Peter Luther

Solicitor Lewis Coin works for a failing law firm in Cardiff, hates his boss and is heavily in debt. He is planning to pack it all in and move to Spain, but the weekend before he intends to hand in his notice he hires a prostitute for the first time, which turns out to be a pivotal moment in his life. The following morning she leaves a magazine in his flat, having first filled in Lewis' name as the answer to one of the clues in the crossword (1 across - Who do you bring?).

His financial situation begins to improve immediately, as he starts to receive share tips that seem to be linked to the crossword clues, and he gets a potentially huge new contract for his firm, with the new client insisting that Lewis should be their only contact. But the pictures in the magazine keep changing, subtly at first and then more obviously, and the magazine itself is starting to smell really bad. Lewis starts to wonder if things are too good to be true, and realises that he needs to track down the woman who left him the magazine.… (meer)

The man was looking at the envelope. "This . . . thing is a contract. That's why they put you on notice. There are rules, you, see . . . rules they have to follow. 'Listen to your wife, Mr Morrow. Throw the envelope away. Throw it away now."
"What's in it?" Alex whispered.
He turned to her with small dark eyes. When he answered, his words had a lyrical beat. "A dream for one of you, ruin for the other, depending on which of you is faithful.

Each year, two beautiful and talented children, one boy and one girl, are born with the help of a small fertility charity called Precious Cargo. But there is a catch; this is no ordinary charity, and the children are in competition with each other from birth, as only one will survive past the age of sixteen. Honeyman, the defrocked minister first seen in “Mournful Vessels” is on the case, trying to save the children who will turn 16 this year, and prevent a new set of parents from taking up the charity’s diabolical offer.

Unusual and unnerving!… (meer)

"So what's he left them? Money?"
"This is the curious part." Hobbs paused. "Any two moveable items from my house'" he read, "whether they be of value or junk, large or small, old or new, family heirlooms or sentimental gifts. Two items of their choosing and their choosing alone, from a free selection of all the chattels and moveable in my home, without exception, at the time of my death."

Peter Luther is a Welsh solicitor and his books are published by a small Welsh publisher. I was attracted to his first novel, "Dark Covenant", by the unusual cover design, which used subtle colours and a mat finish and really stood out in the murder mystery section. It was a spooky and original mystery/horror, but not too scary to read in bed, and the follow-up is an equally spooky tale set in Pembrokeshire.

The Divine Sentiment, founded as a phrenological society in Victorian times, is now a charity specialising in bereavement counselling. But why are they targetting couples in their 60s, and why do they ask their clients to add such curious bequests to their wills?… (meer)