Longlisted for the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award 2016.
When a disgraced New York crime journalist is despatched to the rural wilderness of Texarkana, on the Texas and Arkansas border, in 1946 to report on a series of savage local murders, he quickly falls for the seductive sister of one of the victims and discovers that his investigation is anything but welcome in town where a whole series of secrets are being jealously protected by authorities and individuals. A powerful debut novel by a British author with a strong feel for Southern cadences and atmosphere, this can't fail to impress and seldom puts a foot wrong both as a puzzle slowly being decoded and a recreation of the post WW2 era and place with echoes of classic literary writers with added twists and turns. Beguiling stuff. ~ Maxim Jaubowski
1946, Texarkana: a town on the border of Texas and Arkansas. Disgraced New York reporter Charlie Yates has been sent to cover the story of a spate of brutal murders - young couples who've been slaughtered at a local date spot. Charlie finds himself drawn into the case by the beautiful and fiery Lizzie, sister to one of the victims, Alice - the only person to have survived the attacks and seen the killer up close. But Charlie has his own demons to fight, and as he starts to dig into the murders he discovers that the people of Texarkana have secrets that they want kept hidden at all costs. Before long, Charlie discovers that powerful forces might be protecting the killer, and as he investigates further his pursuit of the truth could cost him more than his job...
Rod Reynolds was born in London and, after a successful career in advertising, working as a media buyer, he decided to get serious about writing. He recently completed City University's two-year Crime Writing Masters course and The Dark Inside is his first novel. He lives in London with his wife and daughter.
