Mick was born in Glasgow but left as a young boy, living in Canada and then England. Before becoming an academic, he ran a market stall on Portobello Road, and has worked as a tent-hand in a travelling circus, a butcher's boy, a hotel porter, and in various jobs in the NHS and social services. He teaches in a Psychology Department, and has published research on political violence and persuasion, verbal and non-verbal communication, and disability. He now lives in Brighton with his family.

A gripping escapist historical crime fiction thriller for fans of Andrew Taylor

'Think Sherlock Holmes is the only detective working in Victorian London? Meet William Arrowood, the hero of Mick Finlay's series of absorbing novels' The Times

London Society takes their problems to Sherlock Holmes. Everyone else goes to Arrowood.

'Think Sherlock Holmes is the only detective working in Victorian London? Meet William Arrowood, the hero of Mick Finlay's series of absorbing novels' The Times

London Society takes their problems to Sherlock Holmes. Everyone else goes to Arrowood.

1896: Sherlock Holmes has once again hit the headlines, solving mysteries for the cream of London society. But among the workhouses and pudding shops of the city, private detective William Arrowood is presented with far grittier, more violent, and considerably less well-paid cases.

Arrowood is in no doubt who is the better detective, and when Mr and Mrs Barclay engage him to trace their estranged daughter Birdie, he's sure it won't be long before he and his assistant Barnett have tracked her down.

But this seemingly simple missing person case soon turns into a murder investigation. Far from the comfort of Baker Street, Arrowood's London is a city of unrelenting cruelty, where evil is waiting to be uncovered . . .

PRAISE FOR THE MURDER PIT:

'Another brilliant read from Mick Finlay . . . even better than [Arrowood]' B.A. Paris

'Gripping' Daily Telegraph

'Astounding ... If you crave Victorian age murder mystery, love darkly gothic atmospheres and want your detective rather tattered and torn at the edges Arrowood is your man.' SHOTS

'Enthralling' Publishers Weekly (starred review)

'A gripping novel with an adept sense of place as well as a clear-eyed examination of the dark exigencies of human behaviour' Crime Time