'The French master of noir' Observer It felt like the slipknot on a rope round my chest was being tightened without pityTrouble is the last thing Albert needs. Travelling back to his childhood home on Christmas Eve to mourn his mother's death, he finds the loneliness and nostalgia of his Parisian quartier unbearable... Until, that evening, he encounters a beautiful, seemingly innocent woman at a brasserie, and his spirits are lifted. Still, something about the woman disturbs him. Where is the father of her child? And what are those two red stains on her sleeve? When she invites him back to her apartment, Albert thinks he's in luck. But a monstrous scene awaits them, and he finds himself lured into the darkness against his better judgment. Unravelling like a paranoid nightmare, Bird in a Cage melds existentialist drama with thrilling noir to tell the story of a man trapped in a prison of his own making. 'Disturbing from the outset with strong echoes of Dard's hero Simenon' Sunday Times Crime Club, star pick'Exceedingly clever... you can only squirm more enjoyably into your seat as you read on' Bookbag, 5 stars 'If you're a fan of Film Noir, you'll love Bird in a Cage...if all the novels in the Vertigo series are this good, I predict I'll be needing more bookshelves.' Randall Writes The Wicked Go to Hell, Crush and The Executioner Weeps are forthcoming from Pushkin Vertigo