Frances Fyfield - Page 3
| Paperback - Corgi (1997) |
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Shadow Play
Crown Prosecutor Helen West couldn't make up her mind about Mr Logo. Was he a threat to society or simply a poor soul with nothing left to lose? That he was seedy, repellent and slightly sinister she knew only too well. She was also frustrated by his continual ability to avoid conviction for a succession of petty but deliberate crimes.
Still smarting from Logo's most recent acquittal, Helen has more pressing concerns. Professionally she must contend with the archaic office building, its politics and its romances and also the embarrassing insubordination of Rose Darvey, whose teenage cynicism and promiscuity are the disguise of a terrified child. Helen must also face the fact of the brittle nature of her longterm relationship with senior policeman Geoffrey Bailey.
But she barely has time to cross-examine her feelings before she is swept up by the lives of others, pulled to the centre of a maze of violence and fear where Logo and his grubby world somehow divide and rule.
Once more West and Bailey are brought together to fight their own personal demons. Only this time, they are fighting for survival too.
'Unsettling, expert, seriously scary' Literary Review
'Terrifying' Daily Express
'Fyfield leads us gently, then frighteningly, into a claustrophobic world ... Not so much a whodunit as an under-the-bedclothes oh-my-God heart-stopper'
The Times
'Fyfield goes from strength to strength, generating the difficulties and misprisions of human intercourse with extraordinary naturalness'
Sunday Times
'Fyfield has written the thinking person's stalk 'n' slash... Unsettling, expert, seriously scary' Literary Review
'With her fourth chiller, the author is now second to none' Observer
'It may be that you have not yet acquired the Frances Fyfield habit; but if you like wholly realistic, terrifying chillers in the tradition of Highsmith and Rendell, laced with brilliant descriptions of modern London, and a sure touch when it comes to introducing sex and love interest into crime stories -then you will ... The only complaint I have about Frances Fyfield (who also writes under the name of Frances Hegarty) is that she has not yet written enough. There are only seven books so far. Addicts such as myself need at least 70' A.N. Wilson, Evening Standard
'Miss Fyfield is brilliant at building up suspense' The Lady
'Her best book to date' Books
'Skilfully draws the reader onto a heartstopping climax' Birmingham Post
'Throws a terrifying light into the dark places of the human psyche' South Wales Echo
'Brilliant' Marie Claire
'Her skill lies in her perfection of the way a monster can slowly develop out of a chrysalis. The reader is mesmerised and drawn into the gripping and macabre web, as overwhelmed as the intended victim' Yorkshire Post
'Some genuinely heartstopping excitements' Guardian
‘Fyfield's characters are superbly drawn ... Excellent Midweek
'Eat your heart out Inspector Morse' Company
Deep Sleep
Pip Carlton is a kind soul. A good son and a devoted husband, he is also a highly respected pharmacist, cherished by his loyal customers in Herringbone Parade. When his wife dies in her sleep, without cause and without pain, he is distraught. Comforted by his caring assistant, Pip struggles to take up the threads of his life, ignoring the rumours about Margaret's death, relieved that the police are content to shrug off the mystery.
But Helen West, Solicitor and Crown Prosecutor, fresh from hospital herself, refuses to believe that Margaret simply slipped into her final slumber. Others are more difficult to convince, including Helen's awkward and pragmatic partner, Detective Superintendent Geoffrey Bailey, and the only people who share her suspicions are a confused and lonely boy and the drug addict who dies so mysteriously in Geoffrey's arms.
There is quiet breathing in the Parade: long memories are inflamed by the dramatic discovery of an unexploded bomb hidden beneath the foundations for almost half a century. And there is deep sleep, until the streets are emptied into the darkness of the resulting evacuation. Then one lone man, armed with his strange love potions, strives for his heart's desire and prepares to murder again.
From the back streets of East London and the ponderous progress of the law, Frances Fyfield has created a masterful and suspenseful novel, in which her characters, passionate and utterly believable, move in their ignorance towards a terrifying conclusion.
Shadow Play