Polygon’s senior editor Alison Rae has acquired World rights (including audio) for four novels in a 1920s crime thriller series by Allan Gaw: The Silent House of Sleep, The Moon’s More Feeble Fire, To the Shades Descend and The Shadows and the Dust. The first novel, which was self-published and only available as print on demand, won the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize 2024.
Bloody Scotland judge, BBC arts correspondent Pauline McLean described The Silent House of Sleep as ‘heartbreaking and harrowing in equal measure. Dr Jack Cuthbert is a brilliant, damaged genius you’ll want to follow to hell and back.’
Editor Alison Rae said, ‘After hearing Allan Gaw reading at the Bloody Scotland Crime Debut event, I fell, hard, for Scottish pathologist Dr Jack Cuthbert. He is a unique protagonist – haunted and charismatic – and the undertow of damage done to those who served in the First World War is expertly handed. Allan’s background in pathology lends authenticity; his research is meticulous.’
No one who meets Dr Jack Cuthbert forgets him. Tall, urbane, brilliant but damaged, this Scottish pathologist who works with Scotland Yard is the best the new D.C.I. has seen. But Cuthbert is a man who lives with secrets, and he still battles demons brought back from the trenches. When not one but two corpses are discovered in a London park in 1929, Cuthbert must use every tool at his disposal to solve the mystery of their deaths. In the end, the horrifying truth is more shocking than even he could have imagined.
‘Winning the Bloody Scotland Debut Novel Award was thrilling, but now I’m delighted to have the opportunity to share my work more widely by working with the exceptional team at Polygon.’
Allan Gaw, author
Allan Gaw studied medicine at Glasgow University and trained as a pathologist. Having worked in the NHS and universities in the UK and the US, he took early retirement and now devotes his time to writing. His published non-fiction works include medical textbooks and magazine articles on topics as diverse as the thalidomide story, the medical challenges of space travel and the medico-legal consequences of the Hillsborough disaster.
The Silent House of Sleep, the first Dr Jack Cuthbert mystery, will be published in January 2025.
