A Book of Scars
Breen & Tozer 3
Published on 22. October 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
416 pages
978-1-78206-425-1 (ISBN)
Description
1969. Five years ago, teenager Alexandra Tozer was murdered on her family farm. Her sister Helen Tozer will never forget. Returning home after quitting the Met Police, she brings with her the recovering Detective Sergeant Cathal Breen, who slowly becomes possessed by the unsolved case. He discovers the Tozers were never told the whole truth. Alexandra was tortured for twenty-four hours before she died. But when he tracks down the original investigating sergeant, the man goes missing. And so does Helen. Suspicion falls on her. But Breen is on a trail that goes far beyond the death of a schoolgirl. For the two men connected to this case met in Kenya, during the Mau Mau uprising; and the history that Britain has turned its face from is now returning to haunt it. So when another innocent woman is abducted, Breen knows he has just twenty-four hours to save her. The third book in a powerful deconstruction of the sixties, A Book of Scars tears strips off the Drug Squad, the Kenya Emergency and the upheaval of society as we knew it - to lay bare forgotten crimes, and tell the history of the losers.
Reviews / Votes
A Book of Scars combines nostalgic period detail with an emotional intensity found only in the very best crime fiction * Sunday Times * William Shaw delivers a perfect motive in the third of his excellent Breen and Tozer mysteries . . . Shaw reminds us that 'brutality creates brutality', and this is true for every side of a conflict. The killer's explanatory speech, a bit perfunctory in most crime books, here unfolds a fascinatingly dark tale . . . This is a proper conspiracy thriller, with shameful secrets hidden behind government regulation. It involves real history, real people, real crimes with real consequences * Spectator * A Book of Scars is both a first-rate mystery and a compelling and accurate portrait of a changing society that is confused about the present and ill-at-ease with the past -- Laura Wilson * Guardian * In this conclusion to a thoroughly gripping trilogy, Shaw draws incisive attention to little-known historical events and crafts a wholly satisfying thriller * Kirkus * CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR. William Shaw completes his marvellous trilogy of crime novels with A Book of Scars. Shaw captures the mood of London in the 1960s, using his working class detectives to convey the bewildering pace of social change. His intricate plots are full of surprises, reflecting the brutal legacy of colonialism * Sunday Times * Superb . . . Shaw picks up multiple plot threads, expertly weaving them into a complex story that explores the darkest parts of the human psyche and the erosion of one man's humanity, while balancing the delicate and awkwardly sweet relationship between the traditional Breen and decidedly untraditional Helen . . . Shaw perfectly captures the end of an uneasy era, and the utterly terrifying final scene will leave readers breathless * Publisher's Weekly * Echoes Robert Gailbraith's (aka JK Rowling) crime novels, and neither author suffers by the comparison....A totally engaging series, thick in period detail like a cloud of patchouli but with an always timely reminder that at any time the past can up and bite you on the butt. * Library Journal, Starred Review * Shaw raises the bar with each entry in this series....Against a backdrop of taut suspense and occasionally raw violence, Paddy and Helen continue trying to work out their feelings for each other, which deepen in fits and starts with each novel. A genre-bending psychological thriller. * Booklist, Starred Review * Thoroughly gripping...Shaw draws incisive attention to little-known historical events and crafts a wholly satisfying thriller. * Kirkus Reviews * Big treat in store for fans. And if you're not a fan yet, why not? * Val McDermid *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Quercus Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 154 mm
Thickness: 31 mm
Weight
544 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78206-425-1 (9781782064251)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
William Shaw has been shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger, longlisted for the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year and nominated for a Barry Award. A regular at festivals, he organises panel talks and CWA events across the south east.
Shaw is the author of the acclaimed Breen & Tozer crime series: A Song from Dead Lips, A House of Knives, A Book of Scars and Sympathy for the Devil; and the standalone bestseller The Birdwatcher. He is writing a new crime series starring the character DS Alexandra Cupidi from The Birdwatcher, the first of which is Salt Lane. He worked as a journalist for over twenty years and lives in Brighton.
Shaw is the author of the acclaimed Breen & Tozer crime series: A Song from Dead Lips, A House of Knives, A Book of Scars and Sympathy for the Devil; and the standalone bestseller The Birdwatcher. He is writing a new crime series starring the character DS Alexandra Cupidi from The Birdwatcher, the first of which is Salt Lane. He worked as a journalist for over twenty years and lives in Brighton.