British Crime

BOOK ONE He was a ruthless yardie gang-boss, so why did he save the life of a policewoman? Liston Pearce is a gangster, a drug-dealing gang-boss. In a split-second decision he starts a series of life-changing events that he could not have foreseen even in his wildest imagination. This crime thriller is set in The St.Paul's area of The City of Bristol in 1989 a few years after the Bristol riots. With an exciting twisting plot Pearce battles, which path to take? Contains Strong Language. BOOK TWO It’s Bristol, the St. Paul’s area, August 1990. Liston Pearce, who used to be the crime boss,...

When a neighbor disappears from a farm near Llangynog, DCI Will Cooper tackles the first case he is assigned to work from the cottage he shares with his fiancée Bronwyn Bagley. Desperate to prove that he can follow the rules he’s broken so often in the past, he throws himself into the investigation as it leads through a tangle of family, lovers, and money. Complicating the case is the fact that the victim, Evan Bennett, was not a likeable man, and every suspect on the list has motive, means, and opportunity to murder him. While Will strives to prove he can solve a case far from the ...

The brutal murder of septuagenarian John Templeman shocks the little cottage community of Pocock's Fields. Rumours of illicit affairs, army desertion and violent confrontations spread as the community waits to see who will be sent to trial. An extraordinary power struggle develops between the Coroner, leading the Inquest, and the Police Magistrate, leading the Inquiry. As the case reaches a crisis point, just how far will the authorities be willing to go to bring the perpetrator to justice?

STAND-ALONE MURDER MYSTERY, #3 IN THE SERIES. MEET MAVERICK BRITISH DETECTIVE DI SKELGILL... "MAD, BAD AND JUST A LITTLE BIT COZY."WHEN A MAN IS FOUND STRANGLED by a climbing rope beneath the Lake District's notorious Sharp Edge, it is assumed he is the victim of a tragic accident. But Detective Inspector Skelgill suspects otherwise, and his fears are borne out when a second corpse is discovered close to Striding Edge. Soon it appears that a ritualistic serial killer stalks Cumbria's fells. As the body count increases, Skelgill must determine the connection between the seemingly randomly ...

“M.G. Cole is a brilliant new addition to the echelon of British crimewriters.” Peter James "Dark, grim, tense. A compelling new voice." PAUL FINCH, author of the Detective Mark Heckenburg novels. DCI David Garrick faces his most difficult task yet with a serial killer hunting people on dating apps… and a brutal arsonist punishing their victims in the most horrific ways imaginable. As the two cases begin to overlap, Garrick and his team find themselves on a twisting path where nothing is as it seems, and nobody is to be trusted. Recovering from a delicate operation, Garrick begins to ...

STAND-ALONE MURDER MYSTERY, #4 IN THE SERIES. MEET MAVERICK BRITISH DETECTIVE DI SKELGILL... "MAD, BAD AND JUST A LITTLE BIT COZY."BY THE TIME Detective Inspector Skelgill becomes the tenth person to be stranded on secluded Grisholm (Pigs’ Isle in Old Norse) where a writers’ retreat is taking place, one of the assembled literati is already dead. Though natural causes may provide the explanation, a second ‘accidental’ death and a raft of curious experiences convince Skelgill that a cold and calculating killer is at large. But where is his evidence? Set around Derwentwater in the ...

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "A well-written, gripping story. Great characters, great location and plenty of drama." ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "A stunning crime and mystery debut with twists and turns to keep you turning the pages." Exe Marks the Spot is perfect for fans of crime, mystery and detective stories by authors like Richard Osman, Ian Moore, Sarah Yarwood-Lovett, Fiona Leitch and Robert Thorogood. A disappearance. A murder. Two mysteries connected. Meet Angus Darrow, straight-laced, ex-police detective, turned private investigator. He’s hired to find a missing vulnerable ...

STAND-ALONE MURDER MYSTERY, #6 IN THE SERIES. MEET MAVERICK BRITISH DETECTIVE DI SKELGILL... "MAD, BAD AND JUST A LITTLE BIT COZY."SUMMONED TO AN ISOLATED maximum-security hospital, DI Skelgill inadvertently catches the eye of a notorious female serial killer. Does she read his censorious thoughts? Is this the trigger that turns a routine investigation into a rollercoaster of murder, mayhem, escapes and hostage taking? And what of the establishment? Are these crises purely coincidental, or is some conspiracy afoot? Could it be blackmail, corruption, a power struggle ... or something ...

This book explores the powers, activities, and accountability of MI5 from the end of the Second World War to 1964. It argues that MI5 acted with neither statutory authority nor statutory powers, and with no obvious forms of statutory accountability. It was established as a counter-espionage agency, yet was beset by espionage scandals on a frequency that suggested if not high levels of incompetence, then high levels of distraction and the squandering of resources.

Life is going well for DCI Will Cooper. He hasn’t stirred up any trouble at work lately, he’s enjoying living part-time in Llangynog with his girlfriend Bronwyn Bagley, and he’s developing friendships with at least some of his partners on the force. When he’s called out to investigate a murder in Llangynog, he’s confident that he can manage to work with his nemesis Sean Notley, as long as he can go home to Bronwyn at the end of the day. But when a shadow turns up out of his past, things change quickly. Suddenly, he is thrust into the dark world of drug cartels where no one can be ...

