Flesh and Blood by
John Harvey
hbk out April 04
Published by Heinemann
at £12.99
Although John Harvey's name is most closely associated with the Charlie Resnick
novels, he is a writer of wide accomplishment, with credits as a poet, dramatist and
even, some years ago, as an author of westerns. Recently, and much to the regret of
fans, he has concluded the Resnick series, but the good news is that he has moved on
by creating a notable new protagonist in Jack Elder. Elder is a cop 'who, for a variety
of reasons, some of which he had never perhaps quite understood, had turned his back
on the job almost as soon as his thirty years were in'. At the start of this book, he has
moved from Nottinghamshire to Cornwall, where he spends much of his time reading
old paperbacks (his taste runs more to Reeman than to Lawrence). His marriage has
long since collapsed and he doesn't see his daughter Katherine as often as he would like.
But news comes of the release from prison of a man who had been suspected of
involvement in the disappearance of a teenage girl and Elder finds himself drawn into
one of his most chilling investigations. A gripping read from start to finish.
(
Martin Edwards
- author of the highly acclaimed Harry Devlin Mysteries)
Flesh and Blood by
John Harvey
