Dead Reckoning: A Yorkshire Mystery - Hardcover

Hall, Patricia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312321538 ISBN 13: 9780312321536

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2005

Synopsis

Earnshaw's Mill, one of last remaining foundations of Bradfield's industrial heritage, harkening back to Yorkshire's glorious past, has seen better days. As the times have changed, the future of the Earnshaw mill has become even more uncertain. With impending staff cuts necessary to keep the mill alive, the union is unhappy and the workers are threatening to strike. Racial tensions are already high enough in Bradfield's Muslim community, so with the possibility of large unemployment in town looming, trouble is in the air.

When one of the Earnshaw children turns up dead, DCI Michael Thackeray heads up the investigation into his death. The victim, a major shareholder in the company, has left no will and the future of the mill has become even more unclear.

In the meantime, Thackeray's girlfriend, reporter Laura Ackroyd, is researching a story on the racial tensions in the Muslim community. After witnessing a hostile race-related mishap on the street, she wanted to take a closer look at the circumstances underlying Bradfield's racial problems. Then she learns about the case of Saira Khan, a gifted student from a Muslim family who has gone missing and her story takes off, plunging her right into the middle of an escalating crisis. As both industrial and race relations reach the boiling point, Patricia Hall is at the top of her game in this gripping and emotional novel.

About this title

About the Author

Patricia Hall is a former journalist who worked for The Yorkshire Post, The Guardian, and The Observer. The author of nine previous crime novels featuring Thackeray and Ackroyd, including Deep Freeze, she was born in Yorkshire and now lives in Oxford.

From Publishers Weekly

British author Hall's latest police procedural to feature reporter Laura Ackroyd and DCI Michael Thackeray (after 2004's Death in Dark Waters) takes a compelling look at Muslim-Christian relations in the industrial Yorkshire town of Bradshaw. If Earnshaw's mill closes, half the Pakistani population will be out of work. As the tension mounts, Laura goes moonlighting to interview Muslim women for a radio show about their experiences since 9/11 with the town's neo-Nazis. Meanwhile, boyfriend Michael investigates the murder of Simon Earnshaw, an heir to the mill as well as a major shareholder, who was about to marry a "Paki," Saira Khan, who has gone missing. The Romeo and Juliet story that emerges, a tragedy involving Simon's alcoholic brother and angry grandfather and Saira's traditional Muslim father and two brothers, builds to a highly satisfying final act. Longtime fans of the series will be pleased to see Michael remove a major obstacle to his increased intimacy with Laura. Agent, Alison J. Picard. (May 6)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0312321538
• ISBN 13: 9780312321536
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288