The Lost Daughter: A Jean Brash Mystery 2

Description

'Jean Brash is my favourite character and David Ashton's writing is as delicious, elegant and compelling as she is' - Siobhan Redmond. It's Spring and Jean Brash, Mistress of the Just Land (best bawdy-hoose in Edinburgh) is raring to go. But past, present and future collide to undermine that desire. A theatre company arrives in Leith to perform King Lear. A ruthless robbery is planned, a gruesome murder committed, both of which set Inspector James McLevy on the prowl, and Jean's past returns in the form of bad seed from a vicious killer. Even more lethally, her own lost family life explodes in the present, as a wild young actress who trails violence and death behind her, involves Jean in a dangerous complex game that threatens to destroy the very root of her identity. When you look death in the face, it's best not to blink - otherwise the play is over.

DAVID ASHTON was born in Greenock in 1941. He studied at Central Drama School, London, from 1964 to 1967, and most recently appeared in The Last King of Scotland and The Etruscan Smile. David started writing in 1984 and he has seen many of his plays and TV adaptations broadcast - he wrote early episodes of EastEnders and Casualty, and twelve McLevy series for BBC Radio 4. inspectormclevy.com

PRAISE FOR THE INSPECTOR McLEVY AND JEAN BRASH SERIES Ashton is an old hand at milking the Old Town, New Town and Leith for their maximum atmosphere, suspense and air of criminality. That, combined with the intriguing premise of a crime-solving brotel-keeper, makes Mistress of the Just Land a most diverting page turner - Herald Mclevy is a sort of Victorian Morse with a heart, prowling the mean wynds and tenements of the endlessly fascinating city. David Ashton impeccably evokes Edinburgh so vividly that you feel the cold in your bones and the menace of the Old Town's steep cobbles and dark corners - Financial Times An intriguing Victorian story... elegant and convincing - The Times McLevy is one of the greatest psychological creations and Ashton the direct heir to Robert Louis Stevenson - Brian Cox, CBE - Award-winning actor David Ashton's writing is excellent, his characters thoroughly convincing and his narrative grabs you - The Sherlock Holmes Society Ashton's McLevy is a man obsessed with meting out justice and with demons of his own - Scotsman