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So good it’s criminal: Penguin authors pick their favourite crime novels

Indie Bookshop Week: Penguin authors celebrate their favourites

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Independent Bookshop Week: Penguin authors celebrate their favourites

Body and Soul

Once a Detective Inspector in the Nottinghamshire Force, Frank Elder has retired to an isolated cottage in Cornwall, and is trying to live the quiet life. The past, however, is never far behind him.

From the master of British Crime Writing comes Frank Elder’s last case.

The 79-year-old Harvey has made it clear that Body &amp; Soul is his last novel, and what an excellent farewell it is …. Elder and Resnick are both greats of British crime fiction.

An expertly plotted and moving final act for an old-school investigator of the best sort, from a true master of the genre

Few writers have even approached Harvey’s grasp of atmosphere which, mingled with some sharpish social comment and utterly believable characters, makes them a must read

Body and Soul is a clever thriller … that will leave you stunned and staring at the page in disbelief.

This is wonderfully atmospheric crime writing – a tribute to Harvey’s exceptional talent.

John Harvey is one of the all-time greats and remains one of my favourite writers.

The story builds brilliantly as one would expect from John Harvey, but concludes in a way which is totally unexpected. It will be interesting to see if John will now generate a new vehicle for any further ventures in crime fiction. Some possibilities surface among the new characters introduced in Body and Soul. I very much hope so. While I am prepared to let John Harvey dispense with his main characters I am not prepared to see him disappear from crime fiction bookshelves.

Harvey is very good at the small nuances of people's everyday behaviour; alongside the tension of suspense comes the equally compelling tension of their lives. Body and Soul indeed; just listen to the song.

Sadly, this is Harvey’s last book after a 40-year crime writing masterclass.

Harvey’s beautifully pared back writing, tight plot and careful characterisation raise Body and Soulabove the bar of what’s merely good crime fiction … It is great British crime fiction – and when that’s great, well, is there really anything better?

Body and Soul is an elegy on everlasting themes that have seared the hearts of great writers down the years. It is about death; it is about regret and longing; it is about duty, loyalty and people who do what they think to be right despite a chorus of lesser mortals who are chanting, “leave it – forget it – don’t get involved … we can only thank John Harvey for his matchless legacy."

What can you say about one of the masters of British crime writing? … Few writers have even approached Harvey’s grasp of atmosphere which, mingled with some sharpish social comment and utterly believable characters, makes them a must read … Resnick and Elder both gone ... It’ll be hard for those of us who prefer our crime real and brutal, our characters realistic, and our plots the stuff of everyday police work, to replace them.

I feel quite sad that this is the last book, but at least I can go and read the earlier books in the series. John Harvey is an author who I will happily read again.

John Harvey was born in London, where he now lives, while considering Nottingham his spiritual home. Initially a teacher of English &amp; Drama, he has been a full-time writer for more than forty years. The first of his 12 volume Charlie Resnick series, Lonely Hearts was selected by The Times as one of the '100 Best Crime Novels of the Century' and the first Frank Elder novel, Flesh &amp; Blood, won the CWA Silver Dagger in 2004. He was awarded the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for sustained excellence in the crime genre in 2007, and his story, 'Fedora' won the CWA Short Story Dagger in 2014. 
 
In addition to writing fiction, he has written and published poetry, running Slow Dancer Press for over twenty years; his New &amp; Selected Poems, Out of Silence was published in 2014. He has adapted the work of Arnold Bennett, A. S. Byatt, Graham Greene and others for radio and television, and in 2017, his dramatisation of the final Resnick novel, Darkness, Darkness, was produced at Nottingham Playhouse. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by the universities of Hertfordshire and Nottingham.

'John Harvey is one of the all-time greats and remains one of my favourite writers.' IAN RANKIN 
_____________________ 
Frank Elder's last case could be the one that breaks him for good. 
 
