Robertson Books

A spectacular, voice-driven mystery from a highly acclaimed crime writer.

Describes the period of the author's childhood, when the main affect of poverty in Edwardian Salford was degradation, and despite great resources of human courage, few could escape such a prison.

When a life ends, her work begins ... Once you've met Grace McGill, you'll never forget her. This is a spectacular, voice-driven mystery and Hodder's first novel from a highly acclaimed crime writer.

Betrayal unfolds in a moment of shocking clarity as Magalah is incapacitated by a hidden needle, leaving her vulnerable and aware of her surroundings. Her trust in Insa, a child she had taken in, shatters when she realizes the betrayal, intensifying the emotional turmoil of the scene. The narrative explores themes of trust, vulnerability, and the complexities of relationships in a harsh environment, setting the stage for a gripping tale of survival and revelation in Sector X.

This book may offer a cautionary tale in the age of Covid-19. The narratives we shape around disease in society are so often about politics, and the competing versions of leprosy eradication's story are no exception. In one telling, the extra-budgetary funding for anti-leprosy work came with unwarranted interference in the WHO program, resulting in an over-hasty, acrimonious and ultimately unsuccessful elimination campaign. In another interpretation, a great work of twentieth-century disease control was accomplished, through extraordinary philanthropy, visionary courageousness, and wily and pragmatic diplomacy. In yet another, experienced, self-sacrificing anti-leprosy experts refused to abdicate their professional responsibilities to populist campaigns more concerned with statistics than people, which were risking patients' health with under-trialed drug therapies and irresponsibly entrusting medication to patients without supervision. None of these bureaucratic, triumphalist or elitist narratives exists independently of the others. None is without credit, and none is to the complete credit of all involved. These competing stories offer uncanny resonances in the ongoing politics of public health, which have only intensified since both the emergence of M. Leprae millennia ago, and the concerted campaign against it in the last seventy years. What could the 'stories of leprosy' tell us about our pandemic response?