British Crime

The first two acclaimed crime novels in the Barclay & MacDonald series, now collected in a single volume. Includes an exclusive interview with the author and the opening from the forthcoming third book in the series, "Bad Timing".

Teenager Cordelia Mathison went missing during a gap year trip in 2017. When her freshly dumped body is found three years later, in fields less than a mile from her home, local police are baffled. Detective Inspector Nate Lawrence is new to his posting on the east Essex coast. His first case here will challenge him like no other. The investigation takes him to a remote Mediterranean island and throws him together with Bridie Croft and her parents; an intriguing local family who may just hold the key to unlocking what seems like an impossible mystery.

DI Andy Hall and his CID team based at Kendal Police Station face new challenges in the third of the Lakeland Murders series. There's been a fatal fall from Fairfield in bad weather, and while the death is initially treated as accidental Hall and DC Jane Francis soon become suspicious and launch an investigation. But as both officers become personally involved, and the outcome remains uncertain, will they live to regret that decision? And with the recession deepening Kendal CID has been selected as the home of a new Rural Organised Crimes Unit, so ex-Royal Marine Sergeant Ian Mann goes ...

This is a book packed with fascinating facts about The Birth of the British 'Bobby' - Bow Street Runners, Scotland Yard & Victorian Crime, with a large and interesting section on Victorian Policing and associated stories. It includes graphic accounts of life, crime and poverty in Queen Victoria’s British cities with particular emphasis on Manchester and first hand reports from one of the great detectives of that era, Jerome Caminada. It also invites comparisons with Caminada’s stories and those of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his fictional detective character Sherlock Holmes. Mention is ...

DI Kate Young is on leave. She’s the force’s best detective, but her bosses know she’s under pressure, on medication and overcoming trauma. So after her bad judgement call leads to a narrowly averted public disaster, they’re sure all she needs is a rest. But when Staffordshire Police summon her back to work on a murder case, it’s a harder, more suspicious Kate Young who returns. With a new ruthlessness, she sets about tracking down a clinical, calculating serial killer who is torturing victims and leaving clues to taunt the police.

When the body of a man is found dead in his remote, isolated home, DI Tom Janssen and his team struggle to understand what motive there could be to murder such an inoffensive, seemingly placid local character. The man lived alone and was well known in the community, but kept his distance from others, leading a haphazard way of life almost entirely off the grid. What secrets did he hide in his private life that might be worth killing for? As the team are about to understand, even the most nondescript of people can exist in a world darker than most of us will ever see....

A gothic horror novel set in London and Egypt during the early 20th century, this book embarks on a chilling journey into the arcane. From the smoky streets of London, reaching into the depths of ancient Egyptian mysteries, the novel bridges across time and space to unveil a tale that's frighteningly immersive and compellingly cryptic. Unfolding the MysteryThe story unfolds with a chilling nocturnal encounter in the heart of London's Victorian mansions. Trail the steps of Steven Strausberg—a tenacious barrister—as he is unwittingly drawn into a spiraling vortex of cryptic riddles and ...

MI6 operative Duncan Grant has been officially missing in action for the last six months. Going on deep-cover to hunt down those responsible for the death of a close ally. Half a world away, enjoying sedate retirement under new identities, former Albion agents are being murdered. And now there's only one left. Given an ultimatum to save the last Albion or face expulsion from the agency he's sacrificed so much for, Grant has no choice but to pursue both missions at the same time.

"Bad to worse" doesn't even begin to cover it. In the aftermath of yet another botched drug deal, Bryan Wattson wants rid of the product: a quick deal, a weight off his mind, and no questions asked. But when it turns out that Sovereign City's finest were not sitting idly while he built up his new empire, Bryan is captured and extorted into cleaning up the worst that the city has to offer: a ruthless criminal gang that calls themselves the Spurdogs. Cut off from his friends and with grave consequences should one side find out about the other, Bryan must balance his loyalties between a ...

This is the Sixth Little Wychwell Mystery and follows Did Anyone Die?, A Very Quiet Guest, All that Glisters is not Silver, Speak of the Wolf and Some People Go Both Ways. Barnabus and Walls are enjoying an escape from marital bliss to have a ‘boy’s only’ lunch by the river but their peace is shattered as figures from the past suddenly reappear in their lives. At the same time Elodea is also re-encountering a past acquaintance in Little Wychwell. Barnabus decides to investigate, but is this a mistake? The author of the Little Wychwell Mysteries is married with two children and lives ...

