Fifteen years ago Susan Blacklock disappeared. Although Detective Inspector Frank Elder has taken early retirement, the case still plagues his mind. Prime suspects, Shane Donald and Alan McKeirnan, were convicted a year later of the brutal rape and murder of a young girl, and now that Shane has been granted parole, Elder feels compelled to revisit the past. Then Shane disappears and another young girl is murdered. Elder's involvement is now crucial. Taunted by postcards from the killer, an increasingly desperate Elder battles to keep his estranged family from being drawn into the very heart of the crime.
The Times ‘a terrific comeback, restoring Harvey to the very top echelons of British crime writing… exquisite writing and utterly convincing characters.â
Independent ‘his unpredictable mixture of tenderness and cruelty is frightenly well delineated... [has] a depth few works of crime fiction attainâ
Christmas Books, The Times ‘The British cop novel at its very best.â
Author
About John Harvey
John Harvey lived and worked in Nottingham during the strike and witnessed the life at first hand. His depiction of the violence and anger is both wholly authentic and riveting. He is, as the Guardian has said ‘a master craftsman.’
Loved by critics, readers and authors alike, John Harvey’s books have sold over 1 million copies and have been translated into more than 20 languages. The first Charlie Resnick novel, Lonely Hearts, was named by The Times as one of the '100 Best Crime Novels of the Century'. His first novel featuring Detective Inspector Frank Elder, Flesh and Blood, won the CWA Silver Dagger in 2004, and a Barry Award for the Best British Crime Novel published in the US in 2004. In 2007 John Harvey was awarded the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger. He was made an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Nottingham in 2009 and by the University of Hertfordshire in 2013.
John has written for television and radio and, a published poet himself, between 1977 and 1999 ran Slow Dancer Press, publishing work by such writers as Simon Armitage and Lee Harwood, Kirsty Gunn and Jill Dawson, Sharon Olds and Lucille Clifton. Out of Silence, his New and Selected Poems, is published by Smith/Doorstop this May.
