British Crime Fiction

When the luxurious overnight passenger train from Calais to the Riviera, known as the Blue Train, arrives in Nice, a guard goes into the compartment of American heiress, Ruth Kettering and attempts to wake her. Unfortunately, she will never wake up, as she is dead, having been killed by a heavy blow to her head, disfiguring her almost beyond recognition. What is more, her precious ruby, known as the 'Heart of Fire', is missing. The prime suspect is Ruth’s estranged husband, but detective Hercule Poirot, who also just happens to be a passenger on the train, is not convinced.

The last thing DS Stephanie Johnson and DS Andy Carter expected during their much-needed canal holiday was a murder. When retired folk musician Annie Shipton is found stabbed through the neck at the helm of her barge, the couple can’t help investigating the seemingly impossible crime. Nobody else boarded Annie’s boat—so how was she killed from behind?

DI Sheridan Holler is used to solving crimes on Liverpool’s streets, but after a decayed corpse turns up in a cemetery, she finds herself reopening not one but two cold cases. Seven years earlier, two women were gunned down and the only suspect, small-time drug dealer John Lively, was never seen again. Case closed. Until the body in the cemetery is identified as his.

A child’s body surrounded by candles in misty woodland, scripture stuffed in his mouth. A jockey pinned down by horseshoes on desolate fenland, linked to a secret society called The Horsemen. A university student in black robes drifting on a river, dead, Satanic symbols carved into their flesh. As head of the Ritualistic Behavioural Crime unit, Harrison specialises in murders others can't solve. Secret societies. Occult practices. Religious obsession turned deadly.

When a woman is abducted from a quiet suburban street and bundled into the back of a white van, the only witness to the crime is a child with a reputation for telling tall tales. The police doubt the girl’s story, except for Detective Karen Hart, who is determined to follow her instincts—perhaps because the shy little girl reminds her of the daughter she’s still grieving. When a playing card is found at the scene, Karen finds her first clue. And when a second card is found at the home of a missing woman, Tamara, Karen finds her victim.

The novel that launched the astonishing career of one of the 20th century’s greatest writers of action and suspense – an acclaimed classic of heroism and the sea in World War II. Constant patrols have pushed the crew of the HMS Ulysses beyond the limits of endurance. And now they must be put...

One of Ian Rankin's top ten books of 2021. 'One of the thrillers of the year' Scottish Sun When you have a problem that can't be solved, you call John Tyler. Nine people are trapped on an anthrax-infested, government-controlled island off the west coast of Scotland when the door to their...

Solve a murder, bring a killer to justice... but at what cost? Harry Probert-Lloyd, a young barrister forced home from London by encroaching blindness, has begun work as the acting coroner of Teifi Valley with solicitor's clerk John Davies as his assistant. When a faceless body is found on an...

Locked up with the enemy and there's no way out When two former inmates of Highton prison turn up dead, DI Kelly Porter is tasked with finding out why. As Kelly digs into their life behind bars she finds more questions than answers. A tangled web of corruption and deceit emerges within the...

Beset on all sides, time is running out: to solve the case, and to save his future... Harry Probert-Lloyd has inherited the estate of Glanteifi and appointed his assistant John as under-steward. But his true vocation, to be coroner, is under threat. Against his natural instincts, Harry must...

When the truth lies out of sight... West Wales, 1850. When an old tree root is dug up, the remains of a young woman are found. Harry Probert-Lloyd, a young barrister forced home from London by encroaching blindness, has been dreading this discovery. He knows exactly whose bones they are. Working...

Poor judgements have tragic consequences... The latest in the unputdownable Teifi Valley series The Teifi Valley's coroner, Harry Probert-Lloyd, is struggling: with the blindness that drove him home from London, with the county magistrates and with an estate teetering on the edge of bankruptcy...

The 12th installment in the Aubrey/ Maturin series. The time is the early 1800s, and the British Navy stands as the only bulwark against the militant fanaticism of Napoleonic France. Jack Aubrey, a brilliant and experienced officer, has been struck off the list of post-captains for a crime...

The Luke Sackville Crime Thriller series continues… Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood Luke Sackville’s Ethics Team has several projects on the go ranging from environmental negligence to social media trolling. As they start to investigate these apparently minor misdemeanours, Luke begins to see a link between them. Further work reveals connections to an organised crime cartel, but before Luke can act a trap is laid and more than one of his team find themselves fighting for their lives.

Ex-detective superintendent Brandt has turned against society. The first kill was a stab in the dark, but now he's got a real taste for it. But his pursuer, DCI Stella Johnson, has rankled him. She has leaked to the press the idea he is impotent, and it has taken hold. Brandt wants to prove himself. Who better a victim than the woman who has embarrassed him? Johnson's strategy backfires, and she is in trouble with her superiors. Yet she now has a very personal reason to hunt down Brandt. Will going solo put her at even greater risk than before? And just what has he in mind for her?

Three-year-old Rosie Logan is missing. Her mother, Maria, turned away for just one moment and now her life is changed forever. It falls to PC Lucy Halliday and her police dogs, Moss and Iggy, to find the girl, under the direction of Lucy's boss and friend, DCI Jack Ellis. The case brings up old trauma for Jack. His childhood best friend, Theo, went missing when he was eleven and was never found. This is Jack's chance to make things right. He won't fail Rosie like he failed Theo.

When Amelia is invited to an all-expenses-paid retreat on a private island, the mysterious offer is too good to refuse. Along with six other strangers, she’s told they’re here to test a brand-new product for Timeo Technologies. But the guests’ excitement soon turns to terror when the real reason for their summons becomes clear. Each guest has a guilty secret. And when they’re all forced to wear a memory-tracking device that reveals their dark and shameful deeds to their fellow guests, there’s no hiding from the past. This is no luxury retreat - it’s a trap.

It's with a heavy heart that Jane Austen takes up a new residence at Chawton Cottage in Hampshire. Secretly mourning the lost love of her life, she's stunned to learn that the late Lord Harold Trowbridge has made her heir to an extraordinary bequest: a Bengal chest filled with his diaries...

DI Andy Horton – a Harley-riding maverick with a nose for trouble and a knack for uncovering the truth – is back in this twisty murder mystery! Supposedly on holiday, Horton can't resist the lure of flashing blue lights at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. There, he finds the body of naval historian Dr. Douglas Spalding. His boss is quick to dismiss it as suicide, but Horton's gut says otherwise. When a second body turns up in eerily similar circumstances, Horton knows this is no coincidence. With his superiors unwilling to act, he risks his career to dig deeper.

When Gabriel Lee escapes an unhappy marriage and moves to Porlington to start over, he finds himself part of the Porlington Philharmonia - an orchestra made up of the usual characters you would find in such a thing. Until one of them is found dead following a concert. Suddenly, everybody is a suspect, but nobody seems likely. A thriller full of intrigue and humour, this tale gives an insight into just what a barmy world musicians live in, especially when things go fatally wrong.