This is a rewrite of a previously published book as it is set in the EEC and it is topical with all the current controversy around Brexit, which is what drew me to it, along with it having been written by Peter May.

The title has a retro feel to it. So has the writing style of the book. This complements the story line which revolves around a contract killer hired to kill the Minster of State and a reporter, Bannerman, who is sent by his newspaper to Brussels and finds himself in the middle of it all. Bannerman is an interesting character, a reporter with a conscience with a believable back story which explains his reaction and connection to both his romantic connection in the book and the young autistic girl who is the daughter of one his colleagues. The young girls autism is pivotal to the plot and a useful tool to provide believability to the plot.

The pace is just about right although maybe a little bit too fast in the romantic part of the story on the part of Sally.

There are about the right number of characters. Just enough to keep your interest going and to retain suspense to the end of the book and not too many to add confusion.

The twist at the end of the book is satisfactory and believable.

A page turner and very readable.

Having loved the Lewis Trilogy, the Enzo Files and Peter May's standalone work I thought it might be good fun to give The Man with No Face a go, as it was written early in his career.

I am glad I read it but appreciate his punchier recent works much more. There is a softness to this book that doesn't strike a chord with me. Youthful naivete, perhaps? It lacked real depth with no edge to it. Even the big conspiracy seemed lackluster, in my view.

I am thrilled Peter May carried on with writing beyond this novel as his talent has blossomed over the years into a real force. Thanks for this flashback to your younger years, Peter.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the book in exchange for an honest review.
When I read the book had been published first in 1981 under another name I wondered if I still wanted to read it. I was glad that I did it was a fascinating insight into a time now long gone. There were some topical themes still relevant and prevalent today I.e Brussels and the influence of the EEC and how each government looks after its own and other countries interest before the interests of the people that elected them. The girl who was autistic would now be helped and handled, you would hope, in a totally different way then in the early 80s.
It was an engrossing story about power and the world of journalists and deadlines to meet.
Money, murder and intrigue when compiled into a story by Peter James is always worthwhile reading.
Highly recommended.

This is a re-issued and slightly edited book the author, as it was originally published in 1981.How much editing went on I am not sure, however it is not as strong as Peter May's later works and may disappoint those who enjoyed his more recent novels.That said, it is a decent political thriller, reminding me of Desmond Bagley and Jack Higgins, both adept at moving a plot along with minimum fuss or masses of descriptive text.Quite topical in a way as the backdrop is the EEC (as was) and the murky deals and relationships that go on in and around Brussels.

EXCERPT: She gave a slight start as a door slammed somewhere in the depths of the building. Not everyone was asleep. A light came on downstairs, throwing a broad wedge of light out across the snow on the terrace. Something was moving down there, something dark and huddled that froze as it was caught in the sudden light. The shadow of a man fell away from the house, long and thin. A face turned up towards the window, sickly pale, whiter than snow. Tania did not move. It was a face she knew, a face in which she saw a reflection of her own fear. Eyes in which she recognized the same hunted look she had seen in the Rue de Pavie. Then the light went out and she could no longer see him, but knew he was still there. And knew, too, that he had come for her.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: There are two men on their way to Brussels from the UK: Neil Bannerman, an iconoclastic journalist for Scotland's Daily Standard whose irate editor wants him out of the way, and Kale--a professional assassin.

Expecting to find only a difficult, dreary political investigation in Belgium, Bannerman has barely settled in when tragedy strikes. His host, a fellow journalist, along with a British Cabinet minister, are discovered dead in the minister's elegant Brussels townhouse. It appears that they have shot each other. But the dead journalist's young autistic daughter, Tania, was hidden in a closet during the killings, and when she draws a chilling picture of a third party--a man with no face--Bannerman suddenly finds himself a reluctant participant in a desperate murder investigation.

As the facts slowly begin to emerge under Bannerman's scrutiny, he comes to suspect that the shootings may have a deep and foul link with the rotten politics that brought him to Brussels in the first place. And as Kale threatens to strike again, Bannerman begins to feel a change within himself. His jaded professionalism is transforming into a growing concern for the lonely and frightened Tania, and a strong attraction to a courageous woman named Sally--drawing him out of himself and into the very heart of a profound, cold-blooded, and infinitely dangerous conspiracy.

