'This contemporary crime, with its roots in the Second World War, is intended to break (Johnston) out into the mainstream and attract fans of Leon, Dibdin and Corelli' The Bookseller

'A new departure for an immensely talented author, and the change of scene from the Scotland of the earlier books to the author's new home of Greece pays great dividends' Barry Forshaw, Publishing News

'Excellent' Philip Kerr

'A sensual portrait of modern Greece, as well as a great page-turner: taste the salt, feel the heat as you follow the dramatic story...offers much more than the crime fiction genre usually encompasses: a rich and intelligent story, with fascinating characters' Scotland on Sunday

'The very best crime novels are those in which location, character and story combine in a single, powerful whole. With A Deeper Shade of Blue, Paul Johnston stakes his persuasive claim for a place in that pantheon' John Connolly

'A perfect setting for a tense thriller...this is an intelligent and satisfying book, part contemporary thriller, part the dark sister of Captain Corelli's Mandolin' Scotsman

'Clear your diary, take your phone off the hook and ignore the doorbell. The new Paul Johnston thriller is here...Once again, Johnston provides evidence of his talent for spinning and involving, colourful yarn, while his love of the setting, his many colourful characters and the Greek culture is infectious' The List

‘gripping pace...a perfect holiday companion’ The Times

‘I also very much like Johnston’s use of differing perceptions of Greece itself. He offers the tourist view, the educated philhellene’s admiration of what Greece once was, and the harsh, sometimes brutal reality of life in the islands for those whose memories of the Second World War are not only bitter but also an unignorable fact of everyday life. It will be interesting to see how Johnston develops this new series’ Natasha Cooper, Crime Time

‘There’s a lot of potential here’ Susanna Yager, Sunday Telegraph

‘A high-class thriller. Johnston’s plotting and characterization are adept. A novel to be enjoyed by anyone who loves thrilling prose and action-packed storylines’ Good Book Guide

‘This novel’s intricately constructed plot, and its parsing of the long-standing hatreds and long-ago tragedies that have shaped the character of the Trigono community, show Johnston’s strengths as a writer and bode well for the future of this new series’ Jeff Kingston-Pierce, January Magazine

‘A substantial tome, its main feature is the strength of the writing, especially its vivid portrayal of rural life in the Aegean islands’ Bernard Knight, Tangled Web

‘Has a fine sense of place, a brooding atmosphere of menace and a cast of exceedingly sinister characters’ Birmingham Sunday Mercury

'A classic caper novel with several uniquely Greek twists…Johnston does an excellent job of weaving these disparate threads together and making them believable while also captivating readers with a sense of place and mystery.' Athens News

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