Created by Mick Herron
“Oxford Town, Oxford Town, Guns and clubs followed (her) down…”
ZOË BOEHM is a struggling, forty-something Oxford private eye (“five foot nine, dark-eyed, curly black hair”), who gets mixed up with all sorts of peculiar types, from crossbow-wielding jewel thieves to Motown-loving murderers, in a vivid, literate and “noir-tinged” series by Mick Herron.
She was married once, occasionally happily, to her partner at Oxford Invesigations, Joe Silvermann, but he was murdered quite early in the first novel, Down Cemetery Road (2003), though he does get mentioned sometimes, and he subsequently showed up in a few of the short stories, presumably set before the first novel. In fact, Zoe isn’t even the star in that first novel–Sarah Tucker, a freelance publisher and ostrich farmer whose neighbour’s house blows up, is in the spotlight for most of the book.
But don’t worry–Zoe gets to shine for a couple of more books in the series, as well as some of the short stories… well, until (SPOILER ALERT!) her body is fished out of the river in Smoke and Whispers (2009), and Sarah decides to look into her friend’s apparent suicide.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mick Herron is a British novelist and short story writer, best known for his acclaimed and daerkly humorous Slough House books, about a team of MI5 screw-ups and misfits hoping to redeem themselves (without screwing up any further). He was born in Newcastle and studied English at Oxford, and his work has won the CWA Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel, the Steel Dagger for Best Thriller, and the Ellery Queen Readers Award, and been nominated for the Macavity, Barry, Shamus, Theakstons Novel of the Year, the Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and numerous other awards. He currently lives in Oxford.
NOVELS
- Down Cemetary Road (2003) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
- The Last Voice You Hear (2004) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
- Why We Die (2006) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
- Smoke and Whispers (2009) | Buy this book | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
SHORT STORIES
- “Remote Control” (September/October 2007, EQMM)
- “The Other Half” (May 2008, EQMM)
- “Proof of Love”(September/October 2008, EQMM)
- Mirror Image” (June 2010, EQMM)
- “What We Do” by Mick Herron (September/October 2013, EQMM)
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith, with special thanks to Kate Templton for helping to keep me (relatively) honest.
