Book description
The MP for Bootham East was something of a fish out of water - a Tory
with a conscience. When he was actually fished out of water, the Thames
to be precise, it looked like a clear case of suicide or accident. But
as Superintendent Sutcliffe's investigations got under way, and as the
by-election campaign to elect his successor hotted up, some very murky
political waters were dredged and made to reveal their secrets. The
local Labour Party had been hijacked by the extreme left, the Tory Party
had had an unattractive young man with dubious City connections foisted
on it, and the Alliance candidate had something nasty in his past he
would prefer to forget. In fact, by the time of the declaration poll,
all the parties wished the by-election had never had to happen, and that
the dirt had remained brushed away under the carpet. In this witty and
penetrating look at British politics, Robert Barnard shows a 'sharp and
knowing eye', as well as what Newsweek called his 'wit . . . energy and
style. Robert Barnard is a well-established crime writer. He has won
the prestigious Nero Wolfe Award as well as the Anthony, Agatha and
Macavity Awards, has been nominated eight times for the Edgar Award and
was the winner of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger Award in 2003 for a
lifetime of achievement. He has also written crime novels under the
pseudonym of Bernard Bastable. He lives with his wife in Leeds and has
had over 45 titles published in the UK and US.
