Drowned lives

Set in and around the dark, misty canals of Lichfield, Stephen Booth's incredible new novel is awash with mystery. When council officer Chris Buckley is approached by an odd old man demanding help in healing a decades-old family rift, he sends the stranger away. But then the old man is murdered, and the police arrive on the Chris's doorstep asking questions to which he has no answers. As Chris begins to look into the circumstances of the murder, he uncovers a deadly secret in the silt and mud of the local canals that he'll realise was better kept buried. PRAISE FOR STEPHEN BOOTH'Makes high summer as terrifying as midwinter'Val McDermid'A modern master'Guardian'Crime writing of the finest quality'Daily Mail'Ingenious plotting and richly atmospheric'Reginald Hill'A first-rate mystery'Sunday Telegraph