What is Chris Nickson reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Chris Nickson, author of Them Without Pain.

His entry begins:

I tend to keep two books on the go, a novel for my downstairs ready and something non-fiction on the bedside table. The other week I picked up a Henning Mankel Wallender novel at a free library, and that's sending me down a rabbit hole. I've read many of them before, but a long time ago. Currently I'm on Sidetracked, set around the Swedish midsummer, and a series of strange deaths - most of which are gruesome murders. As always, Wallender is appealing and repellent in equal amounts. I'm curious...[read on]

About Them Without Pain, from the publisher:

Simon Westow, the city's unwavering thief-taker, must confront betrayal, history and murder in this gritty page-turner set in nineteenth-century Leeds.

Leeds, May 1825. Thief-taker Simon Westow is hired by Sir Robert Foley to find four silver cups stolen by his servant. The cups are a family treasure, crafted by local silversmith Arthur Mangey over a century before.

Meanwhile, Simon has also been invited to witness the demolition of Middle Row, where Mangey reputedly had a secret workshop for coin clipping, the very crime he was hanged for in 1696. Is it a coincidence or a terrible omen? Simon's curiosity swiftly turns to horror when he discovers Foley's servant lying dead in the clandestine room.

How can a long-dead criminal be involved in the servant's demise? Simon needs all the help he can get from his assistant Jane and deadly prot g Sally to navigate the twisted path from history to the present amidst the growing number of dead bodies. But is the truth worth dying for?

This authentic and atmospheric historical mystery will appeal to fans of Anne Perry and Charles Finch.

Visit Chris Nickson's website.

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--Marshal Zeringue