Page Updated: 14/03/2011

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Martin Edwards - Page 2

The Cipher Garden The Coffin Trail Green For Danger Mysterious Pleasures Take My Breath Away

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First British Edition Allison & Busby (2005)

The Cipher Garden
A Lake District Mystery
Where old sins cast long shadows
I thought you were dead...’
In the peaceful village of Old Sawrey in the idyllic Lake District a murderer strikes. Warren Howe, a husband and father of two, is brutally slaughtered with his own scythe by a mysterious hooded figure. He had been on a garden-landscaping job, digging an excavation trench into which the killer would soon throw his bloodied, lifeless body. The police identity several suspects but, due to the lack of evidence, they fail to make an arrest.
Years later an anonymous tip-off sparks he interest of DCI Hannah Scarlett who heads the local Cold Case Review ream. Despite her sergeant’s discouragement from spending time on such a slight lead. Hannah follows her instincts and pursues the case. Her investigations lead her to suspect Howe’s widow, Tina, but she has an alibi that seems to put her out of the frame.
Recently moved to the Lake District to live the dream with his partner Miranda, Daniel Kind’s discoveries about the unusual garden attached to their new home prove crucial to Hannah’s investigation. As Hannah and Daniel delve deeper in their quest for the truth, they discover that in this village old sins cast long shadows. The clues are eventually pieced together. leading to a shocking revelation that will change Hannah’s life forever.
A beautifully atmospheric and intriguing mystery, The Cipher Garden is the latest novel from the acclaimed Martin Edwards.
'The second Lake District mystery finds Daniel Kind, Oxford University historian and amateur sleuth, trying to determine why his garden seems almost deliberately designed as a labyrinth. Meanwhile, Detective Chief Inspector Hannah Scarlett, head of the cold case squad, gets a tip that fingers a suspect in an old murder: the dead man's wife. Slowly, even gracefully, the author weaves the two stories in and around each other until they become one. Mixing cozy and hard-boiled ambience, the series' setting, a quaint English village with big-city problems, takes center stage here, keeping readers off guard by mixing the familiar with the unfamiliar. Perhaps this innovative use of landscape as character eventually will seem quite ordinary, but enjoy it while you can. It's not often the genre offers something genuinely fresh.' David Pitt, "Booklist"
‘Edwards expertly scatters clues to an ugly series of surprises in the manner of Peter Robinson and the early P.D. James.’ Kirkus Reviews

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First British Edition Allison & Busby (2004)

The Coffin Trail
Oxford historian Daniel Kind and his partner Miranda both want to escape to a new life. On impulse they buy a cottage in Brackdale, an idyllic valley in the Lake District. But though they hope to live the dream, the past soon catches up with them.
Tarn Cottage was once home to Barrie Gilpin, suspected of a savage murder. A young woman’s body was found on the Sacrifice Stone, an ancient pagan site up on the fell, but Barrie died before he could be arrested. Daniel has personal reasons for becoming fascinated by the case and for believing in Barrie’s innocence. When the police launch a cold case review, Brackdale’s skeletons begin to rattle and the lives of Daniel and DCI Hannah Scarlett become strangely entwined. Daniel and Hannah each find themselves risking their lives as they search for a ruthless murderer who is prepared to kill again to hide a shocking secret.
`The Coffin Trail has all the ingredients you need for a wonderful, absorbing read: a crime deeply rooted in the past, a beautifully evoked sense of the Lake District and an interesting and diverse group of characters. DO Hannah Scarlett is a fine creation, and it’s good news that we can look forward to seeing more of her in the future’ Peter Robinson, author of the acclaimed Inspector Banks series

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British Pbk Original - Do Not Press (2003)

