THE JUDGEMENT OF STRANGERS: Book 2 (The Roth Trilogy) - Softcover

Taylor, Andrew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 000710510X ISBN 13: 9780007105106

Publisher: HarperFiction, 2001

Synopsis

‘Complex, with lots of sinister implications… moves the traditional crime novel on to some deeper level of exploration’ Jane Jakeman, Independent

It is 1970. David Byfield, a widowed parish priest with a dark past and a darker future, brings home a new wife to Roth. Throughout the summer, the consequences of the marriage reverberate through a village now submerged in a sprawling London suburb.

Blinded by lust, Byfield is oblivious to the dangers that lie all about him: the menopausal churchwarden with a hopeless passion for her priest; his beautiful, neglected teenage daughter Rosemary; and the sinister presence of Frances Youlgreave – poet, opium addict and suicide – whose power stretches beyond the grave.

Soon the murders and blasphemies begin. But does the responsibility lie in the present or the past? And can Byfield, a prisoner of his own passion, break through to the truth before the final tragedy destroys what he most cherishes?

About this title

About the Author

Andrew Taylor is the author of a number of crime novels, including the ground-breaking Roth Trilogy, which was adapted into the acclaimed drama Fallen Angel, and the historical crime novels The Ashes of London, The Silent Boy, and The American Boy, a No.1 Sunday Times bestseller and a 2005 Richard & Judy Book Club Choice.

He has won many awards, including the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award (the only author to win it three times) and the CWA’s prestigious Diamond Dagger.

From the Back Cover

"Andrew Taylor was given the thumbs up long ago for beautifully crafted, well-written narratives combining subtlety, depth and that vital "Oh my God what the hell is going to happen next" factor, which is the driving force of the story-teller"
FRANCES FYFIELD, 'Daily Express'

It is 1970. David Byfield, a widowed parish priest with a dark past and a darker future, brings home a new wife to Roth. Blinded by lust, Byfield is oblivious to the dangers that lie all about him: the menopausal churchwarden with a hopeless passion for her priest; his beautiful, neglected teenage daughter Rosemary; and the sinister presence of Frances Youlgreave – poet, opium addict and suicide – whose power stretches beyond the grave.

Soon the murders and blasphemies begin. But does the responsibility lie in the present or the past? And can Byfield, a prisoner of his own passion, break through to the truth before the final tragedy destroys what he most cherishes?

'The Judgement of Strangers' is the second novel in Andrew Taylor's Roth Trilogy, linked psychological thrillers which, like an archaeological dig, strip away the layers of a psychopaths history.

"Complex, with lots of sinister implications… moves the traditional crime novel on to some deeper level of exploration"
JANE JAKEMAN, 'Independent'

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperFiction
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 000710510X
• ISBN 13: 9780007105106
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 378