MY THOUGHTS: This is the second book I have read by this author in a short period of time. Peter May is a man who paints pictures, gloriously detailed pictures, with words. I could 'see' as I read. And although I did not enjoy this story as much as my previous read by this author, the writing remains superb.

This book was first published in 1981 as Hidden Faces but, having read it, I think The Man With No Face a far better title.

It seems odd to me to classify The Man With No Face, set in the winter of 1979 in Brussels, as historical fiction, but it is set in very different times from which we live today. There are no mobile phones, or computers, much less Internet. Airport security is lax compared with present times. Milk bottles are still put out on doorsteps, and secretaries use typewriters, take messages and make coffee. South Africa is still in the grip of apartheid, and Zimbabwe is still known as Rhodesia.

This story kept me turning pages for the most part until almost the end, when my interest waned a little. But only a little.

😊😊😊😊

THE AUTHOR: Peter May (born 20 December 1951) is a Scottish television screenwriter, novelist, and crime writer. He is the recipient of writing awards in Europe and America. The Blackhouse won the U.S. Barry Award for Crime Novel of the Year and the national literature award in France, the CEZAM Prix Litteraire. The Lewis Man won the French daily newspaper Le Télégramme's 10,000-euro Grand Prix des Lecteurs. In 2014, Entry Island won both the Deanston’s Scottish Crime Novel of the Year and the UK’s ITV Crime Thriller Book Club Best Read of the Year Award. May’s books have sold more than two million copies in the UK and several million internationally. (WIKIPEDIA)

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Quercus Books via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Man With No Face by Peter May for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

Originally published with the title "Hidden Faces" in 1981 at the start of his writing career, Peter May has edited and re-released this thriller. Set in the early 1970s as Britain is joining the European Union, this is still very topical for today.

Neil Bannerman, an Edinburgh journalist has been sent to Brussels to cover the political news. To save costs his newspaper has billeted him in an apartment with a fellow journalist, Tim Slater, who is a widowed father with a young autistic daughter called Tania. One Sunday when his usual babysittter is unable to work, Slater is forced to take his daughter to a meeting with a British government Minister. While playing in the cloakroom of the Minister's house, Tania witnesses an assassination and sees the assassin leaving the house. As Tania is not verbal, she can't tell the police what she saw but with a gift for accurate drawing, she gives the police a drawing of the man she saw but stops short before drawing his face.

Concerned for Tania, Bannerman finds himself getting caught up in the investigation, trying to find out why Slater was meeting with the Minister and who ordered the assassination. It's interesting to be back in a time when there was no internet and no mobile phones. Journalists had to find out all the facts for themselves and hope they would be the first to break an exclusive story. A little slow at first, the action soon ramps up as Bannerman follows up clues and the assassin hunts for Tania, realising he has left a loose end. The novel is well written, the characters well drawn and Peter May's talent for describing dark and icy landscapes is also evident. Overall, an enjoyable and gripping read.

This book was written in 1981 and set in 1979 so it has an almost historical feel to it despite it only being 40 years ago. Peter May has revised and rereleased it and surprisingly it does work well.
Bannerman is a journalist for The Edinburgh Post at a time when there are no computers, mobiles or indeed any 21st Century technology which makes this a refreshing read as he has to use his wits to solve a double murder set in Brussels.
This is a political story and could just as easily happened today in Brexit obsessed Britain as it did 40 years ago when we were just joining the Common Market.
There is a lot of intrigue when sleazy journalist Slater is murdered along with a British politician by a mystery assassin. There is one witness who has difficulty articulating what she saw and when the police are called off and there is pressure to hush it up, Bannerman resolves to find out what happened.
The story is also told from the killer’s point of view as he gradually develops a conscience and this helps the reader to understand and empathise a little. Neither of the murder victims come over as being particularly pleasant people anyway.
I enjoyed the sub plot of Bannerman’s relationship with the autistic child, Tania and his tentative romance with her carer, Sarah.
An enjoyable and atmospheric read which took me back to the recent past.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Man With No Face was first released around 40 years ago. This political thriller is a wonderful retrospective novel to a bygone time. Sure, 40 years ago doesn't sound that long ago, but as Peter May wrote in the intro, so much has changed. Just think about the hassle of trying to phone someone back then, no quick SMS to anyone. The political landscape is the same with backstabbing and money being the goal.

