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Death at the Abbey
Jan Durham - 2022
A clever canine. A seaside sleuth.After the death of her husband, Liz McLuckie has taken early retirement and moved to Whitby, a picturesque fishing town on the North Yorkshire coast. She thinks the renovation of two ramshackle fishing cottages will take her mind off things, but soon discovers Whitby isn’t quite the peaceful retreat she imagined.When she discovers the body of a local Professor near the medieval Abbey, Liz reluctantly finds herself at the centre of a murder investigation. The post mortem reveals death by drowning. So how did he get onto the clifftop? And why did he have a fish in his pocket?Liz follows the trail of the murderer, and many red herrings - both literal and metaphorical - in the company of her friends, including an almost-reformed burglar, a disgraced archaeology student and Nelson the bull terrier - the ugliest (and bravest!) dog in Yorkshire.Death At The Abbey — Book 1 in the Kipper Cottage Mystery series. Perfect for fans of Stella Cameron and Frances Evesham.
Murder by the Roadside: a 509 Crime short Story
Colin Conway - 2019
A body dumped along the roadside sends a sheriff across his county in search of a killer.Discover The 509 Crime Stories with this free short story.Then check out the books
The Side Hustle
The Long Cold Winter
The Blind Trust
The Suit
What readers are saying about The Side Hustle★★★★★ “… just looking for my next thriller fix, I discovered this gem.” – John Barksley★★★★★ “… a great read! A different kind of police procedural.” – Mickey★★★★★ “This book was hard to put down.” – Amazon Customer★★★★★ “…kept me reading.” – Mary Arnold★★★★★ “Loved my first foray into the 509 series… and Quinn!” – Cynthiareads★★★★★ “The story is well crafted and kept me quickly ‘turning the pages.’” – Sally★★★★★ “Great read. Very enjoyable.” – Amy Dalton
The Greek Island Killer
Frances Lloyd - 2009
SOMEONE’S POISONING PARADISE Detective Inspector Jack Dawes and his bride, Corrie, join eight other holidaymakers bound for a tiny Greek island, ready for a bit of sun, sea and sand. One of them is a ruthless killer. Mayhem ensues when a storm destroys the island’s primitive communications, cutting it off from civilization. IT’S A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY FOR MURDER. First one victim is poisoned, followed swiftly by another. Then a woman is found badly beaten in a quiet cove and a body is found in a grotto to St Sophia, the island’s patron saint. The island’s visitors are being picked off one by one. Can Jack uncover the truth before the killer ups the ante? Who will return home — and who will be sacrificed to the island? Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, LJ Ross, JR Ellis, Angela Marsons or Faith Martin. MEET THE DETECTIVES Detective Inspector Jack Dawes, tall and handsome, looks like the fuzz even when he’s off-duty. He rose up through the ranks at Scotland Yard and now is a well-respected detective in the murder squad. A career copper, he was married to the job until he met Coriander during a money laundering investigation, the case which earned him his promotion to DI. He has logical analytical skills. She has intuitive people skills. So he bounces ideas off her. They make a formidable and funny couple whose skills combine to solve crimes.
Burying Ben
Ellen Kirschman - 2013
Overnight, her promising new start becomes a nightmare. At stake is her job, her reputation, her license to practice, and her already battered sense of self-worth.Dot resolves to find out not just what led Ben to kill himself, but why her psychologist ex-husband, the man she most wants to avoid, recommended that Ben be hired in the first place. Ben’s surviving family and everyone else connected to him are determined to keep Ben’s story a secret, by any means necessary. Even Ben, from the grave, has secrets to keep.Right from the start, Dot’s investigation efforts get her into trouble. First she alienates Ben’s training officer, who is barely managing to hold onto his own job. With the police chief watching over her shoulder, she tries to help the officer with disastrous consequences. After reaching out to console Ben’s pregnant—and slightly sociopathic—widow, Dot winds up embroiled in the affairs of her incredibly dysfunctional family. Dot’s troubles are compounded by a post-divorceromance, the ex who still has a hold over her, and an unwelcome visit from his new wife. By the time she uncovers the real reasons behind Ben’s suicide and brings the people responsible to justice, Dot has not only resurrected belief in herself, she has also acquired some surprisingly useful new skills: impersonating a public official, burglary, and assault with a deadly weapon.
Death Report
Erik Racker - 2019
And hers is just the beginning. The killer wants to be noticed, he wants his handiwork in the spotlight, and he needs his name known. The man’s motivation is something only a fractured mind could imagine. For Sergeant Braun, each step closer to his culprit pushes the killer another step closer to the edge. The man is already capable of murder, so what can possibly happen if he’s pushed too far?
