Ash & Bone - Paperback

by John Harvey (Author)

In the depths of his Cornish hideaway, retired Detective Inspector Frank Elder's solitary life is disturbed by a call from his ex-wife, telling him his seventeen-year-old daughter, Katherine, is running wild, unbalanced by the abduction and rape he feels he should have prevented. Meanwhile, in the heart of London, the takedown of a violent criminal goes badly, and Detective Sergeant Maddy Birch is uneasy about the reasons why, an uneasiness that is compounded when she starts to believe she is being stalked.

Front Jacket

Detective Sergeant Maddy Birch will never see thirty again. Nor forty. And, after a lifetime on the force, all she has to show for it are a couple of hundred pounds in the bank and a mortgaged flat.
In Cornwall, retired Detective Inspector Elder's solitary life is disturbed by a phone call from his estranged wife. Seventeen-year-old Katherine is running wild. Elder's fears for his daughter are underscored by remorse and guilt, for it was his involvement that led directly to the abduction and rape that has so unbalanced Katherine's life.
There's a connection between Maddy and Elder: a brief, clumsy encounter sixteen years earlier. Just a quick grope and a cuddle, leading to nothing, but leaving a trace of lingering regret.
When the takedown of a violent criminal goes badly wrong leaving both the target and a young constable dead, something doesn't feel right to Maddy. In Ash and Bone, the unsettled, unhappy Elder is once again persuaded out of retirement. A cold, cold case has a devastating present day impact with sinister implications for the crime squad itself. Elder's investigation takes place against the backdrop of his increasing concern for his daughter together with demons of his own he must battle before he can uncover the truth.

Back Jacket

A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist
"Harvey s detectives . . . are the real deal strong men who are sensitive enough to empathize with other people. Even people who happen to be women . . . In Elder, he has given them a champion who really does feel their pain." The New York Times Book Review
Retired Detective Inspector Frank Elder s solitary life is disturbed by a call from his ex-wife, telling him his seventeen-year-old daughter, Katherine, is running wild. Meanwhile, the takedown of a violent criminal goes badly, and Detective Sergeant Maddy Birch s uneasiness about it is compounded when she starts to believe she is being stalked. Maddy and Frank had a brief and clumsy encounter years before. In Ash & Bone their lives connect again when a second phone call persuades Elder out of retirement, only to find that a cold case has a devastating present-day impact.

"Distinguished by seriousness, sophistication and stylistic elegance." The Washington Post

"Harvey imbues [his characters] with such richly rendered emotion . . . that the whole genre seems brand new." Houston Chronicle

John Harvey is the author of ten Charlie Resnick novels. Flesh & Blood, the first novel featuring Frank Elder, won the Silver Dagger Award and the Barry Award. Harvey lives in Great Britain.
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