DC Sophie Jones was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Viciously bludgeoned one night in a dark alley, she is left fighting for her life in hospital, leaving no clues as to why she was there or what might have motivated the attack. For Detective Karen Hart, fiercely protective of her young protégée, this is already deeply personal: an attack on Sophie is an attack on the whole team. When a car workshop near the crime scene is linked to local mobster Quentin Chapman, the man Hart has spent years trying to bring down, it’s hard not to jump to the most obvious conclusion.

Emilia Ward lives in suburban London with her husband, their young son, and a teenager from her first marriage. Emilia is an ordinary mom—and she’s also the bestselling author of the Miranda Moody detective novels. But when writing her tenth—and most difficult—book, life takes a disturbing turn: an incident mimicking the plot of one of her novels occurs in real life. Just an unsettling coincidence, right? Until it happens again. And again.

There’s a new detective on the Lake District beat. Owen Irvine is an ex-cop, a countryman, a craftsman - and a natural detective. So when he hears a disturbing tale of a con man who’s preying on vulnerable women in search of love, he just can’t help but become involved. J J Salkeld’s regular readers will already know the Kendal CID team, led by the newly un-retired DI Andy Hall. And although the police can’t commit investigative resources, recently promoted DC Abla Khan is only too keen to join Irvine on the trail of the man they call ‘Jason Strong’. But when events take a ...

DS Oliver Cole’s next case sees him delving into the world of paranormal and psychic phenomena when he is asked to investigate the murder of a celebrity from the1980’s. He and his friend and colleague, DC Debbie Swan, are called in to see DCI Jack Collier, and informed that the body of Julian Forrester has been found by his cleaning lady; he’d been tied to the chair in the study of his expensive mansion, both his wrists cut. Oliver is also told he will be the lead on this case as Jack has a small medical problem to deal with and will not be available. Short-handed due to the recent ...

Spiritualism has captured the public’s imagination. Séances are all the rage, and Detective Ian Hamilton’s otherwise sensible aunt Lillian is not immune to their allure. But for Ian, indulging her superstitions has its limits. When members of Lillian’s circle of séance friends begin turning up dead, Ian doesn’t need a medium to tell him these aren’t freak accidents.

Twenty-something Eleanor Wright does tricks for men for cash to feed a growing drugs habit. She lives in a rundown caravan in an isolated spot down by the river. One Friday night, the caravan burns down and Eleanor perishes within. But is it an accident, suicide, or murder? Inspector Walter Darriteau and his team are called to investigate and embark on a journey none of them could have predicted. "Kissing a Killer" is the fourth Inspector Walter Darriteau murder/mystery and perhaps his most difficult case to date. This is a whodunnit to keep you guessing right till the end.

Welsh Inspector Ian Drake is back on duty, but struggles as he comes to terms with his father’s death. When a fisherman is found impaled on the sand in a small island community, Drake comes up against a wall of silence. When a young girl is killed, Drake is stumped by the motive for her death. But with lots of money at stake with the development of a nearby nuclear power station, Drake believes there are powerful forces at work.

When a celebrity chef from Exmouth mysteriously disappears, private investigators Lockwood and Darrow are discreetly enlisted to investigate, keeping a step ahead of the relentless press. Though the chef's known mental health struggles hint at a possible explanation, as the duo delve deeper, they unearth a tangled web of secrets that suggest a far darker narrative. The quest for truth threatens to have wide-ranging implications, placing them in the crosshairs of the town's most dangerous secrets. The pair must work swiftly to expose the truth before the town's underbelly consumes them.

Seventy-five-year-old Sylvia Perkins was found battered to death in her home in 2010. The murder weapon was suspected to be a fire poker and it seems she was quite popular with older gentlemen. Her grandson Robbie inherited everything, but he can't be placed at the scene of the crime. Who killed this harmless old woman and why? And what secrets was she hiding?

Unconventional Detective Declan Miller has a problem. Well, two problems. First, there's his dead wife and her yet-to-be-solved murder. He really should stop talking to her ghosts. Second, and most pressing, a young man has just appeared on his doorstep with a briefcase containing a pair of severed hands.