Hostage to Death

A perfectly planned and orchestrated bank heist, suddenly turns into a deadly siege…

Unable to control the hostages, a woman starts to scream.

In the midst of this chaos, a silent alarm is triggered causing the criminals to be surrounded by the local police force.

With no option but to surrender, the mastermind behind the robbery has one last idea to ensure success.

During the aftermath, Bill Steen, a worker at the bank, discovers the deceit.

Hiding in plain view, the missing money is within his grasp.

At home, his wife is battling with severe asthma which regularly requires hospitalisation.

The cure? Relocate to a new home, ideally abroad, clear of the inner city smog.

Bill is tempted. But is the temptation enough to expedite his lifelong dream to relieve his wife of her suffering?

It will certainly cost him his conscience, potentially a lengthy prison sentence and maybe even his life.

But it would save hers…

And Bill can’t stop himself wondering – which choice is the right one?

Hostage to Death is a thrilling crime novel, complete with surprising twists in every chapter.

Praise for Roderic Jeffries

‘Jeffries’ fresh twists and excellent characterizations make any novel by him an exciting reading experience.’ — San Francisco Chronicle

‘…a stubbornly appealing, believable hero and a neat ironic twist at the close.’ – Kirkus Reviews

‘A first-rate whodunit turning on the resourcefulness of a country gentleman who exploits the process of the law to delay its action. Author on the top of his legal and social form.' - Francis Goff, Sunday Telegraph

‘Tension builds up and there are two exciting court scenes. Roderic Jeffries established a very high reputation for himself in the field of the legal thriller with Exhibit No. Thirteen and Dead Against the Lawyers. Once again he has used a little known quirk of the law, and woven round it an enthralling story of immense intricacy.’ - Maurice Richardson, Observer

‘The resulting legal intricacies make fascinating reading.' - Hester Makeig, - Spectator

'First-class, smoothly told, fine court scenes and sketches of lawyers entirely absorbing.' - John Clarke, Evening Standard

‘The most ingenious of Mr. Jeffries's exercises in legal trickery.' - Julian Symons, Sunday Times

'Good court scenes; very competent.' - Peter Dickinson, Punch

'...is for the mystery story connoisseur and particularly the man who can appreciate this ingenious exercise in legal trickery.' - Police World

Roderic Jeffries was born in London in 1926 and went to sea in 1943. Six years later he left that trade to become a lawyer. He again changed profession to become a writer. Since 1951, he has written over one hundred and sixty novels under his own name and several other pseudonyms. He began his career by writing books featuring his father’s character, Blackshirt, a popular detective whose adventures have appeared in print for many decades. In time Jeffries branched out and began to write a variety of mystery novels under his own name and several pen names, including Peter Alding and Jeffrey Ashford.