The Devil's Feather : [Hardcover]

Sometimes, an author is obliged to change pace when their usual territory is becoming over-farmed – not least by themselves. And at first glance, The Devil’s Feather would appear to represent a radical new direction for Minette Walters. But -- wait a minute -- why would Walters need to dip into a new genre of novel? After all, she is now unquestionably in the upper echelons of British crime queens, quite as successful as P D James and Ruth Rendell at mining darker psychological territory, with (in her case) a strong sociological underpinning. Such books as Acid Row and Fox Evil have been bitter pictures of Britain as much as they have been crime novels. The Devil’s Feather is more ambitious than any of her preceding work, notably in the massive international canvas (including a war-torn country) that is the novel's backdrop.

Five women have been savagely killed in the Sierra Leone conflict. Connie Burns is a correspondent for Reuters who asks awkward questions about the arrest of three young soldiers accused of the crime. Their forced confessions (after savage beatings) count for little in the middle of the Civil War, and Connie's theory -- that the murders were committed by a foreigner indulging his own sanguinary fantasies in the middle of a war -- proves to be very dangerous for her. Her attempts to track the killer down bring catastrophe on her own head, and she is forced to escape, going to ground in Dorset and dealing with the psychic scars she has been left with. It is, of course, inevitable that she will be tracked down even in the safety of the English countryside by her implacable opponent.

As the foregoing conveys, this is very different territory from that which Walters has made her own, but she proves equally adept at the International blockbuster thriller as at any of her more tightly focused British novels. It goes without saying that the character portrayal (notably of the terrified Connie) is an on-the-nail as ever, and the considerable tension engendered by The Devil’s Feather may glean a whole new legion of readers for Walters. --Barry Forshaw

..takes the genre to a deeper level..

" Intriguing. . . . Insightful. . . . A worthy rival to P.D. James and Ruth Rendell." -- "People"
" She takes the suspense novel into new territory."
-- "New York Times Book Review"
" Walters gracefully balances crowd-pleasing theatrics with a wickedly ambiguous ending." -- "Entertainment Weekly"
" Terrifying. . . . [A] scary thriller." -- "The New Yorker"

pyschological thrillers dont come better than this..set to be an instant bestseller, this is Minette Walters at her terrifying best.

Minette Walters creates a sense of palpable menace in her novels..shows her pyschological insight and skilful plotting..to a gripping climax

This is a thoughtful and accomplished thriller.

..a tour de force..The combination of fast-moving thriller and acute exploration of the psychotic mind makes this a thriller.

The stunning new thriller from Britain's no.1 crime writer

Have you ever wanted to bury a secret so deeply that no one will find out about it? With private security firms supplying bodyguards in every theatre of war, who will notice the emergence of a sexual psychopath from the ranks of the mercenaries? Amidst the turmoil of Sierra Leone’s vicious civil war, the brutal murder of five women is of little consequence and no one questions the ‘confessions’ that were beaten out of three child soldiers. Except for Reuters correspondent Connie Burns. After witnessing a savage attack on a prostitute, Connie believes a foreigner’s responsible. She has seen him before, and she suspects he uses the chaos of war to act out sadistic fantasies against women. Two years later in Iraq, the consequences of her second attempt to expose him are devastating. Terrified, degraded and destroyed, she goes into hiding in England where she strikes up a friendship with Jess Derbyshire, a loner whose reclusive nature may well be masking secrets of her own. Seeing parallels between herself and Jess, Connie borrows from the other woman’s strength and makes the hazardous decision to attempt a third unmasking of a serial killer . . . Knowing he will come looking for her . . .

Minette Walters is a bestselling, award winning novelist with her previous psychological thrillers. This is her eleventh full length novel. She lives near Dorchester in Dorset with her husband.