Happy publication day to former Writing Your Novel student, @glennbarden.bsky.social 🎉 Glenn's historical crime thriller #Stench is out now in paperback! Get your hands on a copy here:

Trump doesn’t seem to like our book. That’s ok we don’t like him! #TrumpBookClub #DonnyRecommends #CrimeThriller #BookSky #AmReading

“Stench is a literary Molotov cocktail – blistering, paranoid, and all too plausible….” Fantastic review by Londonopia. londonopia.co.uk/stench-by-g-...

Our latest crime fiction novel is based on a true unsolved London murder. #truecrime #coldcase #crimefiction

Many thanks Ben Myers. 'Independent publishing is where all the best stuff happens. Here is where the risk taskers, the dreamers and the outsiders gather. Without the indies, literature would be a blander and more homogonous place. All hail the mighty 'Moose!' @thebookseller.com

Our latest crime fiction novel is based on a true unsolved London murder. #truecrime #coldcase #crimefiction

Stench: The Axe in The Head Murder by G.M. Barden is based on a true story - the 1987 murder of Daniel Morgan in a South London car park. The crime is still unsolved. This novel suggests who might have killed him and why. “blistering, paranoid, and all too plausible.” Londonopia

Hardboiled crime novel STENCH: The Axe in The Head Murder. Out now. #Noir #CrimeThriller #CrimeFiction #NoirFiction #LiteraryThriller #WritingCommunity #BritishCrime #London #LondonFiction #UKCrime #UKCrimeFiction #BookSky

“A vivid, hardcore recreation of murder, conspiracy and corruption… Read it and be thrilled by the darkness that surrounds us.” Jon Hotten Stench: The Axe in The Head Murder by G.M. Barden OUT NOW #HistoricalFiction #neo-nor #whodunnit #CrimeThriller #DirtyCops

This is the inherent problem with today’s mainstream publishing industry.

“Stench is a literary Molotov cocktail – blistering, paranoid, and all too plausible….” Fantastic review by Londonopia. londonopia.co.uk/stench-by-g-...

Black Rat Books are excited to announce the forthcoming release of STENCH: The Axe in The Head Murder by G.M BARDEN.
 Inspired by true events, Stench is the startling crime debut from the new voice of Brit noir. Out: January 1st 2026

Black Rat Books is a fiercely independent London press publishing fiction from the underside of modern Britain. Gritty but literary, we champion writers who dig beneath the surface sheen of modern Britain to expose what festers beneath.