📖 Book Description
Deadly & Dangerous Women
Celeste has spent years behind the bar of the Black Horse, trapped in a loveless marriage and a life that seems to be going nowhere.
Then Clay Maddox arrives.
An American drifter with nowhere to go, Clay is handsome, mysterious and reckless enough to make Celeste believe that another life might be possible.
Their attraction quickly becomes an affair.
The affair becomes a plan.
Terry must die.
But when two people decide that murder is the answer, they soon discover that killing someone is only the beginning.
Set in the pubs, backstreets and rain-soaked streets of 1984 London, The Man at Table Nine is a dark British noir of lust, manipulation, betrayal and murder.
Some loves are destined to end in blood.
📚 Publication Details
AUTHOR: Robert Whanslaw
BOOK TITLE: The Man at Table Nine
PUBLICATION DATE: 30 September 2026
PUBLISHER: Little Acorn Publishing
EDITION REVIEWED: Digital Edition
ASIN: B0H379VNDB
PAGES: 191
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✍️ About the Author
Robert Whanslaw
Robert Whanslaw is a British author of psychological noir crime fiction, exploring moral failure, obsession and the darker side of human nature.
A lifelong admirer of noir fiction, Robert discovered writers such as Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain at a young age. Their exploration of flawed characters, difficult choices and the consequences that follow has influenced his own storytelling. His novels bring these classic noir themes into more modern settings, while deliberately avoiding the digital age.
His latest novel, The Man at Table Nine, is the first in the planned three-book Deadly & Dangerous Women series. The series grew out of his previous novel, Dark Orchid Affair, and features women who are far from passive participants in their own stories. Robert’s characters are rarely perfect. As he puts it, if they were, they’d probably be the sort of people you’d want to throw off a fast-moving train!
His writing explores the messy complexities of human nature, where the line between justice and survival is often blurred, everyone has secrets and most people have something to hide.
👩🏻💻 My Review
A short novel that absolutely blew me away!
Well, this was a surprise! When Robert Whanslaw first approached me with a review request for The Man at Table Nine, something about the description caught my attention. By the time I actually picked it up, though, I’d forgotten most of the details, and what a wonderful discovery it turned out to be! I’ll admit I approached this one with a little hesitation. The gritty cover and dark premise had me wondering whether the violence might be a little too graphic for my tastes. How wrong I was! What I discovered instead was a wonderfully atmospheric crime novel that surprised me in the best possible way.
Set in a London pub in 1984, the story centres around Celeste, a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage to Terry, who seems far more interested in disappearing with his mate to visit other London pubs than helping to run their own. Even when he is there, he’s often drinking or giving his mate free beer. When a mysterious American stranger walks through the door, Celeste begins to imagine how different her life could be.
I was hooked almost immediately! The atmosphere of the 1980s London pub, the characters and the way the story unfolded drew me straight in. At fewer than 200 pages, this is a relatively short novel, but goodness, it certainly doesn’t feel like anything has been left out! There’s so much packed into the story, yet there’s still time to get to know the characters and become invested in their lives. Even the little mysteries and questions that arise along the way are given satisfying answers. I also loved how much of the action took place within the confines of the pub itself.
Celeste was a fascinating character. I liked her from the beginning and desperately wanted her to find a way out of her unhappy marriage. As the story unfolded, though, I found myself questioning some of her decisions, yet I couldn’t help sympathising with her. She was certainly a complicated character, and I became completely invested in what the future might hold for her.
One thing I particularly appreciated was how the violence was handled. There are some disturbing events, as you’d expect from a story involving murder, but Robert Whanslaw doesn’t dwell unnecessarily on gruesome details. He gives you enough to understand what’s happening without describing each act of violence in graphic detail, and for me, that made the story all the more enjoyable. And then there was the unexpected spice! I certainly wasn’t anticipating that from the cover or description, but the intimate scenes were very well written and fitted naturally into the story. There was just enough, without taking anything away from the darker plot.
What I particularly enjoyed was the pace of the story. For such a short novel, so much happened, and there was barely time to catch my breath before something else unfolded! I was completely caught up in it all, rooting for Celeste even when I wasn’t entirely comfortable with some of her choices. I simply had to know how it was all going to end!
The Man at Table Nine is a dark, atmospheric and thoroughly absorbing little novel, with complicated characters, unexpected passion and plenty to keep you guessing.
This was my first experience of Robert Whanslaw’s writing, and I can honestly say it’s some of the best writing I’ve read in a long time. To create such an absorbing story, with characters who feel so fully developed, in fewer than 200 pages is quite something! I’m delighted that The Man at Table Nine is the first book in the Deadly & Dangerous Women series, and I’ll certainly be looking forward to the next one.
Sometimes the book you’re least sure about turns out to be exactly the one you needed. This was one of those books for me, and I loved every minute of it!
DISCLOSURE: I received a review copy of this book from the Author, Robert Whanslaw.
#TheManAtTableNine #RobertWhanslaw
#LittleAcornPublishing
MoMoBookDiary Index
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MoMoBookDiary Index
- Author
- Robert Whanslaw
- Title
- The Man at Table Nine
- Series
- Deadly and Dangerous Women
- Publisher
- Little Acorn Publishing
- Genre
- Crime Fiction
- Psychological Noir
- Setting
- London, England, UK (1980’s)
- Source
- 📮 Review Request
- Date Read
- 8 October 2026
- Review Shared
- Amazon
- Goodreads
- The StoryGraph
- Content Notes
- X
- Archive Checked
- X
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