NEWS
May 2025
A SCHOOLING IN MURDER
I love writing a series, such as my ongoing Marwood and Lovett books set in the late seventeenth century. But occasionally it's refreshing to come up for air and write something completely different. A SCHOOLING IN MURDER fits the bill perfectly for me. I can't remember when I last enjoyed writing a book so much.
I've been delighted that it's already attracted so much advanced praise from authors I particularly admire. Here's a sample:
‘A grand piece of work – a triumph and one of Taylor’s best’ MICK HERRON
'A wonderful, subtle novel, set in a strange, enclosed world. Beautiful writing and a gloriously satisfying ending' ANN CLEEVES
‘As good as I’d expect from a master of the craft’ VAL MCDERMID
The novel is a country house mystery set in the dying days of World War II and complete with a sketch map and a list of characters. There are clues, secrets, a closed circle of suspects - and more deaths to come. But this is a world away from the usual pastiche of a Golden Age whodunit. For a start the detective is also the victim - as well as the narrator. There's a story within the story. There's even a doomed romance.
Here's the front cover blurb:
Monkshill Park School for Girls seems a world away from the violence that engulfed Europe during World War II. Yet its lonely, decaying grounds have witnessed a murder.
Annabel Warnock, a teacher with a secretive past, left for the holidays and never came back. Both teachers and girls assume she simply walked out, but the truth is quite different. Her body tumbled from the Maiden’s Leap, a viewpoint on the clifftop Gothic Walk, and was washed out to sea.
But Annabel herself is still trapped at Monkshill, unable to move on. As she haunts the grounds and school, she discovers a hidden world – students, staff and servants are riven with deadly rivalries and dangerous tensions.
And one of them is her killer…
I'll be appearing at various events to promote the book. You can see them here.
PLAYING DEAD
For thirty years I've been a member of the Detection Club, the oldest crime writers organisation in the world. Every now and then we publish an anthology of short stories. PLAYING DEAD is our latest. It's in honour of the eightieth birthday of Simon Brett, our President Emeritus, and edited by our current President, Martin Edwards. Mine is called 'Dead Ground'. It's a story set in the present whose theme has been niggling at me for years. Leaving aside my modest contribution it has some great contributions from the likes of Elly Griffiths and Ann Cleeves, Abir Muckerjee and Simon himself.
REVIEWS
I'm reducing my reviewing at present but recent ones for the Spectator include Jo Harkin's historical novel, The Pretender; Nick Harkaway's Smiley continuation, Karla's Choice; and what's probably Don Winslow's last novel, City in Ruins. You can find links to them here, on the Spectator's website.