Sending a clarion call out into the world, this crime novel is an absolute humdinger of a read as it throws down a challenge to the reader. Washington Poe needs to tell his story about a murder and an investigation, he needs to explain and reflect, he needs to be heard. This, this is the series I lie in wait for, the stories which began with The Puppet Show featuring Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw, have me stalking the book news. Award-winning M.W. Craven is a master at his craft, oh-so eloquent, biting and provocative, yet fully capable of piercing empathy too. His trademark humour hits the spot, yes it’s dark and fierce, but this is a storyteller who knows exactly when a blurt of laughter is needed. I know I’ve said this before but I absolutely adore the friendship between Poe and Tilly, just as much as I love and have formed a fulled-fledged relationship with each of them. They are fabulous characters individually, together they are quite simply dynamite. When I opened The Mercy Chair I was greeted by something slightly different yet also wonderfully familiar. As I read I found my thoughts forming on several levels, working together yet darting off to wonder and speculate. This is clever writing, and I was fully on board for the ride. By the time I finished I had a book hangover, and felt drained and yet exhilarated. I had no option other than to send this novel to join our LoveReading Star Books and select it as a Liz Pick of the Month. The Mercy Chair takes no prisoners as it storms thoughts with a fierce and provocative energy. Highly recommended.
'Mesmerising, macabre and magnificent. The Mercy Chair is truly terrifying, laugh-out-loud funny, and impossibly clever. Poe and Tilly are unstoppable' Chris Whitaker
'Washington Poe is a brilliant creation, from one of the finest and most inventive crime writers of today' Peter James
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Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin . . .
Washington Poe has a story to tell.
And he needs you to listen.
You'll hear how it started with the robber birds. Crows. Dozens of them. Enough for a murder . . .
He'll tell you about a man who was tied to a tree and stoned to death, a man who had tattooed himself with a code so obscure, even the gifted analyst Tilly Bradshaw struggled to break it. He'll tell you how the man's murder was connected to a tragedy that happened fifteen years earlier when a young girl massacred her entire family.
And finally, he'll tell you about the mercy chair. And why people would rather kill themselves than talk about it . . .
Poe hopes you've been paying attention. Because in this story, nothing is as it seems . . .
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'Craven renders the darkness of the human condition with immense skill, ratcheting the tension to a nails-on-chalkboard pitch. Don't turn out the lights.' Vaseem Khan MORE PRAISE FOR MW CRAVEN:
'The kind of novel that inspired me to write fiction in the first place. A guaranteed great time.' Chris Brookmyre
'Darkly entertaining' The Telegraph
'If you haven't read any M.W. Craven yet, fix that immediately' S. A. Cosby
'I've been following M.W. Craven's Poe/Tilly series from the very beginning, and it just gets better and better' Peter Robinson
'Poe and Tilly books are a joy' Steve Cavanagh
'In Tilly and Poe, M.W. Craven has created a stand-out duo who are two of the most compelling characters in crime fiction in recent years' Fiona Cummins
'Darkly comic . . . Thrilling' The Independent
'Clever, sophisticated, utterly gripping thriller from one of the best writers around' Mari Hannah
'Craven has unleashed Ben Koenig into the thriller world. Long may he raise hell in the pages. A superb thriller that will have everyone talking, and gasping.'?David Baldacci
'Paging Lee and Andrew Child: you've got company' The Times