MICK FINLAY was born in Glasgow but left when he was a child, living in Canada and then England. Before becoming an academic, he ran a market stall on Portobello Road, and has worked as a tent-hand in a travelling circus, a butcherâs boy, a hotel porter, and in various jobs in the NHS and social services. He teaches in a Psychology Department, and has published research on political violence and persuasion, verbal and non-verbal communication, and disability. He now lives in Brighton with his family.
Copyright
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
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First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2018
Copyright © Mick Finlay 2018
Mick Finlay asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Ebook Edition © January 2019 ISBN: 9780008214777
Praise for Arrowood
âArrowood is a flawed but engaging hero and the plot spins from peril to twist and back with real panache.â
The Times
âA fantastic creation.â
The Spectator
âRichly inventive.â
Daily Telegraph
âStrongly reminiscent of Robert Galbraithâs Cormoran Strike novelsâ¦a memorable detective who can stand among the best.â
Harrow Times
âMick Finlayâs atmospheric, detailed, singular London is a terrifying place I hope to return to again and again.â Ross Armstrong, bestselling author of The Watcher
âIf you ever thought the Sherlock Holmes stories might benefit from being steeped in gin, caked in grime and then left unwashed for weeksâ¦Mick Finlayâs 1895-set detective debut is for you.â
Crime Scene
âA book with enough warmth, charm, humour, and intrigue to signal the start of an excellent new series.â Vaseem Khan, author of The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra
âStunningly dark and atmospheric crime debutâ¦Arrowood is just the opener for a thrilling and original new series.â
Lancashire Evening Post
âReaders of historical detective fiction will enjoy this well-set, darkly humorous addition to the canon.â
Historical Novel Society
To the good people of Haslemere Avenue
and 33P. Late 80s, early 90s.
Author note
In the 1890s, the terms âidiotâ and âimbecileâ were used to refer to people we now describe as having learning, developmental or intellectual disabilities. Downâs syndrome was known as âMongolismâ and people with the condition were often called âMongolian Idiotsâ, âMongoloidsâ or âMongolsâ. Although itâs uncomfortable to hear these labels nowadays, the term âDownâs syndromeâ only came into use in the 1960s.
Chapter One
South London, 1896
Horror sometimes arrives with a smile upon her face, and so it was with the case of Birdie Barclay. It was early New Year, the mud frozen in the streets, smuts drifting like black snow in the fog. Shuddering horses trudged past, driven on to places they didnât want to go by sullen, red-faced men. Crossing sweepers stood by waiting for punters to drop them a coin, while old folk clutched walls and railings lest they should slip on the slick cobbles, sighing, muttering, hacking up big gobs of germs and firing them into the piles of horse dung as collected at every corner.
We hadnât had a case for five weeks, so the letter from Mr Barclay inviting us to call that afternoon was welcome. He lived on Saville Place, a row of two-bedroom cottages under the train lines between the Lambeth Palace and Bethlem. When we reached the house we could hear a lady inside singing over a piano. I was about to knock when the guvnor touched my arm.