The heavy manacles around the girl's wrists, perhaps not surprisingly, looked very much like the ones that had been found on the studio floor. For a moment, she had a vision of the chain to which they were attached being swung through the air, taking on force and speed before striking home. Then swung again. 
 
When his estranged daughter Katherine appears on his doorstep, ex-Detective Frank Elder knows that something is wrong. 
 
Katherine has long been troubled, and Elder has always felt powerless to help her. But now Katherine has begun to self-destruct; the breakdown of her affair with a controversial artist, known for his pornographic paintings, has sent her into a tailspin. 
 
But when the artist is found murdered in his studio, suspicion falls on Katherine. The vultures are circling. 
 
And as Elder struggles to protect his daughter and prove her innocence, the terrors of the past threaten them both once more... 
 
 
Daily Telegraph Book of the Year 
_____________________ 
 
'A masterpiece from a master of the genre.' MARK BILLINGHAM 
 
'An expertly plotted and moving final act for an old-school investigator of the best sort, from a true master of the genre' GUARDIAN Books of the Month 
 
'This is wonderfully atmospheric crime writing - a tribute to Harvey's exceptional talent' MAIL 
 
'The 79-year-old Harvey has made it clear that Body &amp; Soul is his last novel, and what an excellent farewell it is .... Elder and Resnick are both greats of British crime fiction.' THE TIMES Book of the Month 
 
'Few writers have even approached Harvey's grasp of atmosphere which, mingled with some sharpish social comment and utterly believable characters, makes them a must read' CRIME REVIEW 
 
'Sadly, this is Harvey's last book after a 40-year crime writing masterclass.' PETERBOROUGH TELEGRAPH

(Frank Elder)

Flesh And Blood

JOHN HARVEY'S BREAKTHROUGH NOVEL: A TENSE, TAUTLY WRITTEN THRILLER SUPPORTED BY A MAJOR MARKETING CAMPAIGN

using no device flashier than detailed characterisation, finely-crafted writing and gentle humour to build his story, Harvey grabs your interest and holds it.

his[Harvey's] unpredictable mixture of tenderness and cruelty is frightenly well delineated, reinforcing the well-plotted suspense of a book with a depth few works of crime fiction attain

Flesh and Blood is a terrific comeback, restoring Harvey to the very top echelons of British crime writing  what takes Flesh and Blood into the highest league are Harvey's exquisite writing and utterly convincing characters.

Harvey elevates the serial killer novel a few notches, adding a brain and a heart.

John Harvey is the author of the richly praised Charlie Resnick novels, the first of which Lonely Hearts was named by The Times as one of the '100 Best Crime Novels of the Century'.  He is also a poet, dramatist and broadcaster.  For more about John Harvey visit www.mellotone.co.uk. John has recently moved to Cornwall with his partner and their young daughter.

She disappeared fifteen years ago. Frank Elder never stopped looking. 
 
Long after Susan Blacklock's disappearance, Detective Inspector Frank Elder has taken early retirement, but the case still plagues his mind – one failure he can never fix. 
 
The prime suspects were jailed for another murder. Now, one of them is on parole – until he vanishes too. 
 
And then the postcards start arriving. Postcards from the killer. Postcards of Elder's daughter...

(Resnick 12)

Darkness, Darkness

Charlie Resnick is one of the most fully realized characters in modern crime fiction; complex and capable, a man who not only loves justice, jazz and cats, but who can turn the construction of a sandwich into a work of art.

'A war between the past and the present, in a place wracked by guilt and vengeance, a country torn into pieces. A brilliant, important and moving book about the legacy of 1984, and where and who we are now.' David Peace. The final DI Charlie Resnick novel, from the Cartier Diamond Dagger winner and Sunday Times bestselling author of Cold in Hand.

A clever choice of subject, allowing Resnick to reflect on old conflicts, and an elegiac farewell to Harvey’s much-loved detective.

