SLCL Welcomes Crime Fiction Author Alex Grecian Today

The St. Louis County Library Foundation is pleased to present acclaimed crime fiction author Alex Grecian for a discussion and signing of his latest thriller "The Black Country" tonight, May 30, at 7:00 p.m. at Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd.

The program is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase at the event from Barnes & Noble.

Scotland Yard's Murder Squad returns with an extraordinary new case by the author of the highly acclaimed historical thriller "The Yard."

The inhabitants of the British Midlands call it the "Black Country," and with good reason. Bad things can happen there. When three members of a prominent family disappear from the coal-mining village of Blackhampton in the Midlands - and a human eyeball is discovered in a bird's nest - the local constable sends for help from Scotland Yard's new Murder Squad.

Sir Edward Bradford sends Inspector Walter Day and Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith, fresh off the grisly murders of "The Yard," and they quickly realize they've stepped into something much more bizarre and complicated than they thought. The villagers have very intense, intertwined histories. Everybody bears a secret. Superstitions abound, especially a local legend about a monster that some of them claim they've seen. Added to that, a flu outbreak is killing off some of the inhabitants and the village itself is slowing sinking into the mines below it.

The policemen soon realize they, too, may be in over their heads, and not even the arrival of forensics pioneer Dr. Bernard Kingsley seems to help. In fact, the more the three of them investigate, the more they realize that they may never be allowed to leave.

After leaving a career in advertising, working on accounts that included Harley-Davidson and The Great American Smokeout, Alex Grecian returned to his first love: writing fiction. He created the long-running and critically acclaimed graphic novel series "Proof," which NPR named one of the best books of 2009. One of the "Proof" storylines is set in the 1800s and inspired Grecian's debut novel "The Yard," a critically-acclaimed, national bestseller.

Program sites are accessible. Upon two weeks notice, accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities. Contact St. Louis County Library by phone 314-994-3300 or visit http://www.slcl.org.

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