Smoke and Whispers

By Mick Herron

Book Overview

From the author of Slow Horses and soon to be an Original Series from Apple TV+ starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson.

Oxford private detective Zo Boehm turns up dead in Newcastle, launching her friend Sarah Tucker into an investigation with several leads--but no one she can trust.

When a body is hauled from the River Tyne, Sarah Tucker heads to Newcastle for a closer look. She identifies the dead woman as private detective Zo Boehm, but putting a name to the corpse only raises further questions. Did Zo kill herself, or did one of her old cases come back to haunt her? Why was she wearing the jacket a murderer had stolen years before? And what's brought Sarah's former sparring partner Gerard Inchon to the same broken-down hotel where she's staying? Coincidence is an excuse that soon appears pretty unconvincing. Sarah can't leave until she's found the answers to her questions, however dangerous they might turn out to be.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1616955856
• ISBN13: 9781616955854
• Release Date: June 2015
• Publisher: Soho Crime
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.0" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

Subplots and subtext

His writing shows great improvement. The style is tighter. His story is more direct without losing its subtleties. His characters are more likable. It is a more seamless read than his first novel, Down Cemetery Road. Smoke and Mirrors has made me a fan. Lady J of CA

superb investigative thriller

In Newcastle, England, a corpse is fished out of the River Tyne. Freelance publisher and Ostrich farmer Sarah Tucker identifies the corpse as her friend private investigator Zoe Boehm. The police assume Zoe committed suicide, but Sarah takes exception to that conclusion as the woman had a zest for life. Instead she believes Zoe was murdered in a way to make it look like she took her life. With the police seemingly contented with their conclusion, Sarah considers her late friend's inquiry into Alan Talmadge, who murdered middle-aged women but made their death appear to be an accident or a suicide. With the premise too coincidental, Sarah investigates who Talmadge is and if he killed ZoeThis probe makes her a target for suicide. The key to this superb investigative thriller is the ostrich farmer who comes across as a rare legitimate amateur sleuth as Mick Herron "sells" Sarah as a detective with a motive. The story line is fast-paced from the moment that Sarah identifies the corpse and never slows down as she makes inquiries into her late buddy's last case, which puts a bulls-eye on her head. Although the climax can be seen clear across the Channel, SMOKE & WHISPERS is a fantastic English amateur sleuth. Harriet Klausner