Some killers run. Some stand right behind you. Would you trust forensic evidence?It’s 1999, and Scenes of Crime Officer, Roger Conniston, is too busy obsessing over an arms dealer to worry about whether his coal-powered computer is Year 2000 Compliant; too busy cruising Wakefield’s night-life to worry about his wife or his lover, or the promotion he doesn’t really want.
The police discover a woman’s naked body on her bed, arcs of blood tracked across the wall from a neck wound. This is the second such case Detective Superintendent Chamberlain has running. The first is still unsolved, and he’s desperate for a lead. Any lead.
Roger is about to make his move on the arms dealer when he’s arrested for the woman’s murder.
With Roger in the cells, Chamberlain can relax, and the arms dealer can resume his trade. Roger has to prove his innocence and find the true murderer. Not easy from behind bars – bars that are guarded by the same officer he’s been spying on.
A stressed investigator. A ruthless arms dealer. And Roger Conniston trying to put the world right and getting it all wrong. Which of Roger’s new enemies want him out of the way?
What people say about A Long Time Dead:
- This book is a revelation in forensic crime scenes in detail that is often missed in TV shows. Thoroughly enjoyed the book.
- Loved it, would make a great film plot.
- Andrew Barrett opens up a dark and bloody world behind the blue and white crime scene tape
- Completely surprised by the final plot twist
- Written by a SOCO about a SOCO so you know it is accurate
- I've read all the usual suspects - Ian Rankin, Mark Billingham, Peter Robinson, Peter James, Stuart McBride, etc - and was looking for something similar. I wasn't disappointed with Andrew Barrett.
- Just enough technical information to aid understanding but without it becoming a tedious lecture
- Absolutely brilliant
- Exciting right to the last chapter and what a last chapter, superb
- Humour, sadness, violence it has it all.
- Hooked from the beginning. A real whodunnit that keeps you guessing to the end.
- The sort of book that kept me saying, "I'll just read one more chapter," till way past my bedtime.
- Spent the whole night reading this thriller, a proper page turner.
Also available by Andrew Barrett:
The Third Rule - CSI Eddie Collins 1
Black by Rose - CSI Eddie Collins 2
Sword of Damocles - CSI Eddie Collins 3
Ledston Luck - CSI Eddie Collins 4
The Death of Jessica Ripley - CSI Eddie Collins 5
The Lift - An Eddie Collins Short Story
The Note - An Eddie Collins Novella
The Lock - An Eddie Collins Novella
A Long Time Dead - Roger Conniston 1
Stealing Elgar - Roger Conniston 2
No More Tears - Roger Conniston 3
The End of Lies - A psychological thriller
I write crime thrillers, and have done since 1996, about the same time I became a CSI here in Yorkshire. All of my books are set in or around our biggest city of Leeds. Sometimes I go wandering into the stunning countryside though and drag its beauty screaming into the pages of one of my books where it collides with the ugliness of death. I don t write formulaic crime fiction; each one is hand-crafted and nurtured to give you a unique flavour of what CSIs encounter in real life. Every book is rich with forensic insight but that insight never drowns the story; it s there to enhance your enjoyment only. My thrillers live inside the police domain; they have detectives and uniformed officers, but they re predominantly about CSIs (or SOCOs as we used to be known). Come and live with them as they go about their sometimes unenviable tasks, and listen to the language they speak, see the things they see, and experience the emotions they feel. So pull on your nitrile gloves and your face mask, get comfy, and read on.