Green For Danger
The Official Anthology of the Crime Writers’ Association 2004
‘It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.’ Sherlock Holmes in The Adventure of the Copper Beeches Green For Danger is the brand new and delicious selection of the best modern British crime writing, featuring some of the biggest and best names in the business. The theme is ‘crime in the countryside’ and most of the 20 stories are unavailable elsewhere.
Green For Danger is the finest mystery collection of the year.
Contributors: Andrea Badenoch
Robert Barnard
Ann Cleeves
Mat Coward
Judith Cutler
Carol Anne Davis
Martin Edwards
Kate Ellis
Reginald Hill
Edward D Hoch
Brian Innes
Michael Jecks
Peter Lewis
Peter Lovesey
Keith Miles
Gwen Moffat
Amy Myers
Ruth Rendell
Zoe Sharp
Jerry Sykes

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British Pbk Original - Little,Brown (2003)

Mysterious Pleasures
A Celebration of the Crime Writers’ Association’s 50th Anniversary
‘Show me a man or woman who cannot stand mysteries and I will show you a fool. A clever fool - perhaps - but a fool just the same’ Raymond Chandler
Ever since its creation in 1953, the Crime Writers’ Association has celebrated and championed the very best in the field of murder and mystery. Now, on the fiftieth anniversary of this esteemed organisation, Mysterious Pleasures offers a unique collection of short stories from its most illustrious members.
All of the contributors to this anthology have won the CWA’s prestigious Diamond or Gold Dagger Awards, served as chairman, or, in many cases, all three. From Eric Ambler to Ian Rankin, Dick Francis to Ruth Rendell, John Creasey to Sara Paretsky, here are tales that alternately tantalise, intrigue, shock, surprise and thrill - a myriad of styles united only by subject matter and the sheer quality of the writing.
A box of delights, some hard-centred, some soft, some sprinkled with a smidgen of poison, Mysterious Pleasures is a must-read for fans of crime fiction everywhere.
Including new stories by:
Robert Barnard
Lindsey Davis
Colin Dexter
Reginald Hill
H.R.F. Keating
Peter Lovesey
Val McDermid
Ian Rankin

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First British Edition Allison & Busby (2002)

Paperback - Allison & Busby (2004)

Take My Breath Away
Lawyer turned writer Nic Gabriel is intrigued when his friend Dylan Rees starts to tell him a cryptic story about the connections between several strange and sudden deaths. So he can’t resist the opportunity to meet up with his friend and hear some more. But at Dylan’s glitzy party, Nic can only watch in horror as his friend is murdered by the ex-girlfriend who had apparently committed suicide over him five years before. Stunned by the brutal attack, Nic vows to discover the meaning behind his friend’s enigmatic tale.
Meanwhile Roxanne Wake is thrilled to be starting her new job at Creed, the country’s leading human rights law firm. It is a dream opportunity for a young lawyer, but there is something worrying Roxanne and it isn’t just her lack of experience. Roxanne has got a secret, something she dare not tell her new employers - and she is determined to keep her past hidden at all costs
Take My Breath Away is a gripping psychological thriller from a master of the legal mystery. Packed full of twists and turns, this is a novel that will leave you gasping.
'A clever psychological thriller' The Sunday Telegraph
‘A satisfyingly convoluted story of the techniques of influencing people’s thoughts and actions. I might be tempted to say, ‘Don’t trust the spin-doctors’, but then I would, wouldn’t I?’ Martin Sixsmith
`The author writes with authenticity and skilfully unravels a whole clutch of mysteries’ Manchester Evening News
Praise for Martin Edwards
'It's such a pleasure to unearth a lawyer who can write in real-life language. Martin Edwards writes terrific crime novels' Marcel Berlins, The Guardian
A dark urban mystery ... the insights into contemporary society are as sharp as the dark and discursive plotting' The Times
'Harry is a likeable man with a wry sense of humour... Good entertainment with no unnecessary frill' Susanna Yager, The Sunday Teiegraph
A first rate complex thriller' The Sunday Times
'The novels successfully combine the style of the traditional English detective story with a darker noir sensibility' Crime Time

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