Winner of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2010.

April 2009 Book of the Month.

R J Ellory was shortlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library 2009 - the prize awarded for an author's body of work.

This one is big, 500 pages, but all go too fast.  It is a police procedural one, the story of murdered women who appear not to exist.  Taking place in Washington in the mid-term elections, it’s the last thing the police want but we get election politics mixed into a complicated investigation, which is fascinating.  Moving, disturbing and thought-provoking, it grips from the start.

Comparison: Dennis Lehane, Stieg Larsson, Tom Rob Smith.

Synopsis

Washington, embroiled in the mid-term elections, did not want to hear about serial killings. But when the newspapers reported a fourth murder, when they gave the killer a name and details of his horrendous crimes, there were few people that could ignore it.

Detective Robert Miller is assigned to the case, and rapidly uncovers a complication. The victims do not officially exist. Their personal details do not register on any known systems. And as Miller unearths ever more disturbing facts, he starts to face truths so far-removed from his own reality that he begins to fear for his life.

Reviews

"A very cunningly constructed serial killer thriller" BOOKSELLER PAPERBACK PREVIEW
 

About the Author

R.J. Ellory originally studied graphics and photography, he intended to pursue a career in photojournalism, but for many reasons - all of them well within his control - this never came to fruition. He started writing more than ten years ago and hasn't stopped since. His novels have been translated into Italian, German and Dutch, and his novel Candlemoth  was shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Steel Dagger for Best Thriller in 2003. He has also written books under the name Roger Jon Ellory, which can be viewed by clicking here.   He divides his time between his work as a novelist and voluntary programmes in the areas of drug rehabilitaion and youth literacy. He is married with one son, and currently resides in England.   In 2011 R. J. Ellory was shortlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library, awarded to an author for a body of work.   Author photo © Adam Scourfield More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation