The Black Country

Jul 16, 2026

Uploaded by Miles

The Black Country follows Hilde as she discovers an uncanny, living egg in a tree. Believing she can examine it, she removes the nest only to realize the egg contains an eye that watches her. The discovery triggers a sudden fall and violent consequences, setting an ominous tone for the story’s unfolding mystery and danger.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages306

Reading Time7 h 51 min

AccessFree to download

ALSO BY ALEX GRECIAN The Yard G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS Publishers Since 1838 Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA USA • Canada • UK • Ireland • Australia • New Zealand • India • South Africa • China Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England For more information about [the Penguin Group visit penguin.com](the Penguin Group visit penguin.com) Copyright © 2013 by Alex Grecian All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. Published simultaneously in Canada Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Grecian, Alex. The black country / Alex Grecian. [p. cm](p. cm) ISBN 978-1-101-62106-6 1. Murder—investigation—England—Fiction. 2. Detectives—England—Fiction. I. Title. PR6107 .R426B53 2013 2013003820 823'.92—dc23 This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. For Graham, who is not allowed to read this until he’s much older Rawhead and Bloody Bones Steals naughty children from their homes, Takes them to his dirty den, And they are never seen again. —Black Country children’s rhyme PROLOGUE t was an unusual egg. Not at all like other eggs Hilde had seen. It was slightly larger than a robin’s egg, white with a thin spiderweb of red, crlviedseferuandpaperer the-thiegng, layeandrof snowHilde rea.Achebidtoou,rtuydgpink twed it winheher fingernail. The egg turned, rolling over in its nest of straw and feathers and bits of old string. Hilde could see now that the worm-thread was embedded in mud on one side of the egg and on the other side of the egg was a large colored dot, slate blue, darker than a robin’s egg ought to be. She adjusted her position in the tree, resting her behind against a big branch to free her hands. She looked down at the ground, but there was nobody to see what she was doing or to tell her no. Carefully she reached into the nest and plucked out the unusual egg. It was slippery, not as firm asthe eggs she had handled in the past, and its surface gave a little under the pressure of her fingertips. She held it up to the pale sun, turning it this way and that. It glistened, a dappled branch pattern playing over its surface. She brought it closer to her face. The blue dot in the center ringed a smaller black spot and reminded her of something, but it was out of context and it took her a long moment to place it. And then she did and it was an eye, and the eye was looking at her. Hilde reeled back and dropped the eyeball. It tumble

Jul 16, 2026

Uploaded by Miles