Showing results by publisher "W. F. Howes Ltd" in Crime Fiction

An insurance investigation sounds pretty harmless, even if it is for 'Unusual Happenstance'. That's not usually a clause Normals use—it covers all-purpose hauntings, angry genii loci, ectoplasmic home invasion, demonic possession, that sort of thing—but Susan Beckett's claimed three times in three months. Her house keeps getting inundated with mud, but she's still insisting she doesn't need or want help... until the dry-land drownings begin.

Things are looking up for Nic Costa and Gianni Peroni - their humiliating exile in Venice is nearly at an end, and their long-awaited holiday is about to begin...

Fat Boy McMaster is a hopeless heavyweight boxer, who has somehow managed to become the champion of Ireland. His devious manager has set up a St Patrick's Day fight in New York against Mike Tyson, and he wants journalist Dan Starkey to write about it. Once in New York, however, McMaster's wife is kidnapped, the Champ is chased all over town by gunmen, and there's the Big Fight to consider too...

Detective Nic Costa faces his hardest case yet. When the sins of the past echo the crimes of the present... When British academic Malise Gabriel falls to his death from a Rome apartment, detective Nic Costa suspects more than a simple accident. Nic is sure Malise's family are hiding vital information. As the investigation deepens, Rome’s seedy side is uncovered, revealing a web of deceit, treachery and corruption. The key to the truth lies with the Gabriels.

After the death of 'Eumenides', a former police student who was sending 'death notices' to unpunished criminals before brutally murdering them, the Chengdu Police Department assumed that the killing spree would stop. But the murders continue, leading the 4/18 task force to the terrifying truth: Eumenides had a protégé. Captain Pei Tao and his task force redouble their efforts to catch this new opponent, but relationships become fraught. Can they trust each other?

There's something sinister about Drumdalloch Woods in the Black Isle near Inverness. It is a place of tangled growth and shadowy darkness, it has business opportunists, biological scientists and conflicted family members all competing for a say in its future. Then a body is found, and everything starts to look suspicious. As DCI Kelso Strang's investigation grows more complex, he unearths layers of hatred, greed and revenge that cast doubt even on the local police force.

DCI Kelso Strang is led to believe that something very odd is going on around the prosperous fishing port of Tarleton on Scotland’s south-east coast. Firstly, a young Detective Inspector is traumatised after witnessing a doctor throwing herself off a cliff, and accusations of extortion have riven the local community. And when the ugly death of a young farmer sets off a murder investigation, Strang finds himself caught in a spider’s web of criminality.

It seemed that everyone in the bleak little village of Thornwich had been honored with the most obscene poison pen letters imaginable. And they showed no signs of letting up. So off goes Chief Inspector Dover of Scotland Yard, his unfortunate young colleague MacGregor in tow, to track down the source. Not-so-comfortably ensconced in the miserable lodgings of the Jolly Sailor, Dover's easy confidence is quickly shaken when he suddenly has to deal with two suicides – one attempted, the other all-too-successful – black-market babies, and various bowel disorders.

January 1901. Abigail and Daniel Wilson, often lauded as "The Museum Detectives," are on their way to the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza. Their explorations of the pyramid, including the Robbers' Tunnel, take a very sinister turn when they come upon the dead body of a man who has been brutally garrotted. Investigations by the local police reveal him to be Simeon McGruder, a wealthy American who is financing an excavation of the pyramids.

In every detective's life there are cases that can't be discussed. Now Arthur Bryant has decided to open the files on 11 of these previously unseen investigations. The first-ever collection of Bryant & May stories not only sheds light on 11 classic cases but also contains everything you need to know about the two octogenarian detectives and the Peculiar Crimes Unit.

Newly appointed District Sheriff Tristan Haraldsen and his wife, Elsebeth, are looking forward to a peaceful semiretirement in the remote fishing village of Djevulsfjord on the stunningly beautiful island of Vagar. But when two boys go missing during the first whale hunt of the season, the repercussions strike at the heart of the isolated coastal community. As he pursues his investigations, Tristan discovers that the Mikkelsen brothers aren’t the first young men to have vanished on Vagar.

Hired to find the missing son of retired political activist Moira Doherty, Dan Starkey knows his new case is going to be challenging. Billy 'the Bear' Doherty, a criminal with a nasty drug habit, isn't an easy man to find - his mum is convinced he's been murdered. But when Moira herself is killed, Dan finds himself in the middle of a deadly game of cat and mouse.

Michael Ryan was the author of a runaway bestseller, Space Coast, but its publication coincided with his wife's murder in a bank raid. Now he's back to face the ghosts of his past. Michael met Claire when she was dragging Paul de Luca, detective novel writer and owner of a porn shop, out of the sea after he'd lost his feet in a shark attack. Claire was living with local hard man Tommy, a Gulf War vet, at the time and Tommy was not impressed with Michael's interest in his girl.

The exhilarating third installment in the Detective Martha Munro series.

While investigating the origins of a mysterious donation to Oxford University, private detective Charles Maddox encounters the mysterious Baron Von Reisenberg, the subject of many rumors and macabre legends. In the light of day Maddox can find no evidence of anything sinister—until a series of disturbing incidents send him on a quest to expose whatever evil lurks in the Baron's castle. After a terrifying encounter nearly costs him his sanity, Maddox returns home to find London besieged by an elusive murderer branded the Vampire.

Best friends tell you everything - about their kitchen renovation, about their little girl’s schooling. How one of them is leaving the other for a younger model. Best friends don’t tell lies. They don’t take up residence on your couch for weeks. They don’t call lawyers. They don’t make you choose sides. Best friends don’t keep secrets about their past. They don't put you in danger. Best friends don’t always stay best friends.

It's February, and Carnival time in Venice. Bright blue skies and freezing temperatures welcome forensic pathologist Teresa Lupo to the city. Teresa has taken time out from her job to find her beloved bohemian aunt Sofia who has mysteriously disappeared. There seem to be no clues as to her whereabouts, but a visit to Sofia's very strange apartment in the Dorsoduro confirms Teresa’s suspicions that all is not well....

In the small American town of Hope, teenager Lucas Caldwell dreams of escaping his life. His mother, Liss, is struggling with addiction, and his sickly little brother, Reuben, would never survive her without him. His grandfather, Lucky, is dying in a care facility, his mind fading. But in a final moment of clarity, he lets slip to Lucas that he is in possession of a painting worth millions, stolen from a transport convoy in a daring heist five decades ago. As the disbelief fades, a thin hope begins to grow.

Fifteen years ago, 29 Barley Street, South London, became notorious as the scene of alleged poltergeist activity which led to the death of young Holly Wasson. The shadow cast by this episode is still felt in the town and amongst the gang of friends who were caught up in the tragic event. When one of the group dies in horrific and strange circumstances, Matt Hunter, former minister and now professor of sociology, is called in to investigate.

For Dash Fuller, Hollywood’s underbelly is home sweet home. He’s spent years helping to disappear the film industry’s worst secrets, and it’s left him a cynical burnout who loves bourbon a little too much. But when a young woman named Madeline Ironwood comes to him with a peculiar quest, Dash sees it as a chance for redemption. Madeline is the daughter of Ken Ironwood, a notorious smuggler and murderer who disappeared 20 years ago. Ken’s skeleton was recently discovered in a barrel at the bottom of a dried-up lake, and Madeline wants to know who killed him.