Peter May is a favorite author of mine and I'm glad to say that this book is really good! I found the story to be very interesting and really liked how Bannerman bonded with the Tania, the autistic girl of the murdered journalist. To have Kale, the killers POV especially when he started to have some doubts about his mission felt like a great addition to the story. How far would Kale go?

The Man With No Face may be 40 years old, but it has aged well. It's a strong book and I really loved reading a book set at the end of the 70s.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Quercus Books for a review copy of The Man with No Face, a revised edition of a stand alone thriller set in Brussels in 1979, originally published in 1981.

Edinburgh Post journalist Neil Bannerman is sent to Brussels to dig up dirt in the run up to a UK general election. He doesn’t want to be there and certainly doesn’t want to spend time with the Post’s man in Brussels, Tim Slater and his autistic daughter, Tania but when Slater and politician Richard Gryffe are murdered, a murder Tania witnesses he changes his mind and starts investigating ferociously.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Man with No Face which is an unapologetic thriller that proves that not much, apart from technology, has changed in the past forty years, especially Euroscepticism. I must admit that it was a bit strange to read about information gathering without the benefit of the internet or a mobile phone - how quickly we forget the “good, old days” - but on the upside I felt a great nostalgia for the Brussels of the time which is well evoked.

The plot had me gripped from start to finish. It opens with a hitman called Kale being contracted for a double murder and then switches to Bannerman being sent to Brussels. Throughout the novel the perspective switches between these two voices as Kale pursues his mission and Bannerman his investigation. I liked the way Bannerman starts with some vague hypotheses and gradually builds up a more complete picture through a combination of ruthlessness and tenacity. There is enough action to satisfy most readers, in fact Bannerman is a bit of a tub thumper (he gets knocked down but gets up again) like all good action heroes, some of it more credible than others and the plotters are suitably Machiavellian. I particularly liked the final twist.

None of the characters are particularly likeable with the exception of Tania but even she comes with problems. Mr May states that he was still working as a journalist when he wrote the novel so I have to assume that his descriptions of their character is based in reality. They are uniformly unpleasant and self interested, but this probably shouldn’t be a surprise given some of the recent scandals involving their conduct. I do not exempt Bannerman from this as he is equally nasty. His attachment to Tania softens his hard edges slightly over the course of the novel but not enough to make me warm to him.

The Man with No Face is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

I first read this book years ago and it is as good as I remember it. It is a fast paced compelling read with a few surprising twists thrown in. Definitely worth reading or rereading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

A different story line for Peter May whilst still including his wonderful characters. Written initially 40 years years ago, this novel has been revised but is still set prior to mobile phones, internet and modern technology. I found this refreshing as sometimes the instant answers of novels set today miss out on the drawn out suspense.
Not my favourite Peter May but one I enjoyed anyway.

‘An explosive crime thriller set between the UK and Europe at the time of Britain joining the EU'

The Man With No Face is a book that was originally published in 1981, but now, after getting a ‘light revision', has been re-published with Quercus Books.

Set amidst the political and social turmoil of the 1970s, in Brussels, Peter May was struck by how the subject matter of the book closely emulated the state of the political play today.

Neil Bannerman is tired. A journalist for many years he has seen it all. Now working for The Edinburgh Post, Bannerman is at odds with the newly appointed editor, Wilson Tait, ‘a hard newspaperman of the old school; a Fleet Street toughened Scot returning to his old hunting grounds and bringing with him his personal hard core of hatchet men whom he was moving into key editorial positions.’ Bannerman knows his days with the paper are numbered, as personalities clash and heads roll, but not before Tait gives him one more job. Bannerman is being sent to Brussels for a few weeks to get him out of the way, giving Tait the opportunity to figure out how to deal with him.

Brussels is in flux as the political landscape changes and it is up to Bannerman to see if he can uncover any scandals within the party ranks, some juicy newspaper headlines. Bannerman is to bunk up with a fellow Post colleague, Tony Slater, but on arrival in Brussels he immediately feels that he is not welcome at Slater’s rented accommodation. Slater’s young daughter, Tania, lives with him. Tania is autistic with, as Bannerman discovers, an incredible talent for sketching. Bannerman and Slater clash from the outset with Bannerman’s journalistic intuition pointing to an unease in Slater’s countenance.

