Take My Breath Away [Hardcover]

Martin Edwards (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 6, 2002

Lawyer turned writer Nic Gabriel is intrigued when his friend Dylan Rees starts to tell him a cryptic story about the connections between some strange and sudden deaths. So he can't resist the opportunity to meet up with his friend and hear some more. But at Dylan's glitzy party, Nic can only watch in horror as his friend is murdered by the ex-girlfriend who had apparently committed suicide over him five years before. Stunned by the brutal attack, Nic vows to discover the meaning behind his friend's enigmatic tale. Meanwhile Roxanne Wake is thrilled to be starting her new job at Creed, the country's leading human rights law firm. It is a dream opportunity for a young lawyer, but there is something worrying Roxanne and it isn't just her lack of experience. Roxanne has got a secret, something she dare not tell her new employers-and she is determined to keep her past hidden at all costs. Take My Breath Away is a gripping psychological thriller from a master of the legal mystery. Packed full of twists and turns, this is novel that will leave you gasping.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Martin Edwards is the author of seven acclaimed crime novels featuring lawyer Harry Devlin. In 1999 he was commissioned to complete Bill Knox's novel The Lazarus Widow and he has also edited ten anthologies of crime fiction. He is head of employment law at Liverpool and Manchester law firm Mace & Jones. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Allison & Busby (May 6, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749005181
• ISBN-13: 978-0749005184
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,751,451 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Martin Edwards is an award-winning crime writer whose fourth and most recent Lake District Mystery, featuring DCI Hannah Scarlett and Daniel Kind, is The Serpent Pool, published in February 2010. Earlier books in the series are The Coffin Trail (short-listed for the Theakston's prize for best British crime novel of 2006), The Cipher Garden and The Arsenic Labyrinth (short-listed for the Lakeland Book of the Year award in 2008.) He has written eight novels about lawyer Harry Devlin, the first of which, All the Lonely People, was short-listed for the CWA John Creasey Memorial Dagger for the best first crime novel of the year. In addition he has written a stand-alone novel of psychological suspense, Take My Breath Away, and a much acclaimed novel featuring Dr Crippen, Dancing for the Hangman. The latest Devlin novel, Waterloo Sunset, appeared in 2008. He completed Bill Knox's last book, The Lazarus Widow. He has published a collection of short stories, Where Do You Find Your Ideas? and other stories; 'Test Drive' was short-listed for the CWA Short Story Dagger in 2006, while 'The Bookbinder's Apprentice' won the same Dagger in 2008. A well-known commentator on crime fiction, he has edited 16 anthologies and published eight non-fiction books, including a study of homicide investigation, Urge to Kill .In 2008 he was elected to membership of the prestigious Detection Club. In his spare time he is a partner in a law firm and blogs daily at 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars powerful psychological thriller, July 10, 2011

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Take My Breath Away (Five Star Mystery Series) (Hardcover)

Legal headhunter Dylan Rees asks his friend former lawyer-turned one time published author Nic Gabriel to meet him at a Westminster gala in which he will tell him about strange deaths. At the party, Nic sees a dead woman Ella Vinton seemingly searching for Dylan. A bit intoxicated Nic tries to prevent the tragedy, but is too late. When she finds a startled Dylan, Ella kills him and commits suicide.

Nic thinks back to about five years ago when womanizing Dylan dumped Ella who committed suicide soon afterward; he attended her funeral. Still in shock, Nic follows up on Dylan's comment about questionable deaths. At the same time changing her name from Cassandra and her hair color, Roxanne Wake, joins the highly regarded Creed human rights law firm as a paralegal only to find some of their practices ethically stunning. Soon Roxanne and Nic will find their paths converge in a deadly scenario.

With the Lake District police taking a breather, Martin Edwards provides a powerful psychological thriller that will stun readers with the two subplots and even more so when they merge. Character driven, the British legal profession comes across as amoral in which a life is irrelevant when it comes to taking care of the client as Roxanne learns with the Haycraft fiasco. Filled with twists, readers will be hooked when a woman from the grave commits a murder suicide.

Harriet Klausner