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Letter From The Dead: A British Murder Mystery (Detective Inspector Declan Walsh Book 1) Kindle Edition
The critically acclaimed, internationally bestselling Declan Walsh series begins here!
"By the time you read this, I will be dead..."
When Victoria Davies was murdered in 2001, all evidence pointed to her husband Michael. But twenty years later a letter has appeared, written by Victoria before her death; a letter never received, and revealing new suspects; Labour MPs Shaun Donnal, Andrew MacIntyre and Charles Baker.
But two decades on, life has changed for these men. Donnal is now a paranoid alcoholic living on the streets of London, 'Andy Mac' is a popular YouTube Evangelist, and Charles Baker is the current Conservative Home Secretary, and bookie's choice for next Prime Minister in the upcoming Leadership Election.
Now Detective Inspector Declan Walsh must navigate a minefield filled with political intrigue, adulterous affairs and brutal, bloody murder, as he tries to solve the case, with each suspect leading his new team to another skeleton in the closet...
Can they solve the case -- before history repeats itself?
The debut book in the critically acclaimed, internationally bestselling series of procedural crime thrillers written by New York Times #1 Bestseller Tony Lee writing as Jack Gatland, Letter from the Dead is perfect for fans of J.D Kirk, L.J Ross, J M Dalgliesh, Ian Rankin, Rachel McLean, Alex Smith and Ann Cleeves, among others.
If you enjoyed the suspenseful thrillers of these authors, you won't be able to put down Letter From The Dead. PICK IT UP NOW before the price changes!
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What people are saying about Jack Gatland:
"⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This is one of those books that will keep you up past your bedtime, as each chapter lures you into reading just one more."
"⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ OMG these books keep getting better and better. Total edge of your seat reading."
"⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ My wife is in such a bad mood with me because I can't leave the story until the end... can't wait for the next one."
"⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fantastic book, if you’re a fan of crime and police procedurals, oh boy, you’ll love this one."
"⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I have read all the books in the series so far and enjoyed them all... I couldn't go to bed till I had finished it."
"⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Outstanding. Full of twists and turns, false leads and an ending so brilliant I was gasping out loud. Amazing."
"⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This book is better than anything on the telly. Very entertaining."
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateNovember 15, 2020
- File size3756 KB
Shop this series
See full series-
First 3$13.97
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First 5$23.95
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First 10$48.90
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All 21 available$103.79
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First 3$13.97
-
First 5$23.95
-
First 10$48.90
-
All 21 available$103.79
This option includes 3 books.
This option includes 5 books.
This option includes 10 books.
This option includes 21 books.
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From the Publisher
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Jack Gatland is the pen name of #1 New York Times bestselling writer Tony Lee, who has been writing in all medias for over thirty years. As Jack, he's writing a new series of crime thrillers starring Detective Inspector Declan Walsh, recently seconded to the City of London Police department known as the Last Chance Saloon.
Product details
- ASIN : B08KPJVQN3
- Publisher : Hooded Man Media (November 15, 2020)
- Publication date : November 15, 2020
- Language : English
- File size : 3756 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 320 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #13,470 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #39 in Noir Crime
- #348 in Murder
- #350 in Murder Thrillers
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Jack Gatland is the pen name of New York Times #1 Bestseller Tony Lee, who is best known for his DI Walsh, ex-DCI Ellie Reckless, Tom Marlowe and Damian Lucas thrillers. A professional writer since the age of 16, he's now a million-selling author who has amassed a quarter of a billion pages read on Kindle Unlimited.
Given Freedom of the City of London in 2023, he’s currently a member of the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain, the Society of Authors, The Worshipful Society of Stationers and the Crime Writer’s Association.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the plot engaging with many twists and turns. They describe the story as interesting from start to finish, with a quick and smooth storyline. The characters are well-developed with interesting personalities. The pace is described as great and fast-moving. Opinions differ on the writing quality - some find it well-written and suspenseful, while others find it confusing at times.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers enjoy the engaging plot with twists and turns. They find it well-written with believable characters and a time-based storyline that keeps them hooked. The plot moves through time with many side stories, providing nonstop thrills. Readers describe the book as a British mystery with a mesmerizing structure.
