‘The Boy in the Snow’ by M J McGrath

Published by Mantle,
11 October 2012.
ISBN: 978-0-2307-4819-4

In this story, Arctic guide Inuit Edie Kiglatuk is away from the Canadian High Arctic and is in Alaska to support her ex-husband Sammy as he sets out on the gruelling 14-day Idatrod dogsled race which takes place annually in early March. But on her way by snowmobile through the Alaskan forest Edie makes a shocking and tragic discovery: the frozen body of a tiny baby boy in a little model house. The local police are anxious - too anxious - to connect the death to the so-called cult of the Dark Believers, an alleged breakaway from the Old Believers who themselves broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church centuries ago and established themselves in North America but have always remained rigidly apart from the communities around them since they believe that modern life is deeply corrupting. But Edie, although urged by her friends to leave the investigation to the authorities and frequently warned by the police not to interfere, is not convinced that the man arrested, who is an Old Believer, is responsible for the death. Her investigations lead her to the links between certain local politicians, currently heavily involved in the election for the Alaskan State Governorship, and the sex trafficking of very young Russian girls and an illegal forced adoption racket.

           

The context, the icy Arctic weather with its blizzards, is all-important as is the relationship between the Inuit people and the natural and the spirit world. Edie is led to the little boy’s body by a spirit bear, the little house in which the corpse is laid out is a spirit house, of deep significance to the native Athabascans, and she frequently converses with the spirits of the dead.

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Reviewer: Radmila May

The author’s first book, White Heat, was long listed for the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger; she has also written a number of non-fiction books

M J McGrath was born in Romford, Essex, the third of four children. Parents, Peter and Margaret, had moved out of East London some time before, looking for a quieter, more spacious life. They thought of themselves as upwardly mobile, which they were. They moved a lot first to Basildon in Essex, then to a village in Germany, from there Kent, then north to Lancashire, south again to Buckinghamshire and so on. Melanie tried pretty much every kind of school, from German kindergarten through catholic convent to bog standard state grammar. After graduating high school with a mixture of arts and science A-levels, she won a place at Oxford to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics. After graduation, Melanie worked in book publishing, turning to writing at first part-time then full time in my late twenties. Now a full time writer, and. after spells living in Las Vegas, Nevada and Nicaragua, Melanie is for the time being settled in London and on the Kent coast.

‘Very Bad Men’ By Harry Dolan

Published by Berkley Trade,
July 2012.
ISBN: 978-0-425-24761-7

This second novel from the author of the acclaimed Bad Things Happen, his writing debut, has no ‘sophomore book’ problems. Very Bad Men immediately engages the reader, and one is quickly drawn into this compelling tale of murder, specifically, the murder of two men who were part of a bank robbery seventeen years ago, and the attempted murder of a third.  All three men had been convicted, and served jail time of varying lengths.  But what could be the motive?  These three men had not seen nor contacted one another in all the intervening years.  And the killer – for his identity is quickly revealed – is not a cool, professional hit man; that is immediately made clear.

David Loogan, the editor-in-chief of a mystery magazine, receives, in a plain, unmarked envelope, what at first glance appears to be a manuscript, only several pages long, bearing no signature, the first line of which reads “I killed Henry Kormoran .Loogan,” who lives with his ‘significant other,’ Elizabeth Waishkey, an Ann Arbor, Michigan, detective, and her precocious 16-year-old daughter, ultimately begins a kind of parallel and unofficial investigation.

Each character in the novel is wonderfully well-drawn.  These include the killer, who suffers from synesthesia, a rare affliction which results in a confusion of the senses, with words taking on dimensions far beyond their ‘normal’ printed appearance, according to his emotional reaction to them; Lucy Navarro, a young and rather endearing reporter, who comes up with a bizarre theory of the motive for the crimes; assorted politicians and their ‘handlers, among others.  The writer invokes some wildly disparate images: Occam and his razor, Aristotle, jazz musician Charlie Parker; mystery authors Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly; and a theme:  “We all want to be known.  To be seen for who we really are.”  There are carefully placed, and easily missed clues, and startling and unexpected twists in this rather complex and engrossing novel, which is recommended.
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Reviewer: Gloria Feit

Harry Dolan graduated from Colgate University, where he majored in philosophy and studied fiction writing with the novelist Frederick Busch. He earned a master's degree in philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and currently works as a freelance editor.

