Seventeen Coffins

Crow Boy #2

by Philip Caveney

After his nightmarish adventures in Mary King's Close in Crow Boy, Tom Afflick is drawn back to Edinburgh. At the National Museum of Scotland, he sees the eight tiny coffins that were discovered on Arthur's Seat in 1836 - one of the city's most intriguing mysteries. After a violent confrontation with his stepfather, Tom finds himself spinning back in time again, to the year 1828, where the peril comes not from bubonic plague but from a series of unexplained disappearances. Lost and confused, Tom seeks refuge in Tanner's Close as the guest of two of the city's most infamous inhabitants - But even two hundred years after the events of Crow Boy, he cannot escape the vengeful pursuit of bogus plague doctor, William McSweeny. Tom is soon caught up in a desperate struggle for survival - and the mystery of the tiny coffins is finally solved.

Genres: Historical Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 22, 2014

About the author

Philip Caveney was born in North Wales in 1951. The son of an RAF officer, he spent much of his childhood travelling the length and breadth of Britain and spent several years in Malaysia and Singapore.

He attended the Kelsterton College Of Art where he obtained a diploma in Graphic Design. Whilst there, he became drummer (and latterly vocalist) with rock band, Hieronymus Bosch.

After leaving college, he worked extensively in theatre both in London and Wales and wrote the lyrics for rock adaptations of The Workhouse Donkey and Oscar Wilde’s Salome.

His first novel, The Sins Of Rachel Ellis, was published in 1976.

Published Works for Adults

The Sins Of Rachel Ellis: St Martin’s Press/ Robert Hale/Berkeley Press. ‘a spine chilling debut.’ – Doubleday Book Club magazine
Tiger Tiger – ‘ St Martin’s Press/Granada ‘…an intriguing tale of rivalry and honour ‘– Flintshire Chronicle
The Tarantula Stone – Granada - ‘breathtaking action.’ Kirkus
Cursery Rhymes Cornerhouse Books– ‘wickedly funny’ – City Life
Speak No Evil – Headline/Headline Review/ ‘cracking summer reading.’ City Life
Black Wolf – Headline/ Headline Review/ nominated for WH Smith Thumping Good Read award.
Strip Jack Naked – Headline/Headline Review - ‘a triumphant thriller’ - Evening Post
Slayground – Headline/Headline Review ‘,,, breakneck pace’ – Daily Mirror
Skin Flicks – Headline/headline Review – ‘Caveney uses the central image with considerable skill’ – Sunday Times
Burn Down Easy – Headline/Headline Review – ‘the fiction equivalent of standing on Semtex’ – Pure Fiction
Bad To The Bone – Headline/ Headline Review ’10 little Indians on speed!’ Tangled web
1999 – Headline/Headline Review ‘more than just a return to form.’ City Life
Love Bites – Xlibris – ‘a frighteningly funny read!’ Tregolwyn reviews.

Published works for Children

Cursery Rhymes(with Bob Seal) (Cornerhouse Books)
Sebastian Darke - Prince Of Fools (2007) (Random House)
Sebastian Darke: Prince of Pirates (2008) (Random House)

Coming soon…

Sebastian Dark: Prince of Explorers (2009) (Random House)
Alec Devlin: The Eye of The Serpent (2008) (Random House)
Alec Devlin: The Kingdom of the Skull (2009) (Random House)

He wrote the screenplay for the short film Dream Factory, directed by Philip Davenport and has recently written his first full-length screenplay The Sick House for director Curtis Radclyffe.

He is also an advertising copywriter and has been the co-ordinator for the Manchester Writers Workshop for over twenty five years.

Reviews

[Carly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really struggled finishing this book but did persevere with it. I love the idea of him meeting Burke and Hare and worked out early on that it was them. I was really disappointed with the story arch and felt that it was very similar to the first book with the way the story progressed - Tom bumps his head and goes back into the past, meets a nice character he gets friendly with, runs into McSweeney who tries to murder him a few times, nice character dies, Tom gets away from McSweeney again and returns to his own time. I felt the characters were a little 2D and there was no development. I felt Tom was more immature in this book and felt a bit annoyed with his use of slang when this was evident in the first book, I feel having already travelled into the past once he should’ve had more of an awareness of terminology and behaviours etc.

I did like the little nod to Cat at the end and what she made of her life, I feel like that ended the book on a positive note.

I don’t think I will be reading the third book in the series.

[Caroline Doab · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore these stories and Tom has fast become one of my favourite characters of all time. I love the history in these also. Philip has a great way of making history come to life. On to the other third book

[Julie Dehn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for 10 /11 yr old with an interest in Scottish history

[Susan Olding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed it but reminded me too much of a similarly themed Ian Rankin novel.

[Vincent Ripley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review will be posted on blog first. http://www.mrripleysenchantedbooks.com/

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant - great read

[David Milmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this — relatively easy read ....good structure and interest retention. No spots that made me want to be finished ....it kept me very engaged right thru.