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Preview
  • The Mercy Chair

  • Washington Poe, Book 6
  • By: M. W. Craven
  • Narrated by: John Banks
  • Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (254 ratings)

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The Mercy Chair

By: M. W. Craven
Narrated by: John Banks
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Summary

'Mesmerising, macabre and magnificent. The Mercy Chair is truly terrifying, laugh-out-loud funny, and impossibly clever. Poe and Tilly are unstoppable' Chris Whitaker

'Washington Poe is a brilliant creation, from one of the finest and most inventive crime writers of today' Peter James

----

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin . . .

Washington Poe has a story to tell.

And he needs you to listen.

You'll hear how it started with the robber birds. Crows. Dozens of them. Enough for a murder . . .

He'll tell you about a man who was tied to a tree and stoned to death, a man who had tattooed himself with a code so obscure, even the gifted analyst Tilly Bradshaw struggled to break it. He'll tell you how the man's murder was connected to a tragedy that happened fifteen years earlier when a young girl massacred her entire family.

And finally, he'll tell you about the mercy chair. And why people would rather kill themselves than talk about it . . .

Poe hopes you've been paying attention. Because in this story, nothing is as it seems . . .

----

'Craven renders the darkness of the human condition with immense skill, ratcheting the tension to a nails-on-chalkboard pitch. Don't turn out the lights.' Vaseem Khan

©2024 M. W. Craven (P)2024 Hachette Audio UK
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What listeners say about The Mercy Chair

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Gripping, enthralling. Best Tilly and Poe yet

Amazing and gripping. I couldn’t stop listening. As usual the twists and turns of the story didn’t disappoint. It’s the best work yet for the Tilly and Poe books. I urge those who haven’t read the series to do so. It’s an excellent read for any crime novel fans.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Didn’t see that coming…

The Mercy Chair. Well worth the wait ( but now I am waiting for the next one)
Pretty gruesome in places but that’s fairly normal for a Craven book .
Set in Keswick and the Lake District a place I have visited since childhood, I was actually staying on Blencathra street when I was listening to this audio book!
Washington and Tilly go from strength to strength , such an interesting relationship
The plot weaves and turns and the final twist was totally unexpected but leaves a very big question …
Excellently narrated as usual

(Please hurry up with the next book )

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Well worth the wait

Been waiting for another Washington Poe book to come out and didn’t disappoint excellent story
Please keep these coming

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

His best yet!

All the Poe stories are a treat and this is MW Craven’s best book yet. Probably his darkest too, yet still laced through with the trademark humour we’ve come to expect. A proper rollercoaster ride!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story

can't say enough about this great story very hard to listen to sometimes but brilliant

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Best yet

Dark, chilling, disturbing, humorous sad with a fantastic twist , will no doubt be in my top five books of the year

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

It's all about Tilly and Washington for me

It's the first time I have read/listened to an MW Craven book and known a lot of what was coming.
I have never correctly guessed any twists before, never mind all of them but I do love the characters and I think listening to them on kindle adds an entirely new dimension to the experience.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Tilly and Poe at their best

Jeez that was dark - but blooming brilliant I was shouting at my phone when Poe didn’t immediately work out the clues . It was the best one to date , immersive and captivating I loved every page. Thank you Mr Craven!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Awful narration

I nearly didn’t make it past the first few chapters dues to the unnatural stoccato from the reader that could easily have been badly-trained AI. I persevered because I enjoyed the Washington Poe series but it did kid of ruin it for me.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely love these characters and the narrators portrayal Of them - pls write another soon !

It finished too soon ! More Washington and Tilly books soon pls !!! Loved this series - highly recommend….

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