 

 

Ted and Gloria Feit live in Long Beach, NY, a few miles outside New York City.  For 26 years, Gloria was the manager of a medium-sized litigation firm in lower Manhattan. Her husband, Ted, is an attorney and former stock analyst, publicist and writer/editor for, over the years, several daily, weekly and monthly publications.  Having always been avid mystery readers, and since they're now retired, they're able to indulge that passion.  Their reviews appear online as well as in three print publications in the UK and US.  On a more personal note: both having been widowed, Gloria and Ted have five children and nine grandchildren between them.

Interview with Fidelis Morgan

Fidelis Morgan is an English actress and writer. She has acted with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre  in repertory in various British cities and in the West End. She has written stage plays based on Samuel Richardson’s Pamela and Patrick Hamilton’s Hangover Square. Her non-fiction writing includes The Female Wits, the first study of female playwrights of the Restoration stage and biographies of women from the 17th and 18th centuries including Charlotte Clarke. Her novels include the Countess Ashby de la Zouche series of historical crime mysteries including The Rival Queens.

Q        Fidelis, you have a new book out The Murder Quadrille.  
           Can you tell us something about this book?

A         It’s a modern day tale of murder and mayhem.  It starts with a dinner party at which the guests discuss a local serial killer.  You can imagine what comes next...  But I will surprise you many times along the way.  Someone told me The Murder Quadrille has more twists than a corkscrew!    I wrote it because I always wanted to write a book like this.  I became obsessed with the idea of writing a modern day standalone using Wilkie Collins’ multiple narrator structure and turning the story so that nothing was ever what it seemed.  I wanted a pacy page-turning story, seeing all the characters points of view.  Wilkie Collins likened his style to a court case where you hear from every witness.  I also use a few legal forms, memos and news-clippings.  The result is The Murder Quadrille.

Q        The wonderful Countess Ashby de la Zouch and her maidservant Alpiew books, were all published between 2000 and 2004.  Prior to that you published nine non-fiction books. What turned you to crime fiction? 

A         Since I was a tiny child I always wrote and always wrote stories.  I wanted to be a fiction writer and only got into non-fiction because in the 1970s I made the astonishing discovery that women were professionally writing in the 17^th century.  Before me everyone thought the first real female writer (apart from nuns) was Jane Austen.  After the success of The Female Wits, publishers kept asking me for variations on the same thing.  It’s how it works in the modern age, sadly.  You are expected to stay in your box.  So, although writing the Countess books was a giant leap from non-fiction scholarly books into historical crime fiction, at least I was staying within the period of history which the publishers already knew me for.

Q        And why did this marvellous series come to an end after four books?

A         In my proposal for book 5 of the series I had Alpiew and the Countess taking a voyage to America, and being kidnapped by pirates (Captain Kidd was busy on the high seas in 1699, just before his arrest).  My editor said “Pirates?!  What silliness.  Who’s interested in pirates these days, except children?  It’s ridiculous.  Just more silliness.” And rejected the Countess series.  Just over a year later – coinciding with what would have been my publication date – Johnny Depp’s film came out and the bookshops of the world were desperately crying out for ANY books which featured pirates for their window displays.  So I was right.  But being able to say “I told you so” is no compensation for losing the continuation of the series which is still so dear to my heart, and still going strong in America and now online with the eBooks.

Q         Where did the Countess Ashby de la Zouch come from?

A         The Countess came directly out of the non-fiction books.  I wrote a biography of Delarivier Manley, who wrote scandal sheets.  And I was also always fascinated with what became of the cash-strapped old mistresses of Charles II after he died, when the dire, dour Dutchman, William III, took the throne.  So I mixed the two up and gave her a name from a 17^th century map (Patricia Highsmith says always get your names from atlases - never the phone book) Ashby de la Zouche, a name you cannot say aloud without sounding slightly drunk.  Alpiew’s name is taken from a maid in a play by Susanna Centlivre, one of my Female Wits, and is a term used in the card game, Bassett.

Q        After a gap of some years the Countess books have been recently published in the USA by Felony & Mayhem. How did that come about, and how have they been received?

A        A Countess fan walked into the late lamented Partners & Crime in Greenwich Village and wanted to buy the series.  The owner Maggie Topkiss was starting her own imprint and liked the books so much she picked them up right away. The Americans love the Countess. The Felony & Mayhem covers are the best I ever had and were recently featured in Forbes Magazine.  Pity I didn’t make it to the Billionaire list but at least I’m in the magazine.

