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The story opens with the immortal words ‘I was lying dead in the churchyard’ (spoken, astonishingly, by Flavia herself) and ends with a funeral watched by the De Luce family on a newly-installed television set. Inbetween, Alan Bradley weaves a hauntingly nightmarish tale that involves Punch & Judy – and in particular Mr Punch’s nemesis, the hangman, Jack Ketch – a frighteningly realistic puppet show, and a hitherto unexplored corner of Bishop’s Lacey known as Gibbet’s Wood. The plot, beginning with the arrival in Bishop’s Lacey of a travelling puppet show, features a grisly murder during a performance of Jack and the Beanstalk in the village hall and reaches back to an earlier, even nastier crime centring on an ancient, rotting gibbet that has lain like a shadow over the village for years. For Flavia, undoing the complex knot that ties these strands together will test her precocious powers of deduction to the limit – and provide a shocking insight into some of the darker corners of the adult world.
By (author) Andrew Pepper
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Drury Lane, 1844. A robbery has been committed at a pawnbroker’s, leaving three people dead. The man called in to investigate is Pyke, head of the Metropolitan Police’s newly formed Detective Branch at Scotland Yard.Pyke must find the culprit and quickly, especially as the identity of one of the victims threatens to expose his own criminal past. A valuable religious artefact appears to have motivated the robbery but when the main suspect commits suicide in police custody, the investigation falters. Then the rector of a wealthy parish is brutally murdered and Pyke spots a connection. His suspicions lead him to a dissolute former Catholic priest, rumours of devil worship, and an old case that no one wants him to investigate. With time running out and the murderer threatening to kill again, Pyke must face up to forces within the police and the church who would prefer the secrets of the past to remain buried forever.
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The charismatic and cunning Spenser Mallon is a campus guru in the 1960s, attracting the devotion and demanding sexual favors of his young acolytes. After he invites his most fervent followers to attend a secret ritual in a local meadow, the only thing that remains is a gruesomely dismembered body-and the shattered souls of all who were present. Years later, one man attempts to understand what happened to his wife and to his friends by writing a book about this horrible night, and it’s through this process that they begin to examine the unspeakable events that have bound them in ways they cannot fathom, but that have haunted every one of them through their lives. As each of the old friends tries to come to grips with the darkness of the past, they find themselves face-to-face with the evil triggered so many years earlier. Unfolding through the individual stories of the fated group’s members,
A Dark Matter is an electric, chilling, and unpredictable novel that will satisfy Peter Straub’s many ardent fans, and win him legions more.
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The death of a young heroin dealer causes no great concern for NYPD Detective Frank Parrish – Danny Lange is just another casualty of the drug war. But when Danny’s teenage sister winds up dead, questions are raised that have no clear answers. Parrish, already under investigation by Internal Affairs for repeatedly challenging his superiors, is committed to daily interviews with a Police Department counsellor. As the homicides continue – and a disturbing pattern emerges – Frank tries desperately to make some sense of the deaths, while battling with his own demons. Trying to live up to the reputation of his father, John – not only a legendary NYPD detective, but also one of the original ‘Saints of New York’ – the men charged with the responsibility of ridding New York of the final vestiges of Mafia control in the 1980s – Parrish struggles to come to terms with the broken pieces of his own life. But, as the murders escalate, he must discover the truth behind them before there are further innocent victims. Dark and intense,
Saints of New York is a novel of corruption and redemption, of the relentless persistence required to find the truth, and of one man’s search for meaning amidst the ghosts of his own conscience.
Like the sound of one or all of those?! Then read on…
Real Readers gives you the chance to read and review crime and thriller books before they are published, comment on cover designs and feedback on specific topics to publishers, so if you’re interested in one of the above titles, this is how it works:
- Tell us a bit about yourself, your reading habits and preferences and your online life
- We will send you crime books carefully selected for your reading tastes, before they are published, so you can tell us – and the world – what you think
- There will also be chances to get books for friends and family, attend exclusive author events and share your thoughts with authors and publishers
- Please note that you must be resident in the UK or Republic of Ireland to take part
To join Real Readers please follow the link below, fill in the form, tell us as much about your likes and dislikes as you can, mention which one of the above titles you’d like to receive, and we will take it from there!
To apply, visit the Read Readers website
October 24th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Hi! I’m a 23 year old postgraduate student! Absolutely love reading, and enjoy all types of books. My particular favourites are trashy chick lit romance book and crime thrillers (a big contrast but both can be amazing!) Always have a book on the go, and always up for reviewing books (currently reading Ghost Town in order to review for Waterstones) My online life is very active, and will always twitter or facebook about the latest book I have been reading! Have just set up a blog recently, which I will be using to blog about the latest books in my life!
Would absolutely love to be part of this! The book that stands out from the above is “The Detective Branch” by Andrew Pepper
October 24th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Hi Kirsty
Thanks for your message – in order to sign up for Real readers please visit the website linked at the bottom of the article. Thanks!
October 24th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
I like reading any crime or thriller old and new writers
December 6th, 2010 at 10:36 am
Hi! received The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag from you, I love the mystery genre but had never heard of Alan Bradley or Flavia de Luce before – absolutely loved the character of Flavia (a pre-teen Miss Marple with attitude!) and really enjoyed the book. Posted my review up on Amazon & am now going shopping for the first book in the series. Thanks so much! Una
January 13th, 2011 at 9:09 am
I received The Detective Branch a few weeks ago – it was a brilliant read and I’m already on the lookout for more of Andrew Pepper’s Pyke books. Thank you!