PENGUIN BOOKS
The Skeleton Man
Praise for Jim Kelly
‘Kelly is fast gaining a reputation for his literate, atmospheric
novels’ Daily Mail
‘A significant new talent’ Sunday Times
‘A rare combination of poetic writing and a gripping plot’
Sunday Telegraph
‘The sense of place is terrific: the fens really brood. Dryden,
the central character, is satisfyingly complicated… a good,
atmospheric read’ Observer
‘A masterful stylist, Kelly crafts sharp, crisp sentences so pure,
so true, they qualify as modern poetry’ Publishing News
‘A sparkling star newly risen in the crime fiction
firmament’ Colin Dexter
‘Superb… Kelly has produced another story rich in plot and
character, with a bit of history as well’ Publishers Weekly
‘A thriller debut of genuine distinction. Kelly is a name to
watch… a compelling read’ Crime Time
‘Beautifully written… The climax is chilling. Sometimes a
book takes up residence inside my head and just won’t leave.
The Water Clock did just that’ Val McDermid
‘An atmospheric, intriguing mystery with a tense denouement’
Susanna Yager, Sunday Telegraph
‘Kelly goes from strength to strength’ Mirror
‘One of the most exciting British mystery writers of
the moment’ Advertiser
‘Excellent no-frills thriller with a real bite. 4 stars’ FHM
‘Kelly’s evocation of the bleak and watery landscapes provide
a powerful backdrop to a wonderful cast of characters’
The Good Book Guide
‘The Water Clock’s praise is well deserved… highly
recommended’ Washington Post
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jim Kelly lives in Ely with the biographer Midge Gillies and their young daughter. The Skeleton Man is his fifth novel, following The Water Clock, The Fire Baby, The Moon Tunnel and The Coldest Blood.
He has been shortlisted for a number of awards, including the CWA John Creasey Dagger for The Water Clock, and Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award for The Fire Baby. In 2006 Jim Kelly was awarded the Dagger in the Library by the Crime Writers’ Association for a body of work ‘giving greatest enjoyment to crime fiction readers’.
To find out more about Jim Kelly and other Penguin crime writers, go to www.penguinmostwanted.co.uk
The Skeleton Man
JIM KELLY
PENGUIN BOOKS
PENGUIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
www.penguin.com
First published by Michael Joseph 2007
Published in Penguin Books 2008
1
Copyright © Jim Kelly, 2007
All rights reserved
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser
9780141889849
In memory of
Robert J. M. Gillies
MBE, MRCVS
1921–2006
A proud son of the Rock, and a great reader of books
Acknowledgements
I owe a debt to many in the writing of The Skeleton Man. The village of Jude’s Ferry is a fiction but its story was inspired by that of a real-life community. I must therefore thank Rex Sawyer for his affectionate history, Little Imber on the Down: Salisbury Plain’s Ghost Village. My lost village is a patchwork of many places real and imaginary. I stole the name from the Jude’s Ferry Inn at West Row, near Mildenhall, and anyone wishing to drink in the true atmosphere of the watery fens can do no better than to stop a while at this inn on the site of a Roman port. The Five Miles from Anywhere pub I describe doesn’t exist, although the name was once popular in the Fens.
The live Peytons in my story are also fictitious, though the Peyton family tombs are real enough; they lie in the church at Isleham, near Ely, and are well worth a visit.
In my career as a provincial journalist I have on several occasions been the guest of the Territorial Army – particularly during Operation Lionheart, the largest troop exercise in Europe since D-Day. I would like to thank the TA for their welcome in the past and for providing valuable background information. All my military characters are fictional, but their diligence and courage are real.
My thanks to Paul Horrell for lending me his expertise on cars generally over the years and particularly for offering an insight into the left-hand-drive market.
One of the most bizarrely named institutions I have ever described is the Oliver Zangwill Centre for Neuropsychological Rehabilitation in Ely, but it is most certainly real and does a wonderful job. Of course, all characters and episodes related to it here are fictional.
Dr Andrew Balmford of the University of Cambridge provided some jargon-free advice on DNA identification within families; Jane Kennedy, Surveyor of Fabric at Ely cathedral, delivered an invaluable primer in medieval tombs; and Roger Steward, of Anglian Water Services, took the time to show me round the magnificent Soham water tower.