BooksChatter: ☀ The Forgotten Ones: Lucy Black Thrillers [3]

Thank you for joining us on the Virtual Book Tour for The Forgotten Ones, a Mystery by Brian McGilloway (22 September 2015, Witness Impulse, 368 pages, first published in the UK, as Preserve the Dead, on 6 August 2015 by Corsair).

This is the third book in the Lucy Black Thrillers series.

Check out the book's synopsis and the excerpt below.

Please do take part: comment on our post and follow the tour where you will be able to read other excerpts (☀), and reviews (✍).

Synopsis | Teaser | The Series | About the Author | Tour Stops

Synopsis

From the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of LITTLE GIRL LOST comes a brand-new thriller featuring Lucy Black - a twisting, gripping story of secrets and lies, perfect for fans of LOUISE PENNY and TANA FRENCH.

The body of an elderly man is hauled out of the rushing water of the River Foyle, cold dead. Detective Lucy Black is called in to investigate when it becomes evident that this was not a suicide: the man’s body was embalmed before it ever entered the water.

Confounded and exhausted, Lucy heads home to review the case in quiet; but there will be no rest for her tonight. She’s barely in the front door when a neighbor knocks because his wife’s sister has been attacked and they need her help.

As a string of strange crimes is unspooled throughout the city, Lucy is pulled in countless different directions… until she realizes there may be something dark and dangerous connecting everything.

Soulful and suspenseful, featuring one of the most appealing characters in suspense fiction, THE FORGOTTEN ONES is a novel to take your breath away.

Teaser: Excerpt

Gransha Hospital, in whose secure unit her father had been placed, sat on the outskirts of Derry city, alongside the River Foyle, nestled in the shadow of the Foyle Bridge. The bridge, a kilometer-long structure, had been designed with an arch high enough over the river to allow access for ships to pass under in order to reach the city docks. However, soon after completion, the docks were then moved north of the bridge, and the majestic arch’s function became purely aesthetic.
     The height of the bridge made it a frequent spot for suicide attempts in the city. In the previous decades, over five hundred people had already lost their lives to the river, more than ninety from the Foyle Bridge alone. If there was a body in the water so close to the bridge, Lucy felt fairly certain that it was as a result of a suicide jump.
     She went with the orderly, down from the block in which her father was being held, cutting across the grounds, onto the field running down to the train tracks along the river’s edge. She pulled out her mobile and called the sighting in to the Strand Road station as she ran. Doing so would not only alert the Police Service of Northern Ireland, but, more importantly, also Foyle Search and Rescue, a charity group in the city, made up of volunteers who patrolled the river and assisted in recovery operations. That the city needed such an organization was a reflection of the frequency with which people went in the river.
     As they approached the river’s edge, she could see a group had already gathered, most dressed in either blue or white scrubs, suggesting that they were staff from the hospital. The air was heavy with the stench from the water, the odor of the exposed sediment banks along the river’s edge having built all day, ballooning in the intense heat. Even now, despite the fact it was past nine, the evening was still humid enough that the effort of jogging down through the field had caused Lucy to sweat.
     The orderly led her through, pushing those gathered aside, announcing that she was “the police.”
     Lucy scanned the water, the glare of the evening light shattering on its surface, forcing her to shield her eyes with her hand.
     “There,” the orderly said, pointing up to her left.
     She followed the line of his arm and finally saw the arm and head of a man breaching the river.
     “Hello. Can you hear me?” she called, but there was no response save the rhythmic rise and fall of the man’s arm on the water, as if the river itself were drawing breath.

The Forgotten Ones - available NOW!

UK:

US:

The Series: Lucy Black Thrillers

Click on the book cover to Look Inside the book on Amazon and read an excerpt.

Little Girl Lost [1]

This New York Times bestseller is perfect for fans of Tana French and Dennis Lehane.

Midwinter. A child is found wandering through the snowy woods, her hands covered in someone else's blood. And she cannot—or will not—speak, not even to share her name.

Who is this little girl lost? The only adult she seems to trust is the young officer who found her, Detective Lucy Black. Before long, Lucy manages to connect her case to that of a missing teenager, the kidnapped daughter of a local real estate tycoon. As the investigation twists and turns, Lucy is forced to question not only a range of dangerous suspects, but also everything she thought she knew about her own past. [Published 18 February 2014, 314 pages; first published by Pan Macmillan on 1 May 2011]

Hurt / Someone You Know [2]

Lucy Black must protect the young and vulnerable . . . but can she protect herself?

Late December. A sixteen-year-old girl is found dead on a train line. Detective Sergeant Lucy Black is called to identify the body. The only clues to the dead teenager's last movements are stored in her mobile phone and on social media - and it soon becomes clear that her 'friends' were not as trustworthy as she thought.

Lucy is no stranger to death: she is still haunted by the memory of the child she failed to save, and the killer she failed to put behind bars. And with a new boss scrutinizing her every move, she is determined that - this time - she will leave no margin for error.

Hurt is a tense crime thriller about how, in the hands of a predator, trust can turn into terror. [Published by C & R Crime 14 November 2013, 417 pages]

About the Author

Brian McGilloway was born in Derry, Northern Ireland. After studying English at Queen’s University, Belfast, he took up a teaching position in St Columb’s College in Derry, where he was Head of English.

His first novel, Borderlands, published by Macmillan New Writing, was shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger 2007 and was hailed by The Times as “one of (2007’s) most impressive debuts.”

The second novel in the series, Gallows Lane, was shortlisted for the 2009 Irish Book Awards/Ireland AM Crime Novel of the Year.

The third Devlin, Bleed a River Deep, was selected by Publishers Weekly as one of their Best Books of 2010.

He is the author of the New York Times bestselling Lucy Black series, all to be published by Witness.

Brian lives near the Irish borderlands with his wife and their four children.

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