Welsh - Death is a Welcome Guest: Plague Times Trilogy 2

Praise for A Lovely Way to Burn

I was with Louise Welshs gutsy gripping heroine Stevie Flint every terrifying step of the way. Kirsty Wark, author of The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle

I read it in two sittings, pausing only to sleep and dream about it. Gripping, perfectly paced and beautifully written. Erin Kelly, author of The Poison Tree

A terrifying journey into the possible, this is dystopia for today. Feral, frightening and fascinating, A Lovely Way to Burn gripped and chilled me in equal measure. Val McDermid

This intelligent thriller creates an alarmingly convincing picture of London on the brink of disintegration; it reminds us how fragile we are. Andrew Taylor, The Spectator

Ive felt for a while that we are in the mood for an intelligent slice of London-based dystopia, and I think Louise Welsh has cracked it with A Lovely Way to Burn... it kept me up all night nervously turning the pages. Cathy Rentzenbrink, Bookseller

The London of the novel at once recalls sci-fi dystopia, Dantes Inferno and accounts of the 1665 great plague... Welshs plot is ably handled... She has in Stevie... an engaging, stroppy heroine. Sunday Times

A thrillingly dystopian mystery... Its a fine setup, and Stevie is a strong character, a forthright blend of sales sass and reporter brass. Welsh is particularly good at describing the institutional and social disorder that accompanies the outbreak of the sweats. Guardian

This is a novel rich in the kind of iridescent word painting that has long been Welshs speciality, and the vulnerable, often maladroit Stevie is a wonderful protagonist. Independent

Welsh plays brilliantly on our worst fears, and the pace never lets up. Seriously scary. The Times

Scary, shocking and touching by turns, this apocalyptic thriller will enthrall. I havent been so buried in a book in a while. Irish Independent

Suspenseful and intelligent dystopian fiction. Welsh writes snappily and with filmic precision... Her setting, vivid and initially familiar, grows increasingly alien as the crisis worsens. Sunday Business Post

Welsh develops a fantastically written mystery which keeps you hanging on to every word... A must read, which will leave you dreamingor having nightmaresof apocalyptic London for weeks. Irish Examiner

The writer [Louise Welsh] reminds me of most is Ian McEwan: both specialize in secrets, rather chilly sexuality, sudden reversals of fortune, and uneasy intimations of doom... A Lovely Way to Burn is superb popular fictiona box-set waiting to happen. Independent on Sunday

Louise Welsh writes elegantly and has visualized London in extremis with immense and detailed clarity. Literary Review

The relentlessly taut suspense of A Lovely Way to Burn still lingers on my psyche. Such an apocalyptic crisis does not seem improbable and heres hoping freakishly foul weather and tube strikes are not an omen of things to come. Stylist

A propulsive read, written in lean sentences and snappy cliffhanging chapters... Most impressive of all is the Scottish writers evocation of a London that, with a Dickensian swagger, emerges as a pulsating untamable beast in its own right. Metro

You know youre in for a seriously chilling read in this apocalyptic thriller when three very unlikely killersan MP, a hedge fund manager and a vicargo on a murderous rampage in the sweltering capital. Marie Claire

A scary vision of London falling apart thats addictively readable. Saga

A tense, claustrophobic medical whodunit with an apocalyptic tone that cranks the stakes ever higher. Herald

The descriptions of London and society unraveling into chaos are utterly compelling and scarily realistic... Great if you like tense thrillers. Heat

A taut thriller so involving that I missed my bus stop! Woman & Home

A brilliantly imaginative thriller with a compelling heroine and well-paced plot that keeps the tension high. Hello

Also by Louise Welsh

The Cutting Room

The Bullet Trick

Naming the Bones

Tamburlaine Must Die

The Girl on the Stairs

A Lovely Way to Burn

New York London

2016 by Louise Welsh

First published in the United States by Quercus in 2016

Cover photograph Marhieu Jouve-Villard

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e-ISBN 978-1-68144-453-6

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, institutions, places, and events are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual personsliving or deadevents, or locales is entirely coincidental.

www.quercus.com

For my nephew Zack Welsh