{"product_id":"soot-9781472152459","title":"Soot","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e''An enticing and clever book, inside and out'' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBook Of The Month\u003c\/i\u003e - \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYork, 1799. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn August, an artist is found murdered in his home - stabbed with a pair of scissors.  Matthew Harvey''s death is much discussed in the city. The scissors are among the tools of his trade - for Harvey is a renowned cutter and painter of shades, or silhouettes, the latest fashion in portraiture. It soon becomes clear that the murderer must be one of the artist''s last sitters, and the people depicted in the final six shades made by him become the key suspects. But who are they? And where are they to be found?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLater, in November, a clever but impoverished young gentleman called Fletcher Rigge languishes in the debtor''s prison, until a letter arrives containing a bizarre proposition from the son of the murdered man. Rigge is to be released for one month, but in that time, he must find the killer. If he fails, he will be incarcerated again, possibl\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrier than a cream cracker; northern not only in vernacular but saturninity which envelops like a quilt giving off cigar smoke and port; \u003cb\u003ememorable characters\u003c\/b\u003e who vie for oddity or unpleasantness . . . \u003cb\u003eAndrew Martin's splendidly drawn snow-smothered York is a perfect foil for his sooty 18th-century gubbins and goings on\u003c\/b\u003e, in which little turns out to be precisely black - or precisely white. - Evening Standard\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'The book's many voices are \u003cb\u003ewritten with skill\u003c\/b\u003e, and York's parallel worlds of  fashion and poverty are\u003cb\u003e vividly created\u003c\/b\u003e. The physical book itself is \u003cb\u003estunning \u003c\/b\u003e- the front of the hardback is swirled with soot, and the pages are black-edged. \u003cb\u003eAn enticing and clever book, inside and out'.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eBook Of The Month\u003c\/i\u003e. - The Times\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eA literary thriller of \u003cb\u003egreat ingenuity and originality\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e - Sunday Times\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA\u003cb\u003e fascinating\u003c\/b\u003e read - Catholic Herald\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn a \u003cb\u003ecunningly constructed\u003c\/b\u003e narrative made up of letters, diaries and other documents, the mystery is unravelled with a nod to the 18th-century novel while \u003cb\u003eremaining bang \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eup-to-date\u003c\/b\u003e . . . \u003cb\u003eStrong characters, humour and a dash of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ethe picaresque\u003c\/b\u003e flesh out a \u003cb\u003esophisticated, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003econfident and intriguing treat.\u003c\/b\u003e - Daily Mail\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eExquisitely written\u003c\/b\u003e . . . \u003ci\u003eSoot\u003c\/i\u003e is a \u003cb\u003ewell-made\u003c\/b\u003e whodunnit, an \u003cb\u003eartful\u003c\/b\u003e pastiche and an\u003cb\u003e atmospheric\u003c\/b\u003e recreation of Georgian England . . . Comic but never arch, it is an \u003cb\u003eartfully sophisticated\u003c\/b\u003e entertainment - Irish Times","brand":"Little, Brown Book Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48739403104599,"sku":"9781472152459","price":9.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781472152459.jpg?v=1720052142","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/soot-9781472152459","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}