Naked to the Hangman: The Lydmouth Crime Series Book 8

Description

As a young police officer in Palestine during the closing months of the Mandate - the cradle of Middle Eastern terrorism - Richard Thornhill saw and did things which still haunt his dreams and make him fear for his sanity. Is he himself a killer Now, when a retired police officer is found dead in the ruins of Lydmouth Castle, the past has come back to claim Detective Inspector Thornhill, and he is under suspicion of another murder. His wife Edith and former lover Jill Francis join forces in an uneasy alliance to try to help him. But there are many complications - scandalous allegations have been made about Miss Awre's School of Dancing; the Ruispidge Charity's annual dance for young people is under threat; teenagers haunt the newly opened Italian coffee bar and yearn for fumbled intimacies in the sheltering darkness of the Rex Cinema; an Oxford don is looking for love; the Angel of Death wears khaki shorts and drives a Ford van. And the Spring floods are rising higher than they have in living memory, drowning a multitude of secrets . . .

Andrew Taylor has worked as a boatbuilder, wages clerk, librarian, labourer and publisher's reader. He has written many crime novels as well as children's books and lives with his wife and their two children in the Forest of Dean, on the borders of England and Wales.

'A brilliant take on the classic golden-age mystery updated with contemporary candour and enhanced by Taylor's ability to make characters rounded and real through his intuitive understanding of obsolete habits... a gripping and intelligent novel; highly recommended.' -- Literary Review 'Andrew Taylor's Lydmouth series becomes more impressive with each book... Taylor's special skill is getting under the skill of his characters and creating a vivid portrait of even the dullest setting. It's a very accomplished novel.' -- Sunday Telegraph 'This murder tale is anything but formulaic' -- Mirror 'Atmospheric' -- Daily Mail 'Complex and absorbing' -- Woman & Home 'Andrew Taylor is remarkably prolific -- it doesn't seem five minutes since his last stand-alone novel appeared -- but what is even more remarkable is that his productivity does not have the least adverse effect on the quality of his writing. On the contrary, this latest entry in the excellent Lydmouth series is arguably even stronger than its predecessor, the admirable 'Call for the Dying'. In this book, Richard Thornhill comes under pressure as never before when a tragedy from his brief service as a police officer in Palestine comes back to haunt him. The mystery element of the story is handled with Taylor's usual skill, and there are a couple of neat twists, but what I found striking was the way this talented writer made me care a great deal about such questions as who would accompany whom at the local charity dance. He draws us completely into the remote world of 1950s rural England and makes what happens there matter very much. A considerable achievement.' -- Tangled Web 'Taylor's novels are always intelligent, well-structured and engrossing reads.' -- Yorkshire Post 'The strength of Andrew Taylor lies in his characters and their complex emotions... Taylor never disappoints and Naked to the Hangman is no exception.' -- Harriet Waugh, Spectator 'Enthralling' -- Observer 'Detective Inspector Thornhill returns in this splendid new novel in the Lydmouth series... AndrewTaylor brilliantly captures the atmosphere of 1950s England with a superb plot and complex and believable characters. This is classic crime writing that will delight even the most jaded reader.' -- Waterstone's 'Andrew Taylor's Lydmouth novels have shaped the classic detective story into something cleverer, a magnifying glass on periods of recent history. Naked to the Hangman is no exception.' -- Belfast Telegraph 'This is the eight title in Andrew Taylor's excellent series of detective stories set in the fictional Anglo-Welsh border town of Lydmouth in the aftermath of the Second World War... A fine addition to the series.' -- Mail on Sunday 'Detective Inspector Thornhill returns in this splendid new novel in the Lydmouth series... AndrewTaylor brilliantly captures the atmosphere of 1950s England with a superb plot and complex and believable characters. This is classic crime writing that will delight even the most jaded reader.' -- Waterstone's Books Quarterly 'A brilliant take on the classic golden-age mystery updated with contemporary candour and enhanced by Taylor's ability to make characters rounded and real through his intuitive understanding of obsolete habits... a gripping and intelligent novel; highly recommended.' -- Literary Review 'Andrew Taylor's Lydmouth series becomes more impressive with each book... Taylor's special skill is getting under the skill of his characters and creating a vivid portrait of even the dullest setting. It's a very accomplished novel.' -- Sunday Telegraph 'Atmospheric' -- Daily Mail 'Taylor's novels are always intelligent, well-structured and engrossing reads.' -- Yorkshire Post 'Striking ... A considerable achievement.' -- Tangled Web 'Complex and absorbing' -- Woman & Home 'This murder tale is anything but formulaic' -- Mirror Praise for Andrew Taylor and CALL THE DYING -- : 'Taylor's Lydmouth series is turning the classical detective story into a complex picture of our own past' -- Independent 'Call The Dying"is expert, ingenious and absorbing.' -- Literary Review 'The most underrated crime writer in Britain today' -- Val McDermid 'Andrew Taylor is one of the most interesting, if not THE most interesting novelist writing on crime in England today. Like Ruth Rendell he produces particularly good, emotionally complex psychological novels and rather better straight detective novels than she does in her Wexford series' -- Harriet Waugh, Spectator 'Taylor is an excellent writer' -- The Times 'Taylor is, as always, adept at showing the reality beneath the surface, as the characters interact and the unsavoury truth behind the murder is gradually revealed' -- Sunday Telegraph 'Full of nostalgic detail, this is old-fashioned crime at its best - perfect for a cold winter night in front of a roaring fire.' -- Sunday Times 'The strength of Andrew Taylor lies in his characters and their complex emotions... Taylor never disappoints and Naked to the Hangman is no exception.' -- Harriet Waugh, Spectator 'Enthralling' -- Observer