Curtain Call

Description

Murder, ambition and dangerous love in London's Theatreland. On a sultry afternoon in the summer of 1936 a young woman is witness to an attempted murder in a London hotel room. Nina, a West End actress, faces a dilemma- she shouldn't have been at the hotel in the first place, and certainly not with a married man. But once it becomes apparent that she has seen the face of the man the newspapers have dubbed 'the Tie-Pin Killer' she realises that unless she acts quickly, more women will die... From the glittering murk of Soho's underworld, to the grease paint and ghost-lights of theatreland, Curtain Call is a poignant and gripping story about love and death in a society dancing towards the abyss.

Anthony Quinn was born in Liverpool in 1964. From 1998 to 2013 he was the film critic for the Independent. He is the author of six novels- The Rescue Man, which won the 2009 Authors' Club Best First Novel Award; Half of the Human Race; The Streets, which was shortlisted for the 2013 Walter Scott Prize; Curtain Call, which was chosen for Waterstones and Mail on Sunday Book Clubs; Freya, a Radio 2 Book Club choice, and Eureka.

This is an utterly delightful read, made to appear easy, effortless and brilliantly suspenseful, while never becoming predictable or cosy.... I can't recommend this book highly enough. -- Viv Groskop * Observer * It had me on the edge of my seat. The only disappointment...is when the curtain finally has to come down -- Peter Stanford * Daily Telegraph (five stars) * Night after night for a happy week, Quinn filled my dreams with glossy surfaces and hidden vices, silk stockings and champagne and intellectual snobberies and long walks home on hard London pavements. Anyone who paces the West End streets will find them more haunted after reading this book. -- Libby Purves * New Statesman * Curtain Call is a beautifully written, absorbing work of historical fiction. -- James Kidd * Independent * Curtain Call goes from gripping you lightly to gripping you tightly. Both in its construction and its characters there is more going on beneath the surface than first appears. -- Dominic Maxwell * The Times *