Natalie Marlow
Natalie Marlow is a historical crime novelist with a fascination for the people and landscapes of the Midlands. Born into a family of storytellers, she takes inspiration from the colourful stories her grandparents told. Her debut novel, Needless Alley, starring private detective William Garrett, received glowing reviews from press and readers alike. Natalie holds an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia and is currently working on the next book in the William Garrett series.
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