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The Strange Case of the Composer and His Judge

Patricia Duncker author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Published:18th Jul '11

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

The Strange Case of the Composer and His Judge cover

The thrilling tale of a secret suicide sect and the musical mastermind at its center.

Shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger, the Best Crime Novel of the Year

On a frozen New Year's Day a half-circle of dead bodies lies on freshly fallen snow in the French Jura. A nearby chalet contains the debris of a seemingly ordinary Christmas: champagne, presents for the dead children, and a strange leather-bound book, written in mysterious code, containing maps of the stars. When Dominique Carpentier, the Judge tasked with solving the mystery behind this suicide sect, discovers the book, she is lead to the Composer, Friedrich Groz, who is connected to every one of the dead. And so the pursuit begins.

As Carpentier is drawn into a world of complex family ties, ancient beliefs and seductive, disturbing music, she becomes more and more determined to crack the case. But has she met her match in the Composer?

‘Duncker out-Dan-Browns Dan Brown ... thrilling' * Daily Telegraph *
‘At once an utterly terrifying murder mystery, a satirical examination of middle-class ennui, a psychology primer about cult formation and a strikingly beautiful journey through a European landscape rarely glimpsed in books or films' * Financial Times *
‘A sublime confection of art, ideas and gorgeous writing' * The Times *
‘A multilayered, hugely intelligent book ... totally compelling' * Literary Review *

  • Short-listed for CWA Gold Dagger for Fiction 2010

ISBN: 9781408809563

Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 17mm

Weight: 222g

272 pages