Darkness, Darkness - John Harvey

darkness, darkness Hardback published 22 May 2014

Publisher: William Heinemann, Random House

The final DI Charlie Resnick novel, from the Cartier Diamond Dagger winner and Sunday Times bestselling author of Cold in Hand.

Thirty years ago, the miners’ strike threatened to tear the country apart, turning neighbour against neighbour, husband against wife, father against son – enmities which smoulder still.

Resnick, recently made up to inspector, and ambivalent at best about some of the police tactics, had run an information gathering unit at the heart of the dispute.

Now, in virtual retirement, and still grieving over the violent death of his former partner, the discovery of the body of a young woman who disappeared during the Strike brings Resnick back to the front line to assist in the investigation into the woman’s murder – forcing him to confront his past in what will assuredly be his last case.

Reviews

‘Harvey’s touch is so subtle, his style so seductive.’

Marilyn Stasio, New York Times

‘A brilliant, important and moving book about the legacy of 1984, and where and who we are now.’

David Peace

‘A dark, yet elegant and utterly compelling novel,

Darkness, Darkness is a masterpiece, a fit farewell

to a character so many of us have loved for half a century.’

John Burnside

‘Darkness, Darkness is so good that it makes me grateful not to have Charlie Resnick for competition any more, but as a reader I’ll mourn his loss. If only every series of crime novels could end with such grace and style.’
John Connolly

‘There is no end to Charlie Resnick. He lives in the imaginations of all those lucky readers who have picked up a book and traveled with him like an old friend. Darkness, Darkness is yet another superb telling of the character by John Harvey. As distinctly as I remember reading the first Resnick I will always remember this one. Rich in wistful telling, the story holds your heart steady in a tight fist. It doesn’t let you go. It doesn’t let you let go of the man either.’
Michael Connelly

‘In this masterful unearthing of the grudges and resentments left behind by the Miners’ Strike of three decades ago, John Harvey has found the perfect case for Resnick to get his teeth into. All the ingredients are here: social history, the problem of male violence, the shadow of death, and, of course, the search for a decent cup of coffee. Anyone new to Resnick’s world should probably start here; John Harvey has saved the best for last.’
Jon McGregor