The Critic

THE MILLION-SELLING AUTHOR OF THE BLACKHOUSE AND COFFIN ROAD HANDS FORENSIC SLEUTH ENZO MACLEOD A NEW COLD CASE.

GAILLAC, SOUTH-WEST FRANCE.

An unsolved case.

Gil Petty, America's most celebrated wine critic, is found strung up in a vineyard, dressed in the ceremonial robes of the Order of the Divine Bottle and pickled in wine.

An un-cracked code.

For forensic expert Enzo Macleod, the key to this unsolved murder lies in decoding Petty's mysterious reviews - which could make or break a vineyard's reputation.

An uncorked criminal.

Enzo finds that beneath the tranquil fa ade of French viticulture lurks a back-stabbing community riddled with rivalry - and someone who is ready to stop him even if they have to kill again.

A rip-roaring thriller . . . thoroughly enjoyable Mail on Sunday
A wonderfully complex book
He is a terrific writer doing something different
From the first page I knew I was in safe hands. I knew I could trust this writer
Wonderfully compelling
Western France - now May's own stamping ground - is as much a character in the book as the Hebrides were in his formidable Isle of Lewis sequence Guardian
Peter May is a writer I'd follow to the ends of the earth New York Times
One of the best regarded crime series of recent years Independent
Lyrical, empathetic and moving
May's novels are strong on place and the wounds left by old relationships Sunday Times
Will have the reader relishing every tendency of description and characterization Independent
Dark, exciting and atmospheric Scotland on Sunday
Powerful and authentic Glasgow Sunday Herald
Fast, exciting ... an entertaining read that will also give food for thought Irish Times
A tense and atmospheric thriller with a heart-stopping ending Tangled Web
Truly the best of May's series so far, this is not to be missed The Good Book Guide

Peter May was born and raised in Scotland. He was an award-winning journalist at the age of twenty-one and a published novelist at twenty-six. When his first book was adapted as a major drama series for the BBC, he quit journalism and during the high-octane fifteen years that followed, became one of Scotland's most successful television dramatists. He created three prime-time drama series, presided over two of the highest-rated serials in his homeland as script editor and producer, and worked on more than 1,000 episodes of ratings-topping drama before deciding to leave television to return to his first love, writing novels.

In 2021, he was awarded the CWA Dagger in the Library Award. He has also won several literature awards in France, received the USA's Barry Award for The Blackhouse, the first in his internationally bestselling Lewis Trilogy; and in 2014 was awarded the ITV Specsavers Crime Thriller Book Club Best Read of the Year award for Entry Island. Peter now lives in South-West France with his wife, writer Janice Hally.

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