Apologies, but this was a DNF for me. Well written but I just couldn't get into it. I have read and enjoyed others by this author before.

Wryly Humorous…
Wryly humorous caper set in a 1970’s London and moving across to France. It’s a Ripleyesque tale, evocatively told and with a deft touch of pen. Multi layered and atmospheric, a slow, compulsive and enjoyable burn.

I haven’t read anything by Andrew Martin before and as I began reading The Winker I found it decidedly odd and a bit creepy. I don’t like the cover at all and the title didn’t appeal to me either. But the description interested me.

I like the structure of this book. It is set in 1976 with flashbacks to 1951, in several locations, mainly London and Nice and sometimes in Paris and Oxford. Each time and place is clearly highlighted. The book is largely character-led. Lee Jones, a failed pop singer and psychopath is working on a ‘project’, nothing to do with music, aiming to achieve world-wide fame. He calls it a ‘programme’ and involves something he calls a ‘folder’ and his ‘trademark’. He is living in a fantasy world, accompanied by Abigail a journalist who intermittently interviews Lee. It was all a bit ambiguous at first and it took me a few pages to decide what I thought about Abigail and her role in the book.

Then there is Charles Underhill, a man of about fifty, living a self-imposed exile in France, because of an event in Oxford whilst he was a student there. He lives a very routine life in Paris with his mother Syl, except for his annual holiday in Nice. His routine is upset when he receives a postcard with a picture of the river at Oxford showing a boat full of university rowers, but no message on the back. When more unsigned postcards arrive he is worried that they are from Pat Price who was at the university with him in 1951.

In Nice Charles meets Howard Miller, a crime fiction writer. His first novel wasn’t a great success and he is looking for inspiration for his next novel, to prove to his father he wasn’t wasting his time. These three men are now set on a collision course as Charles offers to pay Howard for a couple of days work in Oxford to find out who had sent him the anonymous postcards. From that point onwards everything fell into place for me and I was hooked.

This is psychological crime fiction, you know right from the beginning who the ‘Winker’ is, but the precise method of the murders is not clear (at least not to me) until later in the book. And Charles’ secret is revealed quite early in the book. Neither Lee nor Charles are pleasant characters and this is decidedly a creepy tale, but it’s also a compelling one. Howard, on the other hand, is rather a naive character, who nevertheless gets to the bottom of the mystery. I loved the settings – they are so vivid and evocative of the 1970s; the places, the intense heat of the summer of 1976, the people, their clothes, the hairstyles, sunglasses, cars, exotic cigarettes, and especially the music of the 70s, bring it all to life in technicolour. I think this is ripe for being made into a film.

Oxford in the 1950s and Charles Underhill commits murder, he appears to have got away with it until 1976 when he starts to receive anonymous postcards from Oxford. He engages the help of a naive young writer to help him track the sender. Meanwhile in London Lee Jones, flamboyant failed rock star and handsome dandy, gives his trademark wink to a girl in a pub.
Andrew Martin is a brilliant writer and the reader doesn't realise how wedded they are to his books until they are finished. On the surface this is a lightweight crime caper involving an academic, a young writer, a narcissist and various stereotypical French people but dig a little deeper and it becomes a clever 'cat and mouse' thriller. The period detail is excellent both in terms of fashion and setting and also the zeitgeist, London is on the cusp of the punk revolution and anarchy is just below the surface. The characters reflect this with the staid society man, the rebellious moneyed man, the northerner, the free spirited young woman etc. It should be a group of cliches but it isn't.

Set in the heatwave summer of 1976 and moving between London's Soho, Oxford, Paris and the South of France, Andrew Martin's latest novel The Winker is a world away from his previous one, end of the 18th century York-set Soot, reviewed here.

Andrew Martin breathes life into a small section of Paris, taking us strolling through the stylish and sensory arrondissement where Charles lives, as he shuttles between the confines of his life in exile from his apartment to the park, the paper kiosk, the cafe, and back again.

He creates the world of The Winker with fine period detail and close attention to the dire fashions of the day, helping to set the cocky main character of Lee Jones at his ease among the swirling smoke and clamouring bars of seventies Soho, confident that he can control this home environment and almost courting being apprehended.

I particularly enjoyed Lee's interviews with the journalist and thought these provided an insight into his character that I would have been sorry to miss out on. They show a side to Lee that I think we all have to a greater or lesser extent - the need to play the lead role (or be the lead singer) in your own life story (or band) - but which, in Lee's case, he considers to be worthy of nothing short of a celebrity turn.

When he picked up his guitar, I willed him to focus on the new songs he was writing, instead of embarking upon his campaign of terror, but figured that he would have been doing that already, had his songwriting been any good and if it hadn't seemed to find inspiration in his new calling.

It's telling that he chooses to use a coy, playful term, whether taken from a mundane office item or associated more in his mind with the secretive, thrilling undercover world of espionage, it's unclear, to describe something far more deadly. At times, I had to remind myself what it was he was referring to, which made me wonder if this was his way of distancing himself from what it was he was actually doing, while dressing it all up as a game.

I enjoyed the creeping game of cat and mouse that plays out over the course of The Winker, and it was refreshing to have characters who were more mediocre creatures than alpha males. You don't have to like either Lee Jones or Charles Underhill to find one or both of their characters interesting; I not only wanted to follow their story strands to see how they would resolve but also to see how they were connected.

The payoff doesn't come until the very end of the book but it's well worth the wait when it does; in particular, the way Charles' part in all of this is concluded gave me goosebumps, from the cold, practically glacial, way in which one of his relatives reacts to what he's doing.

