Dead Man Running: An Eric Ward Mystery (Eric Ward Mysteries) (Eric Ward Mysteries) (Eric Ward Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Roy Lewis (Author)

Book Description

Series: Eric Ward Mysteries | Publication Date: December 1, 2003

Following the devastating impact of foot-and-mouth disease, hill-farmer Paddy Fenton is facing financial ruin. When a casual acquaintance offers to lease one of his outbuildings for cash, the temptation of making a little money on the side is too good to turn down. He agrees - and doesn't inquire too closely into what might be happening there. It's the worst decision Fenton has ever made. A police raid on his barn uncovers the production of 'smokies' - illegal meat manufacturing - and the farmer is accused as an accessory. The criminal underworld that Fenton has unwittingly entered stretches far beyond the local countryside. It is down to lawyer Eric Word to rescue Fenton but it soon becomes apparent that meat manufacturing is the least of their worries. Botched operations, a divided and corrupt workforce, and a bleak landscape filled with desperate and disillusioned characters provide the backdrop for Ward's chilling journey into the dark underworld of the north, where it is not always clear who is running, or exactly whom they are running from.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Simply put, Dead Man Running is one terrific read from cover to cover. . . ! The plot is magnificently tangled, the characters are memorably drawn, and the intrigue is page gripping down to the very last page!" -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Allison & Busby LTD (December 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749006773
• ISBN-13: 978-0749006778
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,153,577 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A complex and satisfying mix of plot, character and suspense, August 24, 2004

By 

S. Saunders (Rocky Mountains USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dead Man Running: An Eric Ward Mystery (Eric Ward Mysteries) (Eric Ward Mysteries) (Eric Ward Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I've long been a fan of Roy Lewis' series of Eric Ward novels, and this one may be the best of a good bunch.

Eric Ward is a complex character - a former policeman who is now a solicitor (lawyer) in a North England town, he has suffered from an eye disease and is too independent to move in a crowd. As this book opens, he has been divorced for awhile from wealthy and well-connected Anne, and has turned his back on opportunities for a lucrative corporate and business practice. Ward prefers to serve a middle and working class clientele from his office in an unfashionable part of town. At a law association dinner he encounters Anne, who asks him to look in on farmer and old neighbor Paddy Fenton, who's in a bit of legal trouble.

Thus Ward gets involved in a fast-moving and complex set of events, including murder - which is finally untangled only on almost the final page of this exceedingly good crime novel.

Like many UK farmers, Paddy's been nearly wiped out by disease epidemics - or by the heavy-handed response of the government to those epidemics, take your pick. Approached to rent out his barn for a few days, Paddy took the money and asked few questions, because he was going to be away at the time. But the police had the place staked out, and arrested a small group of men producing "smokies" - illegally slaughtered, fire-seared whole sheep carcasses for which there is a big underground market in the UK in some immigrant communities, and which are a health hazard because they are not properly butchered. A policeman on the raid is badly injured by one of the fleeing criminals, who is then chased by a mixed bunch of characters through the rest of the story. Now Paddy's under pressure from the police who suspect he may know more than he's letting on, and they are after the bigger fish who are making millions off this underground meat industry.

Paddy loudly swears vengeance on the man to whom he let his barn - and then a disfigured body is discovered and identified as that very fleeing felon.

Lewis tosses into this plot an assortment of career criminals - high-ranking, low-crawling, up-and-coming, and more - and on the other side of things, a mixed lot of police officers, judges, and lawyers. Then he blends it all with the sure hand of a master crime writer and serves up some neatly turned surprises. The "good guys" aren't all as they seem, but Lewis didn't make it easy for me to sort them out before much truth was laid bare at the very end of the tale.

5.0 out of 5 stars The plot is magnificently tangled, July 5, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead Man Running: An Eric Ward Mystery (Eric Ward Mysteries) (Eric Ward Mysteries) (Eric Ward Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Simply put, Dead Man Running is one terrific read from cover to cover! Lawyer Eric Ward represents Paddy Fenton, a landowner who has tried to make a little money on the side by renting out his barn. The problem is that the renters are involved in the illegal business of making bush meat resulting in a police raid that goest completely sour. The result is Eric finds himself embroiled in a violent turf war. The plot is magnificently tangled, the charecters are memorably drawn, and the intrigue is page gripping down to the very last page!