M. J. Carter

It wasn't just blood, it was ink too. There was black ink on his face and more on his chest and fingertips. Not just the usual printer's stain, but like his fingers had been pressed in it... London, 1841. Returned from their adventures in India, Jeremiah Blake and William Avery have both had their difficulties adapting to life in Victorian England. Moreover, time and distance have weakened the close bond between them, forged in the jungles of India. Then a shocking series of murders in the world of London's gutter press forces them back together. The police seem mysteriously unwilling to investigate, and as connections emerge between the murdered men and the growing and unpredictable movement demanding the right to vote for all, Blake and Avery must race against time to find the culprit before he kills again. But what if the murderer is being protected by some of the highest powers in the land?

The Infidel Stain

For lovers of Sherlock, Shardlake and Ripper Street. A gripping and pulse-racing mystery thriller with a great detective double act. 'Splendid, enthralling, an exotic mystery that captivated me.' Bernard Cornwell Calcutta 1837. Young officer William Avery is tasked by his employers-the East India Company-with tracking down disgraced poet and spy Xavier Mountstuart, lost in the jungles of central India. Accompanied by the dissolute and mysterious Jeremiah Blake, Avery is sure the mission is doomed. When their search leads them into Kali-worshipping Thug territory, the pair are soon fighting for their lives, but impelled to solve the horrifying mystery behind their mission. With death and danger on every side, is it too late for them to save themselves? Shortlisted for the John Creasey New Blood Dagger for Best Debut Crime novel of the year 2014, and the HWA Debut Crown for Best Historical Novel 2015, Longlisted for the Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year 2015 and the Bailey's Woman's Prize for Fiction 2014

The Blake and Avery Mystery Series

The Strangler Vine

The Blake and Avery Mystery

For lovers of Sherlock, Shardlake and Ripper Street. A hugely enjoyable heart-pounding Victorian thriller- murder, a celebrity chef and a great detective double-act. Longlisted for a CWA Endeavour Historical Dagger 'Wonderful... The Devil's Feast proves to be a sumptuous treat' The Times 'Criminally good... I love this mystery series - it just gets better and better' Woman & Home London, 1842. There has been a mysterious and horrible death at the Reform, London's newest and grandest gentleman's club. A death the club is desperate to hush up. Captain William Avery is persuaded to investigate, and soon discovers a web of rivalries and hatreds, both personal and political, simmering behind the club's handsome façade-and in particular concerning its resident genius, Alexis Soyer, 'the Napoleon of food', a chef whose culinary brilliance is matched only by his talent for self-publicity. But Avery is distracted, for where his mentor and partner-in-crime Jeremiah Blake? And what if this first death was only a dress rehearsal for something far more sinister?

The Devil's Feast

For lovers of Sherlock, Shardlake and Ripper Street. A hugely enjoyable action-packed Victorian thriller with a great detective double act. 'Delicious Stuff.' Financial Times Published in ebook as The Infidel Stain. London, 1841. Mr Jeremiah Blake and Captain William Avery, recently returned from India, are invited by Viscount Allington to examine the particulars of a grisly pair of murders. Two printers from the seditious gutter presses have been brutally dispatched in distinct but similar circumstances. Fearing the deaths will stoke the fires of Chartism sweeping the capital, Allington hopes Blake and Avery's determination to uncover the truth will solve these crimes and help restore civic order. But there are others who seem equally determined that the pair shall fail . . .

M. J. Carter

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