Showing results by author "John Carson" in All Categories

He caught him once before. Can he do it again? With Harry McNeil’s life changed forever, he is thrust back into work when a serial killer dies in prison. Harry helped bring him to justice, but even in death, the man has something to say. A message is found at the man’s post mortem. A message for Harry. It isn’t over. An informant in prison claims that the killer bragged about more victims, but none were ever found. Until now. But these victims aren’t from the past. They’re from the present. Just because the mentor is dead, doesn’t mean his spirit doesn’t live on…

They left him for dead. They made a mistake. On sabbatical from the force after a personal loss, DCI Harry McNeil spends his days renovating an old cottage he bought, and his nights down at the local bar. He's living in a small town where nothing much happens. Until it does. Harry meets a young woman who is searching for her brother who went missing in the area two years ago. He is special needs and she's convinced he wouldn't just run off.

Ailsa Connolly was a brilliant psychologist and a respected criminologist. She was also a serial killer. Six years ago, DCI Sean Bracken caught her just before he was about to become her seventh victim. Every year on the anniversary of her incarceration, she taunts him with a phone call, giving him one message: "When I get out, I'll kill you." Now, Bracken has transferred back to Edinburgh and is thrown into the deep end on his first day back on duty. There's a killer who is emulating Ailsa, threatening to surpass her body count.

The body of a teenager is found near Portobello Beach in Edinburgh, wrapped in plastic. She went missing five years ago but it's obvious she only died recently.

Soon to be seen in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, welcome to the casino city of Canto Bight. A place where exotic aliens, captivating creatures, and other would-be high rollers are willing to risk everything to make their fortunes. Set across one fateful evening, these four original novellas explore the deception and danger of the lavish casino city.

A woman is found dead, brutally murdered, her death made to look like an accident. DCI Sean Bracken is called in and discovers that the young woman has a very powerful father. Was somebody trying to get back at him, or has the woman's secrets finally caught up with her? Bracken also has to deal with the mysterious arson attack on his boss' house. And a name from the past resurfaces, a name that Bracken thought was dead and buried.

As the end of the year draws to a close, Detective Chief Inspector Sean Bracken is called to a murder scene near the Writer's Museum. The body of a woman is sitting on a bench in the square, her frozen hand holding a paperback. The book is by famous American professor of psychology and crime writer Edwin Hawk, who has just ended a book tour, culminating in Edinburgh. Knowing he is the number-one suspect, Hawk sets out to convince Bracken of his innocence. But Bracken has dealt with people like Hawk before. Is the man telling the truth or using psychology to get away with murder?

Settling into his new life, Detective Chief Inspector Harry McNeil is being kept busy, but life is going to become a lot busier. The body of an MSP has been found slaughtered in an empty house in Edinburgh. But this is no ordinary crime scene. It’s one that Harry McNeil thinks he’s seen before. Down to the last detail, including the position of the bodies. As they start the hunt, they’re looking for a killer who seems to know far too much detail of what goes on behind the scenes at a kill site. Somebody who doesn’t want to stop.

Doctor Angela Monroe is found dead at the foot of Salisbury Crags on Arthur's Seat. An avid runner, it first appears that she fell to her death. Until the pathologist deems it murder. It's the night of the summer solstice, and people have been celebrating on the famous dormant volcano. DCI Sean Bracken and his team are called in to lead the investigation. Monroe was a well-respected professor, lecturing at a local university, who had no known enemies and was a private person who kept to herself.

DCI Harry McNeil is back at the helm, joined by his old friend, DI Frank Miller. He is juggling his private life with being a single father, running a new Major Investigation Team, and spending time with a woman who may or may not become more than just friends. Edinburgh at New Year is a time for celebration, fun, and for one person, murder.

When a body is discovered on a carousel at the fair in The Meadows in Edinburgh, it brings back memories for DCI Harry McNeil. He had history with the man, having arrested him many years ago. The victim was a high-flying politician, destined for great things, but did his secrets catch up with him? Or were the death threats he’d received not taken seriously enough?

Detective Chief Inspector Harry McNeil had found himself back in CID after a leave of absence saw his team disbanded. Now he's been temporarily assigned to an existing Major Investigation team, working alongside his old friend, Detective Inspector Frank Miller, after Miller's DCI dies suddenly. A body is found in the city center, torn to pieces. It's reminiscent of a cold case from years ago and the victim is quickly identified, bringing the old murder enquiry back front and center.

A mythical man known as Nightmare haunted young children for years. Until he became real. DCI Harry McNeil knows the legend all too well. Growing up in the Highlands, Nightmare was on his and every other child's mind as they went to sleep. Then, Nightmare claimed his first victim. A young girl, found dead in an abandoned cemetery with the words, I am Nightmare, carved into her chest. Two more victims, the same words carved into them. Then Nightmare disappears. Now, years later, there have been reports of graffiti being sprayed around Inverness and on graves in old cemeteries.

DCI Sean Bracken is about to buy a house, his ex-wife is talking about getting married, and his father drops a bombshell. He has very little time to get involved with solving a murder, but that's what is thrown into his lap. A young woman found beaten and burned in an old building will be taking up Bracken's every waking minute. He has seen victims like this before, battered almost beyond recognition, a crime that is more than personal. With the crime taking priority, it leaves time for little else and takes Bracken into a world he knew existed but hadn't navigated before.

Here we have echoes of John Wyndham’s Midwich Cuckoos, Stephen King’s Children of the Corn, and so many more tales of child-driven terror—all of which serve as tales so cautionary against procreating, the Catholic church might just try to ban Kids Are Hell!

When student Tim Journeyman first wrote to family friend Dr. Paul Woodson, he didn't know it would start a fifteen-year mentorship that would shape his life and Christian faith. Within their candid letters are words of real-world wisdom—from a "senior saint" to a "junior saint"—covering various areas of living, from the theological to the everyday. Written as fictional correspondence between two men at different stages of life and faith, the novel Letters Along the Way provides important biblical perspectives.

A woman is found in a local cemetery, crushed to death under a gravestone. A production company is there, filming the remake of a classic sci-fi TV show on the grounds, making the investigation more difficult for DCI Harry McNeil. It's his first day in charge of the cold case unit in Edinburgh. After spending four years in Professional Standards, he has little choice but to take the promotion.

A hearse crashes into an old church and is abandoned. The police find a coffin inside but the body isn't a recent death. It's the badly decomposed body of a girl who went missing 30 years ago. DCI Harry McNeil is sent north to coordinate the hunt for a killer, along with colleagues from Glasgow. The town plays host to the annual Christmas Land festival, and this year marks the 30th anniversary. With the festivities in full swing, it seems that somebody wants to draw attention to the town for a different reason.

A death in the family. A man cut down. When the deceased’s widow witnesses a dark stranger lurking in the neighborhood, the seasoned detective is certain he has the assassin in his sights. But when his hunt for the culprit swerves too close to home, McNeil fears the killings have become personal.

Edinburgh DCI Harry McNeil isn’t easily intimidated. But after years investigating crooked cops, a promotion heading up a Major Investigation Team will put his reputation on the line. And he’s starting to sweat when the daughter of a rich and powerful family vanishes from the honeymoon suite in a Scottish Highlands castle….