The Picture from the Past

What is there about the photograph of a street from a bygone era that obsesses John Braid? Why does he conceal his true profession from his newly-wed wife? And what, if any connection is there with the "acid bath murderer" who has already taken six lives? And why does a tale from the past show such eerie similarities to what is happening in the presen?'The Picture from the Past' is the ninth Paul Halter novel to be published in English by Locked Room International. An earlier novel 'The Crimson Fog' was named one of Publisher's Weekly's Top Mysteries of 2013. The author, a best-selling novelist in his native France, has written over thirty novels, almost all 'locked room' or 'impossible crime, ' and is widely regarded as the successor to John Dickson Carr. He appeared on BBC Radio 4's program 'Miles Jupp in a Locked Room, ' broadcast on May 21, 2012For information about signed and lettered editions of all Halter novels, limited edition hardcover editions of Paul Halter's award-winning short story collection 'The Night of the Wolf, ' and future publication plans, please contact pugmire1@yahoo.com or go to www.lockedroominternational.co

Paul Halter was born in Hagenau, Alsace, in 1956. He pursued technical studies in his youth before joining the French Marines in the hope of seeing the world. Disappointed with the lack of travel, he left the military and, for a while, sold life insurance while augmenting his income playing the guitar in the local dance orchestra. Upon discovering the writings of John Dickson Carr, he gave up the guitar for the pen. He has since written over 30 novels, almost all ＂locked room,＂ including La Quatrieme Porte (The Fourth Door, ) which won the Prix du Roman Policier in 1987, and Le Brouillard Rouge (The Crimson Fog, ) which won the coveted French Prix du Roman d’Aventures in 1988, the prestigious Japanese Hunkaku Mystery Award in 2005, and was named as one of the Publisher’s Weekly Top Mysteries of 2013. The Fourth Door and The Crimson Fog are both available in English, as are The Lord of Misrule, The Seven Wonders of Crime, The Demon of Dartmoor, The Seventh Hypothesis, The Tiger’s Head and The Invisible Circle. M. Halter is a frequent contributor to Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine: The Call of the Lorelei, The Tunnel of Death, The Night of the Wolf, The Robber’s Grave, Nausicaa’s Ball, The Gong of Doom, The Man With the Face of Clay and Jacob’s Ladder and more to come. In 2006 his collection of short stories ’The Night of the Wolf’ appeared in English, to critical acclaim. For more information and articles about Paul Halter, please go to: http: //lockedroominternational.com/