Shortlisted for the CWA Goldsboro Gold Dagger 2013.
CWA Judges' comment: “An astonishing work featuring Asperger’s sufferer Patrick with the author expertly weaving the magic first witnessed in the brilliant Blacklands, in a superbly developed plot using parallel streams to create a mesmerising and thought-provoking psychological suspense. Sometimes gruesome, sometimes comic, sometimes heart-rending but always captivating; a moving novel that will linger after the final page is regretfully turned.”
A wonderful contemporary crime novel, cleverly plotted, moving and darkly comic with excellently drawn characters and heart stopping suspense. Anatomy student Patrick is determined to uncover the meaning of death in order to understand what happened to his father in a quest that quickly spirals out of control. It’s always a pleasure to discover talented new authors.
A medical student with Asperger's is drawn into a deadly mystery in this unique crime thriller from the CWA Gold Dagger Awardwinning author. Winner of the 2014 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, Rubbernecker is a gripping thriller about a medical student who begins to suspect that something strange is going on in the cadaver lab. ';The dead can't speak to us,' Professor Madoc had said. But that was a lie. The body Patrick Fort is examining in anatomy class is trying to tell him all kinds of things. But no one hears what he does, and no one understand when he tries to tell them. Life is already strange enough for Patrickbeing a medical student with Asperger's Syndrome doesn't come without its challenges. And that's before he is faced with solving a possible murder, especially when no one believes a crime has even taken place. Now he must stay out of danger long enough to unravel the mystery. But as Patrick learns one truth from a dead man, he discovers there have been many other lies closer to home. ';A murder mystery with more twists and turns than a rollercoaster.' Bustle
'Bauer's great gift is her ability to surprise the reader: in the sense of making you jump out of your chair, certainly, but also in that she makes you think a bit differently about the world' Daily Telegraph
'Obvious echoes of Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time ... and with more twists and coils than a hangman's noose, it deserves to do equally well' Sunday Express
'Breathtaking. I read this and wished I'd written it' Val McDermid
'[Rubbernecker] contains one of the most startling plots in contemporary crime fiction' Sunday TimesCulture Magazine
'This could be the most astonishing whodunnit you are ever likely to read' Red Magazine online
Author
About Belinda Bauer
Belinda Bauer grew up in England and South Africa and now lives in Wales. She worked as a journalist and a screenwriter before finally writing a book to appease her nagging mother. With her debut, Blacklands, Belinda was awarded the CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year. She went on to win the CWA Dagger in the Library for her body of work in 2013. Her fourth novel Rubbernecker was voted 2014 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Her books have been translated into 21 languages.
