'Effortlessly blends the brutal and the tender, the dark and the light. Aector McAvoy is a true original. So is David Mark.' Mick Herron, author of Dead Lions

DS Aector McAvoy's brother-in-law Valentine is missing.

In New York City, half the world away.

And the two men he travelled with have just been found in an open grave upstate: one dead, one as good as.

McAvoy doesn't believe Valentine killed them. He does believe he's in trouble. And so he follows him to New York, determined to find out what happened.

But Valentine is in more danger than McAvoy could have imagined.

And McAvoy's walking into it right after him: into the darkness of murder, revenge, and a forty-year-old crime...

About the Author
David spent more than fifteen years as a journalist, including seven years as a crime reporter with the Yorkshire Post - walking the Hull streets that would later become the setting for the Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy novels. He has written eight novels in the McAvoy series: Dark Winter, Original Skin, Sorrow Bound, Taking Pity, Dead Pretty, Cruel Mercy, and Scorched Earth as well as two McAvoy ebook short stories, A Bad Death and Fire of Lies. Dark Winter was selected for the Harrogate New Blood panel and was a Richard & Judy pick and a Sunday Times bestseller. In 2018 it was adapted for the stage at the Hull Truck Theatre and had a sellout debut run. David has also written The Zealot's Bones, a historical crime novel published under the name D.M. Mark. He lives in the north of England with his family.

Reviews
Highly entertaining * The Sunday Times *
Effortlessly blends the brutal and the tender, the dark and the light. Aector McAvoy is a true original. So is David Mark. -- Mick Herron, author of Dead Lions
To call Mark's novels police procedurals is like calling the Mona Lisa a pretty painting. Beautifully crafted, filled with flashbacks, horror, angst, and chilling detail, this one is his most complex and best yet. * Kirkus starred review *
More twists and turns than a corkscrew through the eyeball -- Val McDermid
Dark, compelling crime writing of the highest order -- Geoffrey Wansell * Daily Mail *
McAvoy must be one of the most fascinating fictional detectives out there - a true original. This is an intoxicating brew - Catholicism, travellers, underground fight scenes, the mob - and rumbling through it all like a bear with a blush is DS Aector McAvoy. Superb writing. A truly fantastic read. -- Michael J Malone, author of A Suitable Lie
David Mark takes McAvoy to the US on a rollercoaster ride into darkness. Brilliantly written and compelling. -- Steve Cavanagh
Truly exhilarating and inventive. Mark is a wonderfully descriptive writer and an exciting young talent. -- Peter James
In McAvoy, David Mark has created a big hero with a huge heart. His skill at weaving threads of light through the darkest fabric has rightly won him a legion of fans who like their crime fiction to be real and compassionate. -- Sarah Hilary
A brilliant read. * Sun *
Mark's rich, distinctive prose style and damaged characters compel you to keep reading... shaping up to be an essential crime series * Crime Scene Magazine *
Aficionados of the grittiest, most trenchant fare love Mark's copper Aector McAvoy, who customarily moves in a darkly realised Hull. * Financial Times *
As with previous books, there are plenty of grim events to balance the warmth which surrounds the leading character. * Crime Review *
David Mark has created a true hero for an age of dark deeds and dirty cops. The violence is righteous and the collars hard-won for DS Aector McAvoy, and as his luminous humanity and blazing courage take on the worst Hull can chuck at him, we follow him willingly down the meanest of streets. -- Karen Robinson, The Sunday Times
The McAvoy series pulls off the double whammy of cracking characters and cunning plots. The big detective Aector McAvoy is so real and so loveable you want to have a pint with him, and the legendary Trish Pharaoh proves that a man can create an utterly compelling female character -- Anya Lipska
The exceptional McAvoy series just got better. DEAD PRETTY is a gripping thriller...proof that David Mark is up there with the best -- Mari Hannah, author of the Kate Daniels series
Breathtaking. Mark writes bad beautifully -- Peter May
There is a good array of villains, and Mark is impressive in his sensitive portrayals of the relationships between the principal characters at work and home. * The Times *



Book Information
ISBN 9781444798159
Author David Mark
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint Mulholland Books
Publisher Hodder & Stoughton
Weight(grams) 240g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 128mm * 28mm