International Detectives

Former chief inspector Chen faces a tricky serial murderer case at the height of the Covid pandemic—and risks everything he has to expose the deadly effects of the Chinese Communist Party's so-called zero Covid policy to the world.

What's playing at the Calliope Club may draw a furtive crowd, but as far as the CID's Andrew Dalziel can tell it's all perfectly legal. His partner, Peter Pascoe, begs to differ. From what he hears, an actress's violent ordeal on film looked all too real. When she turns up unharmed, it appears his suspicions were wrong . . . if Andrew and Peter can trust what they see. Because if this dirty business is well and good, why has the film in question vanished? Why has the theater been set ablaze? And why has its proprietor been beaten to death?

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says it was an accident. The victim's wife says it was murder. Frank Adams, retiree from the NTSB, now independent aviation accident investigator, has been hired to find out. Mounting evidence and an additional murder of a former Amertec employee convinces Adams that there was indeed foul play.

Jake Scarne has retired. But he has mixed feelings about it. He suspects that there is more to life than golf outings and sojourns down the Jersey Shore. Little does he know that some of his old skills will come in handy when the Staten Island Ferry he is on is hijacked! The hijackers claim they are terrorists. But their real motives are more venal. Scarne avails himself of possibly the most unusual ally he's ever had. But there is death and tragedy in this twisty tale that reminds some critics of two classic movies: DIE HARD and THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE-TWO-THREE. “IF YOU LIKE HARD-...

ORIGIANL STORY, WRITTEN BY A HUMAN Something evil is going on out there... Detective Ange Watson always knew policing was a hard job. A dangerous job. But she never expected to take a bullet in the line of duty… And now it seems her superiors are willing to throw Ange under the bus to cover up their own mistakes. While she isn’t easily intimidated, everyone has their limits. But when a scared young Vietnamese woman seeks refuge in a country church, it sets in motion a chain of events that will push Ange’s ingenuity and determination to its limits. No human being deserves to be sold to...

A wave lifts the stern of the boat, rigging groans in protest and a crash comes from down below, as the wails of the cargo rise above the howl of the storm. It's a wild Christmas Day on the rugged Northern Irish coast. But there's no time for turkey and pud with the family for Detectives Harvey and Birch. DS Aaron Birch leans into the wind and driving sleet. Thick, scudding clouds make the streets of Lisburn almost as dark as early evening. Then he gets the tip-off. Smugglers coming into a boatyard in Bangor.

The Department of Sensitive Crimes is downsizing in light of a recent downturn of sensitive crime, and staff members are wondering who among them will be transferred elsewhere. As the bickering between colleagues intensifies, Ulf tries his best to stay above the fray. But when Anna, a long-time friend and co-worker, appears to blame him for an old case that went sideways, it seems she may be putting her own job prospects above their friendship. In the midst of all this, Ulf embarks on an important inquiry.

Aboard the luxury cruise ship Meridian Challenger, brilliant detective Sidney Fleet guards a wealthy industrialist's secrets as they venture into Arctic waters. But not everyone sailing north seeks the midnight sun. Drew Peterson, Fleet's observant young assistant, finds his loyalties tested when romance and suspicion collide. As freezing winds howl and ice coats the decks, the ship becomes a chessboard where nothing - and no one - is quite what they seem. When dangerous waters and deadly ambitions threaten to transform their sanctuary into a trap, Fleet and Peterson must unravel a web of ...

In an upscale Bel Air property, two lovers are found dead in a swimming pool. The man is the playboy heir to a business empire, and the woman is his even wealthier married neighbour. An illicit affair is the perfect motive. But the house is untouched - no forced entry, no forensic evidence - and so LAPD homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis and asks psychologist Alex Delaware to help unpick the case. It quickly becomes clear that both victims had troubled pasts. Now Alex and Milo must confront LA's darkest side as they unravel a trail of deadly secrets.

Action thriller by the classic adventure writer set in Norway and Finland. When Giles Denison of Hampstead wakes up in an Oslo hotel room and finds the face looking back at him in the mirror is not his own, things could surely get no more bizarre. But it is only the beginning of a hair-raising adventure in which Denison finds himself trapped with no way to escape. One false move and the whole delicately balanced power structure between East and West will come toppling down....