The Modeen Factor
Frank H. Jordan - 2014
When she is contacted by her old CO, she knows it’s not a social call. Victoria Cross recipient Ben Logan doesn’t ‘do’ social calls, at least not to the members of his old squad now living in the ‘real’ world.Hearing from Ben means a mission, no exceptions.When he asks, ‘You in, JD?’ she replies without hesitation, ‘You bet, Ben,’ not realising what’s about to eventuate from those words.Or how her own civilian life will be caught in the ripples….
The Last Straw
Paul Gitsham - 2014
The brilliant but unpleasant microbiologist had a genius for making enemies.For Warren Jones, newly appointed Detective Chief Inspector to the Middlesbury force, a high-profile murder is the ideal opportunity. He’s determined to run a thorough and professional investigation but political pressure to resolve the case quickly and tensions in the office and at home make life anything but easy.Everything seems to point to one vengeful man but the financial potential of the professor’s pioneering research takes the inquiry in an intriguing and, for Jones and his team, dangerous direction.
The Lake House
Kate Watterson - 2022
He’s trying to solve the mystery of a drowning with an unidentified victim. But with no leads, he’s getting nowhere. And now, at the same lake, two more women suddenly have gone missing.Chris suddenly finds he has an array of murder suspects but no bodies. At the center of it seems to be a young woman, Lauren Mathews. He doesn't know what role she plays, but he does know she is of interest to at least three of the men under suspicion.But a pattern is emerging. Another body surfaces.The killer will stop at nothing to stay hidden. But as he draws closer to unraveling the mystery of dead women, Chris begins to fear Lauren will be next on the killer’s list.
Water's Edge
G.R. Jordan - 2019
A broken detective returns to a scene of past tragedy. Will the pain of the past prevent him from seeing the present? Detective Inspector Macleod returns to his island home twenty years after the painful loss of his wife. With a disposition forged in strong religious conservatism, he must bond with his new partner, the free spirited and upcoming female star of the force, to seek the killer of a young woman and shine a light on the evil beneath the surface. To do so, he must once again stand in the place where he lost everything. Only at the water’s edge, will everything be made new. The rising tide brings all things to the surface.
The Girl From Paradise Hill Collection (McClintock Carter #1 - 3)
Susan Lund - 2019
With no crime scenes, no leads and no suspects, the cases have gone cold. Until today. The remains of one missing girl are discovered in a burned-out cabin at a remote campsite, reopening the case and suggesting the worst may be true – a ruthless child killer is operating in Washington State. TESS MCCLINTOCK Crime reporter and amateur cyber-sleuth Tess is obsessed with the cold cases of missing girls in Washington State. As she works to settle her father's estate, she's shaken to her core when she uncovers evidence pointing to his involvement. FBI SPECIAL AGENT MICHAEL CARTER On leave after solving a particularly heartbreaking case of child abduction and murder for the FBI's Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force, Michael is back in Paradise Hill to recover and visit with family. Despite doctor's orders to stay clear of police work, Michael's drawn back in when Tess asks for his help understanding the secrets found in her father's attic. A RUTHLESS CHILD KILLER Having escaped justice for decades, he's bored and deliberately stirs the pot, revealing the body of one of the dead girls. Despite the fact he's hiding in plain sight, no one suspects that he's really a wolf and not the sheep he pretends to be. He sees Tess and Michael's involvement in the case as a challenge and views Tess as a temptation he can't resist. AN EIGHTEEN-YEAR OLD COLD CASE For Tess and Michael, the cases are personal: Tess's best friend in public school, Lisa Tate, was one of the missing girls from Paradise Hill. Michael was babysitting the night little Lisa vanished. The guilt they harbor over their role in her disappearance drives them both. Desperate for answers, Tess and Michael join forces to track a killer and uncover the secrets Tess finds in her father's attic. Will the answers bring Tess peace or shatter her? The Girl From Paradise Hill Trilogy Collection includes all three books in the trilogy.
Home Truths
Susan Lewis - 2019
She never could have predicted how her life would one day turn out.When her oldest son, Liam, grows from a sweet-natured boy to a troubled teen, Angie’s world begins to crumble. Expelled from school and disappearing from home for days on end, Liam falls in with a notorious local gang. After arriving home one day to find their 5-year-old son with a syringe Liam has left lying around, Steve makes a rash decision that will have lasting repercussions on their family.Two years later, Steve is gone, Liam is missing, and with money running out, Angie and her other two children are on the brink of eviction. Then Angie is called into the police station and informed that there’s been a murder—and Liam is a suspect. As Angie’s desperation to save her family leads her to take drastic measures, her daughter secretly devises her own plan to save the family…which could put everyone in danger.Alternating between Angie’s blissful life as a young mother and her present-day nightmare, Home Truths is a searing exploration of the lengths one mother will go to survive and protect her children.
