British Mysteries

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 ...

Fifteen years ago, a serial killer was on a rampage murdering young women in Middlehampton. Then, suddenly, the killings stopped, and the murderer was never found… So when the body of another young woman is found bearing the twisted killer’s unique hallmark—the overpowering stench of lavender and an origami heart—DS Kat Ballantyne knows this can only mean one thing: the killer is back.

On the day of Alec Salter’s fiftieth birthday party, his wife, Charlotte, vanishes. Most of the small English village of Glensted is at the party for hours before anyone realizes she is missing. While Alec brushes off her disappearance, their four children—especially fifteen-year-old Etty—grow increasingly anxious as the cold winter hours become days and she doesn’t return. Then Etty and her friend Morgan find the body of Morgan’s father—and the Salters’ neighbor— Duncan Ackerley, floating in the river.

Miss Ophelia Grey Must Fake a Courtship to Save a Man She Has Never Met! Miss Ophelia Grey is thoroughly relieved when Lord Marchmont decides their courtship should come to an end. However, she is utterly astonished when, within a few days, he is back at her side and begging for a second chance. Lord Peter Marchmont does not think that Miss Grey is the right match for him. Waking up to discover a note stating he must court Miss Grey otherwise his brother Edward will be ruined, Peter realizes he has no choice. Struggling to find answers, Peter eventually tells Miss Grey the truth and ...

The Vanishing Act By Claire Winfield In the quiet Yorkshire village of Beckwith, the disappearance of librarian Eleanor Bird barely ripples the surface—until Detective Inspector Martha Davies is called in. At first glance, Eleanor seems like the kind of woman who might slip away unnoticed: quiet, solitary, unremarkable. But as Martha begins to unravel the threads of her life, a different picture emerges—one of a woman with a radical past, hidden names, and secrets buried deeper than the village wants to admit. With the help of Eleanor’s anxious colleague Penny, and a growing unease ...

When Dr. Nathan Frost, a lecturer in German literature at Oxford University, is invited to a lavish party at the country house of a wealthy businessman, he knows there'll be a price to pay. After all, as an expert on the legend of Faust and Mephistopheles, he can recognize a deal with the devil easily enough. But even he's not expecting such a sinister end to the evening.

Lady Philippa, the wife of Sir Aymer, a knight of the realm, disappears while travelling from her husband’s manor to Bampton. She and her maid are traveling in an enclosed wagon, while her husband, his grooms, and a squire are mounted. When the party arrives at Bampton Castle neither the lady nor her maid are within the enclosed wagon: They have simply vanished. As the disappearance may have happened while the travelers were on Lord Gilbert’s lands, his surgeon and bailiff, Hugh de Singleton, is assigned to discover what has happened to the lady. Has she been taken or has she fled?

A Brutal Murder. Broken Glass. A Hidden Ledger… and Deceit in all directions… ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "A fantastic read gripping from start to finish - unable to put it down!" When local artist Seamus Garth is found murdered in his seafront boathouse with paintings strewn around his body, DI Hogarth senses a sinister misdirection. Seamus was a man on the edge, a thorn in the authorities' side, but someone was watching his every move. Why did poor Seamus have to die like this? As Hogarth investigates the crime scene, he soon discovers signs of a dark conspiracy. What secrets did Seamus uncover ...

It's Spring, and Oliver Cole is still finding his feet as a recently promoted Detective Sergeant. But that’s not the most important thing on his mind right now, it’s making sure he’s on time for the wedding of his friend and colleague, Debbie Swan. But one important person does not make the wedding. Called away when a body is discovered in Seaton Delaval, a small village 10 miles north of Newcastle, DCI Jack Collier must start the investigation without Oliver by his side. Oliver eventually joins him, and the investigation starts into the murder of Paul Tate, a seemingly innocent ...

FROM THE #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR He wants to send you to hell... and nothing can stop him... Detective Chief Inspector Jacob's life is once again turned upside down when the body of a woman is found in the grounds of Wiltshire's Malmesbury Abbey. The event is tragic enough, but made worse by the fact she was found wrapped in a shroud with an ancient coin in her mouth - exactly how the notorious serial killer 'the Ferryman' used to leave his victims. But the Ferryman, whose real name was Alistair Keeley, was killed in a lethal road traffic accident years ago in Austria. Is the ...

Rumors. A whirlwind betrothal. A scandal that shocks London. The Earl of Ancrum has not behaved well. Now back into society, Lord Ancrum is doing all he can to repair his damaged reputation. He ought to stay away from the notorious wealthy widow, Lady Starling, but when she seeks his help, he cannot say no despite his interest in another, Miss Whitaker. Lydia Whitaker has always been a quiet wallflower, saddened by her parents’ lack of interest in her. Realizing that she will soon become a spinster, Lydia determines that she will no longer hide in the shadows. However, nothing has ...

