British Crime Fiction

Tom Thorne has it all. In Nicola Tanner and Phil Hendricks, Thorne has good friends by his side. He finally has a love life worth a damn and is happy in the job to which he has devoted his life. He has everything to lose. Hunting the woman responsible for a series of grisly murders, Thorne has no way of knowing that he will be plunged into a nightmare from which he may never wake. And he'll do anything to keep it. Finally, Thorne's past has caught up with him and a ruinous secret is about to be revealed. If he wants to save himself and his friends, he must do the unthinkable.

A family outing to Tattershall Castle comes to a chilling end when eleven-year-old Tommy Burton disappears without a trace in broad daylight. All that remains in his place is a small blue teddy bear. DS Karen Hart and her team are called in to investigate the unusual circumstances—but for DI Morgan the crime scene is eerily familiar.

DC Sophie Jones was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Viciously bludgeoned one night in a dark alley, she is left fighting for her life in hospital, leaving no clues as to why she was there or what might have motivated the attack. For Detective Karen Hart, fiercely protective of her young protégée, this is already deeply personal: an attack on Sophie is an attack on the whole team. When a car workshop near the crime scene is linked to local mobster Quentin Chapman, the man Hart has spent years trying to bring down, it’s hard not to jump to the most obvious conclusion.

Trevor receives word that his old friend and mentor had been found dead at the bottom of a cliff, suspiciously described as ‘suicide’ in a police report. He knows instinctively that something is not right. Along with daughter DC Kendra March and her ex-police partner Andy Pike, Trevor sets off for the east coast of England, to a small town known for its friendly population and their welcoming hospitality. What they find when they arrive is not so welcoming. A town in the grip of fear from unrelenting violence.

There was only one reason Manchester-based private eye Kate Brannigan was prepared to let her boyfriend help out with an investigation into a car sales fraud - nothing bad could happen. But by now Kate should know that with Richard you have to expect the unexpected. With Richard behind bars, Kate must look after his eight-year-old son - who proves even more troublesome than his father. Kate finds herself dragged into a world of drug traffickers, child pornographers, fraudsters, and violent gangland enforcers in the most terrifying investigation of her career.

DCI Kett is back, heading Norfolk Constabulary’s brand-new Extreme Crime Task Force. And it’s just in time. The body of a woman bound in thorns has been discovered in Norwich’s historic Cow Tower. In her mouth is a severed finger wrapped in a scrap of red cloth, and the first few lines of a fairy tale. “Once upon a time, a young maiden waited to be saved from a hideous monster.” The finger belongs to another missing woman, and if Kett, Porter and Savage want to find her alive they must follow a chain of blood-drenched riddles, each victim leading to the next.

Ex-DCI Luke Sackville is asked by Globo Energy to investigate two environmental movements. Both groups promote protests and nonviolent civil disobedience, but when members of his Ethics Team go undercover they discover this is a facade. Beneath the surface sinister forces are at work. Luke becomes embroiled in a race to find and stop a murderer who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Sow the Wind is the sixth book in the series of crime thrillers featuring Luke Sackville and his Ethics Team.

All has been quiet in Liverpool, suspiciously quiet… So, when a frantic 999 call comes into Hale Street Police Station reporting a missing woman, it seems like there’s work to do. Except for DI Sheridan Holler there are questions. Why did Caroline Crow take her purse, suitcase and even tell friends she was going away? There’s no reason to suspect foul play…until a severed, burned hand is delivered to another address.

In the early hours of Christmas Eve, the wife of parliamentary candidate Tom Perry is brutally murdered in an apparent burglary gone wrong. With the by-election campaign about to start in earnest, and the festive season in full swing, torrential rain brings with it flood warnings on the Somerset Levels. Suspended on full pay and transferred to the cold case unit, Detective Inspector Nick Dixon is languishing on the sidelines as the investigation into Elizabeth Perry’s murder unravels and the floodwaters rise.

When Dr Raymond Ferens moves to a practice at Milham in the Moor in north Devon, he and his wife are enchanted with the beautiful hilltop village lying so close to moor and sky. At first they see only its charm, but soon they begin to uncover its secrets - envy, hatred and malice. Everyone says that Sister Monica, warden of a children's home, is a saint - but is she? A few months after the Ferens' arrival her body is found drowned in the mill-race. Chief Inspector Macdonald faces one of his most difficult cases in a village determined not to betray its dark secrets to a stranger.

