British Police Mysteries

Eight-year-old Leila Smith has seen and heard things that no child should ever have to. On the Hawthorn Estate, where she lives, she often stays out in the playground long after the other children have left, just so she can avoid her own home for longer. But what Leila doesn't know is that someone has been watching her. One day, she disappears without a trace. The police search start a nationwide search, but it's as if Leila has vanished into thin air. Who kidnapped her? What do they want? Will she return home safe and sound, or is she lost forever?

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 ...

Set within the mysterious beauty of coastal Norfolk, this fast-paced British detective novel is a dark murder mystery with a little humor and a touch of romance, one that will keep you guessing until the very end when the final shocking twist is revealed. The Dead Call is the sixth novel in the Hidden Norfolk series of thrillers from Amazon number one best-selling crime writer JM Dalgliesh, the author of the Dark Yorkshire books.

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 ...

Detective Chief Inspector John Shadow is doing his best to ignore the madness of York's annual Viking Festival when duty calls. The body of a wealthy businessman, who was playing the role of the Viking king, is found slain by his own ancient sword. The murder scene looks staged, but before Shadow can compile a list of people to question a second body is found. Shadow doesn't have to look far for suspects-the victims were by no means model citizens.

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 ...

In July 1949, an unpopular and deeply unpleasant man is stabbed to death in the courthouse of an English city. As the murder has been committed in a room to which the general public doesn’t have access, it seems probable that the culprit is someone involved with the business of the courts. Suspects include a number of lawyers, police officers, and magistrates. For various reasons, the local Chief Constable decides to ask Scotland Yard to investigate the murder. Chief Inspector Philip Bryce and Sergeant Alex Haig are assigned to the case. Theirs is a recent partnership, but the two men ...

Now recuperated after the violent incident that cost him his arm - and nearly his life - DCS Serrailler has returned to work, though he prefers to spend his spare time sketching the medieval angels being restored on the cathedral roof. With crime rates down, Lafferton has been quiet, until one night when two men open their front door to a distressing scene. Serrailler makes a serious error of judgment when handling the incident, and the stress of this, combined with the ongoing trauma of losing his arm, takes its toll.

Two fourteen-year-old girls go missing from an exclusive boarding school. Did they abscond, or have they been kidnapped? The girls’ parents - and indeed the parents of many other pupils – have considerable influence in very high places. Pressure is quickly brought to bear to get Scotland Yard involved. Concern for the girls’ safety is paramount. Detective Chief Inspector Adair and three of his officers are assigned to help the local police. Initially there is little to go on, but Adair soon determines that the children didn’t leave voluntarily. The first step – to ascertain how ...

A secret worth dying for is a secret worth killing...When a violent storm uncovers the remains of an unknown young woman, long buried among the sand dunes, DI Tom Janssen must piece together fragmentary evidence to determine how she came to be there. In the years she lay undiscovered, several young women have disappeared, and as the team works through the possibilities, they come to an uncomfortable conclusion...Is a serial killer stalking coastal Norfolk? Each missing person had a story. Each of them had enemies. Some were more dangerous than others...

DCI Jack Collier is slowly recovering from the pain and embarrassment of spending time locked up in Durham prison for a murder he did not commit whilst his team wait less than patiently for him to return to normal. But a call from pathologist Dr Gordon Crosby, inviting him and DS Oliver Cole to look into the suspicious death by poison of an elderly pensioner in the small village of New Hartley in Northumberland, sets the team on the hunt for a cold and calculating killer, brings matters crashing back to normality. The mystery of the death proves difficult to resolve and is further ...

After staying in the Swiss Alps for barely two days, Inspector Cullot knows there are going to be two murders committed at his hotel. He also knows there is only one man who can prevent there being even more… That man is Inspector Cullot himself. So begins another Inspector Cullot Mystery… Cullot, together with his gorgeous, sexy daughter, Stephanie, his faithful side-kick, Detective Sergeant Watkins, and the bumbling, note-taking PC Blunt, put their holiday on hold and set off in pursuit of the killer, in one of the most baffling cases of Cullot’s illustrious career. Who are the two ...

In 1950, Philip Bryce is suddenly given two pieces of unexpected but welcome news - one domestic, the other work-related. He is also given a new case to tackle. It’s a change from the murder cases he spends a lot of time on, but it’s tricky. This is one involving ‘demands with menaces’ – the offence commonly known as blackmail. And the first three victims are very high-ranking people. Bryce investigates, with the newly-promoted Inspector Haig alongside him. But who is the blackmailer? From where does he or she acquire the information? And just how innocent are the ‘victims’?

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 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...

DCI Matilda Darke has returned to work after a nine-month absence. A shadow of her former self, she is tasked with reopening a cold case: the terrifyingly brutal murders of Miranda and Stefan Harkness. The only witness was their 11-year-old son, Jonathan, who was too deeply traumatised to speak a word. Then a dead body is discovered, and the investigation leads back to Matilda's case. Suddenly the past and present converge, and it seems a killer may have come back for more....

Niall and Eden Paternoster start their Sunday the same way they always do - with a long drive, a visit to a country house and a quick stop at the local supermarket on the way home. But this Sunday ends differently - because while Niall waits and waits in the car park for Eden to pick up supplies, Eden never returns. She’s not waiting for him at home, and none of their family or friends have heard from her. Gone without a trace, Niall is arrested on suspicion of her murder.

Another nail-biting murder investigation for Inspector Cullot, and his world-famous Murder Squad. As well as Inspector Cullot himself, as suave, debonair and ruthless as ever, we meet again the beautiful, sophisticated Stephanie Gorge, Cullot’s own daughter; Cullot’s faithful sidekick, Sergeant Watkins; and the perpetually baffled PC Blunt… They are engaged in a race against time to find the murderers of three wealthy men, gruesomely dispatched in three of the poshest apartments in London. Amongst the array of suspects are a collection of gorgeous women, and men, from across Europe. ...

Ritchie Gulliver MP is dead. Castrated and left to bleed in an empty Leith warehouse. Vicious, racist and corrupt, many thought he had it coming. But nobody could have predicted this. After the life Gulliver has led, the suspects are many: corporate rivals, political opponents, the countless groups he's offended. And the vulnerable and marginalised, who bore the brunt of his cruelty—those without a voice, without a choice, without a chance. As Detective Ray Lennox unravels the truth, and the list of brutal attacks grows, he must put his personal feelings aside.

Who hung the headmaster in the playground on the night of the school Halloween Party? Almost everyone in Heppleburn either hated or feared the viper-tongued Harold Medburn. Inspector Ramsay is convinced it was the headmaster’s enigmatic wife but Jack Robson, school governor and caretaker, is determined to prove her innocence. With the help of his restless daughter Patty, Jack digs into the secrets of Heppleburn, and uncovers a cesspit of lies, adultery, blackmail and madness.