The Dead Hand Of History
Sally Spencer - 2009
Yet, with the discovery of a severed hand, time is the one thing she does not have. When her colleagues prove untrustworthy, the urge to call Woodend for help becomes almost irresistible . . .
Murder is a Tricky Business
Phillip Strang - 2016
Why has he been taken away from more important crimes to search for the woman? It’s not the first time she’s gone missing, and why does everyone assume she’s been murdered? There’s a secret, that much is certain, but who knows? The missing woman? The executive producer, his eavesdropping assistant? Or the actor who portrayed her fictional brother on the Soap Opera?
Murder on the Marsh
Anne Penketh - 2016
HIS HEART HAS BEEN CUT OUT . . .DI Sam Clayton has never dealt with such an extreme crime in the quiet Norfolk villages that are part of his patch. When a waitress, Emma Dawson, disappears, it looks like the police might have a serial killer on their hands. Emma seems to have been part of cultish group obsessed with contacting the dead via a medieval mystic. But a mysterious Frenchman and one of the local nature wardens are also suspects. The mystery is further complicated by the locals’ reluctance to share their secrets with the police. DI Clayton’s team also harbour some tragic secrets and it looks like only one of his detectives will be kept on, even if they do catch the vicious killer.When another child disappears, DI Clayton faces a race against time to prevent any further crimes. Not only that, but he must confront local superstitions and keep his team under control as violence threatens to spiral out of control.MURDER ON THE MARSH is the first in a new series of page-turning crime thrillers set in an atmospheric part of Norfolk. Perfect for fans of LJ Ross, Mel Sherratt, Angela Marsons, Colin Dexter, or Ruth Rendell.THE TEAMDetective Inspector Sam Clayton leads the investigation into the North Norfolk murders, joined the police straight from school as a beat bobby in Manchester before rising through the ranks of the CID. He was transferred to Norwich after being promoted to DI following a high-profile case investigated by Lancashire Constabulary. He struggles with anger issues and finds solace in playing classical guitar. He lives in hope of a reconciliation with his ex-wife, Claire.Detective Sergeant Neil Pringle lives with his third wife in Norwich, where he was born. But taking care of his two sons with his wife Megan, and two other children with previous wives, has put his finances under strain. He never misses a chance to shine in hopes of securing promotion, and can’t help showing off his local knowledge to colleagues.Detective Sergeant Julie Everett is an intuitive officer who was promoted to detective sergeant from her home town of Ipswich where she had a background in child protection. She is discreet about her personal life among colleagues, particularly about the tragedy which haunts her, but is stressed out because of her work-life balance. She has to deal with a high-pressure job while raising a six-year-old child who moved with her to Norwich.THE SETTINGThe mists sweep across the Glaveny marsh and its muddy channels on the North Norfolk coast, where the reeds rustle and the waist-high grasses whisper in the wind. It is a place, frequented by dog walkers and birdwatchers, where myth and reality collide. Locals talk about a hell hound that roams the marsh in the mist, bringing death in its wake. A medieval mystic who wrote about sin, Mother Julian of Norwich, may have had a connection to the villages dotted with fishermen’s flint cottages. Standing beside the majestic white sails of the windmill in the neighbouring village of Pelham on a clear day you can look over the marsh towards the seal colony on Glaveny Point. As you approach them you can hear the seals and their pups moaning on the shingle. The sound is almost human, like a mermaid’s siren call. When the mist rolls in, it is blindingly thick in minutes. When it retreats, who knows what will be left behind?
The Smuggler's Daughter
Claire Matturro - 2020
Ray doesn’t believe in coincidences, but he can’t find a single link between the dead men, and he and his partner soon smash into an investigative stonewall.Kate Garcia, Ray’s fiancée, knows more than she should. She helped one of the dead attorneys, just hours before he took a bullet to the head, study an old newspaper in the library where she works. Kate might be the only person still alive who knows what he was digging up—except for his killer.When Kate starts trying to discover what’s behind the murders, she turns up disturbing links between the three dead men that track back to her family’s troubled past. But she has plenty of reasons to keep her mouth shut. Her discovery unleashes a cat-and-mouse game that threatens to sink her and those she loves in a high tide of danger.