Kamil Rahman is a cook in a Brick Lane restaurant. But he used to be a detective back in Kolkata. And somehow trouble still knows how to find him. When a young woman Kamil knows is murdered the police are convinced her boyfriend is the culprit. Kamil isn't so sure and feels he has no choice but to start his own investigation. Meanwhile, his friend and restaurant manager, Anjoli, is troubled by a rise in the number of homeless deaths in their local area.

December on the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal—and solicitor Benedicta "Ben" O'Keeffe is working flat out before the Christmas holidays. While on a trip to Dublin to visit her parents, she runs into Luke Kirby—the man who killed her sister—freshly released from jail. On the surface he appears remorseful, conciliatory even, but his comment as she walks away makes her realize he is as evil as ever. Back in Glendara, she finds chaos. The Oak pub has burned down and Carole Kearney, the Oak's barmaid, has gone missing.

The newspaper reported the case with relish. Jane (Jinx) Kingsley, fashion photographer and heiress, tried to kill herself after being unceremoniously jilted by her fiance, Leo Wallader. Leo has disappeared - together with Jinx's best friend Meg Harris. But when she wakes from her coma, Jinx can remember nothing about her alleged suicide attempt. Nevertheless, Jinx is convinced that she would never try to kill herself over Leo. Surely it was she who wanted to break the engagement.

Detective Ngaire Blakes is back on the case when a skeletonized murder victim is discovered - a crime that took place during the Springbok Tours of 1981. A period that pitted father against son, town against city, and police against protesters. When the victim is identified as Sam Andie, a young African American man transplanted from the States to NZ by his family, Ngaire must investigate whether racial motives were behind the death.

Dealing with the fallout from a difficult case, Welsh Inspector Ian Drake faces a deadly foe as well as counselling for his OCD. When a ferry arrives in port, he knows a killer is on board. Unable to trace the killer after the ship berths, he fears the worse. Tension mounts when two more members of the crew are killed. When Drake’s cousin gets involved and he faces the implications of his father’s treatment for cancer, he struggles to face the challenges of tracking the killer.

“Ames, with her great writing and brilliant story, has created a masterpiece of her own in Marked Masters. She leaves her readers doing their own research between the pages. Like Laurel, Ritter keeps the story with its rightful owner—the reader.” – Crimespree Magazine Laurel Beacham made working solo a personal success story and is known for her nerve, instincts, and ability to do whatever necessary to return each priceless masterpiece safely intact. As the world’s leading art recovery expert, she’s thwarted more heists than the average law enforcement professional. Museums ...

First published in 1890, The Sign of the Four is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s second book starring legendary detective Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Each year following the strange disappearance of her father, Miss Morstan has received a present of a rare and lustrous pearl. Now, on the day she is summoned to meet her anonymous benefactor, she consults Holmes and Watson.

Crestfallen, dejected, and spiralling into an alcohol-fuelled depression after killing a man in the line of duty, Inspector Kurt Wallander has made up his mind to quit the police force for good. When an old acquaintance, a solicitor, seeks Wallander's help to investigate the suspicious circumstances in which his father has died, Kurt doesn't want to know. But when the solicitor also turns up dead, shot three times, Wallander realises that he was wrong not to listen.

“As engaging and entertaining a worldwide romp as the first two books…Ritter Ames has penned a marvelous story with Laurel Beacham continuing to show her cleverness and intuition portraying a strong character…I was thrilled!” – King’s River Life Magazine Abstract clues lead to new questions. New leads turn to “dead” ends. A heist plot ties to forgeries. Adversaries resurface twisting an already complicated case. And art recovery expert Laurel Beacham must not only outwit criminals, but keep her wits around Jack Hawkes’s cheeky ego. Before the criminals they were tracking ...

A killer who stages his victims like art. A message hidden in a dead man’s throat. And a detective on the edge of breaking. The footsteps stopped on the stone floor. Then came a low, scornful laugh. A blade traced her calf. “Mariella, my beautiful one... It’s time.” In the sun-drenched vineyards near Stuttgart, Germany, a brutally mutilated corpse is found—slashed, disemboweled, and theatrically posed. Chief Inspector Lola Lindberg and her team are stunned. But the horror doesn’t end there. Inside the victim’s throat, forensic pathologist Hettkamp discovers a chilling message ...