Skeleton-in-Waiting: A Crime Novel

Description

A New York Times Notable Book: CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson revisits his alternate British monarchy, ensnaring the imagined royal family in a dark conspiracy of kidnapping, politics, scandal, and murder Britain's beloved Princess Louise is a grown woman now, married to commoner Piers Chandler and enchanted by their infant son, Davy. While visiting a certain Mrs. Walsh-a mysterious old woman claiming to be a royal relation, a Romanov who escaped the terror of the Russian Revolution-Louise and little Davy are nearly taken captive by would-be kidnappers. Through pluck and quick thinking, Her Royal Highness avoids the unthinkable, but Mrs. Walsh is killed in the melee, leaving her secrets unspoken and her mysteries unsolved. Not easily daunted, the young princess turns to her husband for help in unraveling the tangled truth about the murdered Mrs. Walsh-a hunt that soon leads them to Tashkent, the teeming capital city of Uzbekistan, where they hope to find answers. But some doors to the past are opened only at gravest risk to life and limb-even for those of royal blood. Bringing back many of the unforgettable characters from his acclaimed King and Joker, Dickinson's Skeleton-in-Waiting is yet another majestic thriller from a true master mystery novelist, offering further proof that this author has few equals among crime fiction royalty.

Peter Dickinson was born in Africa but raised and educated in England. From 1952 to 1969 he was on the editorial staff of Punch, and since then earned his living writing fiction of various kinds for children and adults. His books have been published in several languages throughout the world. The author of twenty-one crime and mystery novels for adults, Dickinson was the first to win the Gold Dagger Award of the Crime Writers' Association for two books running: The Glass-Sided Ants Nest (1968) and The Old English Peepshow (1969). Dickinson was shortlisted nine times for the prestigious Carnegie Medal for children's literature and was the first author to win it twice. Dickinson served as chairman of the Society of Authors and was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2009 for services to literature. Peter Dickinson died on December 16, 2015, at the age of eighty-eight.

"Spunky, clever Princess Louise is on the case in [Dickinson's] nifty thriller about an imaginary British royal family." -The New York Times "A superb stylist, the author evokes empathy for the ruling family, especially HRH and her commoner spouse-righteous, regal, and human as any real-life exponent of the arduous royal life." -Publishers Weekly "Dickinson is one of the most versatile and inventive writers of mysteries." -Los Angeles Times "Great fun . . . fast paced and enthralling as a good detective thriller should be but also a study of extraordinary social and psychological perception." -The New York Times Book Review "Peter Dickinson is wonderful. . . . A book that should win the heart of the stoutest anti-monarchist." -Financial Times