British Detective

'A fantastic writer.' Donald Ray Pollock 'Nigel Bird is fast becoming one of the top writers in his genre.' Luca Veste DIRTY OLD TOWN is the debut collection from the prize-winning writer Nigel Bird. His brilliantly observed slices of life allow us to visit places we may not normally choose to enter and to walk a few miles in the shoes of others. Though his tales have darkness at their core, they are also full of a heart and spirit that one rarely finds in the world or ‘noir’ or ‘crime-writing’. There are 9 stories here: Drinking Wine (Spo-Dee-Oh-Dee); Dirty Old Town; Sea Minor; ...

In this 5th book of the series, DC Oliver Cole returns to Northumbria from sitting his Sergeant’s exams to find some changes in the short time he’s been away. He faces an appraisal with his DCI Jack Collier and finds out exactly what Jack thinks about his performance. He also has to come to terms with a new DS, Jason Glover, standing in for Colin Davis who is on sick leave. Things do not go well on Oliver’s first day back when a body is discovered in an industrial waste bin in Byker and Oliver is kept out of the investigation, being sent to look into a routine mugging instead. Within ...

The Magician Vanishes! Benjamin Vickery, alias The Great Vicari, attends a meeting with a shadowy secret service official - and then disappears. His assistant Malloy and housekeeper Betty become increasingly concerned for his safety and set out to find him. But where should they look? His Majesty’s government won’t admit that the ex-magician was working for them, so the intrepid duo must investigate without their help. When Malloy is attacked by foreign spies, he knows he must be getting close to something - but what conspiracy are they hatching in the heart of the English countryside? ...

Impeccably attired. Unapologetically arrogant. Undeniably brilliant. Detective Chief Inspector James Thaw, of the Tolland Valley Police in the north of England specializes in solving the seemingly unsolvable murders. Together with his faithful sidekick, Detective Sergeant Kevin Friday, they tackle some of the most baffling murders. This time they are looking into the death of Sir Robat Hughes, a nationally acclaimed scholar.

The most original crime novel in years - British ‘Golden Age’ sleuth meets American hard-boiled crime! It’s the summer of 1920: Kit Aston travels to San Francisco for his cousin’s marriage to the mysterious Dain Collins. When a private investigator tailing Dain Collins is killed, Kit Aston, his fiancée Mary and Aunt Agatha team up with Pinkerton detective, Dashiell Hammett, in a case involving murder, kidnap and the theft of a certain legendary bird from Malta. The latest Kit Aston mystery is a delightful reimagining of some of Dashiell Hammett’s greatest novels: the Maltese ...

Alan Woolsham was at the top of his game. He was an acclaimed television star in England and had come to New York to film four special TV shows dealing with British antiques. The shows were to be taped at the Whitney Museum, and Alan hoped to open up a whole new viewing audience for his wildly successful show. But things didn’t go as planned. Murder does have a way of changing things. So much for stardom in the States. Marty and her husband, Jeff, were in New York City for what the hype promised to be a television and museum extravaganza about British antiques. Marty, an art and antique ...

Only the tide can wash away their darkest secrets. DI Graham Walker is just beginning to settle into a quieter life on the picturesque Gower peninsula when a call comes in. Even to the coast, death has followed him. The remains of a woman have washed up on the golden sands of Three Cliffs Bay. Her young body is twisted, broken, and Graham soon learns that hers was not the first that the local community have seen – not by a long shot. As Graham begins to probe into the lives of those around him, it becomes clear that the people that had so warmly welcomed him are less than keen to bring an...

A beloved businessman. A brutal murder. A notorious crime family returns. Late-night takeaway owner Baba Sen is savagely killed in his shop. The crime scene bears the unmistakable mark of the feared Atacan family—a name DI Hogarth never expected to see again. Once thought to be buried in the past, the Atacans are back, and Hogarth knows things are about to get dangerously complicated. ★★★★★ “Fast-paced and exciting… expect a couple of late nights because you won't be able to put it down!” As Hogarth delves into the investigation, he uncovers a feud between rival Turkish ...

When a celebrity chef from Exmouth mysteriously disappears, private investigators Lockwood and Darrow are discreetly enlisted to investigate, keeping a step ahead of the relentless press. Though the chef's known mental health struggles hint at a possible explanation, as the duo delve deeper, they unearth a tangled web of secrets that suggest a far darker narrative. The quest for truth threatens to have wide-ranging implications, placing them in the crosshairs of the town's most dangerous secrets. The pair must work swiftly to expose the truth before the town's underbelly consumes them.

On a deserted road, late at night, Scotland Yard's Ian Rutledge encounters a frightened woman standing over a body, launching an inquiry that leads him into the lair of a stealthy killer and the dangerous recesses of his own memories in this 20th installment of the acclaimed New York Times best-selling series.

