The Death Messenger
Page 35
Intoxicating.
Her mood wasn’t easy to read as they sat on the sand together, an intimate moment for such a gaping landscape: a sweeping stretch of empty beach, a dramatic sky and roaring sea. There were times when silence spoke volumes and this was one of them. A flock of gulls headed inland, screeching as they flew overhead. A grey seal pup limped up the sand, separated from its mother in rough conditions. Like Sophia, Ryan wondered how long it would survive.
As if she felt his pain, O’Neil turned to face him as it began to snow, heavy flakes landing on her head and eyelashes before melting away. ‘You look like a kid at Christmas,’ O’Neil said playfully. ‘Close your eyes.’
Ryan was intrigued. ‘What for?’
‘Do it! I have a present for you.’
Ryan pointed at his chest. ‘For me?’
She looked around her. ‘I don’t see anyone else.’
‘Eloise, you shouldn’t have. I didn’t get you anything.’
‘We can share.’ She was trying not to laugh as she handed him a bag of nuts and a bottle of Babycham in gloved hands. There was so much he wanted to say but somehow it seemed less important now. The courage and veracity she’d shown in the face of Newman’s allegations was testament to the kind of woman she was. Not only had she closed the book on Forsythe, O’Neil had come out fighting and forgiven him for doubting her integrity. In Ryan’s mind, that was all that mattered. The unit would go on.
Acknowledgements
Ryan and O’Neil began life on opposite sides of a disciplinary hearing in my stand-alone novel, The Silent Room. In The Death Messenger they’re back, having joined forces in a new elite unit, the shadow squad. Writing these characters has given me great pleasure and I hope you enjoy reading this, my eighth book.
Many people put this novel together. I’d like to acknowledge the entire staff at Pan Macmillan: especially Wayne Brookes – to whom this book is dedicated – Philippa McEwan and Alex Saunders. Thanks must also go to my freelance editor, Anne O’Brien, a very special lady who had to push me to the limit to get this one right. She motivates me to lift my game with every book.
I’d like to thank all at A. M. Heath Literary Agency, my friend and agent, Oli Munson, on hand to offer advice at every turn, guiding me to make the right career choices.
A special mention here for Dr Charlotte Beyer who helped with translation of dialogue during a police interview. Appreciation must also go to Steen Hansen of the Copenhagen Police for helping me understand the Danish equivalent of British CID and pinpointing their location within that fine city.
Lastly, thanks to my wonderful family: Paul and Kate; Chris and Jodie; Max, Frances and Daisy. Much love as always to my partner Mo who kept me sane at times when I was losing the will to live. It’s not all beer and skittles! Knowing she has my back makes a huge difference.
The Silent Room
BY MARI HANNAH
The first book featuring DS Matthew Ryan
and Detective Superintendent Eloise O’Neil
A security van sets off for Durham prison, a disgraced Special Branch officer in the back. It never arrives. En route, it is hijacked by armed men, the prisoner sprung. Suspended from duty on suspicion of aiding and abetting the audacious escape of his former boss, Detective Sergeant Matthew Ryan is locked out of the manhunt.
Desperate to preserve his career and prove his innocence, he backs off. But when the official investigation falls apart, under surveillance and with his life in danger, Ryan goes dark, enlisting others in his quest to discover the truth.
When the trail leads to the suspicious death of a Norwegian national, Ryan uncovers an international conspiracy that has claimed the lives of many.
The Murder Wall
BY MARI HANNAH
The first book featuring DCI Kate Daniels
Eleven months after discovering a brutal double murder in a sleepy Northumbrian village, Detective Chief Inspector Kate Daniels is still haunted by her failure to solve the investigation. Then the vicious killing of a man on Newcastle’s Quayside gives Daniels her first case as Senior Investigating Officer and a second chance to get it right.
When Daniels recognizes the corpse but fails to disclose the fact, her personal life suddenly collides into her professional life. And – even worse – she is now being watched.
As Daniels steps closer to finding a killer, a killer is only a breath away from claiming his next victim . . .
Praise for The Silent Room
‘Mari Hannah has always had two key specialities: a gift for genuinely ingenious plotting matched by a skill at choreographing suspense sequences that is the equal of more stellar names in the genre. Both characteristics are at full stretch in The Silent Room, with everyone involved (notably the warring officers in the Northumbrian police) leaping off the page. But a crime novel stands or falls on how vividly its central protagonist is conjured, and Hannah has come up with a real winner in Detective Sergeant Matt Ryan’
Barry Forshaw, Independent
‘Former screenwriter Hannah uses her skills well here, creating an action-packed standalone adventure that just cries out to be turned into a TV series’
Crime Scene Magazine
‘Taut storytelling and razor-sharp dialogue – not to mention Hannah’s use of the Northumberland countryside – make this a novel not to be missed’
Daily Mail
‘[a] pacy, standalone thriller . . . turns out to be an international conspiracy, with all the delicious twists and turns that entails’
Sunday Express
‘Very creepy. Read it on your commute and you’ll be looking over your shoulder all the way home’
Marie Claire
‘A roller coaster of a ride involving corruption, surveillance and espionage as Ryan uncovers an international conspiracy of the highest order. The author is a brilliant writer’
Sun
‘A tightly plotted, page-turning read with believable characters and a good sense of time and place’
Choice Magazine
‘. . . pacey and typically assured standalone thriller from prolific Polari Prize-winner Mari Hannah, whose Kate Daniels series has made her more than a few LGBT fans’
Diva Magazine
‘Exciting and frightening thriller, that makes you look over your shoulder, even here in peaceful Norway – made me think of “Homeland” when I read it’
Gunnar Staalesen
‘It has everything a good thriller should, compelling characters, a gripping plot and storyline, superb pacing and a strong sense of place. In addition it has heart, something many thrillers sorely lack. Mari Hannah’s superb writing style is put to good use during this break from her series and I was annoyed every time I was forced to put the book down and do mundane yet necessary stuff like eat or sleep. I am actually hoping this book will not go down as a standalone and that the author will continue it as a series’
Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
The
Death
Messenger
Mari Hannah is an award-winning author whose authentic voice is no happy accident. A former probation officer, Mari turned to scriptwriting when her career was cut short following an assault on duty. Her debut The Murder Wall (adapted from a script she developed with the BBC) won her the Polari First Book Prize. Its follow-up, Settled Blood, picked up a Northern Writers’ Award. She went on to win the CWA Dagger in the Library 2017 and is currently Reader-in-Residence for Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival. She lives in rural Northumberland with her partner, an ex-murder detective.
By Mari Hannah
The Kate Daniels series
The Murder Wall
Settled Blood
Deadly Deceit
Monument to Murder
Killing for Keeps
Gallows Drop
The Ryan & O’Neil series
The Silent Room
The Death Messenger
First published 2017 by Pan Books
This electronic edition
published 2017 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-4472-9111-4
Copyright © Mari Hannah 2017
Cover image © Malcolm Brice / Arcangel Images
The right of Mari Hannah to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Pan Macmillan does not have any control over, or any responsibility for, any author or third-party websites referred to in or on this book.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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