British Crime

NEW FOR 2022 – STAND-ALONE, #19 IN THE SERIES. MEET MAVERICK BRITISH DETECTIVE DI SKELGILL... "A COMPELLING BRITISH CRIME MYSTERY." EVIL LIES UNDETECTED. When shepherd Jud Hope finds an American passport in a fox’s earth, a connection is made to an unidentified fatality – an elderly female walker who fell to her death in a treacherous rocky gill near Ambleside. Meanwhile, a spate of ‘nighthawker’ incidents sees ancient monuments desecrated under cover of darkness. The spotlight falls upon Derek Shaw, a museum curator exploring Cumbria’s Roman heritage. Onto this stage emerges a ...

A man is found dead, tied to a chair in the middle of the road, a stag’s antlers on his head. The gruesome scene stuns the town, especially when the victim is identified: Jim Tiernan, who ran the White Hart pub. Tiernan’s pub is at the center of village life and he knew everyone’s secrets. Detective Nicola Bridge grew up in Fleetcombe and has now returned, for the good of her family, from a life away in Liverpool. DC Harry Ward is ten years younger and, despite his newcomer status, determined to earn Nicola’s trust.

A detective on the edge. A hit-and-run. A dangerous truth. DI Joe Hogarth's private troubles have exploded out of control. When reformed villain Benny Spencer becomes the victim of a hit-and-run, a new case opens—one that threatens to be the end of DI Hogarth in more ways than one. ★★★★★ “Fast paced - difficult to put down!” As Hogarth grapples with his secret crisis, he's forced to investigate the hit-and-run. Stretched to his limits, Hogarth's bad choices and mistakes could cost him his job—or his life. ★★★★★ “Gripping… He writes so vividly that it's almost...

NEW FOR 2023 – STAND-ALONE, #21 IN THE SERIES. MEET MAVERICK BRITISH DETECTIVE DI SKELGILL... "A COMPELLING BRITISH CRIME MYSTERY." SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL, SPEAK NO EVIL ... A reality documentary crew is on the hunt for a victim. An unsolved murder from the 1970s that could leave the authorities red-faced. Celebrity criminologist Professor Simeon Freud plans to bask in the glory. Posing as a researcher, DS Jones joins the production team, but Skelgill must work in the shadows. His instincts rebel – not least that his protégé is prey to a narcissist on the one hand and a killer on ...

In 1950, a death occurs under the uniquely-banded cliffs in Hunstanton. It is soon realised that this is a case of murder, but the Norfolk police inspector runs into difficulties, and Scotland Yard DCI Philip Bryce finds himself back in the county for the second time in a matter of months. A local amateur detective with a considerable knowledge of murder cases (both real and fictional) is determined to help the police, and comes up with various suggestions. However, initially neither he nor the police seem to be able to pin all the usual key elements – means, motive, and opportunity – ...

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.

IT'S BEAUTIFUL....BUT VERY DANGEROUS Barrister-turned-private-eye Maggie Bainbridge and her ex-army sidekick Jimmy Stewart have landed their most high-profile case so far - to find out what happened to the attractive daughter of a prominent politician, two year after the failure of the original police investigation. Meanwhile Jimmy's brother, DI Frank Stewart of the Met, has been offered promotion to DCI - but there's catch. A secret government initiative is looking to smoke out corrupt public servants and coppers - and Frank's been put in charge of the toxic pilot operation. All roads lead...

STAND-ALONE MURDER MYSTERY, #7 IN THE SERIES. MEET MAVERICK BRITISH DETECTIVE DI SKELGILL... "MAD, BAD AND JUST A LITTLE BIT COZY."ONE WEEK AFTER THE DEATH of his 93-year-old twin brother, the reclusive Declan Thomas O’More is found murdered in his study at the ancestral family estate, rambling and isolated Crummock Hall. Suspicion immediately falls upon his five great nieces and nephews, who between them stand to inherit the considerable proceeds of their grandfather’s will - along with a valuable library of antiquarian books, a collection that is Declan’s lifetime work. And yet each...

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 ...

Four years after escaping England, Nick is no longer able to fight the irresistible urge to return home and claim his prize. Amy, the one that got away, the one he is convinced can heal his tortured and damaged soul. All he needs to do is find her, snatch her and prepare her for a slow, lavish feast that only he would enjoy. The not so simple issue of the witness protection program was likely to be his hardest barrier to overcome. Utilising contacts from his dark and depraved past, he finds himself in a strenuous battle to control his demons whilst he awaits his salvation. A terrifying ...