Rita is an artist, still recovering from an attack by three men. Deborah is a nurse and a killer, as much at ease ending people’s lives as prolonging them. Maybe, if they hadn’t been lovers, it wouldn’t have gone beyond talk. But they are. And it does. The police start finding bodies. And more bodies. Because, once you start killing people, it’s difficult to stop. New names get added to the list. All men, and all sexually interfered with. Why not? That’s what the three men did to Rita. Revenge is sweet. PC Jamie Pearson and Rita were teenagers together once. Jamie wants to find ...

A Modern British Detective Novel In the murky world where children are bought and sold, what happens to the ones left on the shelf. This is just one of the questions that Detective Inspector Mike Deverson has to answer when he is called on to investigate a grisly double murder. The further he delves into the murdered couple lives the more he finds that nothing is as it seems. It looks like someone is playing games. Can he get to the truth and stop the murderer before they can strike again?

In the early hours of Thursday 8th August 1963 at rural Cheddington in Buckinghamshire, a Travelling Post Office train was on the final leg of its journey from Glasgow to London. Complying with a red signal light, the train was brought to a stop on a remote section of track. Suddenly, and without warning, the engine was boarded and taken over by masked men. So began legend of the ‘Great Train Robbery’…. Dan Shaw, author of ‘The Krays: Their Life and Crimes’ recounts the dramatic true story of that most audacious of crimes. Presented succinctly, from the start this book places the ...

For an instant the two trains ran together, side by side. In that frozen moment, Elspeth witnessed a murder. Helplessly, she stared out of her carriage window as a man remorselessly tightened his grip around a woman's throat. The body crumpled. Then the other train drew away. But who, apart from Miss Marple, would take her story seriously? After all, there were no suspects, no other witnesses...and no corpse. This title was previously published as What Mrs. McGrillicuddy Saw!

Ruth Galloway receives a phone call that bears shocking news. A friend of hers from college, Dan Golding, has been killed in a fire at his Lancashire home. Her shock turns to alarm when she gets a letter from Dan. He has made a discovery that will change archaeology forever but he needs Ruth's advice. Even more alarming, he sounds vulnerable and frightened. DCI Harry Nelson is also rediscovering his past. Up north for a holiday, he meets his former colleague Sandy MacLeod, now at Blackpool CID.

Smoke hides many truths … and many sins … After a case of industrial espionage leads to a manic pursuit gone fatally wrong, private investigator Thomas Blume is forced to face the agonizing pain of his role in a seemingly innocent bystander’s death. But when the victim’s wife shows up the next day suggesting a mysterious deeper conspiracy with much more going on beneath the surface, Blume is drawn into a case involving dangerous organized criminals, a seedy London underworld, and gangsters with nothing to lose. Now, with police closing in and a mob boss hunting him, can Blume ...

In a world of lies, one truth remains. Dead men tell no tales...When the body of an unidentified man is found at the foot of Sheringham cliffs with injuries inconsistent with a fall, DI Tom Janssen must piece together his final days to determine how he fell to his death...or who pushed him...The investigation quickly reveals a network of locals with ties to the victim, but as for the man himself...he remains something of a mystery. The dead man doesn't fit in; not with his social circle, not with his business interests, and when others come looking for him, the intrigue only deepens.

Book 2 in the Batterton Police Series. Jensen Bartholomew is Zooming with his brother, Cedric, when the door behind Cedric opens and a figure enters covered head to foot in a black gown and wearing a Guy Fawkes mask. As Jensen watches, the figure wraps something around Cedric’s neck and pulls it tight. Cedric struggles to free himself and his feet stamp a furious tattoo on the worn lino beneath them, but the figure does not relent. Cedric sinks out of sight. The figure leans in close to the screen and points through it at Jensen. In a deep and gravelly voice, it says, ‘You’re next.’...

Leger has a plan to get Amber feeling like a true Glaswegian again. He wants to set up a detective school and recruit her as a teacher so she sees how valuable she is to the community. It also has the added benefit of passing on their skills to a new generation of cats, so when they're gone, Glasgow won't be left vulnerable. However, the students who turn up aren't kittens, but Leger's nearest and dearest friends. When Leger has to leave his first lesson halfway through to find a restless Amber, the others witness a crime being committed and assume Leger has set this up to test his students...

They Kidnapped His Sister. He’ll Get Her Back. FINN’S QUEST is a fast-paced military action fiction thriller featuring Captain Kirkland Finn of the British Army 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS). Follow Finn on a high-octane adventure journey from Afghanistan to the USA and back as he battles to free his kidnapped sister from American ex-special forces mercenaries and a vengeful Afghan drug lord. A 390-page action-packed covert-ops fiction thriller with twists and turns that will keep you guessing to the end, including FBI investigation, undercover CIA black-ops, espionage, DEA ...