Meanwhile, there is an assassin after arriving into Brussels with an agenda to take out two targets, a journalist and a British Cabinet minister. The journalist is question, being Tony Slater and the minister, a Robert Gryffe. Kale, the individual assigned with this task is a hardened war vet who suffered a very traumatic childhood. His experiences in the army and his difficult childhood left their mark on Kale, now a man with no conscience and no love for any person, not even himself, making him a very dangerous foe. But Kale hadn’t figured on leaving a witness behind after he had completed his task in hand. He never knew she was there……but Tania saw it all. She witnessed the cold-blooded murder of her father and the politician and drew a sketch detailing the scene. The one piece missing off the sketch is the face of the killer.

Bannerman is in the right place at the right time and using all his investigative experiences he sets about discovering the truth. He is very concerned for the safety of Tania, now an orphan, but more importantly a vital witness. Always a hard man, he is surprised at the strong protective feelings he has developed for Tania. He fears for her safety and this spurs him on to action.

Neil Bannerman is a man of his time. It’s the 1970s, the world a very different place than it is today, with chauvinistic attitudes toward women quite common place and almost accepted. Did I like Bannerman? At times probably not. He comes across as quite a dogmatic individual, quite sexist in many of his actions but again, when reading a book like this, I do always take into account the era it encompasses. Peter May has maintained the authenticity of those years with the lack of technology available to Bannerman and the delays associated with retrieving vital information, as well as the role of women in the workplace.

The Man With No Face is a political thriller with a slice of noir, with a dark brooding atmosphere very prevalent throughout. The men in this book are tough and seasoned. They belong to a different time and for me they are cast exactly as I would have wanted and expected. The Man With No Face is an entertaining read with plenty of suspense and intrigue. There are shadows at play here who wish to remain anonymous, powerful men that will do everything to keep their positions in the political world, a world that may actually not be all that different from today!!

[An Aside]

Peter drew inspiration for his plotline from real events. The unsolved murder of French MP Prince Jean de Broglie in a dark Paris street in 1976, coupled with reading an article about Nadia Chomyn, the autistic child of Ukrainian science graduates who had settled in the UK, and her extraordinary artistic abilities, served as the basis to Peter’s storyline. Peter did extensive research into autism and visited a clinic for autistic children in Glasgow. Sadly, upon coming to re-write this book for the second draft, Peter discovered that Nadia Chomyn had passed away in 2015.

The Man With No Face is a re-issued and slightly edited book by Peter May previously published in 1981. While that might smack of "cashing in" and trying to convince unwary punters that an old story is a new one there is an introduction by Peter May explaining the reasons why.. For a book written nearly 40 years ago it's incredibly topical now with it's tale of EU corruption and dirty deeds in the world of big business and politics.
When I first picked it up and read that it was a re-issue of Peter May's third book rather than something written recently I felt a bit cheated. That didn't last for long though as it's good,very good,with great characters and a pacy and convoluted story that whizzes along at a rate fans of Simon Kernick will love.
The story involves a double killing in the Brussels of 1979 and the efforts of reporter Neil Bannerman to find the truth as colleague Tim Slater is one of the victims. The only witness to the murder is Slater's autistic daughter Tania,who as a result becomes the killer's next target. Other notable characters are world-weary Belgian detective Du Maurier and hitman Kale who May superbly fleshes out as a particularly malevolent and cold presence.
This isn't a literary masterpiece like May's sublime Lewis Trilogy,it's a fast-moving page-turner that still holds up very well in 2019 . It's part murder mystery,part conspiracy theory with a bit of romance and plenty of violence. The characters are great,though I found Bannerman a deeply unpleasant individual,it's believable ,fast=paced and Brussels of the 70's comes alive in May's descriptions. Highly recommended.

