Saturday 1 April 2017

HISTORICAL CRIME THRILLER: Arrowood - Mick Finlay

Release Date: 23/03/17
Publisher: Harper Collins

SYNOPSIS:

London Society takes their problems to Sherlock Holmes. Everyone else goes to Arrowood.

1895: London’s scared. A killer haunts the city’s streets. The poor are hungry; crime bosses are taking control; the police force stretched to breaking point.

While the rich turn to Sherlock Holmes, the celebrated private detective rarely visits the densely populated streets of South London, where the crimes are sleazier and the people are poorer.

In a dark corner of Southwark, victims turn to a man who despises Holmes, his wealthy clientele and his showy forensic approach to crime: Arrowood – self-taught psychologist, occasional drunkard and private investigator.

When a man mysteriously disappears and Arrowood’s best lead is viciously stabbed before his eyes, he and his sidekick Barnett face their toughest quest yet: to capture the head of the most notorious gang in London…

In the bestselling tradition of Anthony Horowitz and Andrew Taylor, this gloriously dark crime debut will haunt readers long after the final page has been turned.


REVIEW:

I love books that try to do something a little different and this debut from Mick gave me one hell of a treat as I loved the way he brought the old streets of London to life for me with not only cracking description but carefully woven humour.

The principle characters work well together each one working off the other as thier clues to thier case are discovered proving to be something deeper than originally thought. Its carefully designed, the prose is sharp and when you add the Dickensian and Conan Doyle style of wordplay utilised all round gives it a rather authentic flavour.

Finally throw into the mix a rather delightful style of storytelling alongside a set up that could easily lead to a series and all round I was a more than happy reader. I'll definitely keep an eye out for more books by this author in future.

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