The Enthusiast

The Enthusiast. 

'Peter Hill does a fine job with character, plot, atmosphere and suspense.'

Publishers Weekly

John Williams thought he was alone on the bleak face of Moel Celyn in Snowdonia, Wales, until the first sighting bullet cracked into the rock close beside him, seconds later he was dead… And the police had scarcely begun their investigation when a second victim falls to a rifle shot as accurate and as apparently purposeless as before.

Sent from Scotland Yard after the second killing Chief Superintendent Staunton and his younger associate, Detective Inspector Wyndsor, of the Murder Squad begin quickly to organize their search.

Meanwhile, without being able to identify him, the reader has the eerie and frightening privilege of watching the gunman, as he prepares for his next kills.

It soon becomes apparent that the psychopathic murderer is as enthusiastic and dedicated to his area of expertise as any elite sportsman and that he will kill again and again as he seeks to perfect his skills.

There is a horrifying climax to events in this new Staunton and Wyndsor novel.

The Enthusiast is the third in a series  of murder mysteries written in the 1970s when there were few of the modern aids to detection that are available now. Each one is a stand-alone story with the same major protagonists.

Critical Response Peter's books:

'Lies, gossip, and jealousy fail to deter two of Scotland Yard's finest in this entertaining mystery with an extra twist or two ...or three.'

Pittsburgh Press

'… a pair of attractive investigators—the young and aristocratic Leo Wyndsor and the slow-moving but smart veteran Bob Staunton. . 

New York Times

'I'd like to see Messrs. Staunton and Wyndsor in more books. They're a lot of fun—and they're good detectives.'

Daily Press

Newport News, Virginia

'Exceptionally well told, with satisfying outcome.'

Columbus Sunday Dispatch

'A really good thriller writer...very clever at the way he measures out clues…'

The Daily Telegraph

'Bizarre murder and a full, meaty, thoroughly absorbing account of the investigation...

The Times

'To follow…the brilliantly inspired tracking of Hill's two detectives is a joy, apart from the brainteasing pleasure of accepting the author's challenge to identify the murderer.'

London Evening News

''A really first-class who-dunnit'

Essex Chronicle

'Zippy, intricate Chinese puzzle laid out with high laconic skill…very strong on sinister rituals, seamy metropolitan locations and gut-churning beastliness.'

The Sunday Times

'Very clever, very nasty.'

Marghanita Laski, The Listener

Peter Hill has had a successful career in television working for renowned British drama series such as 'Callan', 'The Sweeney', 'Z Cars', 'Public Eye', 'The Bill', 'Special Branch', 'Crown Court', and 'New Scotland Yard', He has been a scriptwriter, editor and producer both in the UK and New Zealand, where he now lives.

He has recently returned to novel writing,in a different genre, and 'Evolution's Path' is a trilogy of near and far-future novels, which depict a disturbingly realisti viiew of the future. They are, Killing Tomorrow, The Ladies' Game and Procreation.