Police Detective Mysteries

From acclaimed author Quintin Jardine comes the latest gripping mystery in his bestselling Bob Skinner series, perfect for fans of Ian Rankin and Peter May.

When the body of a doctor is discovered brutally murdered in local woodland, Detective Kim Stone is shocked to discover the victim is Gordon Cordell - a man linked to a previous case she worked on involving the death of a young schoolgirl. Gordon has a chequered past, but who would want him dead? As the investigation gets underway, Gordon’s son is involved in a horrific car crash which leaves him fighting for his life. Kim's sure this was no accident.

Women rich and poor come to her, desperate and in dire need of help – and discretion. Dolly Merishaw is a midwife and an abortionist in Victorian Toronto, but although she keeps quiet about her clients’ condition, her contempt for them and her greed leaves every one of them resentful and angry. So it comes as no surprise to Detective William Murdoch when this malicious woman is murdered. What is a shock, though, is that a week later a young boy is found dead in Dolly’s squalid kitchen.

Oxford, 1960. There's a murderer on the loose, and two unlikely heroes are poised to solve the case. Meet Probationary WPC Trudy Loveday - smart, enthusiastic and always underestimated. In the hope of getting her out of the way, Trudy’s senior officer assigns her to help coroner Clement Ryder as he re-opens the case of a young woman's death. She can't believe her luck – she is actually going to be working on a real murder case.

Local police stations all over the Scottish Highlands are being threatened with closure. This presents the perfect opportunity for Detective Chief Inspector Blair, who would love nothing more than to get rid of Sergeant Hamish Macbeth. Blair suggests that Cyril Sessions, a keen young police officer, visit the town of Lochdubh to monitor exactly what Macbeth does every day. Macbeth hears about Blair's plan and is prepared to insure that Cyril returns back to headquarters with a full report. But Cyril is soon found dead and Hamish quickly becomes the prime suspect in his murder.

When Detective Kim Stone and her team are sent to Westerley, a forensic research facility, they discover the body of a young woman, her mouth filled with soil. But she doesn’t belong there. It seems a killer has discovered the perfect cover for their crime. Kim breaks the devastating news of Jemima’s murder to her parents, who speak of a gentle soul with no enemies. Yet when Jemima’s sister confides in Kim that she was afraid to leave the house, Kim is certain that Jemima knew her killer, and is determined to find this brutal murderer before he strikes again.

Detective P.T. Marsh was a rising star on the police force of Mason Falls, Georgia - until his wife and young son died in an accident. Since that night, he's lost the ability to see the line between smart moves and disastrous decisions. Such as when he agrees to help out a woman by confronting her abusive boyfriend. When the next morning he gets called to the scene of his newest murder case, he is stunned to arrive at the house of the very man he beat up the night before. He could swear the guy was alive when he left, but can he be sure?

When John Heppel, a visiting writer to Lochdubh, first proposes forming a writers' circle, the idea is met with much enthusiasm from local residents. However, once the classes get underway, attendance quickly falters due to one undeniable fact: John Heppel is a long-winded, consummate bore. But is dullness a motive for murder? Hamish Macbeth wouldn't ordinarily think so. So when Heppel is found dead, Hamish begins looking for deeper meaning in the writer's stories.

Writing scrawled on the wall of Sheriff Jenna Alton’s office leads her, and her deputy, David Kane, to a secluded house on the outskirts of town. Inside, Jenna is devastated to find a much-loved local resident with stab wounds covering her lifeless body. As the small town grieves, Jenna discovers the wreck of a car with another dead woman inside. And, before she can make her next move, one of her own team is found unconscious, covered in the blood of a third female victim - a knife inches away from his hand. The clock ticks to uncover a dark secret that connects all three victims.

Lord Comstock is a barbarous newspaper tycoon with enemies in high places. His murder in the study of his country house poses a dilemma for the Home Secretary. In the hours before his death, Lord Comstock’s visitors included the government Chief Whip, an Archbishop, and the Assistant Commissioner for Scotland Yard. Suspicion falls upon them all and threatens the impartiality of any police investigation. Abandoning protocol, the Home Secretary invites four famous detectives to solve the case: Mrs Adela Bradley, Sir John Saumarez, Lord Peter Wimsey, and Mr Roger Sheringham.

