Call The Dying

Andrew Taylor is a master story-tellerDaily Telegraph

From the No.1 bestselling author of The Ashes of London and TheFire Court, this is the seventh instalment in the acclaimed Lydmouth series

Love and need make unexpected bedfellows, and both are blind. As the grip of a long hard winter tightens on Lydmouth, a dead woman calls the dying in a seance behind net curtains. Two provincial newspapers are in the throes of a bitter circulation war. A lorry-driver broods, and an office boy loses his heart.

Britain is basking in the warm glow of post-war tranquillity, but in the quiet town of Lydmouth, darker forces are at play. The rats are fed on bread and milk, a gentlemans yellow kid glove is mislaid on a train, and something disgusting is happening at Mr Prouts toyshop.

Returning to a town shrouded in intrigue and suspicion, Jill Francis becomes acting editor of the Gazette. Meanwhile, theres no pleasure left in the life of Detective Chief Inspector Richard Thornhill. Only a corpse, a television set and the promise of trouble to come.

An excellent writer. He plots with care and intelligence and the solution to the mystery is satisfyingly chillingThe Times

The most under-rated crime writer in Britain todayVal McDermid

There is no denying Taylors talent, his prose exudes a quality uncommon among his contemporariesTime Out