About the Author

M. R. Hall is a screenwriter and producer and former criminal barrister, a profession he left due to a constitutional inability to prosecute. The Coroner is his first novel. Educated at Hereford Cathedral School and Worcester College, Oxford, he lives in the Wye Valley in Monmouthshire with his wife, journalist Patricia Carswell, and two sons. Aside from writing, his main passion is the preservation and planting of woodland. In his spare moments, he is mostly to be found amongst trees.

Reviews

It's a tribute to the author's skill that I read this book supposing it to be autobiographical . . . He really gets under the skin of his heroine . . . Good and imaginative writing (and some political implications) to make an outstandingly interesting first novel
*The Literary Review*

A compelling debut
*Sainsburys Magazine*

This big, well-executed debut novel by screenwriter and producer Matthew Hall has meaty characters and a chewy plot in the Lynda La Plante style
*Guardian*

A brilliant, original and gripping crime novel – I can't wait for Matthew Hall's next one!
*Sophie Hannah*

Unputdownable debut introducing a fantastic, feisty and convincingly flawed heroine
*Woman & Home*

Congratulations to new crime fiction author Matthew Hall . . . A refreshing take on a historic office . . . Convincing and compelling
*Daily Mail*

A fast paced debut thriller
*The Times*

There’s much to like here, including the unusual viewpoint, the strong narrative, and the solidly researched background
*Spectator*

A gripping debut novel
*Daily Express*

Hall’s heroine is believable enough to care about, and it’s good to see a novel niche being carved in the crowded realm of whodunits. Perhaps it’ll do for coroners’ courts what CSI did for forensic science
*Observer*