Lancashire Detective Series

1893. Wigan is in the grip of a harsh winter and a devastating national miners' strike. Arthur Morris, a wealthy colliery owner whose determination to cut the miners' pay is one of the main causes of the strike, is found brutally murdered in an alleyway. A sinister letter prompted the victim to leave his dinner guests and hurry out into the freezing night to Scholes, a rough working-class district where he is universally hated.

1894, Wigan. Miss Dorothea Gadsworth is interviewed for a teaching vacancy at George Street Elementary but is ultimately dismissed as a candidate. The following Monday morning, her body is discovered in a locked classroom with a note by her side. DS Michael Brennan is called in to investigate what appears to be a straightforward suicide, but his instincts tell him there is more to this case than meets the eye. 

Detective Sergeant Michael Brennan of the Wigan Borough Police has no time for tales of ghosts and the afterlife or of the dead contacting the living. So, when he finds himself investigating the case of a recently widowed young woman, Alice Goodway, who has suddenly developed 'the Gift' of mediumship and has received a threatening letter, he embarks on the inquiry with no small degree of scepticism. But just as Brennan and his colleague, Constable Jaggery, consider how to proceed with the case, something much more sinister takes place - a murder in Alice’s own home. 

1894. Mr Simeon Crosby, a retired executioner, comes to Wigan with his wife and brother to give a talk on his life’s work. Whilst he has an eager following, there are also many people who strongly object to Crosby’s profession and do not wish his melancholy shadow to be cast over their town. Protests have been organised and threats have been made. Detective Sergeant Brennan is tasked with overseeing the security of the controversial visitor and all seems to be going to plan...until a murder is committed on the night of Crosby’s talk.