"...Gatland's use of dialog is excellent, and he gives us a good mix of plot movement interspersed with coloring and background...." Read more
"...There’s plenty of action, well-developed characters, plot twists, and a satisfying outcome...." Read more
"...With such interesting characters and excellent storylines, I'm looking forward to many visits to the Last Chance Saloon." Read more
"...Still, more than worth that trouble. He is a fabulous plotter and writer." Read more
Customers enjoy the story. They find it interesting from the beginning, with a good plot and suspenseful ending. The storyline is quick and keeps them guessing until the end. Readers appreciate the satisfying outcome and exciting ending.
"...The author, Jack Gatland, has crafted a terrific story, and tells it well. The story drives itself as it pulls the reader to turn page after page...." Read more
"Interesting read from the beginning. The characters were very well developed throughout the entire book...." Read more
"...plenty of action, well-developed characters, plot twists, and a satisfying outcome...." Read more
"Interesting book. Not as compelling as other authors I have read, but it was a good read." Read more
Customers enjoy the well-developed characters with interesting personalities. The protagonist is a good cop who has been vilified for taking down a group of criminals. The plot moves through time with many side-storylines for the characters, and the closing character summary is appreciated.
"...The characters are interesting and believable...." Read more
"Interesting read from the beginning. The characters were very well developed throughout the entire book...." Read more
"...The characters didn’t come to life in my mind’s eye and the plot was too complicated for me to follow." Read more
"...There’s plenty of action, well-developed characters, plot twists, and a satisfying outcome...." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's fast pace. They find it an engaging read that flows smoothly.
"...Letter from the Dead has a very interesting lead character, excellent pacing, and a marvelous twisty plot...." Read more
"Very interesting characters in a fairly fast moving plot. A woven tapestry of lies and untrustworthiness...." Read more
"...Fast paced and an easy read." Read more
"...Though murder mystery starts way too slow" Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the writing quality. Some find it well-written, suspenseful, and easy to read with witty dialogue and great characters. Others feel the plot gets confusing at times, making it difficult to follow, with poor grammar and basic inaccuracies. Overall, the writing quality is described as solid and engaging.
"...Still, more than worth that trouble. He is a fabulous plotter and writer." Read more
"...The then and now got a bit confusing. But that worked out. I liked it." Read more
"...Fast paced and an easy read." Read more
"Easy to see why he's a best seller. Quick story line with enough sidebars to keep you confused till the end...." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2023This is the first story in the Declan Walsh series, and I started at the beginning. In some respects, "beginning" might not be the correct term, as there are many references to how DI Walsh came to be what and where he is. Where is in London, but the what is more complicated.
Detective Inspector Declan Walsh is a not quite disgraced copper, but almost. He's on suspension for punching a priest. As if punching the priest wasn't bad enough, it was caught on film, and shown on television news for all to see. Never mind that the priest needed punching, or that DI Walsh had just busted the Priest as part of a high-end dog-napping operation.
Making matters worse, something else that has put DI Walsh on the outside, looking in, is that he busted some fellow coppers. Never mind that they needed busting, and were dirty as hell. He had turned on his own, and in most police circles that's frowned upon. He should know because he's the son and grandson of coppers. It's in his blood, but he knows he did the right thing, and wouldn't undo it.
To make matters worse, DI Walsh's retired father, a former Chief Detective Inspector, has been killed in an auto accident, and Declan is attending the funeral. He's attending alone, as another part of his recent past is the estrangement and separation from his wife and teenage daughter. Even worse than his father's unexpected death is that DI Walsh believes his father was murdered.
With all of this as background, Declan Walsh is a Detective Inspector without remit. He's expecting his suspension to become outright termination shortly, when he's approached by an old friend of his father's about joining a small team of coppers that nobody else wants, to do jobs that nobody else wants done.
The first of these assignments for DI Walsh has been prompted by a surfacing of an old and apparently undelivered letter from a woman who had been murdered twenty years earlier. The letter seems to indicate that the wrong man, her husband, may have been convicted of her murder, and later died in prison. As if that's not complicated enough, all of the principles in the murder had been and still are prominent members of society and Her Majesty's Government.
What follows is the slow unravelling of a complicated plot with lots of twists, turns, and intrigue. DI Walsh is thrown into the deep end of a pool of politics, jealousy, and hate that has festered for decades. There is no shortage of motives or suspects, so Declan and his fellow misfits have their work cut out for them.
