Black Summer
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Description
'Compelling' Heat
'The best pure mystery plot of the year'Morning Star
'Gleefully gory and witty, with a terrific sense of place'Sunday Mirror
______________________
After The Puppet Show, a new storm is coming . . .
Jared Keaton, chef to the stars. Charming. Charismatic. Psychopath . . . He's currently serving a life sentence for the brutal murder of his daughter, Elizabeth. Her body was never found and Keaton was convicted largely on the testimony of Detective Sergeant Washington Poe.
So when a young woman staggers into a remote police station with irrefutable evidence that she is Elizabeth Keaton, Poe finds himself on the wrong end of an investigation, one that could cost him much more than his career.
Helped by the only person he trusts, the brilliant but socially awkward Tilly Bradshaw, Poe races to answer the only question that matters: how can someone be both dead and alive at the same time?
And then Elizabeth goes missing again - and all paths of investigation lead back to Poe.
The gripping new thriller in the Washington Poe series from M. W. Craven, winner of the CWA Gold Dagger Award for best crime novel of 2019.
*Longlisted for the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger 2020*
Praise for MIKE CRAVEN
'Dark, sharp and compelling' PETER JAMES
'Fantastic' MARTINA COLE
'Britain's answer to Harry Bosch' MATT HILTON
'A powerful thriller from an explosive new talent' DAVID MARK
'Truly mind-blowing' A. A. Dhand
'A book thatshines with tension, wit and invention' William Shaw
'Washington Poe - a rising giant in detective fiction' Alison Bruce
'A twisty thriller with a killer plot Ed James
'I loved this book!' Jo Jakeman
'One of the best British crime novels I've read in a long time . . . Simply an unputdownable page-turner' Nick Oldham
'Grabs you from the very first page. A dark and brilliantly twisted crime thriller' Colin Falconer
'Dark and twisted in all the right places' Robert Scragg
'In Tilly and Poe, MW Craven has created a stand-out duo who are two of the most compelling characters in crime fiction in recent years' Fiona Cummins
'Dark, thrilling and unputdownable' Victoria Selman
Book Information
Posts
My first truly well-deserved 5-star read this year🌟
Reinstated Detective Sergeant Washington Poe is called back to Cumbria, where a body has turned up–very much alive! Elizabeth Keaton was believed to have been murdered by her narcissistic father, Michelin-starred celebrity chef Jared Keaton, six years ago, though her body was never found. But when she vanishes again soon after, Poe suspects the whole thing may have been staged by Jared to get out of prison and take revenge on him. There‘s just one problem: Elizabeth‘s DNA matches. Poe needs Tilly once more to uncover what really happened! M.W. Craven is definitely one of the best crime fiction writers I‘ve come across. I loved that the investigators had to rely on proper police work to catch the culprit–no chasing red herrings only to be saved by some lucky coincidence, like in many other books in the genre. Poe and Tilly‘s second case was even better than their first. Once again, I enjoyed their dynamic and how well they complement each other. The brilliant storyline and clever twists had me so invested I kept telling my family and friends what was happening. I mean–what other murder mystery starts with someone NOT being dead? And who knew truffles could play such a massive role in a book? A well-deserved 5-star read.🌟
The Washington Poe series in anything but your average thriller and that’s why I love it.
The second book in the series (and the third I‘ve read so far) feels so very different from the first one and I am delighted by it. Still set in the lovely landscape of Cumbria, detective Washington Poe finds himself confronted with a former case - six years ago star chef and narcissist Jared Keaton had been convicted for the murder of his daughter Elizabeth, who now turned up alive, DNA proving that she is telling the truth. Haunted by this turn of events and still convinced of Keaton‘s guilt, Poe recruits his friend and brilliant analyst Tilly Bradshaw to figure out how the charismatic chef managed to pull off this feat. The ensuing high-stakes investigation is urgent, gritty and full of twists and turns, especially when Poe ends up in the crosshairs of his fellow inspectors. My only grievance with this otherwise amazing read was that there was significantly less interaction between our beloved characters, the book therefor missing some of the levity of its predecessor.
