British Crime Fiction

This volume follows the fates of the Laytons and a retired missionary teacher, all of whom can foresee the end of the Raj--and both welcome and lament its passing...

Fifteen years ago, a serial killer was on a rampage murdering young women in Middlehampton. Then, suddenly, the killings stopped, and the murderer was never found… So when the body of another young woman is found bearing the twisted killer’s unique hallmark—the overpowering stench of lavender and an origami heart—DS Kat Ballantyne knows this can only mean one thing: the killer is back.

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?

William Fawkes, a controversial detective known as The Wolf, has just been reinstated to his post after he was suspended for assaulting a vindicated suspect. Still under psychological evaluation, Fawkes returns to the force eager for a big case. When his former partner and friend, Detective...

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.

"They thought they’d seen the back of the vicious gang. They were wrong.

When a distinctive and valuable jewel-encrusted eye patch appears in a Christie’s auction in London, it isn’t long before the original owner’s family is made aware.

The auction starts a chain of events that lead to the reappearance of the dreaded Qupi gang, only this time led by the matriarch.

She wastes no time in arriving in the East London, causing mayhem as she leaves no stone unturned in the search for her missing husband.

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 fourth of the Aubrey/Maturin series opens with Captain Jack Aubrey gloomily ashore on half-pay until Stephen Maturin arrives with secret orders for Aubrey to take a frigate to the Cape of Good Hope under a commodore's pennant. Once there he is to mount an expedition against the French-held...

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.

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.

When famed mystery author Imelda Bywater turns up dead during her annual seaside writing retreat, recently retired police detective Mike Atwell can't resist the chance to solve one more case. Teaming up with his quirky ex-wife, Sharon, and genius teen hacker, Dexter, Mike finds himself pulled into the glitzy world of writers, agents, and obsessive fans on the hunt for Imelda's killer. Everyone's a suspect—from Imelda's cuckolded publisher husband, the kooky married writers next door, and even the arrogant guest upstairs. The list keeps growing as secrets and lies unravel.

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?

A heart-wrenching, funny and fresh debut about human connection and the power of friendship Struggling to cope with a tragic loss, Denis Murphy has, for the past seven years, learned to live differently. His friends are used to his strict routines, like ironing his socks and lighting his...