Monday, 15 January 2018
Games with the Dead by James Nally
Series: DC Donal Lynch #3
Release Date: 28th December 2017
Publisher: Avon
Publisher: Avon
Genres: Crime / Thriller
Meet PC Donal Lynch – aspiring detective, alcoholic, insomniac, and seer of dead people…
‘An intoxicating Thriller’ SUN
Irish runaway. Insomniac. Functioning alcoholic.
Life is about to get complicated for DC Donal Lynch.
When
a young woman is kidnapped, Donal is brought in to deliver the ransom
money. But the tightly-planned drop off goes wrong, Julie Draper is
discovered dead, and Donal finds his job on the line – a scapegoat for
the officers in charge.
But
when Donal is delivered a cryptic message in the night, he learns that
Julie was killed long before the botched rescue mission. As he digs
further into the murder in a bid to clear his own name, dark revelations
make one thing certain: the police are chasing the wrong man, and the
killer has far more blood on his hands than they could even imagine.
A gripping, brutal and addictive thriller, perfect for fans of Ian Rankin and James Oswald.
EXTRACT
‘Okay,
you’re going to think I’m bonkers, Edwina, but something keeps happening and I
don’t understand how or why.’
She sits
forward, stirring her cocktail absently.
‘Every time
I’ve been physically close to a murder victim . . . they’ve come to me that
night, in really vivid visions. I can’t say dreams because they’re not. They’re
too real and they happen when I’m awake.’
She nods
greedily, demanding more.
Gin-trapped,
I run her through every incidence; the visions, the clues, how it helped me
find bodies and even crack some tricky investigations. She hangs on every word,
a rapt audience of one, growing increasingly uneasy with each revelation.
To assuage
her mounting horror, I tell her about my sleep paralysis diagnosis, and how
this might explain what’s happening to me. I then hit her with my own pragmatic
theory; that my subconscious mind is presenting clues to me in an unorthodox,
visual way.
‘I really
can’t listen to much more of this,’ she declares suddenly, standing and
flapping about for her belongings.
‘Look, I
know as a scientist you don’t buy a word of it. Trust me, I wish it wasn’t
happening to me.’
‘I really
must be off.’
‘But there’s
half a pitcher left . . . why don’t we take it with us down to the South Bank?’
‘Have it,’
she snaps.
‘I feel like
I’ve angered you, Edwina.’
‘Not at
all,’ she says. ‘It’s just this place can get so noisy and stuffy. I need some
air, okay? I’ll call you.’
She casts me
an apologetic, closed-mouth smile before vanishing into the throng. She’s
right. It is noisy and hot, but I know few things bring a date more swiftly and
decisively to an end than declaring you receive regular one-on-one briefings
from the recently murdered.
About the author
James Nally
was a journalist for 15 years, before leaving to become a producer and
director of TV and film. This is his first novel, and is based on his
experiences of his years writing about the murder victims of London.
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