No Laughing Matter

Broken glass, everywhere, in chunks, shards and splinters, mostly colorless but here and there a glint of green. And blood. Blood glistening on pieces of glass… The scene facing Inspector Luke Thanet is horrifying, the echoes of violence in shocking contrast to the stark white clinical atmosphere of the Sturrenden Vineyard laboratory. The victim is Zak Randish, expert winemaker and owner of the vineyard, who lies slumped against the wall. He seemed to have had everything: a successful career, a family, a beautiful home. Yet nothing protected him from murder. What could have provoked the frenzy of destruction in the lab? Who could have been so angry with Randish that he – or she – lost control so completely? Thanet and his sergeant, Mike Lineham, already have their suspicions about the kind of man Randish was, and their investigation confirms that there was a ruthless, violent streak beneath his charm. No wonder then that his family and friends have differing reactions to his death: his wife loyal, his father-in-law vindictive, his colleagues strangely reluctant to reveal their true feelings. Not everything in his life was as idyllic as it appeared to be. As Thanet and Lineham persist, they uncover more than one suspect, more than one secret. But the secret that ultimately caused Randish’s death was more terrible than they could ever have imagined. With a subtlety and depth of characterization that are rare in crime fiction, No Laughing Matter is the best yet from an internationally acclaimed author.