Q         Is there a chance of any further Countess Ashby de la Zouch books in the future?

A         I certainly hope so.  The film/TV rights have been taken up continually and we’ve been very close, with scripts written.  It missed by a whisker a few years back just when at the last minute there was a management shake-up.  Terrible timing.  But the Countess rights are currently owned by a triumvirate of three of TV’s biggest stars.  The next three books are all planned out and, once I get the call, I’m ready to go.

Q          When embarking on a new book, be it fiction, non-fiction or a play, what area of the writing challenges you the most?  And are the challenges different writing a book to a play?

A          I love research.  I love offbeat people and I love spinning yarns using those people.  I’m also a structure junky.  I’ve read Aristotle, Ben Jonson, Diderot and Corneille on the laws of dramatic poesy.  It’s important to remember that Drama was around since 800 years B.C., whereas the novel only came into being in the eighteenth century.  The important laws of story-telling were written for playwrights, and apply as much today as they did in Aeschylus’s time.  The only difference between Drama and Fiction is that in a novel, if you so wish, you can write it in such a way that the reader can put the book away for a month or two and pick it up again much later, whereas in a play you have to bowl along and cannot let go at all, not for a second.  I think, on the whole, that the rules applying to crime fiction are nearer to those of Drama than the fairly sloppy rules which are accepted by so-called ‘Literary’ Fiction.

Q         Do you have a favourite part of the writing process?

A          Does any writer?  I think that while we’re doing it we all wish we were doing something else.  While you’re editing the writing seems so easy, while you’re writing the research all seems so easy, while you’re researching how you wish you were editing.  It’s all pretty hard, but when it’s all finished you look back and forget how hard it was.  I believe having a baby has a similar effect.

Q         You are a woman of many talents, having worked as an actor with The Royal Shakespeare Company, repertory companies in Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool, Leeds and Glasgow, as well as touring companies like Paines Plough and a stint in the West End. How do you balance your acting career with being a writer?  Do you allocate a part of a day to writing?

A         I do everything all the time whenever the opportunity presents itself.  While I was in The Vortex in the West End I was also filming the TV series Mr Majeika, publicising three books and judging the Susan Smith Blackburn prize.  The character I played was not on stage during Act Three and so I used the time sitting trapped in the dressing room to write my adaptation of Hangover Square. I have a very low boredom threshold.  I have never been on a beach holiday or had a week lazing around.  It’s not in the mentality.  Life’s too short not to be having a go at everything while we still can.

Q         I was fascinated to learn that due to a quirk of fate you were born in a red gypsy caravan, which stood in a corner of the grounds of the ancient Abbey of Amesbury, halfway between Stonehenge and Woodhenge.  Can you tell us how that came about?

A      My family are from Liverpool.  After the war Liverpool went into a terrible decline.  My mother, an enterprising Irishwoman, talked my father into moving south to find work.  They had no money and nowhere to go, so they bought a gypsy caravan for 10/- and a local vicar let them keep it in the Abbey Orchard, just outside Amesbury.  The doctors wouldn’t come to gypsies, so my father delivered me.  We lived in that tiny space with no running water: two adults, a baby and a Great Dane.  I slept in a box under their bed. We had a donkey called Puck, a homosexual goat and a gobbling turkey, which frightened the hell out of me.  I remember my mother cooking Scouse (Irish Stew) in a huge cauldron over a bonfire.  They both went out to work in the day and left me with the dog. Today I suppose they would be arrested.  But I wouldn’t change my mad childhood for anyone’s cosy security. And when we went home I had Liverpool too, with my grandparents’ tiny terraced house, with a tin bath in the kitchen and an outside loo, and all the rough excitement of the city in those days just before The Beatles became a world phenomenon

Q        So an actor, a writer, and I also understand an artist. What’s next?

A         Anything which Fate chucks at me, I suppose.  I have a few book ideas up my sleeve, a directing project a TV script to finish…  Try me. I’m game for just about anything.

