Undercurrents [Hardcover]

Frances Fyfield is now universally acclaimed as one of this country's finest crime writers, with a depth of psychological understanding quite the equal of the previously unassailable duo of PD James and Ruth Rendell. The intense and expressive quality of her prose illuminates narratives that both celebrate traditional storytelling values and explode them. Undercurrents may well be her most disturbing work yet. In the past, some male readers may have been discomforted by her recurring preoccupation with male violence against women, but Henry Evans, the protagonist of this novel, is the perfect conduit for both the male and female reader into a truly mesmerising narrative.

When Henry was backpacking around India some 20 years before, he encountered the beguiling Francesca Chisholm. Francesca's father died, and Henry's reluctance to alter his travel plans obliged her to leave without him. For all of his adult life, he has regretted this decision, and finally resolves to travel to the English coastal town of Warbling (the name is the book's only miscalculation) to track her down. But Henry is in for a shock. It's a very wet February, and his hotel is flooded, so he is obliged to stay at a strange alternative hostel. The solicitor who has traced Francesca suggests that he regard her as dead but Henry persists. He discovers that Francesca has confessed to killing her five-year-old son, drowning him in the sea. She is imprisoned and the case appears to be closed. But is it? Henry decides to find out precisely what happened. And his scarifying odyssey into the dark night of the soul--both his and hers--is something he finds himself unprepared for.

Fyfield adroitly presents her protagonist with an implacable mystery--but the solving of this mystery is no mechanical trick, as it so often was in the golden age of crime fiction. The journey Henry undertakes will change him forever, and the insights into the troubled Francesca's psyche are as rich and profound as anything in literary fiction. As always with this author, the characters are fastidiously created, and the taut structure of the plot is accentuated by the relative brevity of her narrative. Some may wish for a longer book, but there isn't a wasted word here, and anyone in doubt as to Fyfield's position in the pantheon of English crime writing should not hesitate.

--Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'Fyfield at her best - compelling - disturbing - but always elegant ... ' Minette Walters 'Her knowledge of the workings of the human mind - or more correctly the soul - is second to none.' Ian Rankin 'Undiluted brilliance.' The Times --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'Her knowledge of the workings of the human mind or more correctly the soul is second to none.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'Undiluted brilliance.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

A psychological thriller of chilling clarity from an internationally acclaimed writer – a masterful mix of brooding suspense, delicious characterization, precise plotting and enduring love.

Twenty years ago, while backpacking around India, Henry Evans fell in love with Francesca Chisholm. But when Francesca’s father died, Henry left it too late to change his travel plans and she left without him. His decision has haunted him throughout his adult life. Now, two decades later, determined to find her, he travels from the U.S. to the English coastal town of Warbling to find her.

Henry's welcome is as warm as the unforgiving February weather: his hotel is flooded, and the solicitor he asks for information about tracing Francesca advises him to regard her as dead. The reason: Francesca is in prison for murdering her five-year-old son. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Frances Fyfield is a criminal lawyer, a trade she has used to huge success in many of her novels. She lives in London and in Deal, by the sea which is her passion. She has won several awards, including the Silver Dagger. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.