The Winker is like a less glamorous Seventies version of a bitter but relatable middle-aged British Ripley, with flares and a fluffed soundtrack, and I loved it for that.

I usually don't comment on the artwork of a book, but I find this incredibly creepy for some reason, and this feeds into the increasingly ominous atmosphere in this exquisite piece of historical crime fiction. I guess the cover is befitting of the period in which the story is set — Circa 1976 — it follows the exploits of three particular men — Lee Jones and Charles Underhill, one with evil intentions and the other with a dark, dirty past to hide, and a third, Howard Miller, who exists more on the periphery. We journey with Lee as he continues to rack up kills without barely blinking an eye or thinking about the innocent lives he's snuffed out and follow Charles as we learn about the incident which led to his self-imposed exile from UK shores. As their paths cross a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues.

The Winking Killer is an absorbing and refreshingly original thriller and the richly-imagined 70s decade is vivid and a joy to behold. Martin's narrative immerses you in the music, food, fashion and culture of the time and from that point onwards I was completely consumed and continued to read it all in a single sitting. It is a slow burn novel and builds tension beautifully until it's almost stifling. Martin is also to be lauded for complex characters who inhabit his world superbly and are both flawed and human. It is a compulsive and gripping read with many interconnected layers to the plot and it's easy to blast through a considerable number of pages without even noticing and would be for anyone interested in unique crime fiction. Many thanks to Corsair for an ARC.

I loved this book: the engrossing and gripping plot, the vivid description of the 70s and the amazing character development were the element that made me love it and kept me hooked till the last page.
This is not a fast paced book, it takes time but it never bores as you get involved in the character life and their actions.
This is one the best book I read this year and I'm happy I requested it because I discovered a very good writer.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This is a literary crime novel, with a real sense of place and time. It centres around three characters, moving mainly between 1976 London and Nice, with trips to Oxford and Paris. Firstly, we have Lee Jones, past member of group, Picture Show, who recorded one album, in 1971, as well as two singles but had no hits... With success having eluded him, Lee lives a life of imaginary delusion, keeping in touch with only one former member of the band, who now works as a music journalist. Now, Lee has a new project, which will take him out onto the streets of Seventies London, looking for a different type of fame.

In Paris, we have Englishman, Charles Underhill; living in self-exile in France, after an event which took place while he was a student at Oxford. On holiday in Nice, Underhill comes across Howard Miller, who is trying to write his second novel. Needing money, he agrees to do a task for Charles, relating to his past. We follow Howard as he travels back to England and becomes involved with Lee Jones.

This is a really interesting novel. All three characters are defined by their failure. Lee Jones is, perhaps, the most obvious, but Charles is always aware that his past may come back to haunt him, while Howard also feels that his career is not going the way he wants. Trying to convince his father he is actually achieving something, while bashing away on a typewriter, makes him feel something of a fraud. In a sense, the crime aspect of the novel is less important than the interactions of the characters, which is what makes you read on. I also loved the imaginary journalist, who follows Lee Jones on his adventures around London. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

Andrew Martin's 1970s set historical crime fiction immerses the reader in the music and culture of the time, capturing the period with panache, with the heavy smoky London pubs and the unforgettable fashion that defines the era. It is 1976, and minor rock band, Picture Show, consisting of principle songwriter and vocalist, Lee Jones, and band members, Geoff Hudson, Crispin Philips, Bob Barton, are vaguely known for their biggest hit, Perplexity Jane. Jones, an ex-public school boy, arrogant, narcissistic, flamboyant dresser, is bitter and frustrated that he is not more famous, and receiving the adulation that he is so deserving of. He has plans to address this, becoming famous, by defying the obligations of morality and conventionality. Dressing in a ostentatious green suit that brings out the striking bright green of his eyes, and flashy sunglasses, he winks at a woman, and so begins his path towards notoriety, as the wink becomes his trademark. He is to forge a path, performing his star turn, that will ensure he is front page news. The novel shifts locations, from London, Paris, Nice and to Oxford.

In Paris, wealthy Englishman, Charles Underhill, lives with mother, Syl, receiving some unsettling postcards depicting scenes from Oxford. In the 1050s, Charles had been at Oxford University, joining in the party games, he is a man of secrets that led to him departing from the university early, as he and Syl left for Paris. He thinks he knows who is behind the postcards, the postcards that hint of a past coming back to haunt him. He leaves Paris for a stay in Nice, where he meets Howard Miller, financially cash strapped, staying rent free at an apartment owned by his publisher, whilst ostensibly writing his second crime novel. Miller's crime debut, Marsh, has made little impact when it comes to sales. After meeting little known film director, Fabien, Miller agrees to take a tiny film role as an Englishman with car, despite the cliche ridden script, for a small fee. He is drawn into doing a job for Charles that has him travelling to London and Oxford. There is no way Charles is going to allow his past to be revealed, he is going to protect his future, whatever it takes.

Martin is not a fast paced writer of historical crime fiction, he favours the capturing of a historical era and the creation of characters that catch your interest, their foibles, their complex interior lives, their behaviour and the acts that define them. Lee is a larger than life creation, warped and slightly unhinged, for whom reality is rather blurred. This is underlined with the constant appearances of Abi, who interviews Lee as his infamy begins to unfold. There is a certain glee expressed by Charles as he at long last frees himself of the constraints that have hidden for so long who he really is. Martin's depiction of the moves and interactions between Charles and Lee, along with the crime writer, Miller, that is the highlight of this novel. This is a fabulously compulsive read, I loved the portrayal of the 1970s, the music scene, the sexual fluidity, and the creation of characters that feel instrinsically part of that particular time period. Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.