‘Foretold by Thunder’ by E M Davey

Published by Duckworth Overlook,
2 July 2015.  ISBN 978 0 7156 4993 0

About 5 people in the UK are killed annually by lightning, so when Professor Roger Britton is killed in this way as he rushes along The Strand, it merits an item in the evening paper – particularly as he has written papers on the ancient belief in interpreting the future through omens such as lightning bolts.  He had, that morning, contacted Jake Wolsey, about an article Jake had written on some newly declassified WW2 documents, which included a note that Churchill had scheduled a meeting with the head of MI6 on ‘the ancient Etruscan matter’ - Prof Britton suggested that he might have some information on something rather big.

Jake meets Prof Britten’s attractive research assistant Florence and, despite his initial opinion that Prof Britton was a nutter, ends up racketing around Europe and Africa with her in search of the answer to the puzzle of Churchill’s note.  They attract the attention of MI6 and other shadowy groups and Jake becomes less and less sure who he can trust.  The story develops at a sustained pace as he tries to understand the clues left by ancient Etruscan texts and has to make decisions that could have catastrophic consequences.  Is it possible that the beliefs of an ancient world still have relevance in the 21^st century?

This E M Davey’s first novel and he has blended ancient and recent history, fact and fiction into a fast-moving and exciting adventure story.

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Reviewer:  Jo Hesslewood

Edward M. Davey is a 32-year-old journalist at the BBC specialising in undercover investigative journalism. He grew up in Bristol and lives in south London. He studied history at the London School of Economics and cut his journalistic teeth at the Islington Gazette When not working he enjoys travel to far-flung and occasionally dangerous spots to research his fiction, and just for the heck of it. He has backpacked forty-four countries (and counting), including somewhat hairy environs such as the Congo, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and Burundi.. At the BBC he has written for the national website, produced programmes on the World Service and is currently an investigative reporter/producer at BBC London. History – particularly classical history –has been his lifelong passion.

http://emdavey.com

Jo Hesslewood.  Crime fiction has been my favourite reading material since as a teenager I first spotted Agatha Christie on the library bookshelves.  For twenty-five years the commute to and from London provided plenty of reading time.  I am fortunate to live in Cambridge, where my local crime fiction book club, Crimecrackers, meets at Heffers Bookshop .  I enjoy attending crime fiction events and currently organise events for the Margery Allingham Society.