The Interrogation

LAVISH PRAISE FOR
THOMAS H. COOK’S

THE INTERROGATION

“TIME IS A SILENT, LOOMING CHARACTER IN
THE INTERROGATION.
… A GREAT STORY TICKS ALONG RELENTLESSLY TO A SURPRISING CONCLUSION.” —
The Wall Street Journal

“AN INCREDIBLY INTENSE READ, CULMINATING IN A TRUE SHOCKER OF AN ENDING.”
—Booklist

“Compelling … The Edgar-winning Cook makes the most of that brief period of time, not only braiding the intricate elements of the crime but laying open the secretive, troubled lives of [his] characters…. Down to the cleverly hatched, melancholy ending, COOK AGAIN TAKES READERS DOWN A DARK, TREACHEROUS ROAD INTO THE HEART OF HUMAN FALLIBILITY AND STRUGGLE.”
—Publishers Weekly

“BRILLIANT! A MELANCHOLY, BEAUTIFUL and—above all—SUSPENSEFUL meditation on guilt and the nature of time.”
—Time Out New York

“A TAUT AND TENSE PROCEDURAL THAT TAKES READERS ON AN UNEXPECTEDLY EXCITING RIDE AS IT RACES TOWARDS ITS CLIMAX … This one gets better and better the deeper it goes.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“DARK AND ENTHRALLING … COOK’S COMPLICATED BOOK IS A KEEPER.”
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram

PLACES IN THE DARK

“With its passionate characters, compelling family-driven narrative and surprising conclusion,
Places
presents irrefutable evidence that it sometimes pays not to be afraid of the dark.”
—People

“[The story] is swept along by Cook’s artistry, his insights into broken people, his austere imagery of the barren landscapes that attract them.”
—The New York Times

“Cook writes very well; his tone is sad, even foreboding, yet almost elegiac, as he weaves … an intricate fabric of tragedy.”
—The Boston Globe

“A serpentine tale of long-buried secrets leading to murder and betrayal … Reminiscent of John Fowles’
The French Lieutenant’s Woman.”
—The Orlando Sentinel

“A strong, suspenseful story … Cook accomplishes what he consistently does so superbly: He sets the tone, creates characters, [and] engages the reader.”
—The Houston Chronicle

“Mr. Cook springs his share of effective plot surprises…. Maybe the greatest is the wonderfully redemptive ending.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“Skillfully blends flashbacks with current action and his deftly drawn characters invoke both empathy and pity. In sum, a splendid performance by a gifted artist.”
—The San Diego Union-Tribune

INSTRUMENTS OF NIGHT

“[A] once-in-a-lifetime masterpiece.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Probably no other suspense writer takes readers as deeply into the heart of darkness as Cook…. As always, Cook’s prose is precise, his storytelling slow and deliberate. This is one powerful story.”
—Chicago Tribune

“Although it’s easy to miss the very real clues that Cook drops so artfully into the story, there’s no ignoring his savage imagery, or escaping the airless chambers of his disturbing imagination.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“Cook’s last book,
The Chatham School Affair
, won the 1997 Edgar Award for best novel, and his haunting new one,
Instruments of Night
, could be a contender…. The denouement took me by surprise and disturbed me for days.”
—Los Angeles Times

“An enthralling tale that cannily uses elements of the Gothic thriller.”
—The Seattle Times/Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“Hypnotic prose and fresh scenarios set [Cook’s] suspenseful fiction apart…. If you’ve not yet been haunted by a Thomas Cook novel, now is a fine time to start.”
—Star Tribune, Minneapolis

“Cook teases readers throughout the narrative with tantalizing bits from Graves’ own past…. But he also saves the best—and most shocking revelations—until practically the last page.”
—The Orlando Sentinel

THE CHATHAM SCHOOL AFFAIR

EDGAR AWARD WINNER FOR BEST NOVEL

“A seductive book.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“Cook is a master, precise and merciless, at showing the slow-motion shattering of families and relationships….
The Chatham School Affair
ranks with his best.”
—Chicago Tribune

