1861. When the body of an unknown woman is found in an Edinburgh close, Detective Constable Faro assumes the killing is a random act of violence – until he finds a playing card, the nine of diamonds, underneath her corpse. His superiors scoff at his suspicions of a serial killer, but days later a man is attacked in the street, and left badly bruised and battered with the nine of diamonds in his pocket. Faro believes there’s a connection. He must contend with other problems, though, if he is to solve the case. Detective Sergeant Gosse does his best to frame suspect after suspect, but remains constantly irritated by his detective constable. And although Faro’s sweetheart Lizzie loves him deeply, he is not sure if he feels the same way. And what of Inga St Ola, Faro’s first and only true love from his native Orkney? Amongst all this, a servant at Lizzie’s place of work goes missing. Could her disappearance be linked to the playing-card killer? Beset by hostile superiors and a police-hating public, Faro feels he may never crack this confounding case.
 | Alanna KnightAlanna Knight’s award-winning first novel, Legend of the Loch was published in 1969 and she has now written more than 60 novels. Novelist, playwright and biographer, her work includes gothic and historical novels and crime fiction, as well as her notable non-fiction works on Robert Louis Stevenson. Born in Tyneside of Scots-Irish parentage, she now lives and writes in Edinburgh, the city which inspired her popular and widely-acclaimed series of books, The Inspector Faro Series. These crime stories featuring Victorian detective, Jeremy Faro – the most well-known and well-loved of all her creations – have won her praise and fans from all over the world. Alanna tells the story of where the character came from: “I was sitting by the window in my Victorian house, not long after moving to Edinburgh, and a man walked past. I thought to myself, ‘He looks like a Victorian detective would have done.’ – and so followed Faro. I don’t know who the man was, and have never seen him again – but he was the original Jeremy Faro. Speaking about her reasons for being drawn to the world of historical crime, Alanna explains: “It was the puzzles. History is full of riddles and mysteries, and the researcher has to figure them out, especially if one wants to write a book. I love such puzzles, and I wanted to write some myself.” A founder member of the Scottish Association of Writers; Aberdeen Writers’ Circle; Hon. President of the Edinburgh Writers’ Club; she was Convener of the Scottish Chapter of the Crime Writers’ Association; she is a member of the Society of Authors in Scotland and the Mystery Writers of America. She has been involved over the years in helping other writers get into print: lecturing in creative writing as well as writing articles and books on the subject and adjudicating competitions. With tight deadlines, she’s highly disciplined in turning away tempting social activities. ‘It isn’t deprivation – I love writing. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a writer. I even wrote plays for my classmates at school and poems for children’s radio. I realise that I am a workaholic that I’m never really happy unless I have a book in progress.’ Alanna is not only an extremely talented writer but she is also a gifted artist. She has created portraits in pastel of many other writers, among them Ian Rankin, Nigel Trantor, Dorothy Dunnett and Eileen Ramsay, as well as actor, Robert Powell. Alanna explains, “I get the same feelings from writing and drawing. There is a moment when you realise you have got a good story, and it’s so exciting. It’s the same with drawing. The outlines resemble nothing, then suddenly you see a face coming through. It’s a moment of jubilation when you know that what you’re working on isn’t going to be a disaster.” Alanna has two sons and two granddaughters, Chloe and Julia. |