Book picks similar to
Crime in the Choir by Catherine Moloney
mystery
crime
fiction
catherine-moloney
Murder in the Valleys
Pippa McCathie - 2018
Out walking near the rain-swelled river running past her small Welsh town, she comes across the body of Amber Morgan. Fabia’s police training tells her instantly that the death is the result of foul play. But no longer in the force, all she can do is call it in. Yet she has mixed feelings when she discovers it is her former colleague, Matt Lambert, newly promoted to chief inspector, who will head the investigation into the girl’s death. Despite this, having known the victim, and bored with her new job as an illustrator, Fabia can’t help probing into the murder. However, her inquiries further upset the quiet of the town. Not least her neighbour, busybody Rhona Griffiths, who was seen arguing with the victim the day before her death. Fabia’s activity bothers Matt Lambert but time and time again Fabia’s instincts are proved right. He can’t help leaning on her in order to progress the investigation but that will also involve confronting why she left the force years ago. Can they put their differences aside and work together to bring the perpetrator to justice despite Fabia’s painful past being brought up again? Or will Fabia’s moonlighting get her into further danger? MURDER IN THE VALLEYS is set in the fictional town of Pontygwyn in the Welsh valleys under the shadow of the Black Mountains. It will appeal to readers who like traditional whodunnits, those who like the landscape, atmosphere and people of South Wales, and everyone who likes a good read that keeps you turning the page.
An Eye for an Eye
Carol Wyer - 2021
A detective spiralling out of control.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. Spurred on by her reporter husband, Young begins to suspect that the murderer might be closer than she ever imagined.As she works to uncover the truth, Young unravels a network of secrets and lies, with even those closest to her having something to hide. But with her own competence—and her grip on reality—called into question, can she unmask the killer before they strike again?
Murder Among Friends
Janice Frost - 2020
After her husband dies she leaves her job as a teacher to volunteer as a special constable with the police.On her very first shift Jane is called to the scene of a murder. A young man has dragged himself to the top of Greestone Stairs to die. Following her instincts, Jane finds herself becoming very involved in the case . . .For Detective Steph Warwick, specials have no place in a murder investigation — and this upstart rookie is meddling where she doesn’t belong.The victim ran a group at the university teaching men how to pick up women. Jane and Steph must venture into a dark and dangerous world of online misogyny.Steph knows about abusive men. But can she work with Jane to put this killer behind bars?MURDER AMONG FRIENDS is the tantalizing first instalment in the new Warwick and Bell series.
Hushabye
Celina Grace - 2013
A murdered girl. A case where everyone has something to hide...Hushabye (A Kate Redman mystery) is the new novel from crime writer Celina Grace, author of Lost Girls and The House on Fever Street.On the first day of her new job in the West Country, Detective Sergeant Kate Redman finds herself investigating the kidnapping of Charlie Fullman, the newborn son of a wealthy entrepreneur and his trophy wife. It seems a straightforward case... but as Kate and her fellow officer Mark Olbeck delve deeper, they uncover murky secrets and multiple motives for the crime.Kate finds the case bringing up painful memories of her own past secrets. As she confronts the truth about herself, her increasing emotional instability threatens both her hard-won career success and the possibility that they will ever find Charlie Fullman alive...
Black Dog
Stephen Booth - 2000
And when her body is found in the woods, Cooper's investigation begins with a short list of markedly uncooperative suspects: retired miner Harry Dickinson, whose black Labrador discovered Laura's body, and Laura's wealthy parents. Uneasily teamed with ambitious newcomer Detective Constable Diane Fry, Cooper tests a town's family ties, friendships, and loyaties -- and finds that in order to understand the present, they must unearth the past.
Going Underground
Michael Leese - 2017
But Jonathan Roper has never let that sort of thing get in the way, and once he’s got the bit between his teeth there’s no stopping him - even when his own safety comes under threat. It makes him a wonderful detective and an impossible colleague.Roper is autistic and finds it really hard to make friends, but he can pull together the oddest clues to make sense of the most complicated crimes. If one man can be said to understand him it’s Detective Chief Inspector, Brian Hooley, a veteran of Scotland Yard. Years on the job have given him a near bullet-proof armour-plating, and he’s going to need it. Working with Roper means he will have to withstand a barrage of bracingly direct personal comments. Despite this, the DCI is his biggest supporter because he knows Roper is the man you turn to when everyone else gives up."Going Underground is a page turning thriller that will keep you awake at night with its twists and turns that make it impossible to put down, and the richly observed characters will stay with you long after you finish." "Their remarkable relationship is highlighted by compelling dialogue and laugh out loud moments, making this more than just another cop story."
