Our Fathers’ Lies


Shortlisted for the Gold Dagger of the Crime Writers' Association

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There's unfinished business between William Dougal and his widowed father Ted. Part of it has to do with Celia Prentisse, who was once William's girlfriend. When her father, a historian, is found drowned, he is declared a suicide, but his daughter Celia remains unconvinced - not least because his abandoned clothes were found with a bottle of the wrong brand of gin and a slim volume of Schopenhauer's essays.

It's not much evidence, but it's enough to send her godfather, retired British intelligence officer Major Ted Dougal, and his son William, off on a trail that leads to a 1930s arsenic poisoning and a still-classified World War I court martial. Fortunately, the Major has a lot of connections - and William's scruples are infinitely adjustable.

"Sharp, literate, well ordered, and fun" The Times

"A complicated plot in which all the strands are coherently brought together ... Mr Taylor is a sophisticated writer." The New York Times Book Review

"Zestfully written, with high tension rating." Guardian

"...an intrigue subtly conceived, sharply and wittily articulated." Sunday Times

"Intelligent, sharp narration with distinctive and well-etched characters..." Times Literary Supplement

"Manna for crime fiction addicts." Daily Mail