Andrew Taylor

Page Updated: 12/07/2004

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Andrew Taylor - Page 4

First British Edition Collins (1990)

Toyshop
"I was in bed with my brother's wife when they came to tell me he was dead"
Gerhard Herold, a young East German has lived in his brother's shadow for years. Wolfgang Herold had been stationed in London, a senior export executive for East Germany's toy manufacturing industry. The news that he is to be his dead brother's replacement in London makes little sense to Gerhard, but at least the new job will give him the opportunity to escape the deadly routine of his life, and to find out what happened to Wolfgang ... perhaps. Working in London, living in the flat previously occupied by his brother, under the careful eye of the East German secret services, Gerhard starts to suspect that his brother was not the random victim of an unknown assassin, but was murdered because he had stumbled across sensitive, explosive information that powerful men wanted to keep secret. As he begins to dig deeper, he joins forces with a young American, Elizabeth Allanton. At first they share only a common desire to find the truth, but soon they become lovers. Their search for the facts behind Wolfgang's mysterious death leads them into the treacherous clutches of both the East German and British intelligence services. As they struggle to escape the security net tightening around them, a sordid tale of greed and corruption - with Wolfgang at its very heart - begins to emerge ...
"A major thriller talent" Time Out
Praise for Andrew Taylor's previous thrillers
Blacklist
"It really does deliver, with that vital element of compulsion. Satisfyingly packed with moral ambiguities and delightfully devoid of stereotypes ... excellent" Venue
"Another cracking yarn, totally riveting ... one of Britains most accomplished young thriller writers" The Citizen
"Mr Taylor is a sophisticated writer" New York Times Book Review

Paperback - Null

Double Exposure
Illegal immigrants Chris knew it would be difficult seeing Smith again, but he never thought she'd involve him in a political row Professional Killers At least Smith hasn't changed, he thinks. But, unlike Chris, she's too preoccupied with her father's new girlfriend to notice that something is very wrong in their holiday cottage. Kidnapping Then a ghostly face at a window shatters the rural tranquillity. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Chris and Smith find themselves bundled up in the back of a car on a desperate race to London with a man who'll stop at nothing to get what he wants.

First British Edition Gollancz (1990)

Blood Relation
Now working with his old rival Hanbury in a private detection agency, Dougal is given a delicate task by his boss's daughter: her lover, Oswald Finwood, has disappeared and she wants him found. As Finwood works for Gasset and Lode, publishers for whom Dougal has free-lanced, he seems the right man for the job.
Has Finwood done a runner? An embarrassing possibility. What does his estranged wife know about it? And who is the mysterious A.J. McQuarm with whom Finwood had an appointment on the day he disappeared.
The deeper Dougal digs, the murkier the investigation becomes - especially after the first corpse turns up.
Andrew Taylor has been hailed as one of the most exciting British crime novelists writing today, and his latest mystery is the best yet in this highly original, entertaining series.
"I hope to meet the lively and amoral William Dougal again. And Again" The Times (of Caroline Minuscule)
"A wonderful book, funny and inventive, well plotted and characterised. Dougal is one of the most likeable sleuths on the circuit ... priceless" Oxford Times
"Dougal is one of the most delightful fictional characters ... Taylor has the skill to create characters who at the same time are almost surreal and utterly credible" Crime Fiction Catalogue
"Excellent atmosphere, good dialogue ... sparky and humorous writing" The Times (of Freelance Death)

First British Edition Walker (1989)

Private Nose
A Read Alone Book
When the Holmeses move in next door to the Watsons the birth of a new detective partnership is guaranteed - especially as Saturday Holmes has "the nose". Soon Saturday and her sidekick Jack Watson are involved in all manner of intriguing activities, including bearnapping, ghost-busting and shadowing!

First British Edition Collins (1988)

The Second Midnight
is a novel of survival, of the triumph of the spirit against overwhelming odds, of love born out of hate, and of action and espionage in the shadowy days of World War II and its aftermath.
As war looms in Europe, Hugh Kendall is a troubled young boy. When his hated father offers him the chance to visit Prague, however, Hugh feels that this may be a turning point in their relationship. Hugh could hardly have been more mistaken. His father had taken him as cover for his minor mission on behalf of the Intelligence Services, and has no second thoughts when he has to leave Hugh in the hands of the growing Czech Communist Resistance to allow him to return to England. Hugh is left without a family, without a home, and has to remake his life in a country which has just been over-run by the Nazis and where he does not even speak the language.
But Hugh begins to find himself, especially when he is taken under the wing of a Wehrmacht colonel, Helmut Scholl - a 'good' Nazi - and discovers the joys of friendship with Scholl's daughter Magda. Hugh's alien status as foreigner and potential enemy, however, is never forgotten by Scholl's son Heinz, who mistrusts and dislikes Hugh, feelings which are intensified to hatred when Colonel Scholl is killed shortly before the end of the war. As a shattered Europe edges towards an uneasy peace and an intensifying Cold War, Hugh and Magda are separated without any obvious hope of ever finding each other, and Hugh and Heinz are set on a course that will bring them into ultimate confrontation ...
"An ingenious idea ... echoes of Le Carre" Punch
"Sharp, vivid, intriguing ... an excellent novel" Yorkshire Post