Robert Thorogood - Death Knocks Twice

Praise for Robert Thorogood Contents Cover Praise Title Page Copyright About the Author Dedication CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER THIRTEEN About the Publisher

‘Very funny and dark with great pace. I love Robert Thorogood’s writing’

Peter James

‘Deftly entertaining…satisfyingly pushes all the requisite Agatha Christie-style buttons’

Barry Forshaw, The Independent

‘A treat’

Radio Times

‘Fans of the Agatha Christie-style BBC drama Death In Paradise will enjoy this book from the show’s creator’

Mail on Sunday

‘This brilliantly crafted, hugely enjoyable and suitably goosebump-inducing novel is an utter delight from start to finish’

Heat

‘A brilliant whodunnit’

Woman

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2017

Copyright © Robert Thorogood 2017

Robert Thorogood asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Ebook Edition © July 2017 ISBN: 9781474050715

Version: 2018-07-23

ROBERT THOROGOODis the creator of the hit BBC One TV series Death In Paradise .

He was born in Colchester, Essex, in 1972. When he was 10 years old, he read his first proper novel – Agatha Christie’s Peril at End House – and he’s been in love with the genre ever since.

He now lives in Marlow in Buckinghamshire with his wife and children.

For Penny and Jack

Cover

Praise Praise for Robert Thorogood Contents Cover Praise Title Page Copyright About the Author Dedication CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER THIRTEEN About the Publisher ‘Very funny and dark with great pace. I love Robert Thorogood’s writing’ Peter James ‘Deftly entertaining…satisfyingly pushes all the requisite Agatha Christie-style buttons’ Barry Forshaw, The Independent ‘A treat’ Radio Times ‘Fans of the Agatha Christie-style BBC drama Death In Paradise will enjoy this book from the show’s creator’ Mail on Sunday ‘This brilliantly crafted, hugely enjoyable and suitably goosebump-inducing novel is an utter delight from start to finish’ Heat ‘A brilliant whodunnit’ Woman

Title Page

Copyright Copyright Copyright About the Author Dedication CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER THIRTEEN About the Publisher An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2017 Copyright © Robert Thorogood 2017 Robert Thorogood asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Ebook Edition © July 2017 ISBN: 9781474050715 Version: 2018-07-23

About the Author ROBERT THOROGOOD is the creator of the hit BBC One TV series Death In Paradise . He was born in Colchester, Essex, in 1972. When he was 10 years old, he read his first proper novel – Agatha Christie’s Peril at End House – and he’s been in love with the genre ever since. He now lives in Marlow in Buckinghamshire with his wife and children.

Dedication For Penny and Jack

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

About the Publisher

Detective Inspector Richard Poole was in a bad mood.

This wasn’t in fact all that unusual. Not to say that he was always in a bad mood, far from it. Sometimes, he simmered without quite boiling over. And at other times he felt too worn down by the whole shooting match of life to get a proper grump on. But today wasn’t one of those days. Today he was in a fury so complete that he was in grave danger of going ‘the full Rumpelstiltskin’.

As was so often the case, the object of Richard’s ire was Police Officer Dwayne Myers.

‘Then how about you try this one, Chief?’ Dwayne said as he stood by his desk holding up a brightly-coloured Hawaiian shirt.

There was a stifled laugh from the direction of Camille’s desk.

‘What’s that, Camille?’ Richard asked.

‘Nothing, sir,’ Camille said in her most grown-up voice. ‘But I think Dwayne’s right. That shirt would really suit you.’

‘It wouldn’t,’ Richard said.

‘I think it would, sir.’

‘It wouldn’t, Camille. I just said.’

‘But why not? It’s fun.’

‘ Fun ?’ Richard squeaked in a high falsetto that, frankly, surprised all of them. He coughed to put the gravel back into his voice. ‘You call that aberration of a shirt “fun”?’