The Killer's Mark

Every mark tells a story. This one ends in blood.

The next darkly funny thrill-ride of a book in the Sunday Times bestselling Washington Poe series.

'Dark, funny and twisty' - Lisa Howells, Crime Monthly

A MONSTER. A MOTHER. A MURDER?

When Vice Admiral Boyer, RN (retd) died without leaving a will, his estranged daughter inherited his - not inconsiderable - estate. Called home to sort through his belongings, she found an AegisBox - a tamper proof safe within a safe designed to self-destruct if anyone without the code attempts to open it. Unable to walk away without the truth, she uncovered something so horrifying it launched the biggest investigation in the National Crime Agency's history. Five years later, Washington Poe is unwittingly, and unwillingly, sucked into its gravity...

Finally able to escape the authority they railed against, Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw are enjoying their new jobs as private detectives or - as the sign on their door says - 'Gumshoes for Hire'. When a teenage girl walks into their office, looking for the mother she long believed to be dead, they agree to take the case. As Poe and Tilly investigate the girl's claims, they find themselves drawn into a murky world of trafficking, pornography and prostitution. Will they be able to help the girl find her mother, or will the dark forces at work, who will stop at nothing to protect themselves, get there first...


PRAISE FOR M. W. CRAVEN:

'A brutal and thrilling page-turner' - The Sun

'It's got everything. Everything' - Chris Whitaker

'Intelligent. Sophisticated. Intriguing.' - Mari Hannah

'One of the most memorable police officers we've encountered in a long time' - The Independent

'One of the best crime writers working today' - Stuart Turton

'Two of the most compelling characters in crime fiction' - Fiona Cummins

'A high-octane thriller that won't disappoint' - Guardian

'One of the best new detective duos in decades' - Abir Mukherjee

'So dark and twisty' - Elly Griffiths

'Twists and turns like a country lane' - Peter Robinson

ABOUT M. W. CRAVEN

Multi-award winning author M. W. Craven was born in Carlisle but grew up in Newcastle. He joined the army at sixteen, leaving ten years later to complete a degree in social work. Seventeen years after taking up a probation officer role in Cumbria, at the rank of assistant chief officer, he became a full-time author. The Puppet Show, the first book in the critically acclaimed, best-selling Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw series, was published by Little, Brown and went on to win the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger in 2019. Black Summer, the second in the series, was longlisted for the Gold Dagger as was book three, The Curator. Dead Ground won the CWA Steel Dagger in 2022 and book five, The Botanist, won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2023. Dead Ground and 2022’s The Botanist were both Sunday Times bestsellers. The series has now been translated into twenty-seven languages. Fearless, the first thriller in the new US-set, Ben Koenig series, was published in June 2023 by Flatiron Books in the US and by Little, Brown in the UK. Fearless will soon be a major TV series.

M. W. Craven lives in Carlisle with his wife, Joanne. When he isn't talking nonsense in the pub, he can usually be found at punk gigs and writing festivals up and down the country.