DI Mike Yorke has been in London for three months now, chasing up missing kids that have been disappearing up and down the M1 corridor. One night he comes home to find a bundle of rags on his doorstep. After giving the bundle a heavy kick, he is shocked to find it is really a young boy who has slashed his wrists.
Mike saves the boy's life, and Smiler, so named because of the grin carved on his face, latches on to Mike and follows him everywhere. When Mike's cover is blown, he heads back home to Holy Island, on the northeast coast of England.
But all is not as it seems on the island, an ancient secret discovered by a young girl stirs up world-wide fear, as she goes on the run to protect herself - followed by her hapless boyfriend Danny, Mike, and Smiler, who may or may not be psychic.
Thorn In My Side is the start of a new series.
"Sometimes brutal, sometimes scary, sometimes funny. Always entertaining! Quigley delivers a storming debut to her brand new series with Thorn In My Side."
Matt Hilton, author of the Joe Hunter thrillers.
Crimesquad website chose Thorn In My Side as one of their top 10 books of 2010. They say: "The Grande Dame of gritty Northern crime offers a new series character, but all her usual power and page-turning style."
Sheila talks about Thorn In My Side in a recent interview in Shots eZine.
Thorn In My Side was first published in hardcover by Burgess Books on 30th September 2010; order your copy from Amazon
- in the original hardback edition - or order it from any bookshop (you can help your local bookshop to order a copy by telling them the ISBN: 978-0-9566546-0-1),
- in the paperback edition, ISBN: 978-0-9566546-1-8),
- or download the Kindle eBook.
