David Williams

Page Updated: 24/09/03

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David Williams - Page 2

First British Edition HarperCollins (1995)

Death of a Prodigal
As a young man, Mervyn Davies left South Wales for Australia under a cloud. When he returns to Pontyglas, forty years later, to collect a huge inheritance after the death of Edwin Edworth, his childhood friend and the town's richest bachelor, some people are surprised, others are disgusted at his good fortune - particularly Edworth's relatives who were left nothing in his will.
When Davies's severed head is discovered in a Tesco bag by the landlord's wife at the Coach and Horses, and other bits of him start appearing elsewhere, it's the relatives who have the obvious motive for his murder. But DCI Merlin Parry and DS Gomer Lloyd, sent from Cardiff to investigate, have to dig a lot deeper mentally to identify some less obvious motives, not to mention relatives, as well as physically to locate the remainder of the body before eventually cornering the killer.
This second Parry and Lloyd investigation is another delicious and authentic Welsh melange that easily matches the promise of Last Seen Breathing, lauded as 'tremendous' by Dan O'Neill in the South Wales Echo.
'David Williams is a consistently inventive writer as well as a stylish craftsman with an impish sense of humour… Vintage Williams, subtle and sly' James Melville, Ham & High
'Williams turns the Glamorgan town of Pontyglas into a seething pit of envy' Gerald Kaufman, Scotsman
'Wales sometimes seems to be the last place left in the British Isles without its television sleuth. The Parry-Lloyd team is by far the strongest candidate - the promise of the first book is enhanced by a robust sequel of superbly crafted thriller writing.' Michael Boon, Western Mail
'As entertaining mystery as you'll come across' Northern Echo
'Sheer professionalism of the McBain-MacLeod variety has become quite rare on this side of the Atlantic. David Williams shows it effectively in Death of a Prodigal… The complicated roots in the past from which a modern murder springs, the stifling provincial society, the steady police work, are very capably handled.' Anthony Lejeune, The Tablet
'..it has the wit and the plotting for which Williams is justly admired and his unusual ability to make interesting characters come alive from the brief descriptions and realistic dialogue' William F.Deek, CADS

Paperback - HarperCollins

Last Seen Breathing
The market town of Tawrbach is deeply shocked at the accidental death of ex-actress Rhonwen Spencer Griffith, rich widow and leading light of the Operatic Society. The strange death of her son Elwyn soon after is less remarked and it is at first assumed that he died from natural causes. But when Inspector Merlin Parry receives evidence to suggest that Elwyn was not above blackmail, he starts to have very different ideas.
The following investigation threatens to unearth blistering scandal, amongst other things involving intimate house parties, and rectorly misconduct, the whole arising from Madam Rhonwen’s alleged, explicit diaries. DCI Parry and DS Gomer Lloyd, sift the evidence and reach conclusions that suggest Tawrbach will never be the same again.
"Good plot, well-concealed clues, and the whole put together with wit and elegance: the classical formula still has life in it" T.J. Binyon, Daily Mail
"Good detective work by the agreeable Inspector Parry and his portly assistant, Sergeant Lloyd, makes for an entertaining mystery" Susannah Yager, Sunday Telegraph
"The author is deliciously adept at portraying the proper facades of the respectable classes and the shabby reality behind, and has delivered yet another richly characterised read" James Melville, Ham & High
"At the sheer carpentry of detection Williams has never been more skilful" Anthony Lejeune, The Tablet
"Merlin Parry is a new detective with a likeable manner and a sad past" Rachel Laurence, Liverpool Daily Post

Banking on Murder
Sir Ray Bims is in a lot of trouble: he's about to be charged as the principal in a Caribbean bank that's laundering international drugs money, and he's just refused an offer from Lord Grenwood - octogenarian chairman of merchant bankers Grenwood, Phipps - to buy back the Eel Bridge Rovers Football Club. But then Bims is found · dead, and at first suicide seems the obvious verdict - after all, did a man ever have more reason? - but Dl Jeckels has other ideas, and becomes convinced that there is a more sinister explanation . . . murder.
As Jeckels talks to the diverse array of suspects - who include a well-known concert pianist, a strangely religious pest controller and the manager of Eels FC - it becomes clear that it's going to take the unique skills of banker sleuth Mark Treasure to crack the case and prevent another death.
"A nicely wily Williams whodunit" Sunday Times
"Elegant and literate" F.E. Pardoe, Birmingham Post
"A beguiling read full of the sly wit and neat observations one can invariably count on from this accomplished writer" James Melville, Ham & High

Paperback - HarperCollins

Planning on Murder
Proposals to build a golf and hotel complex in the grounds of Vormer House, a handsome stately home in East Anglia, have aroused unforeseen passions in the community. When a public meeting is called about the development merchant banker Mark Treasure , financial adviser to the developer, witnesses emotions running high...
But not as high as when the attractive local secretary to Tory MP, Charles Finton, is gruesomely murdered that evening...
Civil outrage is narrowly avoided when the likely culprit commits suicide - until the mysterious death of Finton's London secretary. In increasing desperation the police cast around for a motive - sexual jealousy, political revenge, financial skulduggery? - and target another suspect, one Mark Treasure believes is innocent…
"Elegant, literate, ingenious and a joy to read" F.E. Pardoe, Birmingham Post
"As English as Ed McBain’s taut novels are American" Anthony Lejeune, The Tablet

Paperback - HarperCollins

Treasure by Post
Merchant banker Mark Treasure is asked by a West Country bishop to become involved in the financial affairs of a local convent - a convent with only three nuns left in residence and assets worth eleven million pounds. But this challenge turns out to be not as simple as it looks - one of the financial guardians has died in suspicious circumstances, and a second is found half-naked and strangled soon after leaving an important dinner party. And then there's a callous arson attack on the convent itself...
Convinced that the police are pursuing the wrong suspect, Treasure must use all his experience and ingenuity to uncover important evidence and unravel a complex web of deception. But time is against him and a killer is on the loose…
"Williams maintains suspense while keeping the masks of comedy and tragedy spinning like tops" Sunday Times
"Deft as ever" Observer
"Yet another fine Mark Treasure novel. As always, Williams's characters are top-notch . . . the humour plentiful and unforced, and the crimes marvellously complex" Million Magazine