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A House of Knives

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A House of Knives

By: William Shaw
Narrated by: Cameron Stewart
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About this listen

Marylebone, November 1968. Detective Sergeant Breen has a death threat and two burned bodies on his hands. One is an un-mourned vagrant; the other the son of a politician. One case suffers the apathy of the police; the other obstructed by a PR-conscious father. Then the potential perpetrator of his death threats is murdered. Banished from a corrupt system, Breen is finally forced to fight fire with fire.

©2014 William Shaw (P)2014 W F Howes Ltd Crime Thrillers Historical Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Thriller Crime

Critic reviews

"London in 1968 is an evocative setting and Shaw skilfully re-creates an era of social turmoil and class conflict" ( Sunday Times)
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Paddy Breen is a likeable character but his accent like so many others is poor. He was never in Ireland so should not have a funny hybrid accent. Tozer is a great character and an excellent vehicle for the social comment that runs through the story.

The narrator is at home with English male educated voices but annoying with all children’s voice and several female voices and weak with the voices of non-English males. I’m not great myself but I don’t do it as my job!

The book works well as a trip back in time. It brought home how much things have changed since the late 60’s.

It’s fairly good but not a patch on The Birdwatcher from the same author.

He’s not Gene Hunt

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The narration has improved a lot from the first in the series and the writing was better too. I like the characters and the period detail was well done. Would suit anyone who likes PD James and Ian Rankin. Not sure why main character has an Irish accent if he’s never been there though.

Absorbing

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loved this mystery, lots of twists and turns . Breen is like an Irish Jack Frost.

Excellent story

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it's well read and easy listening. interesting plots without being too complicated to follow

I liked this so much I listened to it twice

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Thoroughly enjoying this series of books. Not just a good detective story but a good commentary on society at the time. Language, objects.and society at the time all well told. Comparing what society is like now and then as well as enjoying the story. Will immediately download the next instalment!

Ànother excellent story in the series

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