Description
'Compelling' Heat
'The best pure mystery plot of the year'Morning Star
'Gleefully gory and witty, with a terrific sense of place'Sunday Mirror
______________________
After The Puppet Show, a new storm is coming . . .
Jared Keaton, chef to the stars. Charming. Charismatic. Psychopath . . . He's currently serving a life sentence for the brutal murder of his daughter, Elizabeth. Her body was never found and Keaton was convicted largely on the testimony of Detective Sergeant Washington Poe.
So when a young woman staggers into a remote police station with irrefutable evidence that she is Elizabeth Keaton, Poe finds himself on the wrong end of an investigation, one that could cost him much more than his career.
Helped by the only person he trusts, the brilliant but socially awkward Tilly Bradshaw, Poe races to answer the only question that matters: how can someone be both dead and alive at the same time?
And then Elizabeth goes missing again - and all paths of investigation lead back to Poe.
The gripping new thriller in the Washington Poe series from M. W. Craven, winner of the CWA Gold Dagger Award for best crime novel of 2019.
*Longlisted for the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger 2020*
Praise for MIKE CRAVEN
'Dark, sharp and compelling' PETER JAMES
'Fantastic' MARTINA COLE
'Britain's answer to Harry Bosch' MATT HILTON
'A powerful thriller from an explosive new talent' DAVID MARK
'Truly mind-blowing' A. A. Dhand
'A book thatshines with tension, wit and invention' William Shaw
'Washington Poe - a rising giant in detective fiction' Alison Bruce
'A twisty thriller with a killer plot Ed James
'I loved this book!' Jo Jakeman
'One of the best British crime novels I've read in a long time . . . Simply an unputdownable page-turner' Nick Oldham
'Grabs you from the very first page. A dark and brilliantly twisted crime thriller' Colin Falconer
'Dark and twisted in all the right places' Robert Scragg
'In Tilly and Poe, MW Craven has created a stand-out duo who are two of the most compelling characters in crime fiction in recent years' Fiona Cummins
'Dark, thrilling and unputdownable' Victoria Selman
Book Information
Posts
My first truly well-deserved 5-star read this year🌟
Reinstated Detective Sergeant Washington Poe is called back to Cumbria, where a body has turned up–very much alive! Elizabeth Keaton was believed to have been murdered by her narcissistic father, Michelin-starred celebrity chef Jared Keaton, six years ago, though her body was never found. But when she vanishes again soon after, Poe suspects the whole thing may have been staged by Jared to get out of prison and take revenge on him. There‘s just one problem: Elizabeth‘s DNA matches. Poe needs Tilly once more to uncover what really happened! M.W. Craven is definitely one of the best crime fiction writers I‘ve come across. I loved that the investigators had to rely on proper police work to catch the culprit–no chasing red herrings only to be saved by some lucky coincidence, like in many other books in the genre. Poe and Tilly‘s second case was even better than their first. Once again, I enjoyed their dynamic and how well they complement each other. The brilliant storyline and clever twists had me so invested I kept telling my family and friends what was happening. I mean–what other murder mystery starts with someone NOT being dead? And who knew truffles could play such a massive role in a book? A well-deserved 5-star read.🌟
The Washington Poe series in anything but your average thriller and that’s why I love it.
The second book in the series (and the third I‘ve read so far) feels so very different from the first one and I am delighted by it. Still set in the lovely landscape of Cumbria, detective Washington Poe finds himself confronted with a former case - six years ago star chef and narcissist Jared Keaton had been convicted for the murder of his daughter Elizabeth, who now turned up alive, DNA proving that she is telling the truth. Haunted by this turn of events and still convinced of Keaton‘s guilt, Poe recruits his friend and brilliant analyst Tilly Bradshaw to figure out how the charismatic chef managed to pull off this feat. The ensuing high-stakes investigation is urgent, gritty and full of twists and turns, especially when Poe ends up in the crosshairs of his fellow inspectors. My only grievance with this otherwise amazing read was that there was significantly less interaction between our beloved characters, the book therefor missing some of the levity of its predecessor.