A missing informant. A dead woman. And a secret worth killing for... Detective Joe Hogarth’s most trusted informant vanishes without a trace, leaving behind whispers of an impending gang war. Then, a young woman is found dead by the railway tracks—a suspected suicide that feels all wrong. Hogarth doesn’t buy it. The deeper he digs, the darker it gets. A terrified criminal is on the run. A former Met officer makes a cryptic phone call—hinting at unfinished business from a 2012 London operation—and disappears before revealing more. Someone is cleaning house, eliminating anyone who ...

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 ...

A peaceful spring afternoon turns into DC Holly Towns’ worst nightmare, once the sun goes down. A blast of gunfire tears through the glass walls of a turret that rises from one end of Quinn’s Landing. It spins Holly’s world upside down and sends the Criminal Investigations Unit on a single-minded pursuit of the shooter. Holly and former detective, Danny Cavallo, are meeting with Geraldine Quinn at the elegant lakeside home that has been in her family for generations. The older woman claims she’s become nervous on her own and wants Cavallo to install a high-tech security system, with...

STAND-ALONE MURDER MYSTERY, #14 IN THE SERIES. MEET MAVERICK BRITISH DETECTIVE DI SKELGILL... "MAD, BAD AND JUST A LITTLE BIT COZY."‘A KILLER IN OUR MIDST?’ cried a newspaper headline to commemorate the disappearance of Mary Wilson. It is two decades since Britain’s first mass DNA sweep failed to incriminate a single local male. Mary was listed merely as a missing person. Now archaeologists have unearthed human remains in Cummacatta Wood. The forensics match – age, sex, fragments of clothing... and dental records. But the murder hunt has only just begun when an outsider, a convicted...

Commander Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard has just published a new book of poems and has taken a brief respite from publicity on the remote Larksoken headland on the Norfolk coast. A psychotic strangler of young women is at large in Norfolk, and getting nearer to Larksoken with every killing. And when Dalgliesh discovers the murdered body of the Acting Administrative Officer on the beach, he finds himself caught up in one of the most baffling murder cases of his career.

Was it an accident or a simple crime of opportunity? Sherisse Collins is dead. The body of the elderly woman is found by a friend, lying at the foot of the stairs in her gracious Linden Square home. Although Sherisse was in her 80s, she was no recluse. Her friends insist that she was strong and healthy, and that she was murdered. The Collins mansion is filled with antiques, original artwork and many valuables, so a theft motive is the first thing considered by DC Holly Towns and the CIU officers. But the old house is hiding secrets of its own. When Holly is doing a detailed search of the ...

A burglar is found shot dead in the home of Viscount Tallis, a wealthy industrialist. The man was equipped with a stethoscope, and appears to have been attempting to open a safe in the study. Tallis himself is in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, on his way to America on Government business. Although various members of his family are present in the house, together with guests, nobody has access to the safe – nobody even knows what it might contain. It isn't even clear if the safebreaker succeeded in opening it. Detective Inspector Tommy Rees is given the case. Rees is approaching ...

In July 1939, three men are shot dead within a few days of each other. The incidents are all in Lancashire but in different police force areas. When it is eventually realised that the cases are linked, the various constabularies agree to call in the expertise of Scotland Yard. Detective Chief Inspector Adair, who has been holidaying with his wife and daughter in the same county, is tasked with investigating the crimes. These do not appear to be random shootings. It seems that the gunman has a motive for killing each of the victims. But what could that be? And is the grudge against each one ...

The spine tingling, heart in your mouth second book of the Rita Gupta Series! Her hair spreads like a halo around her head. Her dead eyes stare into the distance, frozen in shock... When the body of a teenage girl is discovered in an abondoned warehouse, Inspector Rita Gupta is called in to investigate. As she delves into the girls troubled life she discovers a secretive online life where innocent youths are forming dangerous liaisons... As the secrets tumble out, Rita discovers a chilling connection to her own past, and to her mother's murder. The dots link up, but when a man the dead girl...

Elise Walker’s married life is about to change forever!... When 53-year-old Elise Walker returns home after a day at the office to find her husband Gerald dead of a heart attack, she doesn’t expect a visit from the police with revelations about Gerald’s secret life. Soon, however, her own life takes a definite turn for the surreal, with missing loot, online crime and curious neighbours the least of her problems. Not to mention dealing with never-ending funeral arrangements and staying on top of her job. Thank goodness then for the support of her ever-reliable boss, Hugh. But will even...