ROY LEWIS

A suspicious death and a large inheritance without anyone to receive it Eric Ward is forced to retire from the police when he discovers he suffers from glaucoma. But he qualifies as a lawyer and sets up his practice on the Quayside in Newcastle, where he deals with the seamier side of the law...

Peter Marlin's wife is found strangled and he becomes the prime suspect. She'd only just returned from an unexplained absence of several months. And during that time, Peter had found a new lover. Everything points to the husband but there's no real proof. Inspector John Crow is called in to...

MURDER ON THE HIGH SEAS Eric’s wife, Anne, has followed the advice of handsome lawyer Mark Fenham and invested a small fortune in a merchant bank also involved in underwriting marine insurance. Now her company must pay out a vast insurance claim for the Sea Dawn, a ship sunk in Spanish waters...

A thriving law practice and a happy marriage are almost enough to convince solicitor Eric Ward he has overcome his painful past and started a new life. All it takes is the wrong client for it all to unravel. An investigative journalist beaten to a pulp. A crooked Newcastle businessman living the...

Nine-year-old Jenny Carson is brutally murdered in Kenton Wood on her way from school. Then Charles Lendon is found stabbed to death with a skewer through his heart. He was a ruthless lawyer and something of a womanizer. Jenny's father blamed him for her murder. As the local police struggle...

Charlie Rutland, a womanizing journalist, is found brutally murdered. He worked for a muck-raking gossip magazine and therefore had many enemies. Detective Crow is assigned to Yorkshire where he must eliminate a long list of suspects. And where does the German businessman Conrad Gunther fit in?...

Meet Arnold Landon, mild-mannered history buff turned amateur sleuth. Murder in the Barn marks the beginning of an addictive new series, featuring an unlikely hero whose passions run deep. IT STARTS WITH A SIMPLE PLANNING REQUEST … Rampton Farm, Northumberland, has always been a gloomy...

A young woman is found dead in a college while the students demonstrate. It turns out she was the principal's secretary, and there was more to her than meets the eye. Who wanted her dead and why? And what does it have to do with the student revolt led by a charismatic firebrand from Iraq...

Exploitation. Kidnap. Murder Sam Turiff is a loan shark preying on the most vulnerable people in Newcastle. Detective Eric Ward’s investigation runs into a brick wall trying to bring down the callous criminal. No one will give evidence against him. They are frightened what he’ll do to them...

An offer too good to be true Former police officer-turned-solicitor Eric Ward is recovering from a serious eye operation when the offer comes in. Come down to London. Help Philip Scarn, a successful entrepreneur, break into the North East. Get paid handsomely doing it. On the journey, Ward is...

Three sons. Three farms. One murder. Jack Saxby is trying to keep the farm he thought he’d been given by his mother. His vindictive father wants to take it away, and Jack’s two brothers also have their own agenda. Then there’s a suspicious death, and the family’s dark secrets come to...

IF IT SEEMS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS. Farmer Paddy Fenton faces financial ruin as a result of foot and mouth disease among his flock. Then he gets an offer that he can’t refuse: ready cash to rent one of his outbuildings. He doesn’t enquire too closely as to what is happening...

Dark dealings in the city of London Eric Ward is still uneasy on the board of merchant bankers Martin & Channing. Their defense against a hostile takeover is pushing the limits of the law. But Eric soon has problems nearer home: his wife’s colleague is charged with the murder of his fiancée...

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO PROTECT WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN? Eric Ward agrees to represent the interests of a local environmental campaign. Then an explosion at the industrial-waste plant leaves his client dead. Joe Paulson wasn’t exactly a criminal. But his after-hours activities—gathering the...

INFIDELITY CAN BE MURDEROUSLY DANGEROUS. Eric Ward thinks he is happily married—until he discovers that his wife, Anne, has been spending rather too much time with a business associate. Suspicious and angry, Ward finds comfort in the arms of a beautiful stranger. But when his new lover is...

Three bad men Spain An ex-con breaks into a villa by the sea to steal something very precious from a safe. He will not leave without hurting someone. England Tycoon Simon Chan asks Eric Ward to find a missing businessman. And Ward is also involved in a case involving his arch-enemy, the shady...

A twisted MO torn straight from the history books. Arnold Landon steps out with his lady friend, hunting for relics on the deserted dig site where he works. Before long, they stumble on something under a bridge. The mangled remains of Arnold’s fellow historian. His chest gapes open, his...

PIRACY, CONSPIRACY … MURDER? An influential shipping firm, Goldwaters, pays Eric Ward a large retainer to work for them, much to his surprise. Then one of the Goldwaters fleet, the Sierra Nova, is “arrested” and is unable to leave port. The reason? A crew member, Edwards, has been caught...

Colin Bannock is hiding quite the secret. By day, he’s a smooth-talking lawyer. After hours, he is someone else entirely. He corners Arnold Landon, wanting him to join his society of history fanatics. Appalled, Arnold declines outright. He’s never been a joiner and, besides, he has enough on...

Past and present explode in murder. A counter-terrorist organization stops the murder of a French politician in the Pyrenees. The would-be assassin is killed at the scene. He has a disturbing tattoo on his arm. Eric Ward meets Ben Shaw at a bankers’ dinner. Ben hires him to look into his old...