British Detective Mysteries

A man's body is found on a canal towpath. In his pocket, a magnetic letter in the shape of an E. Days later, a second victim is murdered, this time with the letter V tucked into her clothing. When the letter E is located near to a third victim, DI Allie Shenton and her colleagues are sent into full alert. Is their killer spelling a word, a name or are the letters an anagram? One thing's for certain as the body count rises—the eerie, childlike clues point to a pattern that doesn't look like stopping.

When Detective Inspector Bridget Hart returns to her old Oxford college for a reunion dinner, she's hoping for a fun weekend catching up with old friends. But the reunion takes a macabre turn when body parts are served up at the college feast, and one of her friends is found murdered. With Bridget's arch rival Inspector Baxter leading the murder inquiry, and herself a potential suspect, Bridget is forbidden from taking part in the investigation. But that doesn't stop her from carrying out her own private inquiries. Bridget soon realizes that the murderer is someone known to her.

Three very different women come together at an isolated cottage on the North Pennines to complete an environmental survey. Three women who each know the meaning of betrayal. Rachael is the first to arrive at the cottage, but when she gets there she is shocked to discover an apparent suicide. But then another death occurs, and a fourth woman enters the picture – the unconventional Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope, who must piece together the truth from these women’s tangled lives.

Determined to confront the hazy memories of his troubled youth, Oliver Matthews, a retired detective and confirmed bachelor, returns to the picturesque town of Henley-on-Thames for the first time in years. An unexpected encounter rekindles the possibility of a lost love. However, this joyful reunion is jeopardised when old friends remind him of a mystery with personal implications. As Oliver delves deeper, he uncovers the disturbing truth behind why he abandoned his dearest friends. The weight and shame of his past mistakes create profound turmoil within him. He grapples with the haunting ...

Christopher Gilhaney isn't a popular man, and he proves why once again when he insults every guest at Abigail Chase's Guy Fawkes Night dinner party. When Gilhaney is shot dead under the cover of the night's fireworks, his murder is deemed a robbery gone wrong. But when the case hasn't been solved six weeks later, Inspector Witherspoon is called upon to find the killer - and quickly!

With London's streets deserted, a young flower girl is murdered. But why was she out so late on the foggiest night of the year? Inspector Witherspoon of Scotland Yard has nowhere to even begin looking for a suspect. However, Mrs. Jeffries, his housekeeper, is even more accomplished at detection than she is at household management. A policeman's widow herself, her quick wits allow her to nudge the inspector in the right direction to solve the mystery.

Jaimie can’t breathe. Jaimie can’t speak. Other patients are sick. Other patients can’t help him. On his chest struts a raven who says ‘the devil is coming’. Doctors say he is delusional after weeks spent lying in the Intensive Care Unit of his local hospital, having survived Covid-19. Next night he sees the bird’s prophecy come true: someone dressed in full PPE and crow-mask attacks a young woman called Ivona in the bed opposite… When Detective Sergeant Alison Ellis arrives to search the wards, she finds no violent intruder. Surely Jaimie’s superstitious talk of crime and ...

Lorrie Mattingly has it all. Young and beautiful, married to the richest man in town, she spends her time driving fast cars, riding horses and keeping herself pretty. And yet, she's down to earth, and sweet, devoted to her handicapped twin sister Linnie. Everyone loves her. Maybe not everyone. When she suffers from a severe allergic reaction during a tanning session, private investigator Ian Dodge is called in by the owners of the salon, since they're getting sued big time. It doesn't take long for Ian to figure out Lorrie's attack wasn't an accident, or negligence but attempted murder. Or ...

Velma Saunders, the town clerk of Tobias, North Carolina never had a kind word to say to anyone. In fact, most people were afraid of her, including her boss, Mayor Mike Ellis. Still, the whole town is shocked when Velma's body is found in the Municipal Building's old bomb shelter. The only clue to her murderer is a copy of a cryptic message from a Nigerian Email scammer. All the evidence points to Mayor Mike, who's charged with killing Velma. Investigator Ian Dodge, a British transplant who's never quite taken root in the Deep South,sets out to find out who else hated Velma enough to kill ...

Professor Claire Lane interrupted by a sudden telephone call to help in a murder investigation leaves the tranquility of Edinburgh for the country lanes of Oxford. Lord of the Realm, Inspector Ralph McGinnis is puzzled. Unlike his colleague Miss Lane is adamant this is a copycat murder. Last seen in the seventeenth century by an overzealous Venetian statesman. A well-known Australian financier is dead. Propped up in the Nativity scene outside the church. The vicar is acting strangely, could he have been persuaded to preach peace and good will during this festive season, or will Claire work ...

