Press Release By Robert W. Walker

CITY OF THE ABSENT
The issue of Press Releases came up in discussion groups I am on,and many people do not know that a press release is something that must have all the pertinent information about the book or event and contact information readily at the top of the article. A good title helps excite interest, and try desperately to have no typos or grammatical errors. For those who have no clue and for those who do, I am placing my most recent Press Release from Harper Books, which I had input on, here as FYI. I hope this helps clarify what a release ought to carry and what it ought to look like.


Publicity Contact: Danielle Bartlett, 212.207.7011, danielle.bartlett@harpercollins.com

“…historical mystery at its best.” — Chicago Tribune


Master of suspense and electrifying terror,
Robert W. Walker returns with a dark, atmospheric mystery set during the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
CITY OF THE ABSENT
Celebrated for his haunting tales of suspense and terror, Robert W. Walker has carved out a new frontier in historical mystery with his Inspector Alastair Ransom series. The Ransom series, set in late 19th century Chicago, chronicles a time before CSI teams, DNA testing or fingerprinting had become mainstays in police procedure.

In CITY OF THE ABSENT (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, On Sale November 27, 2007, ISBN: 9780060740122, $7.99), Inspector Alastair Ransom and the oddly eccentric Dr. James Phineas Tewes, a phrenologist who reads victims’ last moments through the contours of their scalps, face their most harrowing and personal case yet.

During the final night of the glorious Chicago World’s Fair, Mayor Carter Harrison meets with an assassin’s bullet outside his Ashland Avenue home. Across the city in an alleyway, Pinkerton Detective Nell Hartigan loses her life in a brutal stabbing.

Harrison’s murder sparks riots, but it proves an open and shut case against his attacker. However, Nell’s murder is not so easily solved. Ransom uncovers ties to the highest strata of Chicago society, feeding prejudices about the rich and powerful. William Pinkerton, Nell’s employer, as well as Ransom’s own superiors, will stop at nothing to impede Ransom’s investigation. And when Ransom himself is arrested on charges for multiple murder, Ransom and Tewes must rely on their well-honed detective instincts to locate and prosecute Nell’s killer and clear Ransom’s name in the bargain.

About the Author
Robert W. Walker, an authority on the police procedural genre, is the author of 40 novels. Walker was born in Corinth, Mississippi, raised in Chicago, and currently resides in West Virginia. In between teaching, lecturing and book touring, he is busy tackling his next novel.

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