Carnival of Shadows

Kansas, 1959. When a travelling carnival appears overnight, the townsfolk of Seneca Falls are entranced. But the circus brings more than just magic and illusion to the small town: a dead man is discovered beneath the carousel.

For FBI Special Agent Michael Travis, the world is clear cut. But there are a lot of grey areas in this case. The carnival folk are unwilling to answer a straight question and they begin to challenge Travis's once unshakeable faith in solid facts and hard evidence...

As the investigation turns ever more disturbing, Travis is forced to question everything he believes in as a dark and horrifying conspiracy comes to light.

“At a time when crime fiction has become so formulaic, it's a relief to find a book as left-field as this latest offering from RJ Ellory ... An intriguing, delightfully unpredictable novel - MAIL ON SUNDAY on Carnival of Shadows[Ellory] raises interesting questions about society and our fear to question - DAILY EXPRESS on Carnival of ShadowsAn atmospheric thriller with a gallery of fascinating characters - IRISH INDEPENDENT on Carnival of ShadowsA gripping premise ... an energetic and winning exercise in pulp fiction with a Southern Gothic flavour - METRO on The Devil and the RiverVoodoo and murders and gothically imposing southern dynasties ... There are moments of genuine chills [and] fearsomely speedy page-turning - OBSERVER on The Devil and the RiverClassic noir, a journey to the dark corners of man's foolishness, where nothing is ever what it seems and no one can ever be trusted. Ellory is beginning to sound like the master [James Ellroy]. I can think of no higher praise - DAILY MAIL on A Dark and Broken HeartThis is thriller writing of the very highest order - GUARDIAN on A Quiet Belief in Angels”

At a time when crime fiction has become so formulaic, it's a relief to find a book as left-field as this latest offering from RJ Ellory ... An intriguing, delightfully unpredictable novel - MAIL ON SUNDAY on Carnival of Shadows

[Ellory] raises interesting questions about society and our fear to question - DAILY EXPRESS on Carnival of Shadows

An atmospheric thriller with a gallery of fascinating characters - IRISH INDEPENDENT on Carnival of Shadows

A gripping premise ... an energetic and winning exercise in pulp fiction with a Southern Gothic flavour - METRO on The Devil and the River

Voodoo and murders and gothically imposing southern dynasties ... There are moments of genuine chills [and] fearsomely speedy page-turning - OBSERVER on The Devil and the River

Classic noir, a journey to the dark corners of man's foolishness, where nothing is ever what it seems and no one can ever be trusted. Ellory is beginning to sound like the master [James Ellroy]. I can think of no higher praise - DAILY MAIL on A Dark and Broken Heart

This is thriller writing of the very highest order - GUARDIAN on A Quiet Belief in Angels

R.J. Ellory is a critically acclaimed author whose novels include the bestselling A Quiet Belief in Angels, which was a Richard & Judy Book Club selection and won the Nouvel Observateur Crime Fiction Prize.

Ellory's novels have been translated into twenty-six languages, and he has won the USA Excellence Award for Best Mystery, the Strand Magazine Best Thriller 2009, the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year for A Simple Act of Violence, the St Maur Prize, the Avignon Readers' Prize, the Livre de Poche Award and the Quebec Laureat. He has been shortlisted for a further thirteen awards in numerous countries, including four Daggers from the UK Crime Writers' Association.

To find out more visit or follow him on X @rjellory

Kansas, 1959. When a travelling carnival appears overnight, the townsfolk of Seneca Falls are entranced. But the circus brings more than just magic and illusion to the small town: a dead man is discovered beneath the carousel.For FBI Special Agent Michael Travis, the world is clear cut. But there are a lot of grey areas in this case. The carnival folk are unwilling to answer a straight question and they begin to challenge Travis's once unshakeable faith in solid facts and hard evidence...As the investigation turns ever more disturbing, Travis is forced to question everything he believes in as a dark and horrifying conspiracy comes to light.

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