Chief Inspector, Lord Ralph McGinniss has booked his boat fare to Australia to find his wife, Professor Claire Lane. Then a mysterious cold case file is handed to him from Sgt Pennyworth. British Army Intelligence has requested his help. Can he find Squadron Leader Mike Bristol? Was he last seen leaving The Fur & Feathers Pub in Stow on the Wold on the date stated on the warrant, 30th August 1944? Suspected of murdering two women. A well-known West End Actress Mia Jones and local shopkeeper Mrs Anne Tumbler. The Chief Ralph McGinniss is not convinced. With the war over, the cases of ...

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.

When a fire consumes a remote girls’ boarding school in Sussex, the death of a single unnamed student is quietly dismissed as tragic misfortune. But when Evelyn Everly is handed the official report, one detail refuses to let her go: a surviving shoe, stitched with a name that matches her own. Drawn into the school’s shadowed history, Evelyn discovers a pattern of disappearances, a hidden trust fund, and a web of silence that leads disturbingly close to her own ruined family. As she pursues the truth, old enemies resurface—and someone clearly wants her investigation buried. With help ...

A wealthy woman strangled six hours after she's arranged her own funeral. A very private detective uncovering secrets but hiding his own. A reluctant author drawn into a story he can’t control. What do they have in common? Unexpected death, an unsolved mystery and a trail of bloody clues lie at the heart of Anthony Horowitz's new thriller. Spread the word. The word is murder.

Mary Connon froze out her husband, Sam, long ago. She likes the attention of other men—like the fellow members of Sam's rugby club. Naturally, when she's found dead in her sitting room with a hole in her head, Sam is a suspect. If only he hadn't suffered a dizzying scrum injury that's left everything a blur. He isn't sure that he didn't kill her. But Det. Inspector Andrew Dalziel and his partner, Peter Pascoe, are looking outside the unhappy home. Because it seems everyone within spitting distance of the suburban femme fatale wanted Mary dead.

You are Dead is the 11th thrilling crime novel in Peter James' Roy Grace series, narrated by Daniel Weyman. They were marked for death. The last words Jamie Ball hears from his fiancée, Logan Somerville, are in a terrified mobile phone call. She has just driven into the underground car park beneath the block of flats where they live in Brighton. Then she screams and the phone goes dead.

A cosy mystery perfect for fans of Sally Smith, Steve Higgs, LJ Ross, Robert Thorogood, and Richard Osman. Karen McLaren has organised what she believes will be the perfect Yuletide celebration: a murder mystery evening based on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. It’s being held at Club Britannia; attendees are attired in period costume, and traditional food is on the menu. Everything has been planned to perfection… …one of the guests dying, however, isn’t something that’s been scheduled. A fictional murder mystery transforming into a real murder investigation throws Castillo ...

"Sleep Peacefully is a fantastic novel full of suspense and mystery, with many twists and turns that are sure to keep you guessing. I look forward to reading more from this talented author." - Fresh Fiction She thought her sister's death was nothing more than a tragic accident... She was wrong When Nat’s sister, Jess, dies in a terrible accident she is left devastated by the sudden loss of her younger sister. On the day of Jess’s funeral, Nat starts to experience a strange recurring dream. The dream shows realistic visions seen through Jess's eyes on the night she passed away. Now, ...

Amid the tragic mayhem of the morning of 9/11, failed Brighton businessman and ne'er-do-well Ronnie Wilson sees the chance of a lifeline: to shed his debts, disappear and reinvent himself in another country. Six years later the discovery of the skeletal remains of a woman's body in a storm drain in Brighton leads Roy Grace on an enquiry spanning the globe, and into a desperate race against time to save the life of a woman being hunted down like an animal in the streets and alleys of Brighton.

Two years ago, Miff Ferguson chose to opt out of the rat race. Since then he's been living rough and happily so. Until now. For as the first signs of winter approach, everything in his life is uprooted. While looking for shelter, Miff stumbles across the corpse of a young woman in a dilapidated warehouse. Quickly realizing he is not alone, and has been spotted, Miff becomes embroiled in a game of cat-and-mouse with a killer that forces him to abandon his life and take refuge with his aunt and uncle in the village of Weston St. Ambrose.