In the winter of 1993, top investigative journalist Clare Woodbrook goes missing on the eve of unveiling her biggest story.
Her researcher, Danny Churchill, sets out to find her, aided by his flatmate – fashion photographer Anna Burgin.
But they are not alone in trying to find Clare.
Danny and Anna embark upon on an explosive trail of murder, intrigue and police corruption, and as the stakes rise, so the hunters become the hunted.
The first reviews are in:
“I LOVE IT. You’ve done an amazing job!!! It zips along beautifully.”
“A well-crafted, enjoyable book… The characters are strong (particularly Anna, whose narration is great). Dialogue is a particular strong point. The writing is punchy, with lots of terrific lines. I particularly like the period detail and the atmospheric depiction of a pre-internet newspaper office; elements like these make it stand out from the crowd of generic thrillers.”
“Very gripping.”
Packed with intrigue, twists, conspiracies, and dark humour, Cold Press is a hugely entertaining mystery set in 1993. It’s the debut novel by British writer David Bradwell, and the first in the Anna Burgin series of mystery thrillers.
Clare Woodbrook is the enigmatic head of the Special Investigations Department at Britain’s leading daily tabloid. Her exposés are legendary, but she’s not without her enemies. Now, on the verge of unveiling her biggest ever scoop, she arranges to meet her researcher Danny Churchill, to reveal all over lunch.
But Clare never shows, and later that night her car is found abandoned on the hard shoulder of the M25. Worse still, the police investigation is being headed up by DCI Graham March – the embodiment of police corruption and the subject of one of Clare’s current investigations.
Danny sets out to find Clare, and enlists the help of his spiky flatmate – fashion photographer Anna Burgin. But they soon realise that nobody can be trusted – especially the police. As the search becomes ever more desperate, suddenly their own lives are very much on the line.
David Bradwell is a former winner of the PPA British Magazine Writer of the Year Award and has written for publications as diverse as Smash Hits and the Sunday Times. Cold Press is his first novel.