Their Last Words
Steve Parker - 2018
A VICTIM. A MUTILATED BODY. A SINGLE WORD. A young woman is found dead on the streets of London. Her throat slashed, her body mutilated, and one word carved into her flesh: “DON’T.” Detective Superintendent Ray Paterson is assigned to the case. Young, handsome, and from a wealthy background, he’s tipped for the top. He joins a team based out of Bermondsey, South London. It’s meant to be a stepping stone to his next promotion, but this case will threaten to bring down his career and everything he thought he knew about policing. Paterson is put in charge of the dead girl's investigation and quickly discovers he must rely on his friend and mentor, Detective Sergeant Dave Jordan to guide him through. THEN ANOTHER BODY IS DISCOVERED. ANOTHER WORD CUT INTO THE VICTIM’S CHEST. The police realise they may have a depraved serial killer on their hands. The murderer is trying to send them a message carved in his victims’ bodies. But who’s the message for? How many more must die? Detective Paterson may be the only man who can stop this vile killer ... if he can survive long enough. This is the first in a series of action-packed, edge-of-your-seat crime thrillers, with an ending that will have your heart in your mouth. Perfect for fans of Kimberley Chambers, Damien Boyd, Rachel Abbott, Patricia Gibney or Martina Cole. PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A HEAVILY REVISED EDITION OF A BOOK FIRST PUBLISHED AS “THE SKY IS CRYING.” What readers are saying about THEIR LAST WORDS “There is also a totally unexpected twist that leaves you gasping with shock.” Maggie “Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.” Nerys “A fast-paced, at times almost heart-stopping mystery. I couldn’t put it down.” Barbara “The end was brilliant.” Carole “I cannot recommend this book highly enough a true one-sitting read.” Lesley TWO DETECTIVES WHO HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT EACH OTHER MUST WORK TOGETHER. Detective Superintendent Ray Paterson is a young and (thanks to family money) wealthy womaniser, separated from his model wife and tipped to be the youngest ever commissioner of police. He knows he’s weak when it comes to practical policing and struggles to find a place among his peers, desperate to be a good policeman and not just a 'climber'. Detective Sergeant Johnny Clocks is a foul-mouthed, working-class officer. He grew up surrounded by rogues and villains to become a first-class thief taker with the Met police. However, his childish attitude has short-circuited his career and he spends his days antagonising as many people as he can. Detective Sergeant Dave Jordan is an old-school copper who trusts his instincts but relies on evidence. He is typical in that his marriage has broken down and he's been unable to form a relationship since. THE AUTHOR Steve Parker is a retired police officer who served for 20 years in numerous high-profiles squads.
Talking to the Dead
Harry Bingham - 2012
. . . At first, the murder scene appears sad, but not unusual: a young woman undone by drugs and prostitution, her six-year-old daughter dead alongside her. But then detectives find a strange piece of evidence in the squalid house: the platinum credit card of a very wealthy--and long dead--steel tycoon. What is a heroin-addicted hooker doing with the credit card of a well-known and powerful man who died months ago? This is the question that the most junior member of the investigative team, Detective Constable Fiona Griffiths, is assigned to answer.But D.C. Griffiths is no ordinary cop. She's earned a reputation at police headquarters in Cardiff, Wales, for being odd, for not picking up on social cues, for being a little overintense. And there's that gap in her past, the two-year hiatus that everyone assumes was a breakdown. But Fiona is a crack investigator, quick and intuitive. She is immediately drawn to the crime scene, and to the tragic face of the six-year-old girl, who she is certain has something to tell her . . . something that will break the case wide open.Ignoring orders and protocol, Fiona begins to explore far beyond the rich man's credit card and into the secrets of her seaside city. And when she uncovers another dead prostitute, Fiona knows that she's only begun to scratch the surface of a dark world of crime and murder. But the deeper she digs, the more danger she risks--not just from criminals and killers but from her own past . . . and the abyss that threatens to pull her back at any time.
