Research
The rolling strip across the bottom of the screen shouts the news:
BESTSELLING NOVELIST JOHN HOUSTON’S WIFE FOUND MURDERED AT THEIR LUXURY APARTMENT IN MONACO.
Houston is the richest writer in the world, a book factory publishing many bestsellers a year – so many that he can’t possibly write them himself. He has a team that feeds off his talent; ghost writers, agents, publishers. So when he decides to take a year out to write something of quality, a novel that will win prizes and critical acclaim, a lot of people stand to lose their livelihoods.
Now Houston, the prime suspect in his wife’s murder, has disappeared. He owns a boat and has a pilot’s licence – he could be anywhere and there are many who’d like to find him.
First there’s the police. If he’s innocent, why did he flee? Then again, maybe he was set up by one of his enemies. The scenario reads like the plot of one of Houston’s million-copy-selling thrillers…
Philip Kerr
Husband of Jane Thynne
aka P B Kerr
Born in Edinburgh, Kerr was educated there and at a grammar school in Northampton. He studied law at the University of Birmingham from 1974 to 1980, eventually gaining a master's degree. Kerr worked as an advertising copywriter for Saatchi and Saatchi before becoming a full-time writer in 1989. A writer of both adult fiction and non-fiction, he was known for the Bernie Gunther series of thrillers set during the Weimar Republic, World War II and the Cold War. He also wrote children's books under the name P.B. Kerr, including the Children of the Lamp series.


