Description
Book SynopsisThe Stormhaven Etiquette Society, a secretive affair, unafraid to name and shame those who transgress Model Services, the town’s only brothel, a discreet but busy presence in Church Street Bybuckle Asylum, a desolate shell on the seafront that housed over seven hundred mental patients prior to ‘care in the community’ What brings these three together is a cold-blooded execution that both shocks and confounds. For lying dead in the empty asylum, tied to an old metal bed frame, is a pillar of the establishment. Or is she? Sleuthing couple DI Tamsin Shah and her remarkable cleric uncle join forces once again to solve a murder mystery that reveals dark secrets from Abbot Peter’s tempestuous student years. ‘Do we ever leave anything behind?’ he wonders as the killer swings the gun barrel towards him . . . ‘To a long list of much-loved detective pairings, which includes Holmes and Watson, Poirot and Hastings, and Morse and Lewis, we must now add Abbot Peter and Tamsin Shah’. Church Times
Trade ReviewCunningly plotted, scary and darkly funny . . . the dialogue crackles as crisply as ever. * Church Times *
Abbot Peter is a true original. * Daily Mail *
To a long list of much-loved detective pairings, which includes Holmes and Watson, Poirot and Hastings, and Morse and Lewis, we must now add Abbot Peter and Tamsin Shah. * Church Times *
He is a brilliant creation. Clever. Rounded. Articulate and real. It may take a few years for him to be accepted as one of the greats. But . . . he will be. -- Tim Hastie-Smith, National Director of Scripture Union
The characters that Parke pens are convincing, and the dialogue is rich and entertaining. -- The Revd Professor Nicolas Goulding * Church Times *
[Reviews of earlier Abbot Peter mysteries, A Director’s Cut (2014), A Psychiatrist Screams (2013) and A Vicar Crucified (2013, all DLT)]: Highly original . . . very different from most detective stories * Clerical Detectives *
An engrossing page-turning thriller, propelling the reader through its multiple twists and turns and keeping one guessing until the final unpredictable – yet satisfying – denouement. * Irish Independent *
A nicely plotted, swiftly paced yarn, full of teases . . . Parke evokes the creepiness of the setting marvellously. He has a stunning ear for the way people actually speak, with pages of uninterrupted dialogue flashing by with the speed of a radio play. * Church Times *
