Pickpockets, pimps and prostitutes: All in a day’s work for the city constable – until work moves too close to home… When Richard Nottingham, Constable of Leeds, discovers his former housemaid murdered in a particularly sickening manner, his professional and personal lives move perilously close. Circumstances seem to conspire against him, and more murders follow. Soon the city fathers cast doubt on his capability, and he is forced to seek help from an unsavoury source. Not only does the murder investigation keep running into brick walls, and family problems offer an unwelcome distraction; he can’t even track down a thief who has been a thorn in his side for months. When answers start to emerge, Nottingham gets more than he bargains for…
Chris Nickson has made a living as a writer since 1994. Much of his work has been music journalism, combining the twin passions of music and writing, specialising in world and roots music. His reviews and features are published in print and online, notably with Roots, Sing Out!, emusic.com, and allmusic.com. He's also the author of The NPR Casual Listener's Guide to World Music. Chris has also published 28 other non-fiction books and has had a pair of one act plays staged in Seattle.
“Music journalist Nickson makes an impressive mystery debut, set in 1731 Leeds.” (Starred review, Publishers Weekly)
"I thoroughly enjoyed this book...the setting and main characters were so brilliantly and engrossingly portrayed. These are a well-matched pair of coppers who deserve to return in their very own series." (I Love A Mystery)
“Nickson has made 18th-century Leeds a character in and of itself...Anyone wishing a return to the 'good old days' would do well to read this well-written novel.” (Mystery Scene)