            Thank you Fidelis for a fascinating interview. What a marvellous varied career. For more information about Fidelis visit her web site at www.fidelismorgan.net

Update:   Fidelis is doing a show of The Female Wits with Celia Imrie, Sian Thomas and Juliet Cadzow. And a crime panel with Ruth Dudley Edwards and Lauren Henderson,. Also has written the mystery coach tour.
ALL for The Isle of Wight Literary Festival 12^th-14^th October  www.isleofwightliteraryfestival.org

‘The Triangle Murders’ by Lynne Kennedy

Published by BookBaby,
10^th August 2012.
ISBN: 978-1623092528

When Lieutenant Frank Aloysius Mead is called to the death of a young reporter pushed from a ninth storey window in Greenwich village, New York, he sees that it is the site where a hundred years earlier, 146 workers lost their lives in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in March 25^th 1911.

Frank’s mother still lives in the Lower East Side in a the tenement she inherited from her husband, Frank’s father, Frank Timothy Mead, which had been in the family dating back to Frank’s great grandfather. Even though everything needs fixing she refuses to move. When she learns of the tragedy she tells Frank that his great grandmother Fiona was murdered during the fire. When he queries this, she says ‘Ask Amanda.’  

Amanda is Frank’s daughter whom he had abandoned seven years earlier following the suicide of his wife. His prime motive in returning to New York is to try to put things right with his daughter.  Now he learns that Amanda was a friend of the dead journalist and that they were both investigating the murder of Fiona in 1911.  

Intrigued Frank starts reading up on the fire, and then finds in the family home old papers dating back to Fiona and Cormac’s wedding in 1909 in a box that had belonged to Cormac, Fiona’s husband.  Then he find’s a ‘Murder Book ’and evidence of the 1911 murder.  With modern forensics can Frank find his great grandmother’s killer, and solve the current murder, and are they linked? And where is his daughter Amanda?

Although the story is set in March 2011, it is interspersed with Fiona’s and Cormac’s story a hundred years earlier.  The two stories running side by side provide a fascinating mystery. To say that I was captivated by this book is an understatement. I could not put it down.  Compelling reading, this book is highly recommended.

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Reviewer: Lizzie Hayes

The Triangle Murders ( formerly called Tenement) was a Malice Domestic Finalist in 2011 and won the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Mystery Category Award that same year.

Lynne Kennedy  was born in Brooklyn, New York. She obtained a Masters Degree in Science from Hofstra University, New York, and moved to San Diego, California in the early 80’s. In San Diego, Lynne worked as a museum director at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in San Diego, California for many years. In this capacity, she developed education programs, exhibitions and film projects on a number of timely science subject areas. She also worked with the San Diego Sheriff’s Department Crime Lab and the San Diego Police Department to develop forensic programs for teachers and students and conduct mystery nights for families. She has worked with experts at various historical museums, such as the Tenement Museum in New York, the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Coronado Historical Museum, in Coronado, to create innovative ways of bringing history to life. She began writing mysteries in 1995. History, digital photography and forensic science are personal interests and play significant roles in her novels. Her position in the museum community has also enabled her to network the community of experts needed to assist in her research and add authenticity to her books.  Lynne is married to John Kennedy!

‘More Than Sorrow’ by Vicki Delany

Published by Poisoned Pen Press,
September 2012.
ISBN: 978-1-59058-985-4 (HB) 
978-1-59058-987-8 (TPB)

Hannah Manning, a war correspondent injured by an IED in Afghanistan, is recuperating at her sister’s farm in Prince Edward County, Ontario.   Whilst there she is plagued by memories of her life before the bomb and suffers some traumatic flashbacks and extreme headaches.  As she is recovering she meets and makes friends with an Afghan woman, Hila, who is also suffering losses and trauma from the war.  When Hila goes missing and then is found dead, Hannah cannot account for her whereabouts as her brain injuries create lapses in her mind and consciousness.

Alongside Hannah’s story runs the story of Maggie an American Loyalist who fled to Canada in the 1780s, arriving to live on the land in Prince Edward Country at a point when life was cheap and harsh.  Abused by her husband’s relatives and treated like a servant her thoughts and experiences weave throughout the main narrative, creating a parallel between the experiences of prejudice against refugees and the tough nature of working on the land. 

Hannah immerses herself in the letters and diaries of the Loyalist settlers in the attic of the farm and she begins to get some hallucinations or feelings linked with Maggie and her experiences.   Along with the mystery of Hila’s death the two stories start to converge and Hannah and her niece, Lily, are dragged along with it, putting both their lives in danger.

