Mystery Crime Scotland

A broken body. A secret with deep roots. Just months into his new role, Detective Sergeant Scott Cullen of Police Scotland’s Edinburgh Major Investigation Team is torn by the trials of being a manager. Working a series of serious crimes in Edinburgh puzzling police, assisting the new Sexual Offences Unit, Cullen struggles with his own personal demons. When a bloodied corpse is found in the shadow of Edinburgh’s Dean Bridge, Cullen is back to his bread and butter. But all he has are questions. Who is the victim? Did he fall or was he pushed? And why is he handcuffed?

When a leading Scottish politician doesn't turn up at work one morning, it seems like a simple missing persons case to Brian Bain. But then a big news story lands and things don't seem to be so clear cut. Meanwhile, the discovery of a body in Midlothian's Gore Glen leads DI Scott Cullen on a wild chase through nearby Gorebridge and across southern Scotland, while the press close in on Cullen over choices made on a previous case, unearthed during a new mysterious podcast about the police.

A dead body in a twisted car. A detective torn in two. DC Scott Cullen likes to play hard and fast with the rules. While it might antagonise his colleagues and superiors, it gets results. Resistance to his cowboy attitude, coupled with fears about a forthcoming police restructure, mean that things aren’t looking good for the maverick cop, especially when his personal life begins to crumble. The body of a young man found in a totalled car at the foot of a West Lothian shale bing looks like a straightforward case.

Cullen, Hunter and Bain return in a three-part novel, where each of them must face the Cold Truth. City of the Dead A body in a bin. Two cops at each other's throats. Acting DI Scott Cullen faces his worst fear–managing DS Brian Bain, his old boss and notorious loose cannon. But when Cullen is called through to Glasgow to investigate a murder, Bain is back on his home turf.

Despite their investigative prowess, Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Michael Sinclair, Lord Acton, and rookie detective Kathleen Doyle stir more than a few feathers at CID Headquarters when their relationship comes to light. But office politics quickly become trivial when a rash of underworld murders shatters London's normally austere façade. With a growing list of successfully solved cases to her name, the ever-dauntless Doyle shakes off the gossip and sets out to investigate the escalating turf war.

A lying ganglord. A troubled cop. A masked vigilante. Working a strategic investigation, DS Scott Cullen of Police Scotland’s Edinburgh Major Investigation Team closes in on a long-time adversary. Dean Vardy, Edinburgh’s latest kingpin. Before, every time they thought they had him, his lawyer got him off. Campbell McLintock, another of Cullen’s adversaries. But this time Vardy goes too far, murdering someone under his control. Or does he? After a witness dies, Cullen is soon desperately trying to hold the case together, with Vardy’s conviction dangling by a thread.

Chief Inspector Acton and Detective Sergeant Kathleen Doyle know firsthand how the administration of justice can often follow a labyrinthine path. As they pursue a self-appointed judge, jury, and executioner, Acton's own questionable methods may prove his undoing.

Two detectives hunt a killer amidst the lawless streets and high society of 1930’s Glasgow in this “brawling series debut” (The New York Times Book Review) that “serves up a delicious slice of gangster noir” (Adrian McKinty)—inspired by the true story of the Scottish Untouchables...

All Sergeant Hamish Macbeth ever wants is a quiet life in the tranquil surroundings of Lochdubh, his home village in the Scottish Highlands. Although the area he polices is vast, he's happiest when he's working alone, yet the police authorities insist he has an assistant. In the past, they have...

From the dramatic Highlands to bustling cities, the unique landscapes and locales of Scotland have enthralled and shaped generations of mystery writers. This new collection presents 17 classic stories, spanning a period from the 1880s to the 1970s, by a host of Scottish authors alongside writers from south of the border inspired by the history and majesty of the storied country.

THE PAGE-TURNING NEW MYSTERY IN THE BESTSELLING HAMISH MACBETH SERIES! ------------ Sergeant Hamish Macbeth is craving peace and quiet. But visitors to his home village of Lochdubh, nestled in the Scottish Highlands, have other ideas... Hamish and the new love in his life, Claire, have holiday...

The bridge is shut. The phones are down. And the most famous mystery writer in the world just disappeared out of a locked room three days before Christmas . . . Meet Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt: She’s the new Queen of the Cosy Mystery. He’s Mr. Big-time Thriller Guy. She hates his guts. He...

It was a bit puzzling, that Chief Inspector Acton hadn’t mentioned the body they’d discovered in the burnt-out church, even though he must have known that Doyle would find it of great interest. Was the arsonist caught up in her own fire, or was there a deeper, more sinister tale told by the blackened rubble?

When a beggar at her door turns out to be a high born lady, Margaret learns of a family destroyed by the Norman invasion. She resolves to help the woman find her missing daughter—abducted and enslaved by a local mormaer. When the mormaer’s daughter is found murdered, the foreigners quickly become scapegoats. Can Margaret save her displaced countrywomen’s lives, while navigating her new role as queen in a foreign court?

The new installment in the “relentlessly engrossing series” (The Wall Street Journal) finds Karen Pirie and her team investigating the murder of a journalist paved under a motorway—but was it his work or his private life that put him there? Scotland, 2025. When torrential winter rain...

Ian Rankin introduces a gripping collection of his radio writing, featuring Alexander Morton as the roguish detective Mr Cullender in two original radio dramas, and as Inspector Rebus in Let it Bleed Best known for his Inspector Rebus novels, Sir Ian Rankin is one of Britain’s most successful...

When NYPD Detective John Frankel's ex-wife is discovered murdered on the floor of his Manhattan studio apartment, he instantly becomes the prime suspect. Frankel's gun is linked to the fatal bullet, he had a motive, and he flees the city, all of which convinces his colleagues of his guilt. In spite of the mounting evidence, Frankel's bride-to-be, Rachel Grant, and her father, Austin Grant, formerly a detective at Scotland Yard in London, are certain of Frankel's innocence. But with the police under orders to use whatever force necessary to stop him, the duo will have to act fast to save him.

In Rebus's Scotland Ian Rankin uncovers the Scotland that the tourist never sees, highlighting the places that inspired the settings for the Inspector Rebus novels. Rankin also reveals the story of Rebus and how he came into being, who he is, and what his - and Rankin's - Scotland is like.

Spiritualism has captured the public’s imagination. Séances are all the rage, and Detective Ian Hamilton’s otherwise sensible aunt Lillian is not immune to their allure. But for Ian, indulging her superstitions has its limits. When members of Lillian’s circle of séance friends begin turning up dead, Ian doesn’t need a medium to tell him these aren’t freak accidents.

Left to her own devices, Detective Sergeant Charlie West struggles with the responsibility of a full-blown murder investigation when a man is pushed off a cliff. Not ready to have her apron strings severed so soon, West finds Munro who reluctantly agrees to shed light on the Ayrshire detectives' most challenging case yet. Once the police have discovered the identity of the dead man, and established his demise was the result of foul play, the race is on to hunt down the murderer.