Crime Tsar [Paperback]

Nichola Mcauliffe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 5, 2004

Police Chief Constable Tom Shackleton is ambitious to reach the top of his profession, but no one is more ambitious for his future than his wife. Jenni Shackleton looks every inch the consort to a powerful man. Striking and groomed to gleam in any crowd, she is connected through her own job in journalism to the right people to further Tom's career - or so she thinks. She is also unscrupulous: Jenni Shackleton will stop at nothing to get what she wants. Next door and down on her luck is Lucy, who acts as housekeeper to Jenni, formerly a friend but now an employer who somehow can't help patronising Lucy for wielding the household duster. What Jenni is too vain to see is that her comparatively frumpish housekeeper friend has everything that her husband actually finds desirable in a woman. In Jenni's view, the only blot is Tom's natural rival, Geoff Carter, a man with just too much Oxbridge polish and connection with the government to allow her to sleep well at night. But as Jenni soon discovers, there is a drug for everything.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'The first novel from this talented actor is a new take on Macbeth... a darkly witty and topical parable of ambition and corruption' The Times 'In her debut novel Nichola McAuliffe does more than give us a cracking good read which it's hard to put down... a powerful story of corruption that lingers in the mind long after you reach the chilling finale.' Bel Mooney 'Like queens of British crime Minette Walters and Francis Fyfield, McAuliffe is hot for serious urban issues ... Like a forensic scientist, McAuliffe mercilessly picks over her character's lives and the results aren't pretty' Daily Mirror 'A compulsively readable novel ... McAuliffe has brought a new talent to popular fiction' John Mortimer

About the Author

Nichola McAuliffe is a writer and award-winning actress who has worked extensively on stage and television. The Crime Tsar is her first novel. Her book for children, Attila, Loogalax and the Eagle, is published by Bloomsbury Children's Books. Her short story 'The Nurglar' appears in Summer Magic, also published by Bloomsbury.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (July 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 074756826X
• ISBN-13: 978-0747568261
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,233,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A worthy first novel., June 12, 2005

By 

S. Hebbron "S B H." (Leicester UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crime Tsar (Paperback)

I was drawn to this novel because I had been asked for the author's Childrens work by my Neice and was very impressed with it's tyle and integrity. If an Adult wants to read a book for Children and enjoys it, it bodes exceedingly well for the Author.
The fact that I am also familair with the Authors work as an Actress intrigued me further, in England she was in a long running tv comedy series about a female surgeon with an acid tongue and biting wit, "Surgical Spirit". She was also recently the Baroness in the West End production of, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang".
As a first novel this is a powerful beginning and will attract fans of Minette Walters, Patricia Cornwell or Lynda La Plante.
Focussing largely on the underhand goings on in a high flying marriage, it has forensic character study and gripping plot development. A really intelligent and engaging read, I hope Ms Macauliffe continues her writing career, she really has a sound and engaging aptitude for it.