Charlie Resnick's last case not only recreates the sense of betrayal and despair that prevailed during the Miners' Strike, but also vividly tracks the underlying currents of corruption and fear in a society still suffering from the blind greed and callous betrayals of that divisive era. A dark, yet elegant and utterly compelling novel, Darkness, Darkness is a masterpiece, a fit farewell to a character so many of us have loved for quarter of a century.

His finest in years … This is a troubling tale that succeeds not only as a murder mystery but as a memorial to an epic struggle that pitted neighbour against neighbour.

Darkness, Darkness is the twelfth and final novel in the superb series featuring the Nottingham copper Charlie Resnick, and what a terrific farewell it is. Published on the 30th anniversary of the miners’ strike, it is both a masterful mystery and a moving homage to the events witnessed by the author. His exit is a brilliant farewell.

Darkness, Darkness is so good that it makes me grateful not to have Charlie Resnick for competition any more, but as a reader I'll mourn his loss. If only every series of crime novels could end with such grace and style.

There is no end to Charlie Resnick. He lives in the imaginations of all those lucky readers who have picked up a book and traveled with him like an old friend. Darkness, Darkness is yet another superb telling of the character by John Harvey. As distinctly as I remember reading the first Resnick I will always remember this one. Rich in wistful telling, the story holds your heart steady in a tight fist. It doesn't let you go. It doesn't let you let go of the man either.

Harvey’s gritty, downbeat tales of Nottingham copper Charlie Resnick are some of the best recent English crime novels. Sadly this is the last one and the weary, jazz-loving ‘tec bows out in style.

In this masterful unearthing of the grudges and resentments left behind by the Miners' Strike of three decades ago, John Harvey has found the perfect case for Resnick to get his teeth into. All the ingredients are here: social history, the problem of male violence, the shadow of death, and, of course, the search for a decent cup of coffee. Anyone new to Resnick's world should probably start here; John Harvey has saved the best for last.

Not since D.H. awrence has a writer so captured the Nottinghamshire vernacular and place.  In this atmospheric novel the crime is real: seedy and un-glamorised and the detective, Charlie Resnick, delving into a cold case, is older, wiser and like all good detectives, doing things his own sweet way.  King of Crime John Harvey here demonstrates with trademark rationed lyricism how he earned his crown: he offers up a pitch-perfect ending for Resnick and the series that’s masterful, poignant and true.

The last bow for Harvey’s intuitive Nottingham-based Detective Inspector Charlie Resnick, with his offbeat ways and difficulties with relationships, moves you to tears with its indelible poignancy.

A vivid portrayal of a community riven by anger, guilt and betrayal, as well as mystery, this expertly rendered time slip is a fitting swan song for a wonderful detective.

Gripping … a final and poignant hurrah which allows Harvey to masterfully round off his fascinating character and all his frailties and offer a measured if chilling assessment of Britain's social landscape and woes. Without Resnick, there would have been no Rebus, Grace, Thorne, Banks or so many other Premier League British cops, and Harvey never gets a note wrong. An admirable character and series.

Best known as a writer of crime fiction, his work translated into more than twenty languages, John Harvey is also a dramatist, poet, publisher and occasional broadcaster. 
 
The first of his twelve Charlie Resnick novels, Lonely Hearts, was named by The Times as one of the ‘100 Best Crime Novels of the Century’. The recipient of honorary doctorates from the Universities of Nottingham and Hertfordshire, in 2007 he was awarded the Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for Sustained Excellence in Crime Writing. 
 
For more about the author visit www.mellotone.com

'A war between the past and the present, in a place wracked by guilt and vengeance, a country torn into pieces. A brilliant, important and moving book about the legacy of 1984, and where and who we are now.' David Peace. 
 
The final DI Charlie Resnick novel, from the Cartier Diamond Dagger winner and Sunday Times bestselling author of Cold in Hand. 
 
Thirty years ago, the Miners’ Strike threatened to tear the country apart, turning neighbour against neighbour, husband against wife, father against son – enmities which smoulder still. 
 
Resnick, recently made up to inspector, and ambivalent at best about some of the police tactics, had run an information gathering unit at the heart of the dispute. 
 
