Showing results by author "Craig Russell" in All Categories

As Jan Fabel, of the Hamburg murder squad, interprets this twisted imagery at a crime scene, it becomes clear that each new crime is a grisly reference to folk stories collected by the Brothers Grimm. The hunt is on for a serial killer who is exploring the darkest, most fundamental fears hidden in ancient fairy tales.

'A masterclass in suspenseful, character-driven prose fiction. Simply exceptional' Frank Darabont, writer and director of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile 'A blood-pumping, nerve-shredding thriller . . . ingenious' (A. J. Finn, author of The Woman in the Window) 'Breathtaking' (Daily...

Glasgow, 1953, is a hard city at a hard time. The war may be over but the battle for the streets is just beginning, and shady investigator Lennox is the man in the middle. The McGahern twins were on the way up until Tam, the brains of the outfit, becomes the victim of a vicious contract killing. Tam's brother Frankie turns to Lennox to find out who killed his twin. Lennox refuses. Later that night, Frankie turns up dead, and Lennox finds himself in the frame for murder.

A Cologne detective asks Jan Fabel for his help in tracking down the Carnival Cannibal, a terrifying serial killer who kills at the start of the world-famous annual Carnival. Unknown to anyone, Fabel's deputy, Maria Klee, also heads for Cologne to hunt down a different, even more dangerous killer - one with whom she has a score to settle. Taras Buslenko, a Ukrainian special-forces commander, prepares his undercover unit for a "black" operation into Cologne.

Two high profile victims - a former left-wing radical turned environmental campaigner and a geneticist researching the possibility of inherited memory - are found murdered within 24 hours of each other. Both men have been scalped. Jan Fabel and his murder team have nothing to go on other than a single red hair left as a signature at each scene - each hair cut from the same head at least 20 years previously. Connections begin to appear: a long disbanded terrorist group; a mummified body; and a killer....

Jan Fabel, of the Hamburg murder squad, struggles to interpret the twisted imagery of a dark and brutal mind. Four days later, a man and a woman are found deep in woodland, their throats slashed deep and wide, the names "Hansel" and "Gretel", in the same, tiny, obsessively neat writing, rolled tight and pressed into their hands. It becomes clear that each new crime is a grisly reference to folk stories collected almost two hundred years ago by the Brothers Grimm.

The first woman had her lungs ripped out. When the same gruesome ritualistic method was used again, it was clear that the same killer was responsible. But there is no precise evidence to link the two cases, except for a tantalising email. Kriminalhauptkommissar Jan Fabel (half-Scottish, half-German) is a man of conscience and imagination. In his desperate attempt to solve the case before more victims are discovered, he gradually uncovers layer upon layer of intrigue.

Just as a major environmental summit is about to start in Hamburg, a massive storm hits the city. When the flood waters recede, a headless torso is found washed up. Initially, Jan Fabel fears it may be another victim of a serial rapist and murderer who stalks his victims, then dumps their bodies in waterways around the city. But the truth of the situation is far more complex. Fabel’s investigations lead him to a secretive environmental Doomsday cult called “Pharos”, the brainchild of a reclusive, crippled billionaire.

Jan Fabel is a troubled man. His relationships with the women in his life are becoming increasingly complicated. If that weren’t bad enough, after a gap of ten years, a female serial killer – the Angel of St Pauli – again makes the headlines when an English pop star is found in Hamburg’s red-light district, dying of savage knife wounds.

WINNER OF THE 2021 McILVANNEY AWARD IAN RANKIN'S CHOICE FOR BOTH BEST MYSTERY BOOK OF 2021 (PBS), AND BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR (NEW STATESMAN) 'Russell writes a pacy, ever-twisting mystery that will keep you turning the pages.' - Ian Rankin 'When it comes to Gothic crime, Craig Russell is peerless...

For 50 years, Freeman Tilden's Interpreting Our Heritage has been an indispensable sourcebook for those who are responsible for developing and delivering interpretive programs. This expanded and revised anniversary edition includes not only Tilden's classic work but also five additional essays by Tilden on the art and craft of interpretation, a new foreword by former National Park Service director Russell Dickenson, and an introduction by R. Bruce Craig that puts Tilden's writings into perspective for present and future generations. 

