The Dramatist

Struggling detective Jack Taylor is finally sober - off the booze, pills, powder, and nearly off cigarettes too. The main reason he's been able to keep clean: his dealer's in jail. So when that dealer calls him to Dublin and asks for a favour in the soiled, sordid visiting room of Mountjoy Prison, Jack wants to tell him to take a flying leap.

He soon discovers the dealer's sister is dead and the guards have called it 'death by misadventure.' The dealer is convinced that can't be true and begs Jack to see what he can find out. It's exactly what Jack does for a living, with varying levels of success. But even so, he's reluctant, maybe because of who's asking or maybe because of the bad feeling growing in his gut.

Never one to give in to bad feelings or common sense, Jack agrees to the favour, though he doesn't begin to fathom the shocking, deadly consequences he has set in motion.

The Dramatist is the lean and lethal fourth entry in Ken Bruen's award-winning Jack Taylor series.

Praise for Ken Bruen:

'Quirky, quality fiction.' - Observer

'Outstanding ... Ireland's version of Scotland's Ian Rankin.' - Publishers Weekly

'Ken Bruen is hard to resist, with his aching Irish heart, silvery tongue and bleak noir sensibility - all on display in The Dramatist.' -The New York Times

'Deserving of five stars is Ken Bruen's The Dramatist ... This is the fourth outing for the failed cop, and probably the best since The Guards.' - Time Out