Now, in virtual retirement, and still grieving over the violent death of his former partner, the discovery of the body of a young woman who disappeared during the Strike brings Resnick back to the front line to assist in the investigation into the woman’s murder – forcing him to confront his past in what will assuredly be his last case.

A Jack Kiley Short Story

Fedora

Winner of the Crime Writers' Association Short Story Dagger, 2014.

John Harvey is the author of the richly praised Charlie Resnick novels, the first of which, Lonely Hearts, was named by The Times as one of the ‘100 Best Crime Novels of the Century’. His first novel featuring Frank Elder, Flesh and Blood, won the CWA Silver Dagger in 2004, and a Barry Award for the Best British Crime Novel published in the US in 2004. In 2007 John Harvey was awarded the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for Sustained Excellence in Crime Writing, and in 2009 he was awarded an honorary degree, Doctor of Letters, by the University of Nottingham. 
 
To find our more visit www.mellotone.co.uk

Winner of the Crime Writers' Association Short Story Dagger, 2014. 
 
Private investigator Jack Kiley is persuaded to look into an old relationship between a photographer and a model with disastrous results. 
 
Includes the opening chapter of John Harvey's new Resnick novel Darkness, Darkness – 'A brilliant, important and moving book about the legacy of 1984, and where and who we are now.' David Peace – out in paperback on 25 September.

Darkness and Light

The third DI Frank Elder novel, from the master of British crime writing.

A really seductive trip into the concealed hinterlands of sexuality

With Frank Elder's third outing, John Harvey performs the hat-trick. Another fine story which engages at all levels. If Harvey gets any better, the rest of us may have to kill him.

Darkness and Light is... crime fiction at its best

A classy novel from one of our finest crime writers

John Harvey is the author of the richly praised Charlie Resnick novels, the first of which, Lonely Hearts, was named by The Times as one of the '100 Best Crime Novels of the Century'. His first novel featuring Frank Elder, Flesh and Blood, won the CWA Silver Dagger in 2004, and a Barry Award for the Best British Crime Novel published in the US in 2004. In 2007 John Harvey was awarded the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger and in 2009 he was awarded an honorary degree, Doctor of Letters, by the University of Nottingham. To find out more about John Harvey visit his website at: www.mellotone.co.uk

The third DI Frank Elder novel, from the master of British crime writing. 
 
A phone call intrudes on retired Detective Inspector Frank Elder’s solitary life in Cornwall. It’s his estranged wife and she needs a favour. A friend’s sister, Claire Meecham, an unassuming widow in her fifties, has gone missing. 
 
Elder agrees to return to Nottingham to try and track her down. Then Claire is found, dead. The killer has arranged her body meticulously, almost lovingly, forcing Elder to remember another dead woman, arranged in an almost identical way. It was his first case with the Serious Crimes Unit. His first case and never solved. 
 
It’s clear to Elder that this is the work of the same unbalanced individual and, to find the killer, Elder must shine a light into the darkest recesses of human behaviour, the dark and twisted recesses of a disturbed human mind.

(Grayson & Walker)

Far Cry

Starring Detective Inspector Will Grayson and Detective Sergeant Helen Walker – a police partnership like no other.

The second Grayson &amp; Walker novel, from the master of British crime writing.

This is one of John Harvey's best novels, which means it's one of the best, full stop.

Harvey's fleshed-out characters and sure grasp of the complex emotional underpinnings of society generally, and individuals in particular, make him a favourite among crime writers and readers alike

All Harvey's usual virtues - strong minor characters, likeable, three-dimensional cops, adroit handling of a complex plot and large cast - are in evidence

A taut tale exploring the themes of child abduction, abuse and bereavement... [the] understated narrative is elegant and effortlessly gripping

