Now or Not at All 

Mike Stanhope Mysteries 5

Kirsty Thornhill disappeared three years ago. Is she dead, or just determined to keep her head down? Journalist Mike Stanhope turns detective and scours West Yorkshire and the English North West in search of answers, but it’s no easy ride; the trail is cold and the clues are ambiguous.

Kirsty, Mike learns, was a woman of contradictions – firm in her views and quick to anger, yet also warm and oddly reticent. He wants her to be alive, but new evidence keeps pointing the other way. Meanwhile, his girlfriend Sam is worried that his conscientiousness could be sliding into obsession.

In a breathless trail that lurches between London and the North West, Mike gradually pieces together Kirsty’s complex story, and starts to suspect that the ripples around her disappearance could spread much further than anyone imagined.

This is one of the most ingeniously-plotted mysteries so far in the Mike Stanhope series, with a succession of revelations that will keep you constantly engrossed.

Climate change: still a hot topic

Was Kirsty Thornhill involved in climate change activism, or is this one of many false trails? Mike struggles to keep an open mind, but regardless of the outcome, he’s forced to think harder about the issue than ever before.

What worried us before the virus

Now or Not at All was completed just before coronavirus changed the world. Reading it now provides a sharp reminder of just how quickly preoccupations shifted in that momentous year – and how they’ve shifted again since then. 

From the reviews

“Intriguing characters, twisting, multi-stranded plots, conflict and drama, the Mike Stanhope novels bring something refreshingly different and engaging to the murder mystery genre. You never quite know what’s going to happen, but you can’t wait to find out.”

“The characters were well-defined and Mike, for all his faults, is a sympathetic sort of guy. The plot was interesting and full of mystery, and kept me guessing till the end.”

“Make sure you have nothing urgent to do before you start reading!”

“I am sad I have finished this book. This is a great series with real people and an all too human protagonist.”

“The convoluted tale was the best I have read in a long time!”
 

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