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Extract: The House with Nine Locks by Philip Gray

Two Storm Wood

A compelling, high-quality historical thriller that reveals a part of WW1 history that is little known about.

THE GUNS ARE SILENT. THE DEAD ARE NOT 
 
 'The world has been waiting for a worthy successor to Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong - now Philip Gray has delivered it' David Young, author of Stasi Child. 
 
 1919. On the battlefields of northern France, the guns of the Great War are silent. Special battalions now face the task of gathering up the dead for mass burial. 
 
 Amy Vanneck's fiancé is one soldier lost amongst many. She heads to France, determined to discover what became of the man she loved. 
 
 Meanwhile, Captain Mackenzie cannot bring himself to go home until his fallen comrades are laid to rest. His task is upended when a gruesome discovery is made beneath the ruins of a German strongpoint. 
 
 It soon becomes clear that what Mackenzie has uncovered is a war crime of inhuman savagery. As the dark truth leaches out, both he and Amy are drawn into the hunt for a psychopath, one for whom the atrocity at Two Storm Wood is not an end, but a beginning. 
*Longlisted for the 2023 CWA Historical Dagger Award* 
 
 'An atmospheric portrayal of the pity of the war' The Times, Books of the Year

Although the novel is deftly plotted and the atmosphere all distorting fog and claustrophobic dugouts, its achievement lies in Gray's finely worked portraits of the pity of war - those damaged by conflict and those who have to deal with its mind-altering consequences.

Through a clever series of plot twists...Gray leads...his readers to the unexpected truth

Two Storm Wood is an impressive achievement. It sheds a powerful light on a neglected aspect of World War One history. I can't recommend it enough.

I couldn't put this down. A thriller and romance set amidst the post-Armistice battlefields and the damaged people trying to do right by the dead. Extraordinary setting, great characters, bursting with ideas.

Two Storm Wood has the literary class, intellectual depth, and thriller pacing of Robert Harris at his best--with an added spine-tingling aura of menace worthy of Stephen King. It's the most chilling portrayal of a historical period since Philip Kerr's novels of Nazi Berlin, yet at its core Gray's masterpiece is a heart-rending story of sacrifice, love and loyalty overcoming the psychological tortures of the World War I battlefields.

One of the most evocative thrillers I've ever read. The writing is superb - shades of Hollinghurst and Pat Barker combine in a taut, finely plotted mystery. The battlefield is almost a character in itself, and the presence of its dead disturbed me throughout. Be warned - this dark, intelligent story is very hard to put down. Haunting, cinematic, and utterly gripping.

Atmospheric and meticulously researched, Two Storm Wood sheds light on the horrors and the trauma that continued even after the Armistice. It is that most wonderful of creations - a novel that informs while keeping you on the edge of your seat.

Abir Mukherjee, author of The Shadows of Men

An intelligent, chilling murder mystery set among the wastelands of a war-ravaged France. Deftly plotted, and also a brilliant character piece, teeming with ideas about devotion, radicalism, identity, race, and the ethics of battlefields. Mightily rewarding.

Two Storm Wood is an enthralling, enchanting, but at times also quite terrifying literary thriller. The world has been waiting for a worthy successor to Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong - now Philip Gray has delivered it. This novel really is that good. The desolate, nightmarish atmosphere of the WW1 battlefields of northern France and the aftermath of more than four years of senseless slaughter is expertly portrayed in what is both a very moving love story and fascinating mystery. A novel that demands to be read and will stay long in the reader's memory after the last page is turned. The best book I've read this year and surely a contender for literary awards.

Powerful historical fiction and a testament to war's insanity

In this poignant, intricately plotted novel, Gray succeeds in entwining two powerful tales - a love story and a hate story - in a way that, right from the shocking start, is both convincing and enthralling. He's not afraid to show the devastation of war and the unavoidability of brutality, on both an individual and a collective scale.

Virginia Baily, author of SUNDAY TIMES bestseller EARLY ONE MORNING

An atmospheric portrayal of the pity of the war

Two Storm Wood&hellip;is a book that you struggle to put down and struggle to forget&hellip; an immersive experience&hellip; Gray is a clever storyteller&hellip; brilliantly researched and completely credible. He is a master of detail

'Immensely enjoyable' - Sir Trevor McDonald, BBC Two Between the Covers 
 
1919. On the battlefields of northern France, the guns of the Great War are silent. Special battalions now face the task of gathering up the dead for mass burial. 
 
