The Proof of My Innocence
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4.4 • 5 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A blisteringly funny political critique wrapped up in a murder mystery, from one of Britain’s most beloved novelists
Post-university life doesn’t suit Phyl. Time passes slowly living back home with her parents, working a zero-hour contract serving Japanese food to tourists at Heathrow’s Terminal 5. As for her budding plans of becoming a writer, those are going nowhere.
That is, until family friend Chris comes to stay. He’s been on the path to uncover a sinister think-tank, founded at Cambridge University in the 1980s, that’s been scheming to push the British government in a more extreme direction. One that’s finally poised to put their plans into action. But speaking truth to power can be dangerous—and power will stop at nothing to stay on top.
As Britain finds itself under the leadership of a new Prime Minister whose tenure will only last for seven weeks, Chris pursues his story to a conference being held deep in the Cotswolds, where events take a sinister turn and a murder enquiry is soon in progress. But will the solution to the mystery lie in contemporary politics, or in a literary enigma that is almost forty years old?
Darting between decades and genres, The Proof of My Innocence is a wickedly funny and razor-sharp new novel from one of Britain’s most beloved novelists, showing how the key to understanding the present can often be found in the murkiest corners of the past.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Coe's delectable whodunit (after Bournville) combines shadowy right-wing politics and literary intrigue. It's 2022 and British magazine editor Christopher Swann is on the verge of exposing a right-wing think tank's plot against the National Health Service. After conservative prime minister Liz Truss is sworn in, the think tank holds a conference in an English country house, which Swann attends. There, he's mortally attacked, leaving behind a cryptic note. On the case is Pru Freeborne, an eccentric DI who's about to retire. What follows are three novels within the novel, in the respective styles of a cozy mystery, dark academia, and autofiction. In them, the murderer's identity, method, and motive vary, as Pru explores whether Swann was killed for having dirt on the conference attendees and their nefarious plot. Added to the mix is Phyl, an aspiring writer and recent university graduate who met Swann shortly before his death, while he was visiting Phyl's parents. As Phyl goes down a rabbit hole, she becomes convinced that Swann's killing is somehow connected to that of long-dead author Peter Cockerill (a reclusive Cockerill expert had also attended the conference and might have had his own reason to silence Swann). Coe's metatextual games are as fun as the caper plot. This is a blast.