The architecture of Harvey's storytelling begs to be admired, with its multiple narratives, shifting time lines and elaborate plot details. But it's his handling of difficult characters and provocative themes that gives the book weight. All the adults in this story love children, some selflessly and others in ways that make your skin crawl, and they all react differently when the children they love are taken away from them. Harvey's touch is so subtle, his style so seductive, the he distracts us from the fact that Ruth isn't the only person whose choices are determined, or tragically derailed, by love for a child - even if it's someone else's child

Impassioned, at times heartbreaking story … confirms Harvey as one of our most accomplished writers in any genre

John Harvey is the author of the richly praised Charlie Resnick novels, the first of which, Lonely Hearts, was named by The Times as one of the '100 Best Crime Novels of the Century'. His first novel featuring Frank Elder, Flesh and Blood, won the CWA Silver Dagger in 2004, and a Barry Award for the Best British Crime Novel published in the US in 2004. In 2007 John Harvey was awarded the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger and in 2009 he was awarded an honorary degree, Doctor of Letters, by the University of Nottingham. 
 
To find out more about John Harvey visit his website at: www.mellotone.co.uk

Ruth and Simon Pierce's rare romantic break is shattered by devastating news: their daughter, Heather, on holiday in Cornwall with a friend's family, has disappeared. The loss is more than they - or their marriage - can bear. But time does heal, and slowly Ruth builds a new life for herself. A new husband, Andrew - even a second daughter, Beatrice. 
 
The chances that history could repeat itself are next-to-impossible - that is until, years later, a desperate phone call launches DI Will Grayson and his partner, DS Helen Walker, into an investigation which will test their professional and emotional resources to the very limit. 
 
Yet as Grayson becomes increasingly obsessed with a recently released child-abuser and Helen is drawn deeper into a destructive love affair with a married colleague, there is a real danger that their most demanding investigation yet will slip fatefully through their hands...

John Harvey

Philip Jackson

Keith Barron

Full Cast

Tom Georgeson

Tom Wilkinson

Five BBC Radio full-cast dramatisations

Five BBC Radio 4 full-cast crime dramas featuring DI Charlie Resnick 
 
'John Harvey is one of the all-time greats and remains one of my favourite writers.' - Ian Rankin 
 
Jazz-loving policeman Charlie Resnick is one of the most popular characters in contemporary crime fiction. This thrilling collection brings together three dramatisations and two original radio stories starring the Nottingham-based detective, all scripted by his creator, award-winning author John Harvey. 
 
Wasted Years 
1992, and two incidents of violent robbery force Detective Inspector Resnick to relive painful memories of ten years earlier, when his marriage collapsed - and he arrested an armed criminal... Starring Tom Wilkinson. 
 
Cutting Edge 
When a young doctor is attacked on a deserted hospital walkway, the clues seem to lead nowhere for DI Charlie Resnick. As he desperately searches for motives, another victim is assaulted... Starring Tom Georgeson. 
 
Slow Burn 
When Jimmy Nolan's Nottingham jazz club burns down, it looks like an insurance job. But for Detective Inspector Charlie Resnick and his team, it is the start of a more sinister and deadly chain of events. Starring Philip Jackson. 
 
Cheryl 
While Detective Inspector Resnick pursues a gang of armed robbers, meals-on-wheels lady Cheryl takes the law into her own hands on behalf of an elderly client. It isn't long before their investigations collide... Starring Keith Barron. 
 
Bird of Paradise 
Jerzy Grabianski is a high-class burglar with a passion for ornithology and British Impressionist paintings. Like DI Charlie Resnick, he has Polish roots, a firm sense of justice and a soft spot for the ladies - especially the energetic Sister Teresa... Starring Keith Barron. 
 
 
Directed by David Hunter 
 
©2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

John Harvey

Praise for Inspector Resnick

John Harvey is one of the all-time greats and remains one of my favourite writers.

Books by John Harvey

Series by John Harvey

Frank Elder4 Books

Grayson & Walker2 Books

Resnick13 Books

Articles featuring John Harvey

So good it’s criminal: Penguin authors pick their favourite crime novels

Independent Bookshop Week: Penguin authors celebrate their favourites

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