Sarah Hussain was not popular in the community of Kingsmarkham. She was born of mixed parents - a white Irishwoman and an immigrant Indian Hindu. She was also the Reverend of St Peter's church. But it came as a profound shock to everyone when she was found strangled in the vicarage. A garrulous cleaner, Maxine, also shared by the Wexfords, discovers the body. In his retirement, the former Detective Chief Inspector is devoting much time to reading, and has little patience with Maxine's prattle.

Her small hands tremble and tears run down her cheeks. Shivering in the dark, damp storeroom, the little girl clutches her favourite toy dog. She cries out for help, but nobody answers. Her mother went missing last night and, as dawn breaks, there is still no sign of her. Four-year-old Cleo shakes with fear as she tells the police that her mother, Darcie, was taken by a man on their way home last night. Darcie told Cleo to run and hide, and the last thing she saw was Darcie being pushed into the back of a car.

When Penny Matthews, a seven-year-old girl with blonde curls and a gap-toothed smile, goes missing in the Appalachian mountains, Detective Ellie Reeves is called straight to the scene. According to Penny’s parents, their daughter vanished after a picnic by the creek. All that’s left behind is a pink friendship bracelet etched with “Penny”.

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?

When Detective Erika Foster finds politician Neville Lomas naked, hog-tied, and dead in his own bed, skittish higher-ups at the Met quickly rule the death from natural causes. Case closed...until two months later when a well-known casting director and a star footballer are found murdered and tied with the same knots. The Met can no longer ignore what’s staring them in the face: there’s a serial killer loose in London, and they’re out to settle a score. As Erika and her team investigate, things take a strange turn as CCTV footage turns up five female suspects...and they’re all identical.

When the body of a beautiful and wealthy doctor is discovered in her high-rise apartment – all alone with the doors locked from the inside – nobody can understand how or why her life has been so brutally cut short. Detective Jacqueline “Jack” Kent may have never worked a murder case before, but that’s not going to stop her trying. It seems Ana’s murderer may have scaled the ten-story building to get in – and Jack should know.

The 60th birthday party of Silas Kane was marred by argument and dissension amongst his family. And then, the morning after the celebrations, Kane is found dead at the foot of a cliff. The theory that Silas accidentally lost his way in the fog is confirmed when the coroner returns a verdict of death by misadventure. But then Kane's nephew, and heir, is murdered, and threats are made on the next in line to the fortune, throwing a new and sinister light on Silas Kane's death.

For Meg Jennings and her K-9 companion, Hawk, exploring the ruins of a deserted building is an exciting way to sharpen their skills without the life-or-death stakes they face as part of the FBI's Human Scent Evidence Team. But deep in the echoing rooms of an abandoned asylum, Hawk finds the body of an elderly woman. The victim couldn't have made her way into the derelict building on her own. Before 48 hours pass, Meg learns of three more cases of elders found dead in neglected urban structures. There's not enough evidence to link the deaths - yet. But Meg scents a pattern.

As funeral mourners stand in silence at Ragmullin cemetery, a deafening cry cuts through the air. Lying crumpled at the bottom of an open grave is the bloodied body of a young woman, and Detective Lottie Parker is called in to investigate. Knowing the body can’t have been there long, Lottie wonders if it could be Elizabeth Bryne, a young woman who vanished without trace just days earlier. And with a new boss who seems to have it in for her, Lottie is under pressure to solve both cases quickly.

As bogus corruption charges loom over her, DS Kat Ballantyne finds herself deskbound and stuck with cold cases. Her hated boss, DI Carver, has given her just one week to explain how £50,000 found its way into her bank account. If she can’t, she’ll be lucky to have a desk at all. Then a close friend calls her from a murder scene, claiming to have strangled a local gangster’s wife. Kat has no choice but to disobey orders and investigate. Despite overwhelming forensic evidence supporting her friend’s confession, something still doesn’t add up…