Vividly realised...the second outing for [Blake and Avery] is even more fun, with the same blend of derring-do and elegant writing. ..Delicious stuff. Financial Times Witty and unfailingly readable...its contemporary resonance [is] all the more effective for being implicit. -- Andrew Taylor The Spectator An entertaining stew of blackmail, murder, cross-dressing and incomprehensible slang ... like Dickens, Carter's righteous anger at Victorian hypocrisy does not prevent her from revelling in it with infectious glee. Sunday Telegraph While the relationship between the dynamic duo Blake and Avery evolves in a nuanced, tender way the real star of the show in this complex, clever novel is London itself. Evening Standard The Strangler Vine was a promising and enjoyable debut - plenty of action, rich in historical detail, all crowned with a very clever twist. Carter has proved with The Infidel Stain that it was not a one-off. The Times If this series is not bought for film, it would be another mark of the corporate stupidity that lost the BBC Ripper Street. It is, however, far more pleasurable and impressive to read. Independent on Sunday Vivid...done with brio. Mail on Sunday A sinister tale involving political revolution, printers and porn, The Infidel Stain drips with period atmosphere. Bella Magazine Compelling... Carter's book is historical crime fiction at its best. Nick Rennison, BBC History Magazine

M. J. Carter is a former journalist and the author of the Blake and Avery series: The Strangler Vine, The Printer's Coffin (formerly published as The Infidel Stain) and The Devil's Feast, and two acclaimed works of non-fiction: Anthony Blunt: His Lives and The Three Emperors: Three Cousins, Three Empires and the Road to World War One. M. J. Carter is married with two sons and lives in London.