Thirty years ago, a group of five child detectives: Tommy, Luke, Tess, Jane and Daniel, along with their dog, Dexter, made the national press with their crime solving. Nicknamed the Magpies, their adventures were written up as novels by author Reginald Troughton and released to children around the world, including a ten-year-old Declan Walsh. But now, someone is targeting the Magpies, with Reginald brutally murdered while writing a last "lost" adventure.

Halloween, Whitby. DCI Jim Oldroyd’s daughter Louise is in town with friends for a goth festival. But their visit to an escape room ends in bloody murder when one of the group stabs his girlfriend and flees the scene. It’s a crime with three witnesses - but Louise refuses to take what she saw at face value. Oldroyd and DS Carter are called in to solve the case, assisted from the sidelines by Louise. But the closer they investigate, the more complex the web of deceit appears. This is no straightforward crime of passion.

In Wiltshire, England, the Crime Review Team headed by Gus Freeman was formed to investigate cold cases. Freeman and his team have successfully solved several cases, using old witness statements plus fresh clues. After delving into Marion Reeves’s past, Gus Freeman confronts a group of wealthy people who are desperate to hide the truth. Each witness interview provides another missing piece of the jigsaw. Can Freeman complete the picture and unmask the killer?

Georgina Drake’s job photographing beautiful Hartington Hall takes a dramatic turn when she enters the ancient ice house to find the lady of the manor dead on the floor. The second wife of the irascible owner of the hall, Karen Berry had plenty of enemies. Her death could have been an accident, but when Georgina hears how Karen had argued with her husband, alienated her two step-daughters, and fired the long-standing housekeeper for theft, she’s not convinced.

Meet Steven Stelfox. London, 1997: New Labour is sweeping into power, and Britpop is at its zenith. A&R man Stelfox is slashing and burning his way through the music industry, fuelled by greed and inhuman quantities of cocaine, searching for the next hit record amid a relentless orgy of self-gratification. But as the hits dry up and the industry begins to change, Stelfox must take the notion of cutthroat business practices to murderous new levels in a desperate attempt to salvage his career.

Sooty, sulfurous, and malign: no woman should be out on a night like this. A spate of violent deaths—the details too foul to print—has horrified the capital and the smog-bound streets are deserted. But Rachel Savernake—the enigmatic daughter of a notorious hanging judge—is no ordinary woman. To Scotland Yard's embarrassment, she solved the Chorus Girl Murder, and now she's on the trail of another killer.

Three friends go on a foodie road trip to the Scottish Highlands and Islands to celebrate their pending retirement, expecting stunning scenery, great food, fine wines, and a chance to reminisce about the good old days. When they somehow secure a reservation at a remote and extremely exclusive restaurant set on a private island in Loch Broom, they know they’re in for a once-in-a-lifetime dining experience.

He will find the truth. Even if it kills him. Five months ago, DCI Robert Kett’s wife Billie was snatched from a London street. Five months of no leads, no evidence, and no suspects. Until now. When a routine police search uncovers a chamber of horrors beneath one of the city’s most expensive houses, detectives find a clue that points to Billie’s fate, and to the identity of her kidnapper - an enigmatic killer known as the Pig Man.

They were meant to be safe on Fleet Ward: psychiatric patients monitored, treated, cared for. But now one of their number is found murdered, and the accusations begin to fly. Was it one of his fellow patients? A member of staff? Or did someone come in from the outside? DC Alice Armitage is methodical, tireless, and she's quickly on the trail of the killer. The only problem is, Alice is a patient too.

Beth Haldane stands on a quiet street outside an ornate front door, glances down at her watch and taps her foot impatiently. Since her partner Detective Harry York moved into her little house in Dulwich Village, things are a bit too snug. Now Beth whiles away the hours waiting for house viewings and searching for the perfect new home. When a flustered young woman finally arrives and introduces herself as the estate agent, Beth is looking forward to the charming Edwardian property. But when she peeks into a built-in wardrobe, a lifeless body is a greeting she wasn’t expecting.