The Coldest Blood

Journalist Philip Dryden (Volume 4)

Jim Kelly

Minotaur Books

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A man lies hidden in an abandoned boat. Stifling his own screams, he draws a knife across his arm, letting the blood flow free. Soon he’ll be dead – and life can begin again.
 
Three decades later, small-town newspaper reporter Philip Dryden is experiencing a cold, bitter Christmas on the Fens. Dryden’s wife, Laura, is emerging from years in a coma, unsure if she wants to go on living. Meanwhile, people are freezing to death, among them Declan McIlroy, a 39 year old loner found dead in his flat with the windows thrown open. The police rule the death a suicide, but Dryden has his doubts – especially when he finds the body of Declan’s best friend Joe frozen within a shell of ice on the doorstep of his secluded farmhouse.
 
At the same time, Dryden is investigating allegations of abuse laid against a Catholic orphanage – a touchy subject, due to his own Catholic upbringing. The incidents seem unrelated until Dryden discovers that Declan was one of the victims. Could his death have been part of a cover-up?
 
Soon, Dryden is picking his way along a disturbing trail of cruelty and betrayal to a brilliantly executed crime, and to a chilling, half-remembered mystery from his own childhood.

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The Dolphin Holiday Camp, Sea’s EndThursday, 29 August 1974The dagger lay on his naked thigh, its blade as cold as a rock-pool pebble. Lying back in his bunk, he raised the weapon with one hand and splayed the fingers of the other across the muscle of his upper arm, stretching the suntanned skin taut as a drum. Outside, the water of the saltmarsh slapped against the Curlew’s hull, rocking him on the incoming tide.He tasted salt on his lips as he bit down on the leather belt in his mouth and pressed the dagger’s V-shaped point into the biceps, wincing at the gritty sound of the

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Praise for The Coldest Blood

“Quirky, emotionally intelligent crime fiction that leaves the reader hungry for more.” – Val McDermid
 
“A masterful stylist, Kelly crafts sharp, crisp sentences so pure, so true, they qualify as modern poetry. The cold, bleak landscape of the fens seems to seep through the paper and chill the fingers turning the pages.” – Publishers Weekly
 
“A sparkling star, newly risen in the crime fiction firmament.” – Colin Dexter
 
“Kelly enlivens his tale with a richly atmospheric setting, sharp contemporary characters, and an often biting knack for capturing the essence of people.” – The Washington Post
 
“The setting is chilly, the writing is good.” – Chicago Tribune
 
“Intriguing characters and locale and wryly believable newsroom background.” – Kirkus Reviews

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About the Author

Jim Kelly

Jim Kelly, whose father was a detective for Scotland Yard, previously worked as a journalist and education correspondent for the Financial Times. He lives in Ely with the biographer Midge Gillies and their young daughter. His debut, The Water Clock, was shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association John Creasey Memorial Dagger for the best first crime novel of 2002, and in 2004 he was very highly commended for the CWA Dagger in the Library, which is awarded to “the author of crime fiction whose work is giving the greatest enjoyment to readers.”

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Available Formats and Book Details

The Coldest Blood
Journalist Philip Dryden (Volume 4)
Jim Kelly

Hardcover

Hardcover
St. Martin's Press
Minotaur Books
January 2007
Hardcover
ISBN: 9780312364786
ISBN10: 0312364784
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 352 pages
$24.95

e-Book Agency

Learn more about this edition
e-Book Agency
St. Martin's Press
Minotaur Books
January 2007
e-Book Agency
ISBN: 9781429997881
ISBN10: 1429997885
352 pages
$7.99
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