Phobia is a series of five DS Jason Smith cases he worked on before we met him in the first book, Smith. We get insights into what molded him into the detective sergeant we first get a glimpse of in Smith. Smith quickly realizes that police work isn't always cut and dry. Justice is not always black and white; there are many shades of gray in between.

Detective Liam O'Reilly is bored. Life on the peaceful island of Guernsey is quiet, but it's too quiet for his liking. In the middle of an insurance fraud investigation, he confides in his daughter and tells her he'd give anything for a juicy murder case to sink his teeth into. "Be careful what you wish for, Dad." Her words are still fresh in his mind when O'Reilly stumbles upon two dead bodies while investigating a fire at a container depot. The bodies have been burned beyond recognition. Soon it becomes very clear that something sinister is happening on the sleepy island.

Detective Inspector Liam O'Reilly has recently transferred to the island of Guernsey from the Special Detective Unit in Dublin, and in this first installment, we see him hitting the ground running. He has barely set foot on the island when the body of a man is washed up on the shore. There is no indication of where the man came from - his hands and teeth have been removed, and he has a crude tattoo of a dragon on his back.

A sinking boat is spotted off the South Coast. Waiting onboard is a grisly discovery. DCI Boyd, recently relocated from London to Hastings, is now with the East Sussex CID, and his first case is that of a local businessman and his new young wife, missing in the English Channel. All that remains of them is a grim scene aboard their half-submerged yacht and a digital trail of clues that could put Boyd and his daughter, Emma, in danger. 

A girl’s body is found hidden in a remote spot of a Cornish farm - the same farm that a young girl ran toward to escape her pursuer many years before. Detective Harriet Taylor has to abandon her day off to investigate. As the forensics team get to work, they uncover another mystery hidden among the rocks. Who would kill a young backpacker? Is there a link between this and a mystery from many years ago? As Harriet and the team get to work, they find more questions than answers. What secrets is the sleepy Cornish village hiding?