Harriet Andover had no intention of dying young like her silly siblings had. She intended to outlive them and outdo them as she always had. But Harriet discovers that the best intentions can lead to murder when she is strangled inside her mansion with a house full of holiday guests. As much as Inspector Witherspoon enjoys his job delivering justice, the last thing he wanted was a complicated murder case just a week before Christmas. He soon discovers that Harriet's own husband and grown stepchildren are not overcome with grief and neither are most of her friends.

A body is spotted bobbing in the tide close to the shore at Canvey Island Marina. But this doesn't look like a typical drowning... When Inspector Hogarth and DS Palmer are called to the scene, they discover that the body is wearing ‘concrete boots.' Jim Maddox was a local estate agent who earned good money by helping the town’s less reputable characters. Questions soon mount. Was Maddox murdered in a gangland execution? Or is Hogarth looking at signs of something else?As Hogarth investigates, the body count rises, and his world falls apart. And all the while, the Shadows are closing in....

A mysterious suicide. A detective under pressure. A deadly investigation. DI Joe Hogarth planned to spend the weekend saving his superior, but when he's called to investigate Dina Corbett's death, everything changes. Locked alone inside her holiday park caravan, Dina died from a single gunshot wound to the head. A gun is found by her hand, but no suicide note is in sight. ★★★★★ “Fast paced - difficult to put down!” Suicide seems obvious, but nagging doubts lead Hogarth to suspect murder. With no evidence of foul play and every witness having a solid alibi, Hogarth can't let go...

Inspector Hogarth is in deep trouble. The two men who once sought his blood now aim to eliminate each other. Only Hogarth stands between them. To stop them, he must plunge into deadly danger—and to protect his colleagues, he must do it alone. With the town teetering on the edge of a gang war, Hogarth faces a harrowing truth: he has become the catalyst for a new crimewave. He will fight on, alone. He will attempt to conceal the truth. But DS Palmer won’t stand idly by. Nor will the other woman in his life… The trouble is, their intervention might make things far, far worse… Against ...

Rita is an artist, still recovering from an attack by three men. Deborah is a nurse and a killer, as much at ease ending people’s lives as prolonging them. Maybe, if they hadn’t been lovers, it wouldn’t have gone beyond talk. But they are. And it does. The police start finding bodies. And more bodies. Because, once you start killing people, it’s difficult to stop. New names get added to the list. All men, and all sexually interfered with. Why not? That’s what the three men did to Rita. Revenge is sweet. PC Jamie Pearson and Rita were teenagers together once. Jamie wants to find ...

SPIDER MOUTHDI FRED FAIRSERVICE has just returned from holiday when he’s confronted with several mysterious deaths; the mutilated dead body of a junkie, the apparent suicide of a housewife, and the murder of a cannibal, kicks off the strangest investigation of his dark and brutal career. But the strangest element of the case is the connection to the deaths of several old men and women who are found with spiders placed in their mouths.

Judgement is in the eye of the beholder Adrian Harvey, London wine merchant, has lost the Christmas spirit. Someone is stalking him, stealing his post and vandalising his shop. When the police question him after an anonymous tip-off, he's more than anxious. He's scared. And who is that nun? Long time neighbour and friend DI Beatrice Stubbs is dispatched to Germany to investigate a series of apparently related art thefts, so Adrian seizes the chance to flee the city. He follows her to Hamburg to do some Christmas shopping and visit his ex. Yet the stalker is still on his heels. While ...

This omnibus brings together seven of H.E. Bulstrode’s ghost stories originally published between 2016 and 2018. These are: The Ghost of Scarside Beck A newly-wed Cumbrian vicar and his wife experience a night like none they could ever have foreseen. He may have answered his calling, but who, or what, is calling her? Old Crotchet The year is 1920, and it's Twelfth Night by the old reckoning. Festivities are about to commence at Hinton St Cuthbert Manor when something sinister stirs from its protracted dormancy, awakened, it would seem, by the arrival of two young guests. The old ways, ...

Murderous Affair A thrilling murder mystery novel set in the foggy streets of Northstead during the late 1920s. Follow Dr. Simon, a weary and overworked doctor, as he navigates through a web of deceit and danger in this compelling tale of love, jealousy, and murder. Dr. Simon’s night takes a sinister turn when he is mistakenly called to the neighboring Ivy Lodge instead of Mr. Cooper’s home. There, he discovers the dying Ronald Farrah, a young man with a connection to the enigmatic Cooper household. As the dense fog envelops the town, Dr. Simon finds himself drawn into a complex ...