Page Updated: 16/04/99
John Gano
John Gano
Arias Of BloodArias Of Blood
Inspector Proby in CourtInspector Proby in Court Newpbk 22 Feb 99
Inspector Proby's ChristmasInspector Proby's Christmas
Inspector Proby's Weekend
About the Author (Photo by Simon Marsden)
Bibliography


Hardback
Macmillan (1997)
Arias Of Blood
'The Lord Mayor stared at the single sentence, and reached out a shaky hand to steady himself. There flickering on the green fascia, in minuscule letters, was the simple message: I Solomon, sentence you to death within one week. Prepare yourself!'
What could possibly be the connection between a small itinerant opera company, the Lord Mayor of London, and an international assassin named Solomon who's hellbent on revenge?
As George Sinclair's hastily reassembled Floria Tosca Grand Opera Company prepare to present La Traviata at London's Mansion House in the presence of the Lord Mayor, they can have little idea of the orgy of blood and death that will flow from their performance.
And when the combined forces of London's Special Branch and Interpol fail to trace Solomon, how can George hope to do any better?
'The opera world presented here is excessive, blazing with passion and utterly believable. One longs to see what the Floria Toscas will get up to next.' Donna Leon, The Sunday Times
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New Paperback - Allison & Busby (1999)
Inspector Proby in Court
Inspector Proby in court - for murder. After a violent and fatal post office raid, Proby pursues one of the suspects to a rooftop. But when Proby emerges on to the roof it is empty. He inches his way to the edge where a pistol lies glittering in the sunlight. Proby peers over. Just below him the terrified suspect clings to a piece of metal spouting - two hundred feet above the ground. Proby stretches out his hand to grasp the pleading man. Too late, he is gone, falling to his death - and Proby must answer a charge of murder. Did he take the law into his own hands and act as executioner) Proby must fight to prove his innocence. But he also has another murder on his hands …
'This is only the second book about Proby, but it is a winner' F.E.Pardoe, Birmingham Post
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Paperback - Allison & Busby (1997)
Inspector Proby's Christmas
Bodies are piling up in Hampton's morgue just before Christmas. Then another woman is savagely killed. Inspector Proby works overtime. At home his wife is having an affair; at work he can't trust his men. Of one thing only he is certain - the killer's identity. But, outwitted at every turn, he must act as human bait and face his prime suspect - alone, unarmed and terrified…
'An eye as good as Lovejoy's but his contacts are better… I enjoyed it very much indeed' Jessica Mann, Sunday Telegraph
'Skilful… entirely plausible' Literary Review
'A top class debut' David Hughes, Mail on Sunday '...an interesting character worth developing. An enjoyable, easy read' Scotland on Sunday
'A very welcome addition to the ranks of English police procedurals ...A really professional job, perfectly paced and refreshingly spare. An engrossing Whydunnit' Mat Coward, Mystery Scene
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Inspector Proby's Weekend
Proby has enough on his plate already, with a gang of violent burglars, storms and impending floods, and when eccentric local landowner Thomas Hatton demands police protection from a nameless 'evil', he is reluctant to indulge him. But then Lady Hatton is murdered (in the bedroom, with a doorstop) and Proby is called back to Hatton Abbey, where, marooned by the floods and with communications down, he must take part in a real-life game of Cluedo with an equally real killer on the loose…
'Proby, passive in his messy marriage, active in police work, is an interesting character' Scotland on Sunday
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About The Author
John Gano is the pseudonym of Freddie Stockdale, whose two great passions of opera and criminology come together in his Floria Grand Opera Company books. In 1981 he founded the Pavilion Opera Company and is the author of several non-fiction works on the subject. The inevitable insight he has into the world of opera means that Arias of Blood, along with his previous book Death at the Opera, are gloriously authentic. His knowledge of criminology is equally well informed having specialised when reading law at Cambridge. He also spent several years as a prison visitor which giving him first-hand experience of prison life.
John Gano is also the creator of the Inspector Proby series.
Freddie Stockdale is married and lives in Sussex.

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Bibliography
N.B. dates and publishers in dark red indicate British First Editions. Dates and publishers in black indicate recent reprints.

  • Arias Of Blood (Macmillan, 1997) Macmillan Jun 97 ( Floria Tosca)
  • Death at the Opera (Macmillan, 1995) ( Floria Tosca)
  • Inspector Proby in Court (Macmillan, 1995) New Allison & Busby Pbk Feb 99 ( Proby)
  • Inspector Proby's Christmas (Macmillan, 1994) Allison & Busby Pbk Nov 97 ( Proby)
  • Inspector Proby's Weekend (Macmillan) New Allison & Busby Pbk Jun 99 ( Proby)

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