The Serpent Pool

Review "...an excellent choice for discerning readers who want an unusual and challenging puzzle mystery that will keep them guessing until the final pages. Wow!" - Library Journal STARRED Review Product Description "An unusual and challenging puzzle mystery that will keep [you] guessing until the final pages. Wow!" ―Library Journal STARRED reviewSeven years ago, Bethany Friend was found drowned in mere inches of water in the lonely Serpent Pool in England's Lake District. Was it suicide or murder? Now, determined to win justice for Bethany's dying mother, DCI Hannah Scarlett of the Cold Case Squad re-opens the case.But Hannah has problems of her own: a new sergeant with a reputation for causing trouble, a new house close to the Serpent Pool, and new cause to doubt her partner, second-hand bookseller Marc Amos. Worried by dwindling finances and the horrific death of one of his best customers, Marc finds himself drawn to the lovely and enigmatic Cassie Weston, who works in his shop.Then Hannah meets Louise Kind, sister of historian Daniel Kind. Louise has been living with book collector and lawyer Stuart Wagg, and has just confessed to her brother that she struck Wagg with a knife. Searching for the supposed victim, Hannah and Daniel―who is writing a book about the brilliant but opium-addicted 19th-century English writer Thomas De Quincey―encounter dark secrets and strange obsessions that oddly echo De Quincey's drug-fueled writings. About the Author Martin Edwards is the recipient of the CWA 2020 Diamond Dagger Award for sustained excellence in his crime writing career and his significant contribution to the genre. His most recent novel, set in 1930, is Gallows Court. His seventh and most recent Lake District Mystery is The Dungeon House. Martin is also a well-known crime fiction critic, and series consultant to the British Library's Crime Classics. His ground-breaking study of the genre between the wars, The Golden Age of Murder, was warmly reviewed around the world, and won the Edgar, Agatha, H.R.F. Keating and Macavity awards. His The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books has been nominated for five awards. A well-known commentator on crime fiction, he has edited 37 anthologies and published diverse non-fiction books, including a study of homicide investigation, Urge to Kill. An expert on crime fiction history, he is archivist of both the Crime Writers' Association and the Detection Club. He was elected eighth President of the Detection Club in 2015, is current Chair of the CWA, and posts regularly to his blog, 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'