The author, Jack Gatland, has crafted a terrific story, and tells it well. The story drives itself as it pulls the reader to turn page after page. The characters are interesting and believable. Gatland's use of dialog is excellent, and he gives us a good mix of plot movement interspersed with coloring and background. I'm glad I found Jack Gatland and Detective Inspector Declan Walsh. I think you will be, too.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2024Interesting read from the beginning. The characters were very well developed throughout the entire book. Had a difficult time trying to determine the final ending.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2023The debut novel in this series features DI Declan Walsh and the team at the Last Chance Saloon (cops who nobody else wanted because of perceived flaws; it reminded me of a British TV show with a similar theme, only I can’t remember the name of the show). The plot involves a cold case from almost 20 years ago that suddenly heats up and reaches from the streets to the church to the highest levels of government.
I liked Walsh. He’s flawed (ok so he clocked a priest on camera; the priest deserved it), but he still wants to do right. He thinks the death of his father, the recently retired Chief Superintendent of the Metropolitan Police, from a car “accident” is suspicious – his father had a lot of enemies – but he can’t get anyone to listen, especially since most of his coworkers think he’s a grasser for breaking up a ring of corrupt cops. His father’s friend, DCI Monroe, offers him a second chance by joining the Last Chance Saloon and Walsh takes him up on the offer. Walsh also has to deal with the break up of his marriage.
I enjoyed the plotting and pacing of this story, as well as the dry wit. There’s plenty of action, well-developed characters, plot twists, and a satisfying outcome. If you like L.J. Ross, J.M. Dalgliesh, Ian Rankin, or Ann Cleeves, you might like Jack Gatland (and DI Walsh) as well. I will read more in this series.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2022I'm glad I followed the advice of a fellow blogger and read this book. Letter from the Dead has a very interesting lead character, excellent pacing, and a marvelous twisty plot.
Now known as "the Priest Puncher" (you'll have to find out about that for yourselves), DI Declan Walsh is a character I want to learn more about, so it's a foregone conclusion that I'll be coming back to this series. His father, Patrick, was the recently retired Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) of the Metropolitan Police, and Declan is convinced that he was murdered, so readers will have that subplot to follow in subsequent books. Walsh is a flawed character, but not the type that's become rather cliché in police procedurals. I enjoyed seeing how his mind worked as he led the investigation.
In many ways, I find myself enjoying cold case mysteries more than those involving current investigations. I guess there's just something about righting an old wrong. It's all about justice and closure. isn't it? DCI Moore, the quirky head of the Last Chance Saloon, has created an excellent team from those who have been rejected (for one reason or another-- like the Priest Puncher) by other squads.
With such interesting characters and excellent storylines, I'm looking forward to many visits to the Last Chance Saloon.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2024Interesting book. Not as compelling as other authors I have read, but it was a good read.
Top reviews from other countries
- MoeReviewed in Canada on September 9, 2022
5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating
Enjoyed this from the beginning. Mystery, adventure, intriguing, suspenseful page-turner.. love detective stories..looking forward to reading more in this series!
- ALAN PARKERReviewed in the United Kingdom on December 18, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting. Bloody good read.
Going straight into the next book. Can't wait. Highly recommend this author to anyone who likes English detective novels. Excellent!
- A.ReddyReviewed in India on December 18, 2022
3.0 out of 5 stars Unputdownable!
Came across this book for the first time and am glad ai stopped to read it. A good, sordid crime narrative after a long time. Already looking forward to reading more of DI Declan Walsh's experiences in policing.
- chumbleyReviewed in Australia on November 15, 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars DI Declan Walsh -Book 1
Book 1 of the Declan Walsh series is an engrossing story with many twists and turns. A police procedural that's really worth reading. Akin to Dick Francis' crime novels, the story is well researched and written and features a central character who is challenged by the many difficulties surrounding him. Detective Inspector Declan Walsh, is navigating the complexities of his current circumstances and personal issues while he and his new team investigate an historic murder, a 'cold case' that involved his dad. As the advertising says "Detective Inspector Declan Walsh has had better days..."
- C PilonReviewed in Canada on April 6, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
A great start to the series. I’ll definitely be reading the next ones so I can find out more about these interesting characters.