The Murderer’s Ape

Chief gifts Sally Jones a broken typewriter. Once repaired, the typewriter becomes the method by which Sally describes her courageous story to clear Chief’s name. Sally Jones, ship’s engineer, flight mechanic, button sorter, accordion maker, spy and chess maestra, is a gorilla. She hears and understands, writes and reads. She is also the only witness on the night that Alphonse Morro goes missing, presumed drowned. Chief, Sally’s friend and companion, is framed for his murder.

Sally is left in a dangerous position. A lone gorilla in Lisbon? Who can she turn to? Who might she trust? From the Lisbon fado concert halls, within the ships’s engine room, to a Maharah’s palace, she fights against treachery and lies for Chief’s cause. Sally is determined discover who and why he has been set up.

‘The Murderer’s Ape‘ is unlike any other story that I’ve read. It is a true classic. The adventure is rich and magical, the geography of Sally’s experiences unpicked like a National Geographic landscape. We can smell the musical instrument oil, the engine rooms, the slick of the Maharah’s bathhouse. ‘The Murderer’s Ape‘ is a book I shall be urging every reader toward!