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When the Dead are Razed
"The dead will always find ways to speak"
When Teffy Byrne steals a dead sex worker's coded journal from a local art show, she thinks it might shed light on an unsolved murder committed seven years ago. The victim? Teresa Squires, her boyfriend Ger's old flame.
But Teffy has to put Teresa's journal aside because Troy Hopper, Ger's former drug boss, is out of Her Majesty's Penitentiary and trying to contact Ger through her. An attempt to protect her lover quickly gets out of hand and Teffy finds herself stranded on an island with a pound of Troy's heroin smuggled inside a dead woman's a dead woman whose daughter is intent on scattering what she thinks are her mother's ashes.
But Teffy is determined to get the dope back and crack the code to that stolen journal. She just has no idea how explosive the journal's contents will turn out to be.
Martin's propulsive storytelling, knife-edge prose, and deep compassion for the hardscrabble lives of his characters will keep you turning pages in this North Atlantic noir set against the hip galleries and rapidly changing outports of modern Newfoundland.
When Teffy Byrne steals a dead sex worker's coded journal from a local art show, she thinks it might shed light on an unsolved murder committed seven years ago. The victim? Teresa Squires, her boyfriend Ger's old flame.
But Teffy has to put Teresa's journal aside because Troy Hopper, Ger's former drug boss, is out of Her Majesty's Penitentiary and trying to contact Ger through her. An attempt to protect her lover quickly gets out of hand and Teffy finds herself stranded on an island with a pound of Troy's heroin smuggled inside a dead woman's a dead woman whose daughter is intent on scattering what she thinks are her mother's ashes.
But Teffy is determined to get the dope back and crack the code to that stolen journal. She just has no idea how explosive the journal's contents will turn out to be.
Martin's propulsive storytelling, knife-edge prose, and deep compassion for the hardscrabble lives of his characters will keep you turning pages in this North Atlantic noir set against the hip galleries and rapidly changing outports of modern Newfoundland.
260 pages, Hardcover
Published September 1, 2021
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February 17, 2022I'm glad I don't know much of the St. John's in this novel beyond the street names and the weather. St. John's is where I live, but I don't live there! It's a curious book: I don't feel a great deal of sympathy with any of the major characters; that is in true noir fashion, though--a genre in which there are no angels and everyone is guilty of something. It's easy to criticize the bad judgment of these characters; much harder to be sure how one would make judgments if placed in similar situations. I wound up wanting to know what would happen to these people and reading on even though I knew I was getting my soul dirty. A disturbing book, and worth the effort.
June 26, 2022
What an awesome book! I always think of Newfoundland as a rustic welcoming place, and I’m sure it is, but in this novel the dark sides of society jump to the forefront and before long we are in the midst of drug dealers, sex workers, murders, and mystery. When the Dead Are Razed is a book that is impossible to put down until find out out if Teddy is safe or not!
Wonderfully written suspense!
Wonderfully written suspense!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews