Shadow of the Rock by Thomas Mogford

Shadow of the Rock by Thomas Mogford

A humid summer night on the heights of Gibraltar. Lawyer Spike Sanguinetti finds Solomon Hassan, an old school friend, waiting on his doorstep. Accused of murdering a Spanish girl in Tangiers, Solomon swears his innocence. He has managed to skip across the Straits but the Moroccan authorities demand his return.

Spike travels to Tangiers in the hope of delaying the extradition. Solomon's boss, Nadeer--the founder of a renewable-energy company called Dunetech that is on the verge of financing an enormous solar-powered site in the Sahara--suggests that if Spike can delay Solomon's trial until after the deal is signed, he will persuade the governor of Tangiers to bury the extradition demand. Complicating this offer, Spike encounters a Bedouin girl who insists that Dunetech is engaged in a nefarious scheme linked to the disappearance of her father. As Spike uncovers the truth, he finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a world of secrets, corruption, and murderous lies.

Skillfully evoking the exotic landscapes and complicated politics of Gibraltar and Morocco, Shadow of the Rock marks the arrival of a compelling new voice in crime fiction.

Thomas Mogford earned a postgraduate diploma in law from City University, London, after studying modern languages at the University of Oxford. He works as a translator and reporter for ITV Sport. The first book in the series, Shadow of the Rock, was released in 2012. Publishers Weekly described an early book featuring Spike Sanguinetti as an intriguing, addictive mystery, and it reached the semifinals of the 2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Mogford is married and lives in London with his family.