Amy Vanneck's fiancé is one soldier lost amongst many. She heads to France, determined to discover what became of the man she loved. 
 
Meanwhile, Captain Mackenzie cannot bring himself to go home until his fallen comrades are laid to rest. His task is upended when a gruesome discovery is made beneath the ruins of a German strongpoint. 
 
It soon becomes clear that what Mackenzie has uncovered is a war crime of inhuman savagery. As the dark truth leaches out, both he and Amy are drawn into the hunt for a psychopath, one for whom the atrocity at Two Storm Wood is not an end, but a beginning.

Philip Gray

One of the best historical crime novels I’ve ever read

A riveting detective story that turns the genre on its head. Gray captures the complexity of postwar Belgium with empathy and ruthless precision. And he gives us an unforgettable heroine to root for at the heart of his superbly crafted novel

Alice Austen, author of 33 PLACE BRUGMANN

In Two Storm Wood Philip Gray brought the scarred post-Great-War battlefields of France to life; in The House with Nine Locks he moves to a grimy post-Second-World-War Flanders. Adelais de Wolf reinvents herself at the glamorous heart of society by embracing life at its murky edges. A page-turner: morally complex and beautifully written.

Leonora Nattrass, bestselling author of BLUE WATER

Adelais is a tremendous central character ... Beautifully realised ... Enchanting ... Has [the] power to compel and intrigue

'This intriguing, pacy novel contains a host of memorable characters [and a] magical evocation of place … Adelais de Wolf, a heroine worthy of the name … makes fantasy into a reality and captures everyone’s heart, the reader’s included'

Virginia Baily, author of EARLY ONE MORNING

A wonderfully original and atmospheric crime novel… [a] beautifully modulated tale of forgery, gambling, ballroom dancing and star-crossed love

This is a book that will keep you reading well into the night

A master forger. A hidden fortune. A dangerous game of cat and mouse... 
 
In post-war Flanders, Adelais de Wolf's family is slowly, inexplicably, falling apart: her mother evermore lost to religious devotion, her father to alcohol. But with the death of a beloved uncle, Adelais finds herself in receipt of an unexpected legacy: a shuttered house in a rundown district and its contents – contents that hold the promise of independence and wealth. All that is required is application, nerve, and a willingness to break the law. 
 
Adelais stifles her doubts and her fortunes are transformed. But with her rise comes complications: her victimless crimes may not be as victimless as she supposed. Nor has she counted on the singular fanaticism of Major de Smet of the Federal Gendarmerie, a brutal detective who never forgives and never forgets. 
 
Embroiled in a game that has gone on too long, will Adelais find the cost of her fortunes too high?

Philip Gray

Praise for The House with Nine Locks

One of the best historical crime novels I’ve ever read

A riveting detective story that turns the genre on its head. Gray captures the complexity of postwar Belgium with empathy and ruthless precision. And he gives us an unforgettable heroine to root for at the ...

In Two Storm Wood Philip Gray brought the scarred post-Great-War battlefields of France to life; in The House with Nine Locks he moves to a grimy post-Second-World-War Flanders. Adelais de Wolf rein ...

One of the best historical crime novels I’ve ever read

A riveting detective story that turns the genre on its head. Gray captures the complexity of postwar Belgium with empathy and ruthless precision. And he gives us an unforgettable heroine to root for at the ...

In Two Storm Wood Philip Gray brought the scarred post-Great-War battlefields of France to life; in The House with Nine Locks he moves to a grimy post-Second-World-War Flanders. Adelais de Wolf rein ...

One of the best historical crime novels I’ve ever read

A riveting detective story that turns the genre on its head. Gray captures the complexity of postwar Belgium with empathy and ruthless precision. And he gives us an unforgettable heroine to root for at the ...

In Two Storm Wood Philip Gray brought the scarred post-Great-War battlefields of France to life; in The House with Nine Locks he moves to a grimy post-Second-World-War Flanders. Adelais de Wolf rein ...

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Extract: The House with Nine Locks by Philip Gray

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