It was in Manchester, England in 1965, when the police were called to a possible crime scene at the residence of Ian Brady and girlfriend Myra Hindley. What they found in the upstairs spare bedroom were the remains of 17-year-old Edward Evans, who had been cut into pieces with an axe. After an investigation and search, the police found two suitcases that were full of graphic pictures and a videotape of a young 10-year-old girl, Lesley Ann Downey who had been missing for months. The pictures showed Leslie tied up and tortured. The tape recorded the assault, and when heard at the police ...

In the heart of the Staffordshire Peak District, a sinister secret lurks beneath the tranquil surface… When nineteen-year-old Tilley McCleave disappears without a trace, the historic market town of Leek is in shock. Detective Jessica Ryan is assigned the case, but things take a chilling turn when she discovers a horrifying connection to five women who were abducted. Four remain lost, their fates unknown, while one survivor’s harrowing tale is etched into her traumatised soul. Haunted by her ordeal, lone escapee Heidi Dawson has spent years confined to a psychiatric hospital. Could her ...

NEW FOR 2023 – STAND-ALONE, #20 IN THE SERIES. MEET MAVERICK BRITISH DETECTIVE DI SKELGILL... "A COMPELLING BRITISH CRIME MYSTERY." AN ATTEMPTED MURDER in the United States … a tragic road death in a Cumbrian forest … an old photograph stolen from an ancient coaching inn. Unrelated events – until a midnight drowning below Ouse Bridge exposes a connection. After two decades, has a killer returned to Cumbria to ply their trade? Does a suspect hide in plain sight among loose acquaintances? Who is truthful and who is lying? Skelgill must patiently circle … until finally he picks up ...

A solstice sunrise reveals a mysterious death at Cotswold’s standing stones. Can a rural police officer illuminate the truth before darkness falls?Passionate and hard-working community cop and café owner, Sergeant Keya Varma, serves up lattes and law in equal measure. Yet her dedication to her dual duties is tested when a festive midsummer gathering turns deadly at an ancient ring of stones. Aided by her fellow officers, this dedicated detective delves into the puzzling demise of a vibrant young woman. With no apparent cause of death and the community united in grief, Keya wonders if the...

Bronwyn Bagley hadn’t expected to see a dead man that morning as she sat on the flat rock in the forest, gazing into the pond of still water. This time, though, the man Bronwyn saw is not the woman whose death DCI Will Cooper has been called out to investigate. Speculation about a serial killer targeting medical professionals threatens to overwhelm the North Wales Major Crimes squad as one body turns into two, which turns into three. The entire team is called out, racing against time to solve the puzzle of who might want these people dead before he or she strikes again. Juggling the ...

DC Scott Cullen of Lothian and Borders CID has only been in the job three months. Young, eager to please and desperate to do good. So a missing persons should be an easy case to solve. Right? Fresh from a messy divorce, Caroline Adamson’s future is finally looking up. Her son seems happy and she’s dating again. Trouble is, Cullen can’t find Caroline or the man she met on Schoolbook, the latest social network taking Edinburgh by storm.

STAND-ALONE MURDER MYSTERY, #12 IN THE SERIES. MEET MAVERICK BRITISH DETECTIVE DI SKELGILL... "MAD, BAD AND JUST A LITTLE BIT COZY."WHEN DI SKELGILL TAKES under his wing a talented fell-runner – his underprivileged cousin, Jess – little does he realise in what jeopardy he places her. For Cumbria is being targeted by the infamous ‘county lines’ drug gangs. As turf wars break out, Jess inadvertently finds herself in the crossfire – but family ties blind her to the danger of her association with Skelgill. As the body count increases, Skelgill finally recognises the threat to his ...

Death On the Cliffs Pelican Cove is preparing for the fall festival. A British Lord is in residence at Cliffside, the abandoned mansion by the bluffs. Jenny is hired to cater a party for the august company. When one of them is found dead below the cliffs on a stormy morning, the police dismiss it as an accident. But Jenny is not convinced. Can the faithful old butler help her unmask the killer? Meanwhile, efforts are underway to raise money for the Equine Rescue Center. The town stalwarts are at war and Heather might be in love again. Molly's life takes a difficult turn. Join Jenny and the ...

Only the tide can wash away their darkest secrets. DI Graham Walker is just beginning to settle into a quieter life on the picturesque Gower peninsula when a call comes in. Even to the coast, death has followed him. The remains of a woman have washed up on the golden sands of Three Cliffs Bay. Her young body is twisted, broken, and Graham soon learns that hers was not the first that the local community have seen – not by a long shot. As Graham begins to probe into the lives of those around him, it becomes clear that the people that had so warmly welcomed him are less than keen to bring an...

Six weeks. Just forty-two short days. That’s all it takes to rip the heart out of a city and change the lives of those who live there. Forever. One such life belongs to Ryan Jarrod. In the early hours of a wet winter’s morning on Tyneside, Ryan Jarrod approaches the end of his second shift as a Special Constable when he stumbles across the body of a savagely beaten Teddy McGuffie, a down-at-heel taxi driver. On the same night, an explosion rips through the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne’s student community. Casualties are high; the city brought to a standstill. And the University blast ...