British Crime

A hay barn is set on fire at Low Dale Farm. It seems that an arsonist is targeting isolated barns. Arnold Merryweather’s ancient bus helps catch a car thief. And when Nick arrests not only a pig thief but also the expectant pig, the police station cleaner is not very pleased. But it’s not all crime. A glider crashes into a romance in a thatched cottage, and then Constable Nick is involved in a plot to force a penny-pincher to spend money. In the beautiful North Yorkshire countryside of the 1960s, Constable Nick’s roles are as varied as the eccentric villagers.

The villagers are quite a handful, from the rogue that is Claude Jeremiah Greengrass and his wily dog, Alfred, to the mysterious spinster Adelaide Bowes. Even some of the newcomers seem to be a little odd. But thankfully for Constable Nick, they are mostly law-abiding characters. But when old conflicts between villages flare up, it’s Constable Nick who has to sort things out.

Not when missing sheep need locating, stray dogs need homing, and thieves need identifying! As Britain’s most popular copper continues his work around the village, he has to cope with an array of eccentric characters: a postman who can’t read, a helpful lady who steals from the elderly people in her care, and a delightful small-time villain called Tin Lid Talbot. Winning an aged tin of sardines in a local raffle and upsetting the villagers by getting first prize at the local whist drive, PC Nick Rhea must contend with the variety and humorous exploits of a Yorkshire village.

Constable Nick’s beat is modernized, with his police bike replaced by a mini-van. He gets more than he bargained for as his work draws him into closer contact with villagers, in more ways than one. There are compromising positions aplenty in this next charming installment of Aidensfield life. Nick finds himself lost in heavy fog and runs across a couple of illicit lovers trapped in their car. He advises the village grocer about his very respectable lady shoplifter and discovers how farmer Owens copes with his bossy wife.

A new breed of villain has risen, possessed of extraordinary intellect and violence. Only the brilliant mind and courage of Sexton Blake, scourge of the criminal world, can stop them, in these three classic stories, collected together in one volume for the first time. From the streets of London to the catacombs of Paris, join Blake as he pits his wits against bank robbers, impostors and kidnappers, duels with swords and pursues his foes by any means necessary.

When a young boy falls from a balcony in a block of flats, DS Grace Allendale witnesses the shocking aftermath of the tragic event. But strangely, no one will admit to seeing anything - and the parents will only tell the police that it was an accident. Determined to sort the truth from the lies, Grace is thrown into a case that takes her to the darkest corners of the criminal world - and strikes closer to home than she could have ever imagined.

Joe McKee – pillar of the Derry community - is dead. As arrangements are made for the traditional Irish wake, friends and family are left reeling at how cancer could have taken this much-loved man so soon. But grief is the last thing that Joe’s daughter, Ciara, and step-daughter, Heidi, feel. For they knew the real Joe - the man who was supposed to protect them and did anything but. As the mourners gather, the police do too, with doubt being cast over whether Joe’s death was due to natural causes.

A devastating story of coercive control and domestic homicide. Why would an 'ordinary' father murder his family? On 19 July 2016, Claire and Charlotte Hart were murdered in broad daylight, by the family's father, using a sawed-off shotgun. He then committed suicide. Luke and Ryan Hart, the two surviving sons, open up about their experiences growing up and the circumstances surrounding the murders. They hope to highlight the patterns of behaviour in coercive control and its deadly consequences, improving public awareness and leading to informed discussion on domestic abuse.

A young psychiatric patient disappears from her ward in the dead of night. Eva Jansen’s medical records have been wiped, her history buried. Somebody wanted all trace of her extinguished forever — and fast. When forensic psychologist Alex Madison is tipped off that Eva possesses an extraordinary ability, he knows he must find her before she falls into the wrong hands. Her dangerous gift has eerie echoes of his previous cases, and he’s convinced there’s a connection to the sinister criminal network he’s been hunting for years.

