Product Description

As dawn breaks over London, the body of a young man is discovered in a windswept Notting Hill churchyard. The killer has left Detective Chief Inspector Grant Foster and his team a grisly, cryptic clue...However, it's not until the clue is handed to Nigel Barnes, a specialist in compiling family trees, that the full message becomes spine-chillingly clear. For, it leads Barnes back more than one hundred years - to the victim of a demented Victorian serial killer...When a second body is discovered Foster needs Barnes's skills more than ever. Because the murderer's clues appear to run along the tangled bloodlines that lie between 1879 and now. And if Barnes is right about his blood-history, the killing spree has only just begun...From the author of the bestselling "Who Do You Think You Are?" comes a haunting crime novel of blood-stained family histories and gruesome secrets...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11350 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Review
There's panache aplenty in this intriguing tale. Sharp plotting, elegant writing, engaging characters, a cracking climax. A series is promised. Bring it on! (Reginald Hill )

About the Author
Dan Waddell is a journalist and author who lives in west London. He has published ten non-fiction books, including the bestselling Who Do You Think You Are?, which tied in with the BBC TV series. This is his first novel.

Customer Reviews

Can't wait for the sequel!
A brilliant book bursting with new ideas and a high-tension plot that keeps the pages turning right up until the heart-stopping climax. The story weaves seamlessly from a modern day serial killer investigation to the sinister events of more than a century ago. The writer shows a real relish for London old and new, bringing to life the dark and teeming streets of the Victorian city and the dusty but intriguing world of the various libraries, warehouses and depositaries where the past refuses to stay buried. Surprisingly, it's the headlong charge through the outwardly dull-seeming world of genealogical records that proves the most captivating element in the hunt for the killer. There are vivid, atmospheric descriptions of the labyrinthine places where these secrets can be uncovered that make you want to start hunting yourself - although it's far better to do it in the company of Detective Inspector Grant Foster and genealogist Nigel Barnes.

Fantastic
Absolutely fantastic, i seriously could not put it down, the plot lines and ties between past and present are consistent and believable, and the thriller element is highly entertaining and indeed thrilling. One small caveat though, there are certain clues which are a bit on the obvious side and you get to a point towards the end where you solve bits before the characters. However the writing is of such high callibre that you are compelled to continue you reading and it is far from boring even if you are a step ahead.

Brilliant
This is a great book. A thriller that links the past and the present and has a real Britishness to it. It has a similar feel to Prime Suspect with characters that ring true. Nigel the genealogist is an unlikely but brilliant hero. The linking of the past to the present is effortlessly done taking you on a real journey through the past. Brilliantly written, it passed the couldn't put it down until it was finished test, the mark of a good thriller. Much better than the implausible "conspiracy" thrillers that are all the rage at the moment. Great plot, good characters, well written, read it!