“Intelligent … compassionate … surprising.”
—The Boston Sunday Globe

“Cook uses the genre to open a window onto the human condition…. Literate, compelling … Events accelerate with increasing force, but few readers will be prepared for the surprise that awaits at novel’s end.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Powerful, engaging, and deeply moving … highly recommended.”
—Booklist

“A
remarkable novel of memory and buried secrets.”
—The Armchair Detective

“Thomas Cook is an artist, a philosopher, and a magician; his story is spellbinding.”
—The Drood Review of Mystery

“Cook is one of the most lyrical of today’s novelists. His prose flows effortlessly, yet beneath its rhythm Cook’s characters perform the most shocking and deadly of deeds…. An extraordinary writer.”
—Sun, Calgary, Alberta

“Transfixing suspense.”
—Booknews from The Poisoned Pen

EVIDENCE OF BLOOD

“In [his] previous novels … Cook has shown himself to be a writer of poetic gifts, constantly pushing against the presumed limits of crime fiction…. In this fine new book, he has gone to the edge, and survived triumphantly.”
—Charles Champlin, Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Gripping southern drama, with its byzantine family trees, old wives’ tales, and overheated memories.”
—Kirkus Reviews

BREAKHEART HILL

“Haunting, lyrical … a mesmerizing tale of love and betrayal.”
—Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine

“Intense … Impossible to put down.”
—Rendezvous

“Cook has crafted a novel of stunning power, with a climax that is so unexpected the reader may think he has cheated. But there is no cheating here, only excellent storytelling.”
—Booklist

“Cook’s writing is distinguished by finely cadenced prose, superior narrative skills, and the author’s patient love for the doomed characters who are the object of his attention…. Highly recommended.”
—Library Journal (starred review)

MORTAL MEMORY

“Cook builds a family portrait in which violence seems both impossible and inevitable. One of
[Mortal Memory’s]
greatest accomplishments is the way it defies expectations … surprising and devastating.”
—Chicago Tribune

“Haunting … Don’t pick this up unless you’ve got time to read it through … because you will do so whether you plan to or not.”
—Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine

MORE PRAISE FOR THOMAS H. COOK

“Cook’s night visions, seen through a lens darkly, are haunting.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“A
gifted novelist, intelligent and compassionate.”
—Joyce Carol Oates, The New York Review of Books

ALSO BY THOMAS H. COOK

FICTION
Peril
Places in the Dark
Instruments of Night
The Chatham School Affair
Breakheart Hill
Mortal Memory
Evidence of Blood
The City When It Rains
Night Secrets
Streets of Fire
Flesh and Blood
Sacrificial Ground
The Orchids
Tabernacle
Elena
Blood Innocents

NONFICTION
Early Graves
Blood Echoes

FOR OTTO PENZLER

Though we talk of all Time smothers,

And all that Age affrights,

Yet with joy in one another,

Laugh through these New York nights.

City/Autumn/1941

The morning headlines reported that the Germans were closing in on Leningrad, but Detective Norman Cohen was focused on the more immediate task of cracking a murderer. He knew in his heart that Klemper had strangled Martha Dodd thirty-six hours before and he planned to prove it.

Jack Pierce entered the detective bull pen, humming “Chattanooga Choo-Choo.”

“So how’s the new father?” Cohen asked.

“Sixteen hours, twenty-three minutes, and four seconds old,” Pierce replied, glancing at his Timex. “We named her Debra.” He glanced down the corridor toward Interrogation Room 3. “I saw Klemper cooling his heels in Room 3. This trap of yours better work.”

Cohen saw the door of Martha Dodd’s apartment, the velvety white flowers that twined from the wooden trellis beside it. “It’ll work,” he answered confidently. “You know why?” He gave Pierce a thumbs-up. “Because we, my friend, are the good guys.”

Pierce laughed and hung his hat and coat on the wooden rack just inside the door. “I’m ready.”

Cohen glanced at the clock. Six fifty-eight
A.M.
“Okay. Let’s do it.”

“Ready.”

They walked together up the corridor to Interrogation Room 3.

Klemper was seated at a square wooden table, back erect, hands folded neatly before him. “How long will this take?” he asked, smiling genially when the two detectives entered. “I have to be at work by eight.”