Martine Bailey is a crime fiction author.   Martine studied English Literature while playing in bands on the Manchester music scene. She qualified in psychometric testing and over her career assessed staff for a top security psychiatric hospital. Martine's earlier novels, The Almanack and The Prophet were historical fiction and her new novel
Sharp Scratch is set in the more recent past of the 1980's.

Sharp Scratch
Six candidates. One job. A killer prepared to murder their way to the top.

Salford, 1983. Lorraine Quick is a single mum, a member of a band going nowhere fast and Personnel Officer at Salford’s Memorial Hospital. A new General Manager position is being introduced, someone to steer the institution towards Margaret Thatcher’s lofty vision for the NHS. Lorraine will be pivotal in selecting the successful candidate, thanks to her recent training in psychometric testing.

However, the deliberate substitution of a flu vaccine for a lethal dose of anaesthetic reveals a killer is at work. Lorraine’s suspicions turn towards the top brass vying for the new role - could the personality tests lead her to the killer?
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