The July Competition [closed]
It’s all right. Don’t be scared. Just read the extracts.
Bookdagger will take care of you with these six stunning titles from our generous publishers, for three readers.
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Face of the Devil, by NJ Cooper
Suzie Gray is only fifteen when she is stabbed to death within metres of her uncle’s yacht on the Isle of Wight. Her body is found in the blood-smeared arms of Olly Matken, a family friend who grew up with her. Schizophrenic and vulnerable, he presents a serious challenge to the police. ‘I didn’t hurt her!’ Olly protests. ‘All I did was keep her from the devil.’ DCI Charlie Trench turns to forensic psychologist Karen Taylor. She knows she should ignore his call, but she cannot. Curiosity and, although she would never admit it to her partner, Will, a dangerous attraction to the brooding detective, push her into a deeply troubling case. Is Olly capable of murder? His own psychologist doesn’t think so, but his father does. The only way to find the truth is to identify Olly’s devil. And Karen has demons of her own.
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Burned, by Thomas Enger
A BRUTALISED VICTIM IN THE WILDS
A solitary tent is found to contain the body of a half-buried woman. She’s been stoned to death. There are lash marks across her back. One of her hands has been cut off.
A LONE VOICE Two years earlier internet reporter Henning Juul lost his son, Jonas, in a domestic fire. As he returns to work, physically and emotionally scarred, Henning struggles to escape this past and to be taken seriously again as a reporter – by his colleagues, his ex-wife and the police.
A MYSTERY IGNITED
Told to cover the story of the woman in the tent, he finds an increasingly dangerous trail and, despite an early arrest, he is convinced that the story is more complex than the police think…
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Rip Tide, by Stella Rimington
When pirates attack a cargo ship off the Somalian coast and one of them is found to be a British-born Pakistani, alarm bells start ringing at London’s Thames House. MI5 Intelligence Officer Liz Carlyle is brought in to establish how and why a young British Muslim could go missing from his well-to-do family in Birmingham and end up onboard a pirate skiff in the Indian Ocean, armed with a Kalashnikov. After an undercover operative connected to the case turns up dead in the shipping office of an NGO in Athens it looks like piracy may be the least of the Service’s problems. Liz and her team must unravel the connections between Pakistan, Greece and Somalia, relying on their wits – and the judicious use of force – to get to the truth. And they don’t have long, as trouble is brewing closer to home: the kind of explosive trouble that MI5 could do without…
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The Whispers of Nemesis, by Anne Zouroudi
It is winter in the mountains of northern Greece and as the snow falls in the tiny village of Vrisi a coffin is unearthed and broken open. But to the astonishment of the mourners at the graveside, the remains inside the coffin have been transformed, and as news of the bizarre discovery spreads through the village like forest fire it sets tongues wagging and heads shaking. Then, in the shadow of the shrine of St Fanourios (patron saint of lost things), a body is found, buried under the fallen snow – a body whose identity only deepens the mystery around the exhumed remains. There’s talk of witchcraft, and the devil’s work – but it seems the truth, behind both the body and the coffin, may be far stranger than the villagers’ wildest imaginings. Hermes Diaktoros, drawn to the mountains by a wish to see an old and dear friend, finds himself embroiled in the mysteries of Vrisi, as well as the enigmatic last will and testament of Greece’s most admired modern poet.
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Strangled in Paris, by Claude Izner
Why would anyone strangle a humble seamstress with no known enemies? When newly-married bookseller Victor Legris is asked to solve the murder of Louise Fontaine in the abattoir district of La Villette, he is initially baffled by the case. But as the investigation progresses, Victor, along with his assistant and brother-in-law Joseph, discovers that in belle-époque Paris young girls with no money or background are as ruthlessly preyed on as ever they were…
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Dr. Yes, by Bateman
You don’t say no to Dr. Yes, the charismatic plastic surgeon on the fast track to fame and fortune. But when the wife of obscure and paranoid crime writer Augustine Wogan disappears shortly after entering his exclusive clinic, the Small Bookseller with No Name is persuaded to investigate. As fatherhood approaches, our intrepid hero is interested only in a quick buck and the chance to exploit a neglected writer, but he soon finds himself up to his neck in murder, make-up and madness – and face to face with the most gruesome serial killer since the last one.
To win, answer three questions, the answers to which can be found here on Booknoir…
- Question 1: In The Whispers of Nemesis, what was the old woman buried too close to in the village of Loutro?
- Question 2: In Rip Tide, what is Khan’s address?
- Question 3: In Strangled in Paris, who does Corentin feel like he has lived as?
Terms and conditions
- Closing date for entries: 1st August 2011.
- Open to residents of the United Kingdom only.
- Entry to the competition is by completion of the above form only. Anyone submitting multiple entries will be disqualified.
- The winners will be selected at random from those correct entries received before the closing date.
- Only the winning entrants will be contacted by Booknoir. Our decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
- The winner’s name(s) may be published on the Booknoir website after the closing date of the competition.
- The competition is not open to Booknoir employees and their families, or to employees of Booknoir publishers and their families.
