Showing results by publisher "-emdashery books-" in Police Procedurals

A body is found on a quiet lane in Exmoor, victim of a hit and run. He has no ID, no wallet, no phone, and - after being dragged along the road - no recognisable face. Meanwhile, fresh from his last case, DCI Craig Gillard is unexpectedly called away to Devon on family business. Gillard is soon embroiled when the car in question is traced to his aunt. As he delves deeper, a dark mystery reveals itself, haunted by family secrets, with repercussions Gillard could never have imagined. The past has never been deadlier.

A peaceful Sunday morning in Rutland is shattered when a dead body is discovered on the rocks at Normanton Church. The victim has been laid out in a crucifixion pose, facing the altar. DI Caroline Hills is certain there’s a religious connection - one which threatens the tranquillity of life in the area. The killer has gone to extraordinary lengths to make the symbolism clear. And the deaths will continue until Caroline and DS Dexter Antoine uncover the truth behind the dark secret - and what lies beneath.

DI Rob Marshall is stuck in Gartcosh, leading the new Behavioural Sciences Unit – a staff of one and a third – where he’s executing a fruitless hunt, profiling every single murder in Scotland just in case they’re serial cases. But when a young Peebles woman’s body is discovered in Neidpath Tunnel, disused since the sixties, Marshall is called in to consult on a case on his old home turf. Paired up with his replacement, a cop who’s disinterested in the work, Marshall must tread a line between helping and not jumping to conclusions.

When another resident of the Rosemary House care home is found dead in her chair one Saturday evening in December, no one is very surprised - not until the results of a routine post-mortem reveal something extraordinary. Sergeant DC Smith and his team have to tread carefully as they investigate what took place, and Smith himself has to confront some difficult memories. Others, meanwhile, seem intent on getting him to leave the force altogether.

Called to an isolated farm to check on an elderly widow, Sheriff Bree Taggert finds a brutal double homicide. One of the victims is Eugene Oscar, the bitter and corrupt former deputy she recently forced out of the department. Working with criminal investigator Matt Flynn, Bree discovers that she isn’t the only one who had a troubling history with Eugene. But someone doesn’t want Bree digging up the past. She becomes the target of a stranger’s sick and devious campaign calculated to destroy her reputation, career, family, and new relationship with Matt.

From Michael Peterson of TV’s Bones comes another twisted murder mystery that takes place in the small town of Jakob’s Point, where there are more members from the Witness Protection Program than anywhere else in America. When the Federal Marshal, the only person who knows the true identities of the residents of the town, turns up dead, and his records are destroyed, FBI Special Agent Alice Wheaton gets swept up in the investigation. In Jakob’s Point, where everyone is a witness, and everyone is a suspect, Alice must use her secret weapon – forensic listening – to find the killer.

Detective Lauren Pengelly and her partner Matt Price are called to investigate a grisly murder outside Penzance. They quickly identify the victim as Carmel Driscoll, a former police officer, and find a cryptic note reading “Ten Green Bottles” next to her body–words from an old English nursery rhyme. When a second former officer is found murdered with the note “Nine Green Bottles” nearby, Lauren and Matt realise they could be dealing with a serial killer.

As the sun sets into the sea over the pretty Cornish town of St Ives, a young woman, Freya Kempston, hasn’t returned home after a day out in the mall at St Austell. Panicking, her husband begs Detective Lauren Pengelly and her team to find her. Has Freya run out on her stable, loving marriage, or has something more sinister taken place? Grainy security footage from the mall provides the first break in the case—capturing Freya talking intently with a well-known local mechanic on the day she disappeared. But when cornered, the mechanic denies even knowing her.

Gaby Fox is known to many due to her successful TV career, so when her brother and his pals hire the salubrious Lamond Lodge for his birthday celebrations, it is noted by the St Andrews locals. A ripple of shock goes round the town when Russell Fox is gunned down on the premises. DI Clare Mackay is attending a wedding when she sees Gabrielle receive a phone call then flee. Soon after, Clare learns why when the news of the shooting reaches her. Instead of trying to enjoy the day – not easy when the groom is her ex-boyfriend – Clare is preoccupied.

