Shadow of the Serpent

The first in the McLevy series, this is wonderfully evocative detective fiction, based in dark, violent, Victorian Edinburgh. It’s 1880 and the city is gripped by election fever. But while the rich and educated argue about politics, in the dank wynds of the city it’s a struggle just to stay alive, especially when a murderous madman seems to have resurfaced after 30 years. McLevy is lured into a world of politics, perversion, deception and mystery and into the shadow of the serpent.

Reviews of Shadow of the Serpent

'David Ashton's writing is excellent, his characters thoroughly convincing, and his narrative grabs you … and doesn't let you go' THE SHERLOCK HOLMES SOCIETY OF LONDON 'McLevy is a sort of Victorian Morse with a heart … Ashton impeccably evokes Edinburgh so vividly that you can feel the cold in your bones and the menace of the Old Town s steep cobbles and dark corners' FINANCIAL TIMES