The Devil's Feather by
Minette Walters
pbk out August 06
(Pan)
at £6.99
Reuters' correspondent, Connie Burns, questions the arrest of three rebel child-
soldiers in Sierra Leone for the brutal murders of five women. Connie believes the
killings are the work of a foreigner, someone who can use the cover of chaotic war to
savage women. Connie's efforts to unmask the murderer leads to him holding her
prisoner in Iraq. After her escape she goes into hiding in Dorset but knows he will
find her – it's only a matter of time. Walters combines her trademark world of rural
English life, peopled by eccentric and very individual characters, with the particular
and completely different setting of the Middle East and the experience of being held
as a hostage. As ever there is a very modern ambiguity in Walters' story, we cannot
be absolutely sure of guilt and innocence or the veracity of certain events. Though
one might puzzle over the accounts of some of the characters, we never doubt the
consummate skill of the author. Exciting, intelligent and addictive.
(
Cath Staincliffe
author of the popular Sal Kilkenny mysteries and the series creator of TV Blue Murder)
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The Devil's Feather by
Minette Walters
