Some years have passed since Solaris Books published my Neolithic murder mystery Talus and the Frozen King, a historical crime novel about a wandering bard called Talus, whose sharp wits and love of storytelling make him perfectly qualified to become the world’s first detective.
The Financial Times described the Talus and the Frozen King as “a wonderful mash-up of genres, fusing a proper, well-plotted detective yarn with prehistoric blood and thunder pulp fiction action,” while the British Fantasy Society remarked, “putting Sherlock Holmes and Watson into the Stone Age worked for me!”
I’m now proud to unveil a brand new self-published edition of Talus and the Frozen King, available from Amazon in paperback or for Kindle. Although the text is unchanged from the original, this reissue features brand new cover art and illustrated chapter headings.
About the Novel
Deep in our prehistoric past a warrior king has been murdered. Who in this ancient world has the wits to solve the mystery?
Journeying north through an icy winter landscape, wandering bard Talus and his companion Bran reach the remote island of Creyak, where the great king Hashath lies dead in the snow. Hidden among the island’s standing stones and henges are the clues that will guide them in their quest to find the murderer.
Each of the king’s six sons has his own secret motive. Could one of them be the killer? Does the helpful herb-gatherer know more than she is letting on and is there more to the tribe’s sinister shaman than meets the eye? What of the belligerent warlord whose unexpected arrival at the height of the investigation cannot possibly be a coincidence?
Only one thing is certain. In a world ruled not by law and order, but by folklore and myth, it takes a special kind of man to uncover the truth. A man like Talus, who thinks round corners, asks all the right questions and, most important of all, understands the power of stories.
Because, you see, Talus is more than just a bard.
He’s the world’s first detective.
Graham Edwards 