British author Harry Bingham blew critics and readers away with his crime debut, Talking to the Dead. His second novel, Love Story, with Murders, established DC Fiona Griffiths as the most compelling heroine in crime fiction. With this, the third novel in the series, comes Fiona's darkest, strangest and most challenging assignment yet...
It started out as nothing much. A minor payroll fraud at a furniture store in South Wales. No homicide involved, no corpses. Detective Constable Fiona Griffiths fights to get free of the case, but loses. She's tasked with the investigation. She begins her enquiries, only to discover the corpse of a woman who's starved to death. Looks further, and soon realizes that within the first, smaller crime, a vaster one looms: the most audacious theft in history. Fiona's bosses need a copper willing to go undercover, and they ask Fiona to play the role of a timid payroll clerk so that she can penetrate the criminal gang from within.
Fiona will be alone, she'll be lethally vulnerable—and her fragile grip on 'Planet Normal' will be tested as never before...
International critics love this series: 'Gritty, compelling...a procedural unlike any other you are likely to read this year.' –USA Today
'With Detective Constable Fiona 'Fi' Griffiths, Harry Bingham...finds a sweet spot in crime fiction...think Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander...Denise Mina's 'Paddy' Meehan [or] Lee Child's Jack Reacher....The writing is terrific.' –Boston Globe
'A stunner with precision plotting, an unusual setting, and a deeply complex protagonist...We have the welcome promise of more books to come about Griffiths.' –The Seattle Times
'A most intriguing, if peculiar, detective...Although his volatile protagonist certainly dominates the first-person narrative, [Harry] Bingham doesn't stint on plot (very complicated), procedures (very detailed) or action (very brutal)....Satisfying.' –Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review
'A dark delight, and I look forward to Fiona's future struggles with criminals, her demons and the mysteries of her past.' –Washington Post
'[The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths] confronts the reader with profound questions about human nature in the midst of a fast-paced plot.' –The Sunday Times (London)
'Recommended highly...[a] riveting procedural thriller.' –Library Journal (starred review)
'An even more intense plot and richer character study than his first....Fiona's past mental problems and her unconventional personality make her a distinctive lead.' –Publishers Weekly (starred review)
'Some of the most memorably staccato narration in the genre...[Bingham's] remote, unquenchable heroine makes her stand apart from every one of her procedural brothers and sisters.' –Kirkus Reviews
'Compelling...amply proves the freshness and flair that [Bingham] has brought to the police procedural....Surprisingly delicate, it weaves a sinuous, seductive spell and confirms we have a new crime talent to treasure.' –Daily Mail (London)