Before He Kills Again
Margaret Murphy - 2020
Seven victims so far. And he’s already got his next victim.The police can’t catch him. He leaves no trace of himself, and no one has been able to provide a reliable description of him.Detective Cassie Rowan is working undercover and on his trail. But now he has Cassie in his sights.DISCOVER A BRAND-NEW SERIES FROM ONE OF THE MOST THRILLING WRITERS OF CRIME FICTION!This brand-new, unputdownable crime thriller series from Murder Squad founder Margaret Murphy is one of the must-reads of 2020!MEET DETECTIVE CASSIE ROWANDC CASSIE ROWAN is a young policewoman who has been the main carer for her little brother NEIL since their parents died. She has to balance this role with her demanding job. She is working undercover on the streets of Liverpool trying to find the ‘Furman’, a man who has been brutally assaulting sex workers. Cassie blames herself and another detective, Wicks, for not catching him sooner. Forensic scientist Dr Ian Chan is on her side, but her boss Detective Chief Inspector Pat Warman thinks she is uncooperative and needs to work as part of a team.ALSO BY MARGARET MURPHYCLARA PASCAL SERIESBook 1: DARKNESS FALLSBook 2: WEAVING SHADOWSDETECTIVE JEFF RICKMAN SERIESBook 1: SEE HER BURNBook 2: SEE HER DIE
The Portsmouth Murders
Pauline Rowson - 2005
It’s his second day back in Portsmouth’s CID and things aren’t going well.DI Andy Horton is on his morning run along an isolated stretch of beach when he stumbles across a dead man. Stark naked and bludgeoned to death.Eight months ago, DI Horton’s life fell apart when he was suspended for misconduct. His wife kicked him out and stopped him seeing his daughter.The young woman who’d accused him went missing and the charges were dropped, but his personal and professional life are still in a mess.And now it doesn’t look good for a detective under suspicion to be the one to find a dead body. His colleagues don’t want him on the case.But this murder will challenge Detective Horton in every single way. And when another body turns up with the same cause of death, Horton suspects he might be the next person in the killer’s sights.Please note this was previously published as Tide of Death.
Salt Lane
William Shaw - 2018
There are people here, in plain sight, that no-one ever notices at all.DS Alexandra Cupidi has done it again. She should have learnt to keep her big mouth shut, after the scandal that sent her packing - resentful teenager in tow - from the London Met to the lonely Kent coastline. Even murder looks different in this landscape of fens, ditches and stark beaches, shadowed by the towers of Dungeness power station. Murder looks a lot less pretty.The man drowned in the slurry pit had been herded there like an animal. He was North African, like many of the fruit pickers that work the fields. The more Cupidi discovers, the more she wants to ask - but these people are suspicious of questions.It will take an understanding of this strange place - its old ways and new crimes - to uncover the dark conspiracy behind the murder. Cupidi is not afraid to travel that road. But she should be. She should, by now, have learnt.Salt Lane is the first in the new DS Alexandra Cupidi series.
A Clubbable Woman
Reginald Hill - 1970
After passing out on his bed for five hours, he comes downstairs to discover communication has been cut off forever - by a hole in the middle of her forehead. Down at the club, passions run high, on and off the field. This is a home game for Detective Superintendent Andrew Dalziel who knows all the players, male and female. But Sergent Peter Pascoe whose loyalties lie with another code has a few ideas of his own. This is the first appearance together on any field for Dalziel and Pascoe, and already we can feel that electricity of opposite but complementary skills which will take them into the topmost division
The Night She Died
Dorothy Simpson - 1980
D. James manner” (Kirkus Reviews). Luke Thanet is a British police inspector with a soft heart, bad back, and bloodhound’s nose for murder. When a young woman is found stabbed through the heart with a kitchen knife, Thanet and his partner, the brusque young Mike Lineham, rush to the scene. Julie Holmes lies dead in her front hall, wrapped in her overcoat, her handbag missing. The perpetrator could have been a burglar, a jealous husband, or a spurned lover. But Detective Inspector Thanet never leaps to conclusions, and always takes his time; it seems the key to finding this killer lurks twenty years in the past. When Julie was a child, she witnessed a murder—a traumatic event so scarring she repressed it entirely. Thanet believes that before she died, Julie’s memory came back—and so did the killer . . . The first in the series featuring Inspector Thanet, a “most likable policeman,” The Night She Died is a compelling procedural from an acclaimed CWA Silver Dagger winner (Yorkshire Post). The Night She Died is the 1st book in the Inspector Thanet Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
The Hanover Square Affair
Ashley Gardner - 2003
Cavalry captain Gabriel Lacey returns to Regency London from the Napoleonic wars, burned out, fighting melancholia, his career ended. His interest is perked when he learns of a missing girl, possibly kidnapped by a prominent member of Parliament. Lacey's search for the girl leads to the discovery of murder, corruption, and dealings with a leader of the underworld. He faces his own disorientation transitioning from a soldier's life to the civilian world at the same time, redefining his role with his former commanding officer and making new friends--from the top of society to the street girls of Covent Garden.#1 of the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries series.This is a full-length novel, e-version of The Hanover Square Affair, previously published in print by Berkley Prime Crime.