Published 3rd February 2021 by Red Dog Press.
From the cover of the book:
A Premier League bad-boy murdered at his newly refurbished home; a teenage runaway’s corpse uncovered on a construction site; a gunman shoots up the premises of the local gangland boss – all of them projects run by beleaguered builder Mark Poynter.Can he fix it?
Things seem to be on the up for builder, Mark Poynter. Mark’s got himself a nice little earner taking care of the sizeable property portfolio built up from the career earnings of former Premier League bad-boy and local celebrity, Danny Kidd. But when Danny Kidd puts an interested party’s nose out of joint by using his star status to gazump them on a development site – the derelict Admiral Guthrie pub - things turn ugly and incendiary, leaving Mark to deal with the consequences.
Meanwhile local villain, Hamlet, uses his subtle persuasion to dupe Mark into unwittingly help him launder vast sums of dirty cash but when it drags the area to the brink of gang warfare, Mark’s help is needed to try and broker a truce.
At the Admiral Guthrie secrets from the past meet conflicts of the present - will the rising flames reduce Mark’s future to ashes?
The Red Admiral’s Secret is the second in the series of darkly comic crime fiction novels featuring the beleaguered builder Mark Poynter, aided and hindered in equal measure by his trusted crew of slackers, idlers and gossips, and the lengths they go to just to earn a living.
He was immersed in the building industry from a very early age helping out on his father’s sites during school holidays before launching into his own career at 17. He’s worked on projects ranging from the smallest domestic repair to £billion+ infrastructure, and probably everything in between.
A lifelong comedy nerd, he ticked off a bucket-list ambition and tried his hand at stand-up comedy. Whilst being an experience probably best forgotten (for both him and audiences alike) it ignited a love for writing, leading to various commissions including for material broadcast on BBC Radio 4 comedy shows.
Matthew moved into the longer format of novel writing after graduating from the Faber Academy in London in 2017.
The Red Admiral's Secret is his second novel series of stories featuring Mark Poynter and his associates, folloing on from The Death Of A Painter. Matthew enjoys reading all manner of books - especially crime and mystery; 80s music; and travelling and can’t wait for the next trip to New Zealand to spend time with family and friends.
Things seem to be on the up for builder, Mark Poynter. Mark’s got himself a nice little earner taking care of the sizeable property portfolio built up from the career earnings of former Premier League bad-boy and local celebrity, Danny Kidd. But when Danny Kidd puts an interested party’s nose out of joint by using his star status to gazump them on a development site – the derelict Admiral Guthrie pub - things turn ugly and incendiary, leaving Mark to deal with the consequences.
Meanwhile local villain, Hamlet, uses his subtle persuasion to dupe Mark into unwittingly help him launder vast sums of dirty cash but when it drags the area to the brink of gang warfare, Mark’s help is needed to try and broker a truce.
At the Admiral Guthrie secrets from the past meet conflicts of the present - will the rising flames reduce Mark’s future to ashes?
The Red Admiral’s Secret is the second in the series of darkly comic crime fiction novels featuring the beleaguered builder Mark Poynter, aided and hindered in equal measure by his trusted crew of slackers, idlers and gossips, and the lengths they go to just to earn a living.
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I cannot tell you how much I was looking forward to meeting up again with Marky-Mark Poynter and the gang after Matthew Ross' excellent debut novel, Death of a Painter (see my review here), and from start to finish The Red Admiral's Secret was just like catching up with friends and family - well friends and family embroiled in the fall out from murder and mayhem anyway!
Electrician, Mark Poynter, has pulled himself out of the mire he was involved in during the events of The Death of a Painter, and is now doing alright for himself both professionally and personally. Working for the ex-footballer Danny Kid and his brother, Stuart, in their property management business has proven to be profitable, but Mark cannot help but worry what the future holds, and whether it is sensible to put all his eggs in one basket. His nurse partner, Perry, has now more-or-less moved in giving him a loving, stable base to anchor himself to - if only he would allow himself acknowledge it. Uncle Bern and Disco are still putting in a, mostly, welcome appearance, and as for the loveable villain Hamlet, well he is never far away and still dragging Mark into some dodgy scheme whether he wants in or not.
When the Kidd brothers start to show an interest in developing the derelict Admiral Guthrie pub, some pretty nasty fellows come out of the woodwork and trouble ensues for them all - the kind of trouble that involves murder, the sins of the past, and possible gang warfare. Yep. poor old Mark is up to his neck in it again, as as is par for the course, it is up to him to try to sort in out.
There are some fabulous threads to this tale, which bring in a mix of the modern gang culture and that of the traditional crime bosses of the past; the repercussions of sibling rivalry ramped up to eleven; and commitment to friends, family and partners; which when added together make for a much more complex story than in the first book. I was really impressed with the slick way Mark Ross works all the threads out to their exciting conclusions, with some nice little twists and turns along the way. There's bags of mystery with menace that had me gobbling up the pages, and a good solid portion of emotion fit to warm the cockles of your heart that made me shed a tear or two at the end.
This really is a book where I recommend you take the time to read the first one in the series, because is makes such a difference to know the likely lads and lasses you are going to meet in this adventure, and the history that lies between them. It will also give you a chance to get into the vibe of Mathew Ross' style of humour, and the reams of top quality pithy banter that help make these books so enjoyable.
It's easy to see that Matthew Ross is really getting into his stride as a writer now, fleshing out his characters nicely and inventing even more involved plots that are both entertaining and absorbing, and I absolutely loved every cracking page. I cannot wait to see what comes next for Marky-Mark and his squad.
The Red Admiral's Secret is available to buy now from your favourite book retailer or direct from Red Dog Press HERE.
Thank you to Meggy Roussel at Red Dog Press for sending me an e-book copy of this book in return for an honest review and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the author:
Matthew Ross was born and raised in the Medway Towns, England. He still lives in Kent with his Kiwi wife, his children and a very old cat.
He was immersed in the building industry from a very early age helping out on his father’s sites during school holidays before launching into his own career at 17. He’s worked on projects ranging from the smallest domestic repair to £billion+ infrastructure, and probably everything in between.
A lifelong comedy nerd, he ticked off a bucket-list ambition and tried his hand at stand-up comedy. Whilst being an experience probably best forgotten (for both him and audiences alike) it ignited a love for writing, leading to various commissions including for material broadcast on BBC Radio 4 comedy shows.
Matthew moved into the longer format of novel writing after graduating from the Faber Academy in London in 2017.
The Red Admiral's Secret is his second novel series of stories featuring Mark Poynter and his associates, folloing on from The Death Of A Painter. Matthew enjoys reading all manner of books - especially crime and mystery; 80s music; and travelling and can’t wait for the next trip to New Zealand to spend time with family and friends.
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