It is very satisfying to rediscover an author. It is like greeting an old friend. I have read many of Goddard’s early books and thoroughly enjoyed reading them so I looked forward to the latest story.
Has he matured like a good wine? Certainly, he has moved with the times and one of his themes reflects an important environmental issue. Like a good friend, he does not disappoint. This is a fine story, and just as the complex mystery is revealed, the author surprises with a final twist.
The plot unfolds with Wada (whose husband has died in a Sarin gas attack) helping her employer Kodaka (a Private eye) who is investigating a corrupt but powerful businessman in Japan. Meanwhile, in Exeter, England we go back in time to student days. The student friends are protesting about a site in Cornwall which has connections with Sarin research.
Kodaka dies in suspicious circumstances, and Wada travels to the UK to seek answers. It soon becomes evident that a powerful enemy is trying to keep old secrets secret! The plot unfolds with more deaths, and a connection in Iceland which involves dubious land deals.
There is plenty of action and a complex mystery to be solved. Just when you think the mystery has been resolved, the author hits you with a clever twist.
What a great read! Welcome back, dear friend.
Due for Publication: March 2021
Review copy provided by Penguin Random House via Netgalley.com Publication date March 18th 2021
Author Bio
His thrillers usually have a historical element and settings in provincial English towns and cities and many plot twists. They usually involve the lead character gradually uncovering a conspiracy which has long been kept secret, by means of historical documents such as diaries or by means of word-of-mouth accounts that have been handed down from one person to another. Goddard’s first novel, Past Caring, was published in 1986. He has since written more than twenty novels; the majority were Sunday Times Top Ten best-sellers in the UK. In 2019, Goddard was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger by the Crime Writers’ Association for his outstanding lifetime’s contribution to the crime fiction genre
Robert Goodard Books in Order
In Pale Battalions (1992-03-01) | Fiction
Six months after her husband’s sudden death, Leonora Galloway sets off on a trip to France with her daughter Penelope….
Never Go Back (2006) | Fiction
Harry is back in England to clear out his mother’s place and is invited to a reunion of his fellow…
Into the Blue (2010) | Detective and mystery stories
Under suspicion of murdering Heather Mallender, Harry Barnett stumbles on a set of photographs taken by her. Could they play…
Caught in the Light (2010) | Missing persons
On assignment in Vienna, photographer Ian Jarrett falls desperately in love with a woman he meets by chance, Marian Esguard….
Borrowed Time (2010-01-26) | Fiction
One fateful summer evening, businessman Robin Timariot meets a strikingly beautiful woman while out walking. They exchange only a few…
Hand In Glove (2010-01-26) | Fiction
Tristram Abberley was an acclaimed English poet of the 1930s whose legendary reputation was sealed when he died fighting for…
Long Time Coming (2010-03-02) | Fiction
Stephen Swan is amazed when he hears that the uncle he thought had been killed in the Blitz is actually…
Take No Farewell (2010-04-27) | Fiction
Geoffrey Staddon turned his back on the best things in his life. He turned his back on the beautiful house…
Dying to Tell (2011) | Detective and mystery stories
Lance Bradley, idling his life away in Somerset, suddenly receives a call for help from the eccentric sister of his…
Sight Unseen (2011) | Detective and mystery stories
“One summer’s day in 1981 a two-year-old girl, Tamsin Hall, was abducted during a picnic at the famous prehistoric site…
Name to a Face (2011) | Auctions
A sequence of extraordinary events over 300 years provides the links in a chain of intrigue, greed and murder. It…
Closed Circle (2011) | Americans
Two con men try to become engaged to an heiress, but when her father turns up dead one of the…
Blood Count (2011) | Extortion
There’s no such thing as easy money – as surgeon Edward Hammond is about to find out. 13 years ago…
Found Wanting (2011-02-22) | Fiction
In the summer of 1909, an unassuming English bobby crossed paths with Russian royalty. Now, a century later, the secret…
Past Caring (2011-03-08) | ★★★★☆ 4.0/5 | Fiction
1910: Distinguished MP Edwin Strafford resigns at the pinnacle of his career, removing himself from the public eye. The woman…
Beyond Recall (2011-04-04) | Fiction
At a wedding party in Cornwall in the summer of 1981, Chris Napier is shocked to recognise a dishevelled intruder…
Set in Stone (2011-09-05) | Fiction
Recovering from the recent death of his wife in a cliff fall, Tony Sheridan goes to stay with her sister…
Painting the Darkness (2012) | ★★★★☆ 4.0/5 | Family secrets
The arrival of a stranger in William Trenchard’s life threatens to destroy all he holds most dear. The stranger claims…
Sea Change (2012-01-02) | Fiction
London 1721. William Spandel is deeply in debt and desperate. Sir Theodore Janssen, director of the recently collapsed South Sea…
Out of the Sun (2012-01-02) | Fiction
When Harry Barnett is informed that his son has been hospitalized in a diabetic coma, he thinks there must be…
Heather Mallender a disparu (2012-04-12) | Fiction
Après Par un matin d’automne, le nouveau thriller de Robert Goddard. Indispensable. Quinquagénaire alcoolique et désenchanté, Harry Barnett vit depuis…
Rockets (2012-07-26) | Technology & Engineering
Two of the most significant publications in the history of rocketry and jet propulsion: “A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes”…
Fault Line (2013-03-25) | Suspense fiction
A search for missing documents in an international mining company becomes a voyage into dangerous waters. A dead friend, a…
The Ways of the World (2013-07-04) | ★★★☆☆ 3.0/5 | Fiction
1919. The eyes of the world are on Paris, where statesmen, diplomats and politicians have gathered to discuss the fate…
Rocket Development (2013-10) | Uncategorized
This is a new release of the original 1960 edition….
The Corners of the Globe (2015-07-02) | Fathers
Spring, 1919. James âe~Maxâe(tm) Maxted, former Great War flying ace, returns to the trail of murder, treachery and half-buried secrets…
Days Without Number (2016-11-08) | ★★★★☆ 4.0/5 | Fiction
The international bestselling author of the James Maxted series delivers a twist-filled thriller of an ancient secret that threatens to…
Panic Room (2018-03-22) | Fiction
‘Is this his best yet?…Full of sinister menace and propulsive pace with twisty plotting’ Lee Child WHAT REALLY LIES WITHIN?…
The Ends of the Earth (2018-05-15) | Fiction
From an Edgar Award-winning author, a dazzling work of historical derring-do, as World War I flying ace-turned-spy James Maxted confronts…
One False Move (2019-02-28) | Fiction
What value can be put on a human mind? How Joe Roberts does what he does is a mystery. He…
The Fine Art of Invisible Detection (2021-04-27) | Fiction
The no. 1 ebook from the Sunday Times bestseller ‘He’s the high priest of plot … deftly woven, but also…
This is the Night They Come For You (2022-12-27) | Fiction
From the author of the BBC 2 Between the Covers hit, The Fine Art of Invisible Detection ‘The world’s greatest…
The Fine Art of Uncanny Prediction (2023-08-17) | Fiction
From the author of the BBC 2 Between the Covers hit, The Fine Art of Invisible Detection ‘The world’s greatest…