Three missing women running out of time. They were abducted years ago. Notorious serial killer Bill Raven admitted to killing them and was sentenced to life. The case was closed - at least DC Maggie Jamieson thought it was. But now one of them has been found, dismembered and dumped in a bin bag in town. Forensics reveal that she died just two days ago, when Raven was behind bars, so Maggie has a second killer to find. Because even if the other missing women are still alive, one thing’s for certain: they don’t have long left to live.

Forty modern masterpieces are found concealed on a neutral ship in international waters 16 months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Their provenance is sketchy and their final destination unknown. The Royal Navy suspects the works are “degenerate art” seized by the Nazis and shipped across the Atlantic to create cash for their covert operations. But how to prove it? There’s only one man for the job - Roy Hawkins. The British Secret Intelligence Service has put their half-American star agent in tough spots before, and he’s always come out on top.

When Gabriel Lee escapes an unhappy marriage and moves to Porlington to start over, he finds himself part of the Porlington Philharmonia - an orchestra made up of the usual characters you would find in such a thing. Until one of them is found dead following a concert. Suddenly, everybody is a suspect, but nobody seems likely. A thriller full of intrigue and humour, this tale gives an insight into just what a barmy world musicians live in, especially when things go fatally wrong.

In the seaside town of Temple Regis, seagulls are wheeling overhead and the holidays are getting close. And then the body of political candidate Odile Clifford is discovered on the balcony of the lighthouse. Fearless Riviera Express reporter Judy Dimont goes in search of the killer - but who is it? And where will they strike next?

When three wife beaters are themselves found beaten to death, DC Maggie Jamieson knows she is facing her toughest case yet. The police suspect that Probation Officer Lucy Sherwood - who is connected to all three victims - is hiding a dark secret. Then a fourth domestic abuser is brutally murdered. And he is Lucy’s husband. Now the police are running out of time, but can Maggie really believe her friend Lucy is a cold-blooded killer?

How do you find the missing when there’s no trail to follow? DC Lucy Clayburn is having a tough time of it. Not only is her estranged father one of the North West’s toughest gangsters, but she is in the midst of one of the biggest police operations of her life.

Gina Gray is just about to move into a small but perfect flat in Bloomsbury and DCI David Scott has come back into her life. But a family crisis brings her daughter and son-in-law to share her flat and, in the rash of hate crimes that follow the Brexit referendum, a young Indian woman is strangled just doors away from Gina’s new home. David Scott wants Gina’s help with an investigation which takes her into the world of barristers’ chambers in Gray’s Inn, a production of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, and a clash with her difficult younger daughter.

When DCI Anna Tate is called to the gruesome discovery of a dead woman found on Barnes Common, she is plunged into a high‐profile investigation involving a prominent MP. London is baying for blood - but is there more to Holly’s death than at first meets the eye? Meanwhile, the hunt is on for Anna’s missing daughter Chloe, who vanished 10 years ago when her ex‐husband kidnapped her. The case has been cold for what feels like forever - but a phone call brings a brand-new lead....

Lady Baldwin is beautiful, desirable, conniving, nasty, yet sometimes, kind and very thoughtful. Loved and hated in equal measure, it's anyone's guess as to who would ultimately kill her. As a part of the English Aristocracy, she is very rich, surrounded by servants, and totally outrageous. Told by a real English butler with a certain degree of true English humor, this murder story will give you an insight into life in a wealthy, country mansion.

When latter-day lothario and expert kayaker Roger Alcock disappears on the night of the "Great Cockermouth Flood", his attractive wife Maeve takes 24 hours longer than might reasonably be expected to notify the authorities. When Roger’s corpse washes up on the Solway coast, a postmortem suggests his death could legitimately be classified as misadventure. Maverick British DI Skelgill, detects a sinister undercurrent that pervades the tightly knit community in which Roger Alcock moved. As the floodwater recedes, reasons surface why Roger’s erstwhile associates might celebrate his demise.

Sir Jack Drummond, with his wife, Lady Anne, and their 10-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, were on holiday on the French Riviera when they stopped to make camp just off the road near a farm called La Grand' Terre in Provence. The family was found murdered the next morning. More than two years later, the barely literate, 75-year-old proprietor of La Grand' Terre, Gaston Dominici, was brought to trial, convicted, and condemned to death by guillotine.