Graham Brack Books In Order

Publication Order of Josef Slonský Investigations Books

Publication Order of Master Mercurius Mystery Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Graham Brack is a mystery author from Sunderland in the UK that is best known for his “Josef Slonsky Investigation” series. Graham has asserted that he cannot remember a time when he was not writing. However, he has not always been a professional author as he went to Robert Gordon, Aberdeen, where he graduated with a bachelor’s in pharmacy. He then went to the University of Glasgow for his master of philosophy degree in Medical Law and Ethics. Given his background, he has also written on medical law, rugby and soccer though so far he has not had any of his characters poisoned. It was while he was a student at Aberdeen that he met his wife who was also studying to be a pharmacist. Once they graduated from college, they returned to Cornwall and got married. After working as managing director for several companies, he got a job as Head of Communications and Integration at the company Pharmacy Management. He is responsible for all market intelligence, journals, reports, website, cross-fertilizing streams and integration for the company. Graham lives with his wife and children in Northampton shire.

Graham went on a tourist romp in Prague with his wife and was so inspired by the raw beauty of the city. Since he had always wanted to write a mystery fiction series he thought why not set The Josef Slonsky series in Prague. In 2010 he self-published “The Outrageous Behavior of Left-Handed Dwarfs” that proved so popular that it was soon sold out in bookstores. The debut got Brack a High Commendation Debut Dagger Award from the Crime Writers Association of the UK. He then published “The Unreconstructed Man” and “The Allegory of Art and Print” both of which made the shortlist for the Dagger in 2014. It was quite an achievement for a self-published author to make the short-lists for the Crime Writers Association Debut Crime Novel Award and a commendation for one. Lady luck smiled on him, even more, when he was contacted by Sapere Books, an independent small house publisher. The publishing house retitled his self-published debut title into Lying and Dying and he was off to the races as the novel went on to become a bestseller. Graham has never looked back since and his debut spawned the “Josef Slonsky Investigation” series which he then followed up with the debut of the “Master Mercurius Mystery” series in 2020 titled “Death in Delft.” He has also published several short stories in a range of short story collections and anthologies.

Brack’s “Lying and Dying” introduces Lieutenant Josef Slonsky, a Prague detective known for his lack of exercise and bad diet. At the opening of the novel, he is approaching his retirement years and there is nothing he dreads more. In the meantime, he is mentoring a recent graduate named Navratil who seems to have a very idealistic perspective on law enforcement. On their first day working together, they have to investigate a case of a young woman strangled and abandoned by the railway station in the wee hours of the morning. In the grey snow of February, they can immediately deduce that this was not an ordinary robbery given that she some money secreted in a body cavity. The coroner believes she was killed someplace else and body dumped at the station. It is now up to the detectives to find the killers. Their questioning of the homeless near the scene turns up nothing but then they learn that the woman had an affair with the Minister for the Interior. As expected, he pleads his innocence when he is arrested but Slonsky tells his partner that she expected this, given that the man is a politician that is used to lying. Evidence shows that the man is somehow involved in the murder but Slonsky thinks it may be a case of blackmail. To unravel the mystery, he needs to find out who is after the minister but his investigations only rope in another politician and unearths a conspiracy bigger than anything he ever expected.

“Slaughter and Forgetting,” the second novel of the “Josef Slonský Investigations” series by Graham Brack is the story of the reopening of a cold case. Some higher-ups are wary about the cold case being reopened since if some secrets came out it would have some brutal consequences on their careers or even lives. Three decades ago, a girl was raped and then brutally murdered and the man that had been arrested had been hanged by the then Communist government. The only person who cares about the cold case is Holoubek, an ex-detective that has information that could revive the case. He tells Josef Slonsky about important information including the cast-iron alibi of the accused and how he was defended by an inexperienced attorney barely out of law school that had done a bad job. The ex-detective has copious notes about the case which he had secretly held onto since he had been convinced that the young man had been set up and a cover-up operation put in place to ensure the truth never came out. Since most of the high-level Communist Party Members now hold high rank in the new Czechoslovakia, it was in their interest to ensure the truth never came out. However, while Holoubek thinks none of the conspirators suspect he has the information, as soon as Slonsky launches his investigation, the ex-detective becomes the target of a hit and run. It is clear they are trying to eliminate anyone that might have any information that might be useful in Slonsky’s investigation. Slonsky now has to risk life and limb in the quest for justice for the family of the wrongly hanged man.

Graham Brack’s “Death On Duty” opens to the Bosnian government sending out a message to the Prague criminal division. They believe some Bosnian gangsters are staying or operating from the Czech capital. Josef Slonsky and his team have been charged with getting to the gangsters and dismantling their ring. They start their investigations by making inquiries around the city but find nothing in the initial round. They decide to switch gears and try to get information from criminal informants and the supervisor of the building in which the criminals are supposedly operating from. They are reliably informed that one of the men has been seen and they are now close to busting the gang. But then an undercover detective is stabbed while conducting inbestigations in the building where the Bosnians are allegedly living. What follows is a story of betrayal, abuse, sex trafficking, murder and a whirlwind of intrigue. Could the undercover detective have been working outside the books because he suspected that there were some crooked cops on the case, or could he have been crooked himself?

One Response to “Graham Brack”

1. Jean Shankey: 12 months ago

   It was with a tad of trepidation that I ordered my first Mercurius book. To my delight, I soon discovered that the historical background was accurate, clearly delineated, as were the characters and Mercurius himself. He, though a strange conglomeration of ministries, is a wholesome, completely humane, and human character with a sense of humor which made me laugh aloud. He is a non-hero who unwittingly solves mysteries. I quickly ordered the next two books, and now am on the sixth (and hope that it is not the last). I heartily recommend Graham Brack’s exceptional research and the finely honed writing that suits the background, the characters, and the reader to a TEE. Did I say I was a fan?

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