One Foot in the Grave

CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson is back: Now-retired Scotland Yard superintendent James Pibble isn''t about to go quietly into the night-not when there''s a murder case or two (or three) to solve At Flycatchers, a well-to-do nursing home watched over by no-nonsense nurse Jenny, one-time detective James Pibble shuttles between his nothing-to-live-for present and memories of the crimes he''s solved-or failed to. He''s roused from his listless existence when he discovers a dead body on top of the water tower.Security guard George Tosca isn''t the only one at Flycatchers who has met his maker a bit too abruptly. There have been other suspicious deaths in the last three years, including those of military man Sir Archibald Gunter and Bertie Foster-Banks, an inveterate gambler and shareholder in the home. The arrival of a woman in black sets off a sinister chain of events, and before he knows it, Pibble is on the case.As he travels down a twisting path of blackmail and escalating violence, Pibble finds that his life is suddenly filled with purpose again. He will bring a cunning killer to justice-or die trying. But the real reason he went up to the tower on that stormy winter night is linked to a secret he''ll carry to his grave."Dickinson, literate and provocative as ever, proves once again that he has a sure touch for the unexpected." -The Washington Post Book World"Full of tension and hidden menace. This British author is a virtuoso."-The New York Times Book Review"Dickinson, as ever, is the master of any milieu he cares to invent."-The Nation"Peter Dickinson is the best thing that has happened to serious, sophisticated, witty crime fiction since Michael Innes." -The Sunday Times"A masterpiece . . . caviar for the mystery zealot." -Los Angeles TimesPeter Dickinson was born in Africa but raised and educated in England. From 1952 to 1969 he was on the editorial staff of Punch, and since then has earned his living writing fiction of various kinds for children and adults. His books have been published in several languages throughout the world.The recipient of many awards, Dickinson has been shortlisted nine times for the prestigious Carnegie Medal for children''s literature and was the first author to win it twice. The author of twenty-one crime and mystery novels for adults, Dickinson was also the first to win the Gold Dagger of the Crime Writers'' Association for two books running: The Glass-Sided Ants'' Nest (1968) and The Old English Peepshow (1969).A collection of Dickinson''s poetry, The Weir, was published in 2007. His latest book, In the Palace of the Khans, was published in 2012 and was nominated for the Carnegie Medal.Dickinson has served as chairman of the Society of Authors and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2009 for services to literature.