Author:Leslie Thomas
A walk through Kensal Green Cemetery, a meat pie in the greasy spoon, a weekend away complete with flannel pyjamas - Dangerous Davies knows how to treat the woman he loves.
Detective Constable Davies has two things on his mind: Jemma Duval, the beautiful, black, hymn-singing social worker, and 'Lofty' Brock, the harmless old eccentric who drowned in the canal. To prove that Lofty's death was no accident, our hero sets out to do some undercover detective work. He soon discovers that something sinister is going on. Something that requires intuition, dedication, brilliant deduction - and a timely blow with a blunt instrument.
A novel so delicious that you have to keep stopping as you read, for fear of finishing too soon
—— Jane Shilling , Sunday TelegraphA bewitching tale...an utterly captivating blend of intellectual muscle and story-telling magic
—— IndependentReminiscent of The Remains of the Day. De Kretser has given us the classic whodunnit wrapped up in a beautiful and tragic literary novel
—— VogueHaunting, lush and delicately nuanced
—— ObserverRewarding, thought-provoking, witty and often disconcerting, the novel takes the reader into a world of transformations - conjuring a fiction which is tantalizingly vivid
—— Times Literary SupplementRedhill's mild prose is dense with powerful emotional insights. Like Martin's art, it inspires a feeling of stillness and calm, of looking down on things from above; while underneath rest layer upon layer of meaning, prompting reflection on the novel's images and understandings long after the last page is reached.
—— The TimesHauntingly good.
—— ElleA first novel with a rich centre... not a word to spare or an image too many.
—— Montreal GazetteOften intriguing... Jolene's youthful crassness and belated recognit ion or everything she lost are sharply and movingly evoked.
—— Sunday TimesIts combination of Grand Guignol and place setting does command attention
—— Metro LondonOriginal, moving and entertaining for adults as well as for older children
—— Julia Donaldson , Daily ExpressA deservedly acclaimed read.
—— Time Out London