This is a modern style gothic novel, containing some familiar elements: a mystery, an isolated location (even in modern Canada), a supernatural link, hidden treasure, some dominant male characters and a ghostly presence.  The contemporary back drop of the Afghan war and the more historical US Civil war references create a well written and researched suspense novel.   Little details, like those about running a small scale farm and the hardships of Loyalists fleeing the US, ensure that the narrative has a depth which supports both the story lines and makes the writing richer.   

I have only just come across Vicki Delany, having been introduced to her Constable Molly Smith books and, incidentally, Prince Edward County this summer.  More Than Sorrow is a departure from her more traditional mystery stories, but is a nicely written and compelling read from start to finish.

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Reviewer: Amanda Brown.

Vicki Delany began her writing career as a Sunday writer: a single mother of three high-spirited daughters with a full-time job as a computer programmer. Sunday afternoon was – and at that, only now and again – the only time she had to spend all by herself, with a single candle on her desk for a bit of atmosphere. After her three daughters, somewhat hesitantly, flew the coop, Vicki had more time to devote to her writing.  She was able to write three novels of suspense, set in Ontario, two of which, Scare the Light Away and Burden of Memory were published to critical acclaim by Poisoned Pen Press of Scottsdale, Arizona. In 2007, Vicki took early retirement from her job as a systems analyst with a major bank and sold her house in Oakville, Ontario.  At that time In the Shadow of the Glacier, the first book in a police procedural series set in the British Columbia Interior was published. After travelling around North America for a year with her dog, Shenzi, she bought a home in bucolic, rural Prince Edward County, Ontario, where she rarely wears a watch and can write whenever she feels like it. Since settling in Prince Edward County, Vicki has continued with her writing career, publishing books in three different sub-genres as well as a book for adults with low literacy skills.

‘Burying the Past’ by Judith Cutler

 Published by Severn House,
September 2012.
ISBN: 978-1-7278-8209-7

This fourth book in the series featuring Chief Superintendent Fran Harman finds her taking the plunge, and moving in with Assistant Chief Constable Mark Turner who has proposed marriage.  Fran has sold her place, and they have bought ‘The Rectory’. Unfortunately it has come complete with a skeleton buried in the vegetable patch.

There is much to be done at The Rectory and money for the renovations is tight, not helped by the fact that the sale of Mark’s house has been held up, as his daughter has taken possession, and nothing will move her.

Meanwhile, the suicide of a colleague and a series of metal thefts take up Fran’s time.  Then a young woman comes forward claiming to have been raped, and to have stabbed and killed the rapist. As if this wasn’t enough to contend with. Mark’s son turns up and it’s clear that he is less than ecstatic at the prospect of his father's forthcoming nuptials.

There is no doubt that dealing with murder must always be stressful, but when the murder is on ones doorstep, and compounded by family problems it becomes unbearable for Mark. Fran does her best but matters rapidly move beyond her control. However, despite all falling about her she continues to keep her focus, first directing her team on the metal thefts, and seeking the truth on the rape, but also delving into the past owner of the Rectory, which she hopes will shed light on the skeleton found in the garden.

Judith Cutler has, with this book, woven several interesting plot lines into a story, that deals equally with life in the police force, chasing thieves and killers, coupled with not only the personal problems in the lives of two main characters, who are senior police officers, but also their families, and additionally the problems and jealousies of the people who report to them in the police force.  Well crafted the reader is drawn into all their lives.  Compelling reading this is a real page turner, and is highly recommended.

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Reviewer: Lizzie Hayes

Earlier books in this series are Life Sentence, Cold Pursuit and Still Waters

Judith Cutler was born in the Black Country, just outside Birmingham, later moving to the Birmingham suburb of Harborne. Judith started writing while she was at the then Oldbury Grammar School, winning the Critical Quarterly Short Story prize with the second story she wrote. She subsequently read English at university. It was an attack of chickenpox caught from her son that kick-started her writing career. One way of dealing with the itch was to hold a pencil in one hand, a block of paper in the other - and so she wrote her first novel. This eventually appeared in a much revised version as Coming Alive, published by Severn House. Judith has five series. The first two featured amateur sleuth Sophie Rivers (10 books) and Detective Sergeant Kate Power (6 Books). Then came Josie Wells, a middle-aged woman with a quick tongue, and a love of good food, there are two books, The Food Detective and The Chinese Takeout. The Lina Townsend books are set in the world of antiques and there are five books in this series. There are two books featuring Tobias Campion set in the Regency period. Her most recent series features Chief Superintendent Fran Harman.  Judith has also written two standalone’s Scar Tissue and Staging Death.

