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£8.99
Published
12 March 2013Paperback
9781908699169Ebook
9781908699176Press Release
Coming soon.
STUNNING NEW CRIME SET IN THE CAPITAL’S LEAST LOVED QUARTER
Reporter Rex Tracey has just recovered from his affair with Lithuanian artist Milda Majauskas when she disappears. He’s got other concerns, not least an anti-immigration group spreading hate across his beloved Tottenham, and a string of attacks on young women at the local beauty spot, Alexandra Palace. But when Rex
himself becomes a suspect, he is forced to seek answers.
Amongst the tea-houses and squats, the yam shops and tower blocks of this little-glimpsed, forever-changing London, Rex unearths a trail of secrets and falsehoods, from corrupt police to illegal factories. But the truth behind Milda’s fate evades him until the final twist, when Rex, and the last people to see her, must all account for their guilt.
'London positively seethes off the page… Marvellous'
—Kevin Sampson
- 'With an appealing protagonist, a cast of vivid characters and a powerful sense of place, this is an excellent crime novel as well as a sharply observed slice of contemporary London life — and the good news is that it promises to be the first in a series.'
—The Guardian - 'M.H. Baylis introduces the London borough of Tottenham to crime fiction, and it performs extremely well . . . fast-moving, committed and very entertaining'
—The Times - 'A sparky, unexpected thriller . . . His delicate sense of place gives Baylis a special authenticity, which — when you add neat characterisation and plotting — make him a crime writer to watch'
—Daily Mail - 'A richly enjoyable novel, working as both a satisfyingly plotted crime thriller, and a love letter to an often-overlooked corner of London.'
—The Independent
Matthew Baylis also writes as M.H. Baylis and Matthew Baylis.
He grew up in Southport, Merseyside, the only seaside town that has no sea. It used to have a beach but that, strangely, vanished round about 1994, when Matthew left for London. Questions are still being asked about that.
He studied anthropology and intended to become a world authority on cults and messianic movements. He became a storyliner on 'EastEnders' instead. Later, he took the dark arts of cliffhanger-crafting to Kenya and Cambodia. He wrote Cambodia's first film-noir thriller and is, he thinks, the only Englishman to have ever had a film shown at the Pyongyang Film Festival in North Korea.
A London-loving, amateur anthropologist, Matthew has lived in the multi-cultural, history-laden, and much misunderstood borough of Haringey since 2006, and this was the inspiration for the hugely acclaimed Rex Tracey crime novel series.
His non-fiction title, Man Belong Mrs Queen – Adventures With the Philip Worshippers grew out of his love for another part of the world, the South Pacific, and his lifelong affection for the Duke of Edinburgh.
He reads everything he can lay his hands on, but favourites include: Hans Fallada, Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, Anya Lipska, Charles Cumming, Oliver Harris, Emanuel Litvinoff, Louise Millar, John le Carre, Stav Sherez, Colin Thubron, Jeremy Seal, William McIlvaney, Ruth Rendell and the Old Testament. He will try most things twice.