* SELECTED AS ONE OF PUBLISHERS WEEKLY'S BEST BOOKS OF 2023 IN THE MYSTERY/THRILLER CATEGORY* 'Superb! The Devil's Playground is imagination on steroids... breathtaking!' Jeffery Deaver 'A terrifying tale of the true power in Hollywood... (Russell's) precise, gorgeous prose shines' New York...

Lennox liked Quiet Tommy Quaid. Perhaps it's odd for a private detective to like - even admire - a career thief, but Quiet Tommy Quaid was the sort of man everyone liked. Amiable, easygoing, well dressed, with no vices to speak of - well, aside from his excessive drinking and womanising, but then, in 1950s Glasgow those were practically virtues. And besides, throughout his many exploits outside the law, Quiet Tommy never once used violence.

In this anthology, you'll find 17 tales of conflict and heroism, exploration and discovery, endurance and triumph. Flee the apocalypse of modern-day Earth, fly a fighter in the cold emptiness of deep space, and find new life on the distant shores of an alien world. You might even discover something about yourself as each author opens a window on the soul of mankind.  

It’s November 1956. The world is in turmoil, the Suez Crisis and the Hungarian Uprising boiling away in the background. Lennox, though, has more immediate concerns, like getting his personal life and his business back on track. In a bid to stay out of trouble, he’s looking for more legitimate cases. Anything’s better than working for the Three Kings, the crime bosses who run Glasgow’s underworld. When a woman comes into his office and hires him

Glasgow in the 1950s. Private investigator Lennox is keeping a low profile, enjoying a secret fling with the daughter of shady bookie and greyhound breeder MacFarlane. When MacFarlane is found bludgeoned to death, Lennox is a suspect. Luckily, he has a solid gold alibi: he was in bed with the victim’s daughter. Lennox is quickly drawn into hunting the killer, and it turns out MacFarlane was into some seriously dodgy stuff.

Un thriller oscuro y fascinante ambientado en el Hollywood de la década de 1920 sobre "la mejor película de terror jamás realizada", la maldición que se dice que la rodea y una búsqueda mortal, décadas más tarde, de la única copia que se rumorea que aún existe. 1927: Mary Rourke, reparadora de estudios de Hollywood, es llamada a la casa palaciega de "la mujer más deseable del mundo", la actriz de cine mudo Norma Carlton, estrella de The Devil's Playground.

Ein fesselnder Hollywood-Thriller aus den 1920er Jahren über die Entstehung des furchterregendsten Stummfilms aller Zeiten und die tödliche Suche nach der einzigen Kopie, die angeblich noch existiert. 1927: Mary Rourke - eine Hollywood-Studioausstatterin - wird dringend in das palastartige Haus von Norma Carlton gerufen, einem der bekanntesten Stars des amerikanischen Stummfilms. Norma hat an dem geheimen Film gearbeitet, über den alle reden - ein schrecklicher Horrorfilm mit dem Titel The Devil's Playground, der Gerüchten zufolge einen Fluch auf alle an der Produktion Beteiligten gelegt hat.

Die Polizei nennt ihn den Network-Killer. Er sucht sich seine Opfer im Internet, ausnahmslos Frauen. Anschließend lockt er sie zu sich, vergewaltigt und erdrosselt sie und wirft sie ins Wasser. Hauptkommissar Jan Fabel und sein Team widmen ihre ganze Aufmerksamkeit den brutalen Morden. Eines Tages taucht eine weitere Wasserleiche auf: eine Frau, angespült am Hamburger Fischmarkt, nach dem großen Sturm. Der Leiche fehlen sämtliche Gliedmaßen. Ist sie ebenfalls ein Opfer des Network-Killers? Jan Fabel vertieft sich in den Fall.

Im Hamburger Rotlichtviertel wird ein britischer Popstar tot aufgefunden, von Messerstichen zerfetzt. Hat der Engel von St. Pauli wieder zugeschlagen, ein Serienkiller, der vor zehn Jahren seine blutige Spur durch Hamburg zog - und der nie gefasst wurde? Hauptkommissar Jan Fabel hat seine Zweifel. Denn es sieht so aus, als ob dieser Fall mit anderen Morden im In- und Ausland in Zusammenhang steht. Dem Tod eines serbischen Gangsters. Der Ermordung eines Journalisten in Norwegen. Und mit einer Legende aus der Zeit des Kalten Krieges.