The Hollow Man
On sale
1st August 2019
Price: £9.99
‘A twisting spiral of lies and corruption’ Val McDermid
From the hilltop he could see London, stretched towards the hills of Kent and Surrey. The sky was beginning to pale at the edges. The city itself looked numb as a rough sleeper; Camden and then the West End, the Square Mile. His watch was missing. He searched his pockets, found a bloodstained serviette and a promotional leaflet for a spiritual retreat, but no keys, phone or police badge.
Detective Nick Belsey needs help.
Something happened last night – something with the boss’s wife – and Belsey needs to get out of London, and away from the debt and the drink and the deceit.
Collecting his belongings back at Hampstead CID on what should be the last day of his career, Belsey sees a missing person’s report. But this one’s different; this is on The Bishop’s Avenue, one of the most expensive streets in the city. Belsey sees a chance for a new life.
But someone else got there first.
Praise for A Hollow Man
‘[Belsey has] got to be London’s coolest cop… Harris has plundered London’s underworld for his richly plotted and unusual detective series… It’s heady stuff’ Daily Mail
‘Thrills, spills and fine writing’ Telegraph
From the hilltop he could see London, stretched towards the hills of Kent and Surrey. The sky was beginning to pale at the edges. The city itself looked numb as a rough sleeper; Camden and then the West End, the Square Mile. His watch was missing. He searched his pockets, found a bloodstained serviette and a promotional leaflet for a spiritual retreat, but no keys, phone or police badge.
Detective Nick Belsey needs help.
Something happened last night – something with the boss’s wife – and Belsey needs to get out of London, and away from the debt and the drink and the deceit.
Collecting his belongings back at Hampstead CID on what should be the last day of his career, Belsey sees a missing person’s report. But this one’s different; this is on The Bishop’s Avenue, one of the most expensive streets in the city. Belsey sees a chance for a new life.
But someone else got there first.
Praise for A Hollow Man
‘[Belsey has] got to be London’s coolest cop… Harris has plundered London’s underworld for his richly plotted and unusual detective series… It’s heady stuff’ Daily Mail
‘Thrills, spills and fine writing’ Telegraph
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Reviews
[Belsey has] got to be London's coolest cop... Harris has plundered London's underworld for his richly plotted and unusual detective series... It's heady stuff
A twisting spiral of lies and corruption, a pitch-perfect portrait of contemporary London and a beguiling bastard of a hero
Thrills, spills and fine writing
This is an astonishingly good first novel. Its plot is original, its dialogue lively, and in DC Belsey- the man who can't make up his mind whether he's a corrupt slacker or a dedicated detective and seems cursed to be both at once- it has a protagonist who truly stands out from the crowd
[A] plot that twists and turns like the back streets of Kentish Town: this is a cracker of a debut by local boy Oliver Harris
The book we have been waiting for without knowing we were
The story works as a thriller but it's also a very entertaining read, all the more because the locations are so precisely described. It gives new meaning to the expression 'Hampstead novel
With a seasoned author's skill and a cabbie's encyclopedic knowledge of London's every nook and cranny, debut novelist Oliver Harris tells a pacey tale firmly rooted in the credit-crunched modern world. A blistering start to a promising new crime series
