The Scratch — Andrew Taylor

From the No.1 bestselling author of The American Boy and The Ashes of London comes a gothic novella â€" perfect for fans of The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley.

Clare and Gerald live a perfect life in the Forest of Dean with their cat, Cannop. Then Gerald's young nephew comes to stay. Jack is from another world â€" active service in Afghanistan. The experience has left him outwardly untouched, but for a scratch that won't heal. Jack and Cannop don't like each other. Clare and Jack like each other too much. The scratch begins to fester.

Reviews

Praise for Fireside Gothic:

‘Spine tinglers that cry out to be read in the flickering light of a wood fire… Wonderfully atmospheric' Kate Saunders, The Times

Praise for The Ashes of London

‘The Ashes of London presents a breathtakingly ambitious picture of an era… The multiple narrative strands are drawn together in a brilliantly orchestrated finale' Financial Times

‘A complex weave of history and mystery and the first of a new series from Andrew Taylor' The i

‘This is terrific stuff: intelligent, engrossing and, in its evocation of a long-vanished London, wonderfully plausible.' Toby Clements, Daily Telegraph

‘A pacey story… Taylor masters the detail as well as the broader picture… A new Shardlake may be rising from the ashes' The Times

‘Thrilling… Gripping, fast-moving and credible… It's a well-constructed political thriller with moments of horror, admirable and enjoyable. Taylor has done his research so thoroughly as to be unobtrusive' Spectator

‘The description of London in 1666, as the Great Fire is at last dying down, is unforgettable' Literary Review

‘Finely wrought and solidly researched… The novel's plot is fiendishly complex' Sunday Telegraph

‘The Ashes of London is a chilling murder mystery and an equally transporting historical novel. A genuine pleasure from start to finish' Peter Swanson

About the author

Andrew Taylor is the author of a number of crime novels, including the ground-breaking Roth Trilogy, which was adapted into the acclaimed drama Fallen Angel, and the historical crime novels The Ashes of London, The Silent Boy, and The American Boy, a No.1 Sunday Times bestseller and a 2005 Richard & Judy Book Club Choice.

He has won many awards, including the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award (the only author to win it three times) and the CWA's prestigious Diamond Dagger.