Big thanks to Quercus Books, Peter May and Netgalley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

The Man With No Face, a story that originally went under the title Hidden Bodies and written at the beginning of Mr May's career, is a fantastically crafted thriller; just like the rest of May's books. Based in 1970s Brussels, Belgium and so very much in the political sphere, with EU politics being a key component of the plot, Neil Bannerman becomes our protagonist. He becomes one of the targets in a highly murky world of conspiracy and the activities of shady organisations as he suspects that some recent suspicious deaths were actually murders and plans to find the evidence to prove it. This is a thoroughly gripping, entertaining and suspenseful book with intriguing characters and an authentic sense of time and place. Recommended.

Many thanks to riverrun for an ARC.

This is a sort of re-release of Peter May’s original novel, Hidden Faces published in 1981, but it has a few tweaks to bring it in line with Peter May’s current thoughts and writing style. The story follows reluctant reporter Neil Bannerman who is sent out to Brussels to follow the political developments with the new European Union, that will directly and indirectly affect Scotland. Bannerman is a bit of an odd ball that doesn’t really play well with others. He soon as a run in with the resident reporters and is not best pleased when he finds out that he will be sharing the home of yet another fellow reporter that already lives in Brussels.
After dinning at Slater’s home and meeting his autistic daughter Tania he ops to leave and stay at a nearby hotel. He had never liked Slater and the feeling was mutual. When Slater is subsequently found murdered along with a junior minister, at his home, there is a witness to who has done this, his autistic daughter who has a sharp mind and talent for detail and drawing but the inability to communicate which results in outburst of screaming and frustration. Unfortunately she did not see the man’s face, but the killer is already planning to tie up that loose end.
There feels an urgency and unease throughout the book as Peter May makes no cover up of the killer to the reader, you know his thoughts and plans. He is a professional and known throughout the business as being efficient. Bannerman, as journalists go are detectives in their own right, digging and delving into leads, especially where they aren’t wanted but they don’t normally have to put their own life on the edge. Bannerman had made some sort of connection with Tania and she with him. She had an ease with him that she couldn’t make with others and he felt protective of her.
This is a belting story written by an extremely wise and talented young man, that tackled issues that are very relevant in todays political climate as things have come full circle. Another outstanding read from a great author, Peter May.
I wish to thank the publisher Quercus Books for a copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

The Man With No Face by Peter May is a reissue from the early 1980s but with its focus on the EU is still topical

As with all the previous books that I have read by this author the book is easy to read and enjoyable with a good paced story line.

The only downside is that I would have preferred more focus on the "deduction" of the problem but this is a minor issue

Overall recommended

The Man With No Face is my first introduction to Peter May’s work and it’s easy to see why he’s an internationally bestselling author. This novel was first published in 1981 and it’s quite surprising (or maybe not) to see the political landscape has changed very little and The Man With No Face has stood the test of time quite brilliantly in that respect.

Set in Brussels in the late ’70s, this intricately plotted novel has a rather dark atmosphere and a bit of a Noir vibe to it. The reader finds themselves in the middle of a murder investigation, through the eyes of Scottish journalist, Neil Bannerman. He’s been sent to Brussels by his editor, who really just wants him out of the way. But when Neil’s host, a fellow journalist, is found dead alongside a British Cabinet minister, Neil finds himself in the middle of a bit of a mess.

Albeit it rather on the slow side, for me personally, I still found The Man With No Face intensely gripping. Although at times, also somewhat depressing. These are not happy characters and they all carry a ton of issues to deal with. Or not as most seem quite happy to drown their sorrows. And in the midst of all this, is a young girl who may actually know what really happened. Unfortunately for investigators, she’s autistic and doesn’t talk.

Greed, money, blackmail, murder, intrigue, conspiracies and power. This political thriller has it all. The Man With No Face is tense and suspenseful, with fantastic and complex characters, even if some come across a tad stereotypical. Of course, some things do feel rather dated. Gone are the days of smoking on trains or in bars, for instance. But there’s also that good old-fashioned pounding the pavement type of investigation. No internet, no cell phones, no nifty gadgets to rely on. I do so quite enjoy that from time to time.

I dare say my first introduction to Peter May’s novels went down well and I may need to find some time to catch up on some of his most recent work. If, like me, you are unfamiliar with his novels, then this is definitely a good place to start.

