The Black Monastery to be published April 2009
The Black Monastery is published by Faber and Faber on April 2nd, 2009
“Stav Sherez is one of my favourite living crime writers. The Black Monastery is superb; thrilling and thought provoking in equal measure. It’s an unholy alliance between John Fowles, Italo Calvino, JG Ballard and William Burroughs at their most inspired. Read it and you might think twice about going to a Greek island this summer”.
- Nick Stone (author of Mr Clarinet and King of Swords)
“A scorching read, perfect for the train, plane or any other conveyance where you’re not doing the driving. A bloody literary mystery (very bloody at times) set among the Greek Islands with not one but two writers embroiled in murky religious goings on and the usual elixir that comes with heat, sex and money. A terrific read, bursting with ideas, that leaves one jealous of the young Mr Sherez’s talent…”
- Adrian Mckinty (author of Hidden River and The Dead Yard)
Synopsis:
When Nikos, a detective in the final years of his career, is persuaded back to his home town he is faced with the gory murder of a young boy near the old monastery. Echoing two murders committed 33 years previously in the exact same spot, and a mass cult suicide, it brings back a part of the island’s history that it has tried hard to forget. There is a lot at stake – the island’s lucrative tourist trade and the open secret of the drugs trade that goes hand in hand with the hordes of mainly young British holiday makers. As Nikos begins his investigation, two British crime writers arrive on the island. The best selling Kitty Carson, on a break from the pressures of writing and her strained relationship, and Jason an aspiring writer whose aim is to strike up a friendship with her and convince her to help him get published. As the two writers are thrown together in an unexpected way, another murder is committed and Jason and Kitty are drawn into an investigation of their own. As they discover more about the island’s dark past what began as a diversion becomes a dangerous pursuit . . .