The Murder Bag

Spectacular! Tense and human, fast and authentic.

Lee Child

Sometimes, rarely, you know from the first chapter or so of a novel that you're in the hands of a master story teller. In the case of Tony Parsons's brilliant new thriller, The Murder Bag, we know this within the first few pages. A relentless plot, evocative prose and compelling (and wrenching) portraits of the characters, good and evil, conspire to make this a must-read. And I have two words for hero Max Wolfe: More. Soon.

Jeffery Deaver

Has all the ingredients and more: great plotting, great characters and at least two eye-widening twists I didn't see coming.

Sophie Hannah

It's a brilliant crime novel, a thrilling procedural. Max Wolfe is a wonderfully endearing character, smart and tough and vulnerable, and with Scout (and Stan too) Tony has created so much warmth and tenderness, in a world, a genre, so often devoid of it. His research is wide, deep, impeccable - from forensics to the psychology, procedure to protocol. And boy does he know how to create suspense, and convincing plot lines, which snake and weave, and surprise right until the very end. This is a complex, shocking, very contemporary story, told with utter conviction and authority. I was hooked from page one. Crime writing has brilliant new star.

Henry Sutton

Tony Parsons has fashioned a fiendishly plotted, chilling and unexpectedly moving thriller. The Murder Bag is pacy and passionate, often beautifully written, with a genuinely surprising final twist. Detective Max Wolfe has just the right balance of compassion and rage. I expect to see a lot more of Mr Wolfe.

Declan Hughes

Has reinvented himself as a gritty crime-writer … But there are two things that elevate Parsons’ novel: parenting is his speciality subject and it’s treated with a nuance largely absent elsewhere in crime fiction. And Parsons, a quintessential London writer, evokes his city with pungency and élan.

Financial Times

Propulsive ... If The Murder Bag marks the launch of a new crime series, count me in.

The Times

A tense debut crime novel with a dose of dry wit

Daily Express

Impressive, page-turning ... Told with conviction and at an ever increasing pace

Daily Mail

Truly emotive crime-writing is a rarity, and The Murder Bag looks set to win Tony Parsons many new fans in the genre

GQ

[Tony Parsons'] writing pedigree is first class. It shows in this terrific thriller, and Max Wolfe is a class act, a brilliant character that has to feature again ... Absolutely stunning!

Books Monthly