The most sinister fictional hitmen usually only have a surname, and if that name is a harsh monosyllable, then all the better. Kale is one such, and Peter May introduces him to us in his latest novel, The Man With No Face. Kale, who learned his trade in the British Army, is sent to Brussels to carry out a double killing.
The central character is not the malevolent Kale, but a Scottish journalist, Neil Bannerman, who is sent to Brussels, partly to keep him out of the way of his paper’s thrusting new editor, but also to delve for sensational stories of immorality and incompetence among the myriad employees of what we now call the European Union.
Bannerman initially lodges with an embittered fellow journalist, Tim Slater, who shares his apartment with his autistic daughter Tania. The child is looked after by a young Englishwoman, Sally Robertson, with whom Bannerman strikes up a relationship. Kale’s victims are Slater himself and a senior British politician but when he strikes he is unaware that Tania is watching from the next room. Mute, she is later unable to tell the police anything, but she draws a picture of what she has seen. The drawing is intensely detailed and very graphic with one exception. The killer has no face.
Peter May aficionados will probably recognise this book in its earlier manifestations; firstly as Hidden Faces, published by Piatkus in 1981 and again with its current title a year later, but this time under the imprint of St Martin’s Press.
How has the book fared, nearly forty years on? Whatever revisions the author has made, he hasn’t pushed the time slot on by four decades, so we are still in the late 1970s, so in a sense the book has become historical crime fiction by default. I don’t know what Peter May thinks about the vexed question of Brexit, but here he paints a picture of the EEC in its all-too-familiar guise as a fraud-riven monolithic haven for thousands of bureaucrats, men and women pushing paper around at huge expense to taxpayers across the continent, but achieving very little except the perpetuation of their own jobs.
The vexed question of Britain’s relationship with southern Africa in the 1970s is now little more than a footnote in the history of the 20th century, but May uses it to good effect here. The setting of The Man Without A Face is a wintry Brussels that, quite literally, chills us to the bone. The snow, sleet, bitter winds and the hazy winking of car tail lights as they battle with the frozen city streets will make you want to reach for an extra layer of warm clothing. In keeping with the weather, there is a distinct noir-ish feel about much of the book, and the existential musings of Kale as he goes about his bleak business reminded me very much of Derek Raymond. Bear in mind, though, that Raymond’s classic Factory novels post date this, making me think that perhaps Peter May was ahead of the game.
Back in 1981, the trope of the mute, blind or disabled witness to a crime had already been explored, most memorably in the Audrey Hepburn film Wait Until Dark (1967), but our current awareness of the complex issue of people with Autism was not mainstream in the 1980s. Leaving aside the socio-cultural background, The Man With No Face is a cracking thriller now, as it must have been then. It is published by riverrun, which is an imprint of Quercus

A topical bevel full of political machinations. Lots of twists and turns and a surprising ending. Some really tender and insightful moments.

I'll admit when I requested this book I didn't realise it's a reissue of an older Peter May book called Hidden Faces. Thankfully I hadn't read that one as I haven't read any Peter May before the truly excellent The Black House (one of my favourite ever crime novels). A Scottish journalist is sent to Brussels to see what scandals he can unearth and finds himself investigating a double murder and trying to protect the only witness, an autistic girl. The autistic angle is one reason I enjoyed the book because I have an autistic niece and am always intrigued by how autistic characters are handled. May himself says in the introduction that much has changed in the understanding of autism since this book was first published and he describes the girl's autistic traits well and in a way which shows how autism both was and wasn't understand at that time. This is quite a feat in itself. The story is well told, reasonably fast paced without dragging (I hate stories that drag!) and I'm wondering if it's merely coincidence that this book is being republished (albeit with a different title) just when Brexit and the Brussels connection is at such a critical moment in real life? Some of the characters are a bit one dimensional and I'm afraid I didn't really find the relationships between characters particularly enticing so didn't really feel any great emotional involvement other than with the autistic girl but others may have a different experience and you don't have to feel a connection to the characters to enjoy the story. It's well worth a read and I did enjoy the pre-internet, pre-mobile phone era descriptions (people survived without these!). I'm also Scottish so enjoyed the Scottish references and recognised some Scottish newspaper names! It didn't completely hook me but neither did it disappoint and for a book written in a different era it is still contemporary and topical. Well worth taking the time to read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for review ARC.