Crime Detective

Suzie Housley, Midwest Book Review…"Parsons writes with an intense purpose that will leave the reader fully satisfied. Masterfully crafted…readers will find themselves unable to put this book down." Cambridge, Massachusetts…Detective Karl Shea is drinking Tanqueray London Dry Gin, straight up, at a bar in Harvard Square. He hasn't been to church in thirty years, but the prayer he learned to the rhythmic tap of the nuns' rulers ruminates through his brain…confess my sins, do penance, and amend my life, Amen. Amend. With less than a year to live, Karl knows he has to start amending ...

How unlucky can someone be? You spend your whole life striving to become a world-famous serial killer and surprise! You are killed by another serial killer. In this deadly study of murder and mayhem, learn about the lives, and very unlucky deaths of some of the most notorious murderers in the world. Renowned investigative reporter, S.L. Dale, brings their stories to life as no one else can!

DI Louise Blackwell is still reeling from her brother Paul's murder when she is brought back from enforced leave and tasked with solving a strange new case - the slaughter of wild sheep at Cheddar Gorge, a place shrouded in mystery and folklore. When a man is brutally attacked with a machete on the clifftop and a young girl disappears, Louise realises that the horror is just beginning. Rumours of a mythical presence near the gorge are spreading fast, and why is a local environmental cult resisting all attempts to solve the case?

When the security director of the posh Hotel California abruptly departs, assistant manager Am Caulfield steps into the role. The newbie hotel detective is quickly overwhelmed when a murder-mystery weekend descends on the hotel at the same time as a Bob Johnson convention (yes, the attendees are all named Bob Johnson) - and that’s before a bra thief strikes, a contractor leaps to his death, and two more dead bodies turn up. Mayhem has checked in to the Hotel California. So, as it turns out, has a murderer. Like the little Dutch boy, Am must try and plug one leak after another.

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.

In the rolling hills just outside Gaborone, surrounded by a grove of acacia trees, lies the Great Hippopotamus Hotel. With spacious rooms overlooking the Botswanan countryside and a fine and loyal staff, the hotel has served as a refuge to weary travelers for many years. But a sudden string of misfortunes threatens to ruin the hotel’s reputation. Food poisoning befalls an unlucky diner, laundry mysteriously disappears from the drying line, and a scorpion stings one of the guests. Mishap after mishap occurs, until it becomes apparent that these incidents are more than simple coincidences.

Even though he escaped the gas chambers, he was never truly free. In occupied Poland, there are whispers of a terrifying darkness in the northern forests. When a young Lodzi Ashstein learns the horrifying truth about the Treblinka extermination camp, he is kidnapped and tormented by a senior SS officer, Janich Heiss. After a prisoner uprising, Heiss disappears into the woods and Lodzi is left with nothing but his nightmares and the eternal scars of a survivor. More than 70 years later, Heiss has been mysteriously murdered, and Lodzi is accused of a crime of revenge. When attorney Thaddeus ...

Romanian Jewel Thief Viviana Petki knows she has kleptomania, but is she a sociopath, too? Returning from Saint-Tropez, where she stole the priceless Portensia diamond, she escapes the suspicions of US Customs by slipping the diamond into someone else’s suitcase. Only a sociopath would frame a random stranger without a second’s hesitation, yes? The hunt is on to find the suitcase’s owner and retrieve the diamond. But the search leads to much more than she’d bargained for. What she finds imperils not only her life, but that of her fourteen-year-old cousin—the one who has an ...

When high school student Derrick Booker, the only Black student at a posh Orange County high school, is accused of killing his white girlfriend, private investigator Jim Knighthorse is hired to dig deeper into the case. It doesn't take long for Knighthorse to realize that not everything is as it seems at tranquil Huntington High. From a band director who preys on the innocent to a vice-principal with a secret agenda, Jim has his work cut out for him. Additionally, someone has hired a professional killer to keep Knighthorse permanently off the case. As the investigation continues, ...

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.

