Down Cemetery Road - (Oxford) by Mick Herron (Paperback)

About the Book

"CWA Gold Dagger winner Mick Herron's debut novel introduces Sarah Tucker, whose search for a missing child unravels a murderous conspiracy. When a house explodes in a quiet Oxford suburb and a young girl disappears in the aftermath, Sarah Tucker--a young married woman, bored and unhappy with domestic life--becomes obsessed with finding her. Accustomed to dull chores in a childless household and hosting her husband's wearisome business clients for dinner, Sarah suddenly finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew, as her investigation reveals that people long believed dead are still among the living, while the living are fast joining the dead. What begins in a peaceful neighborhood reaches its climax on a remote, unwelcoming Scottish island as the search puts Sarah in league with a man who finds himself being hunted down by murderous official forces"--

Book Synopsis

From the author of Slow Horses and soon to be an Original Series from Apple TV+ starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson.

CWA Gold Dagger winner Mick Herron's debut novel introduces Sarah Tucker, whose search for a missing child unravels a murderous conspiracy.

It's an evening like any other when an explosion rips through the leafy Oxford suburb Sarah Tucker calls home. In the aftermath, a house now stands devastated, with two adults dead and a young girl missing.

With the police more interested in keeping the neighbors from rubbernecking than in searching for the missing child, Sarah becomes obsessed with finding her, and enlists the help of Oxford private investigator Zoë Boehm. But Sarah's and Zoë's search reveals more secrets than answers. As Zoë and Sarah draw closer to the truth, they are caught in a web of conspiracy and come up against government forces, cold-blooded mercenaries and vengeful loners.

Down Cemetery Road is CWA Diamond Dagger winner Mick Herron's debut novel and the first book in the Zoë Boehm series.

Review Quotes

Praise for Down Cemetery Road

"[Herron's] first novel, Down Cemetery Road, begins with the funniest dinner party scene I have ever read, and then, after a nearby explosion, shifts into thriller territory."
--Los Angeles Review of Books

"Good characterization, dialogue and well-paced narrative make this confident first novel frighteningly plausible."
--The Daily Telegraph

"If you haven't read Zoë Boehm yet, welcome to your next fiction addiction."
--Val McDermid, author of Past Lying

"A not-to-be-missed treat . . . Herron's incisive portraits are as pitch perfect as ever, and even if you've read this series before, it's worth reminding yourself of its excellence."
--The Guardian

"Mick Herron skillfully weaves a complex story with interesting snippets of current events . . . This is the perfect choice for those who like to analyze many layers and false starts as a story unfolds."
--AudioFile Magazine

"[Down Cemetery Road] shifts from domesticity with violence and private detectives--initially seeming something like Kate Atkinson's detective novels in both the quality of the writing and the lightness of tone--to something like Christopher Brookmyre at his best . . . Herron is a major writer of considerable wit and talent."
--International Noir Fiction

Praise for Mick Herron

"Mick Herron never tells a suspense story in the expected way."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Stylish and engaging."
--The Washington Post

"A superb thriller . . . Herron may be the most literate, and slyest, thriller writer in English today."

About the Author

Mick Herron is a British novelist and short story writer who was born in Newcastle and studied English at Oxford. He is the author of the Slough House espionage series, four Oxford mysteries, and several standalone novels. His work has won the CWA Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement in Crime Writing, the Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel, the Steel Dagger for Best Thriller, and the Ellery Queen Readers Award, and been nominated for the Macavity, Barry, Shamus, and Theakstons Novel of the Year Awards. He currently lives in Oxford and writes full-time.