“At seven forty-two that morning, the country decided that Sir Malcolm Vale had been murdered for his politics.”
New release · Available now · KIWI Saga Book One
The Martyr's Seat
Power. Money. Murder. A political murder mystery inspired by the atmosphere of British headlines.
By J.B. Ashford
The investigation
A prominent politician is murdered. The country thinks it knows why.
The Martyr's Seat is a political mystery novel by J.B. Ashford. When former British cabinet minister Sir Malcolm Vale is found dead near his Westminster home, public and political reaction hardens around a politically motivated murder before police have confirmed the cause of death.
The suspect appears obvious. The evidence appears overwhelming. Kiwi—a New Zealand forensic psychologist accustomed to examining the meaning placed around facts—asks a more difficult question: did the apparent killer act alone, or was somebody else constructing the route, the opportunity and the story?
As the investigation moves through London, political loyalty, digital persuasion and institutional self-protection begin to converge. Solving the murder will require distinguishing what the evidence proves from what powerful people need it to mean.
Behind the fiction
When political headlines begin to read like a thriller
The Martyr's Seat draws on the atmosphere surrounding modern British politics: party turmoil, donor money, media narratives and the speed at which a country can be persuaded that it already understands what happened.
The novel is entirely fictional. Its murder, characters and organisations do not depict or allege criminal conduct by any real person or political party.
From the novel
“Obvious things deserve examination more than difficult ones.”
“Difficult things already make us cautious.”
“Knowing how to survive an accusation is not the same as knowing the truth.”
“If evidence cannot change probability, investigation is decorative.”
Editions and companion
Read it, then explore the evidence
The original English edition is accompanied by French and German editions. The Book One literary ride and Character Quest are currently paused while the experience is revised.