Grace Repton, a beautiful older woman, walks into the police station to tell Detective Matt Ballard she has information that could stop a murder. Her fiance, the infamous serial killer Jeremy Reader, has told her that he has a disciple who is going to kill using Reader's horrific methods. Reader murdered five women and was finally brought to justice by Detective Ballard. Reader is safely imprisoned in a high security prison, and claiming to be a reformed man who wants to help the police.

It starts with the body of a Hollywood producer in the trunk of a Rolls-Royce, shot twice in the head at close range - what looks like "trunk music", a Mafia hit. But the LAPD's organized crime unit is curiously uninterested, and when Harry follows a trail of gambling debts to Las Vegas, the case suddenly becomes more complex - and much more personal.

When Detective Kim Stone is woken before dawn because local journalist Tracy Frost wants to show her a message, she’s not impressed. But her blood turns cold when she reads the note. She has 36 hours to follow a trail set by an anonymous challenger. If she fails, people will die. Kim’s gut tells her this is no hoax. She summons her team, desperate to prevent what lies ahead. With minutes to spare, they solve the first cryptic clue. It leads to a box hidden deep in the woods, containing a second clue and a tape.

The calm façade of Norfolk conceals a storm of deadly intentions. In this gripping trio of investigations, DI Tom Janssen finds himself drawn into the shadows cast by greed, obsession, and revenge. The brutal killing of a barrister in his own home, the mysterious deaths of a young mother and her disabled child to a murderer released from prison who still claims his innocence. Each case has sinister undertones, threatening to tear the community apart through threats, intimidation and suspicion. During his investigations, Tom Janssen is forced to confront the darker side of human nature.

DCI Craig Gillard will be pushed to his limits. But will he break? It seems like a routine disappearance, a case of musician’s stage fright. As a senior detective, Craig Gillard isn’t sure why he’s even involved. Until it turns out the woman’s father is the German minister of justice, and the British home secretary is on the case, too. But nothing about the case is simple. How does a woman on a train simply vanish? What do you do when a trail runs cold and the pressure is on? Before long the perpetrator has another target: DCI Gillard himself.

Where her daughter had played Gretel in front of a cheering audience, only two faint stage lights remained. The theater was deserted and eerily silent; the only sound she could hear was her own heart, pounding in a frenzy against her chest. She rushed outside and stopped sharply at the top of the stairs, stunned, her blood turned to icicles. Darkness had fallen, thick and filled with ocean mist, lampposts like ghosts sprinkling yellow haloes in the sky. Paige was gone. They’d taken her little girl.

'Well plotted and page turning' - Patricia Gibney 'A tense, fast-paced, and deftly plotted thriller, which kept me guessing right to the end. I'm already looking forward to the next outing for Detective Sergeant Lucy Golden and her crew!'- Andrea Carter Sometimes darkness stalks the most...

Backstage nerves are fraying, and revenge is on its way. As Causton Amateur Dramatic Society prepares for the opening night of Amadeus, in the wings Esslyn Carmichael suspects his wife is having an affair with the leading man. And where better to settle scores than the stage? Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby expects an evening of entertainment, attending only to show support for his wife. But when someone turns Esslyn’s final grand gesture into a gruesome coup de theatre, Barnaby’s investigation suddenly begins.

When a drone uncovers a dead cyclist in the West Wales countryside, DCI Evan Warlow is pulled into a case where the clues are scarce, the suspects slippery, and the motive buried deep beneath layers of power and deceit. From a silent hospital ward to a shadowy woodland path, this is a mystery that exposes more than murder—it unravels a community.

A crime wave has hit town. The target is a highly sought-after brand of streetwear called Hybird X, clothing that costs a fortune and resells for unbelievable prices. Houses are burgled, kids mugged on the streets...and finally a young man dies, all for the sake of his shoes. Then another boy’s body is found in a pile of rubbish. Meanwhile illegal steroids are flooding the streets. And there are dark movements on the marshes.

A teenager returns home from work and finds her parents shot to death in their bed. Responding to the call, Sheriff Bree Taggert realizes the crime wasn’t a burglary gone wrong. The couple was executed. The sole survivor: their traumatized teenage daughter, Claire Mason. Bree teams up with investigator Matt Flynn to work the case, but together they uncover more questions than answers. When Claire is stalked at the park, it’s clear the killer isn’t finished—and she’s the next target.