‘A Woman Unknown’ by Frances Brody

Published by Piatkus,

September 2012. 
ISBN: 978-0-7499-5492-5

Kate Shackleton has accidentally become a private investigator. Receiving a telegram at the end of the Great War, informing her that her husband Gerald was ‘missing presumed dead’, Kate decided to try and discover exactly what happened to Gerald. In the course of her investigations she helped others by locating missing loved ones, and so has by reputation, become a private investigator.

Approached by Mr Cyril Fitzpatrick who is concerned about his wife Deirdre, and wants to know just where his wife goes when she is supposedly caring for her sick mother, Kate is wary of the job. She has come across Deirdre Fitzpatrick before.

Chief Inspector Marcus Charles of Scotland Yard asks Kate to meet him at the Hotel Metropole where a man known to Kate has been found by a chambermaid, dead in bed and not from natural causes. The man Everett Runcie is a banker facing ruin and disgrace by some devious dealing. His American heiress wife tired of his infidelities is now seeking a divorce.  But Everett Runcie had not been alone when he checked into the hotel, so where, and who, was his companion?

Cleverly plotted, could seemingly unrelated events be connected?  As Kate investigates she recalls what was put down to an accidental shooting at the start of the grouse season a few weeks back, and begins to wonder if there could be a tie up.  The more she delves, the more convoluted and sinister do matters appear. Can Kate untangle the complex threads and get to the truth?

The story is told by Kate in the first person, and by third person narratives from Kate’s assistant Sykes and Deirdre Fitzpatrick. Whilst Frances Brody has weaved an intriguing set of events for the reader to unravel, much of the pleasure in the book is in the period in which it is set, and which the author portrays brilliantly.  The story also highlights the difficulty of the divorce laws of the time. 

A marvellous instalment, in this excellent series, this book is highly recommended.

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Reviewer: Lizzie Hayes
Earlier books in the series are, Dying in the Wool, A Medal For Murder and Murder in the Afternoon.

 

Frances Brody is a pseudonym of Frances McNeil who lives in Leeds where she was born and grew up. She worked in the USA as a secretary in Washington DC and New York. Frances studied at Ruskin College, Oxford and read English Literature and History at York University.Starting her writing life in radio, she has written scripts for television and theatre. Frances turned to crime for her first novel, Dying in the Wool, set on the outskirts of Bradford, Yorkshire in the 1920s.

‘The Lost Library’ by AM Dean

Published by Pan,
16 August 2012. 
ISBN:978-1-447-20951-5

There is no doubt that the Da Vinci Code has spawned a whole genre of conspiracy thrillers. This one is by a Professor of Theology so his credentials for writing conspiracy thrillers seem pretty good! Adventures come thick and fast for our heroine here, Professor Emily Weiss, as she investigates a full-blooded conspiracy on several levels which reach far back into the past and embroil her in travelling round the world in pursuit of tenuous clues.

Emily is clever, of course, and resourceful in her thinking (also young and attractive!). She teaches at a university in the USA where a famous professor is murdered and has left her a mysterious message. Other dramatic events outside Emily’s ambit add to the thrills of the tale. The Lost Library of the title is that of ancient Alexandria and the adventures concern a fictional history developed into the modern world. I liked the touches of humour, as in this quotation “ [Emily] said the words she would never have expected her sceptical mouth to utter. ‘These two events have to be connected.’

The various settings are beautifully and cogently described as Emily travels to Oxford, Alexandria and Istanbul. The reading room of the modern library that has been built in Alexandria is lovingly portrayed.

Congratulations to Pan for producing a lengthy book in a standard paperback size with a decent size of print. Congratulations to the author for managing to keep destruction to a fairly low level - I recall one recent thriller which destroyed both a world famous theatre and a large university library in the first chapters in addition to losses of life!

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Reviewer: Jennifer Palmer

This is the first novel by A. M. Dean.

A M Dean is a leading authority on ancient cultures and the history of religious belief, whose expertise in late antiquity has earned him posts at some of the world’s most prestigious universities. An abiding interest in the human tendency toward conspiracies, together with a commanding grasp of the genuinely mysterious contexts of real history, inspire the breadth and focus of his creative works. His debut novel, The Lost Library, has just hit the shelves (released 16 August 2012) as a major-launch title with Pan Macmillan, available now in 12 territories and languages across the globe. His next novel, The Gnostic Key, comes out in 2013.