‘Strikingly original’ - says award-winning author Jake Needham (Inspector Tay series) ‘Zoya is as gripping as it is charming. A great read’ - says best-selling author Oliver Harris (Detective Belsey series) ‘There's a new detective in town and don't let her height fool you, or her accent de jour. Spot on crime investigation and we need more Z!' ‘This book was amazing! This is my kind of thriller, it's fast and twisty. I love a good twist that shocks me, I didn't see it coming but oh wow I should have!’ ‘Great suspense, intriguing action, murder, mystery…a great whodunnit ...

It’s been five years since Detective Amanda Steele’s life was derailed by the tragic death of her young daughter. The small community of Dumfries, Virginia, may have moved on, but Amanda cannot. When the man who killed Lindsey is found murdered, she can’t keep away from the case.

Detective Josie Quinn lifts the baby from the pram, holding her close and gently soothing her. Josie scours the scene for the sweet little girl’s mother, but the park is deserted. Glancing down, something catches her eye. Nestled amongst the child’s soft pink blankets is a polaroid photo, the corner smudged with blood. The search for Cleo Tate has Josie and her team in a chokehold; the abandoned newborn needs her mother, and every second counts now lab results show the blood belongs to her. The blurred photo of a body of water is Josie’s only lead. But what does it mean?

It’s dark as the young woman leaves work. Crossing the empty car park alone, she thinks about the warmth of her little house. But she doesn’t make it home that night. Or ever again… Thirty years ago, Ruth Pritchard’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Elissa, went missing. Police were called, neighbours were interviewed, and even Ruth’s own husband was investigated, but the case went unsolved. Elissa disappeared forever. Now, Ruth watches the local news and hears about another girl gone from the same streets where her beloved daughter was last seen, and her heart races.

He’s already murdered eight women. Now, he’s coming for me. We find her on a grey November day on Dartmoor, England. I’m excavating a Bronze-Age cairn, expecting to find a burial urn and maybe some bronze tools if I’m really lucky. And then I see her fingers poking through the soil as if she’s trying to claw her way out of her grave. I’m an osteoarchaeologist, used to dealing with bones, and I know immediately she’s been in the ground for months rather than thousands of years. Then I find a message in the grave that’s clearly meant for me. It turns out the girl is the eighth...

Have you ever hated a lawyer? Michael St. John never lost a criminal case. He wasn’t a nice guy. He cheated his clients, destroyed criminal evidence, paid off judges, and ran around on his wife. He was an albatross around the neck of the Richmond Police Department. The District Attorney’s office loathed him until they found his mutilated corpse one beautiful, crisp fall morning, after an unusual outburst in Court the day before. Little did they know that Attorney St. John’s body was key evidence in a far more heinous crimes to come. Mic, K9 Angel and Dottie must solve this case before...

When two bodies are found dumped in a vast lake in Lakemore, Washington, Detective Mackenzie Price is first on the scene. She identifies one of the victims as Katy Becker, a local known for her work helping the community. The other victim looks strikingly similar. Still grappling with a shocking revelation from her past, Mack is only too happy to throw herself into the case. But when she goes to break the news to Katy’s husband, the investigation takes an unexpected turn: Katy is very much alive and has never met the women who resemble her so closely.

It’s Gamache’s first day back as head of the homicide department, a job he temporarily shares with his previous second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir. Flood waters are rising across the province. In the middle of the turmoil a father approaches Gamache, pleading for help in finding his daughter. As crisis piles upon crisis, Gamache tries to hold off the encroaching chaos, and realizes the search for Vivienne Godin should be abandoned. But with a daughter of his own, he finds himself developing a profound, and perhaps unwise, empathy for her distraught father.

Writer Karen Walker knows more than most about murderers. Her first love went on to become The Bagman, a notorious serial killer now locked away for life in a maximum-security prison. Karen has spent her life running from the weight of having loved him, defended him and, ultimately, leading the police to his door. But now, ten years later, just as she’s about to publish her account of his crimes, a young woman is abducted in horribly familiar circumstances.

Case One: A little girl goes missing in the night. Case Two: A beautiful young office worker falls victim to a maniac's apparently random attack. Case Three: A new mother finds herself trapped in a hell of her own making - with a very needy baby and a very demanding husband - until a fit of rage creates a grisly, bloody escape.