"If we are right about this, the stakes are higher than anything I’ve ever faced." Gangsters have infiltrated Edinburgh. MI5 are on their case and, unknown to DCC Bob Skinner, have set up a drug-dealing sting to flush them out. The resulting mayhem throws everyone into confusion until they realize the gangsters are preparing a hit on one of the Royal family. Meanwhile two policemen mourn the loss of a son and a daughter in mysterious circumstances, and another witnesses his son being abducted. Is someone trying to wreak revenge on the police force? Are the crimes linked?
In three cases--a millionaire who writes his own death warrant, a dog who becomes a killer's worst enemy, and an answering service which refuses to talk about a murder--three witnesses hold the solution for detective Rex Stout.
The Coffin Dancer is America's most wanted hit-man. He's been hired by an airline owner who wants three witnesses disposed of before his trial, and has got the first, a pilot, by blowing up the whole plane. Lincoln Rhyme has the task of keeping the witnesses safe and finding the Coffin Dancer.
This book belongs to the rapidly growing field of historical pragmatics. More specifically, it aims to lend definition to the area of historical sociopragmatics. It seeks to enhance our understanding of the language of the historical courtroom by documenting changes to the discursive roles of the most active participant groups of the English courtroom (e.g. the judges, lawyers, witnesses and defendants) in the period 1640–1760.
