Showing results by publisher "Zaffre" in Crime Fiction

Wealthy racing yard owner Edward de Jersey has spent the last few years of his life reaping the rewards of his criminal mastermind past and spending his free time priming his star horse, Royal Flush, for a Derby win. Having successfully pulled off some of the most lucrative heists in history as 'The Colonel', at the height of his activity, he was one of the most prolific criminals of his time. But, when his financial advisor invests his fortune in an internet company that crashes quickly after, he is left with no choice but to return to his old ways.

An anonymous letter arrives at the offices of the Clarendon English Dictionary containing a challenge for the team of lexicographers working there. It's clear that's it's not the usual run-of-the-mill, eccentric enquiry. The letter hints at secrets, lies and a year. 2010. For Martha Thornhill, the new senior editor, that year can mean only one thing: the summer her brilliant, beautiful older sister Charlie went missing.

When her boss, James Langton, is almost fatally injured while pursuing a ruthless gang, Detective Anna Travis must put her own career on hold as she nurses him through his intense frustration and desperation to bring his would-be murderer to justice. Then Anna is assigned to a different case, the vicious murder of a quiet, studious woman whose body was found by her daughter—an attack with no obvious motive or immediate suspect. Until the case becomes unexpectedly linked with that of her boss, and Anna finds herself under threat from those who almost destroyed his career and his life.

Jack Warr is a young DC with the Metropolitan Police. Charming but aimless, Jack can't seem to find his place in the world - until he's drawn into an investigation that turns his life upside down. In the aftermath of a fire at a derelict cottage, a badly charred body is discovered, along with the burnt remnants of millions of stolen, untraceable bank notes - the hidden legacy of Dolly Rawlins and her gang of Widows. Jack's assignment to the case coincides with an investigation into his own past.

Detective Anna Travis is investigating the brutal murder of a young woman whose body was discovered in the Thames, brutalised and severed in half, a red flower in her hair. With the case bearing an eerie resemblance to the famous unsolved murder case of Elizabeth Short—known as the Black Dahlia—media interest intensifies, and fears of a copycat take hold. But with almost no clues, the case is slowly going cold. That is until the killer reaches out to the press.

Adam and Jess move into a new house with their three young children: a rambling Victorian villa right at the very top of their price range. Before long Adam discovers a door hidden behind a fitted wardrobe, concealing a secret room. Inside Adam discovers an array of forgotten items, among them a wallet, an antique watch and an old mobile phone. Jess thinks they should simply throw them away. But Adam resists. He is fascinated by these items and how they came to be inside the hidden room.

When an ex-police officer from the murder squad is found shot dead in a dank squat, Detective Anna Travis is pulled into the case he was working on—the hunt for Alexander Fitzpatrick, a drug-trafficker with a vast fortune, and one of the most wanted men in the Western world. But there have been no sightings of Fitzpatrick for over a decade. As the body count rises, and with no sign of Fitzpatrick, the investigation takes a horrifying turn. Anna and her team learn that Fitzpatrick, wherever he is, may have access to one of the most lethal drugs in existence.

A woman attends a funeral, standing in the shadows and watching in agony as her sons grieve. But she is unable to comfort them - or reveal her secret. A decade earlier, Heather gets her children ready for bed and awaits the return of her husband Liam, little realising that this is the last night they will spend together as a family. Because tomorrow she will be accused of Liam's murder. Ten years ago Heather lost everything. Now she will stop at nothing to clear her name - and to get her children back.

It is every mother's nightmare. Her child is missing, found murdered. Her lover is the prime suspect. It is every police officer's dread. A child murder. A circumstantial case. It is every solicitor's dream. Twelve men and women will decide the verdict. But only you can decide if justice is done for the victim.

For some people, trouble just finds them. Thirty years ago, Vincent King became a killer. Now, he's been released from prison and is back in his hometown of Cape Haven, California. Not everyone is pleased to see him. Like Star Radley, his ex-girlfriend and sister of the girl he killed. Duchess Radley, Star's 13-year-old daughter, is part-carer, part-protector to her younger brother, Robin - and to her deeply troubled mother.

April 1941, Romsey, England. Josephine 'Josy' Fox hasn't set foot in Romsey in over 20 years. As an illegitimate child, her family - headed by her controlling grandfather - found her an embarrassment. Now, she wants to return to what was once her home and uncover the secret of her parentage. Who was her father, and why would her mother never talk about him? Josy arrives the day after the Luftwaffe have bombed the town.

Newly promoted Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison has elbowed her way into the Area Major Incident Pool, or AMIP, an elite team investigating non-domestic murders. With her new position, she hopes things will change: the rampant sexism, the snide remarks, the undermining. Then she gets her first assignment: a five-year-old cold case of a missing teenager no one else has any interest in investigating, and an assumed suicide Tennison suspects is, in fact, murder. But as Tennison gathers the crucial evidence to secure arrests, her new colleagues watch like vultures circling prey.

Things can't get much worse for Detective Jane Tennison. Unceremoniously kicked off the adrenaline-fuelled Flying Squad, she now plies her trade in Gerald Road, a small and sleepy police station in the heart of London's affluent Knightsbridge. With only petty crime to sink her teeth into, Tennison can feel her career slowly flatlining. That is until the discovery of the most brutal murder Jane has ever seen: Charlie Foxley has been found viciously beaten to death with a cricket bat - his body dismembered and disembowelled.

Escaped criminal Eddie Myers has been presumed dead until he is discovered in Spain by ambitious young police officer, Larry Jackson. Jackson's attempt to capture Myers quickly spirals into an obsession. When a nerve-wracking extradition sees Myers back on English soil, he finally agrees to talk - but only to the officer that brought him in. Myers' deadly charm soon brings Jackson into his web, forging a friendship that wreaks havoc on his life and soon leads to fatal consequences...

A young woman turns up at a police station. She has been kept prisoner in her own home. Abused and tortured, her every move watched, her every thought controlled. Now she's finally escaped. That's what she says. But when the police arrive at the address she's given them, her story doesn't seem to add up. Her husband is missing, but his phone and wallet are still in the house. She says she's the victim, but what if she's not? What if the stories she's telling aren't her stories at all....

Goth-girl mortuary technician Cassie Raven has seen thousands of dead bodies but when a drowned man knocks against the hull of her canalboat, it's a bit too close to home. Cassie is grappling with the loss of her 'gift' - her conviction that she could sense the last thoughts of the dead - and at first the mystery man with the golden-green eyes isn't sharing his secrets. But the case gets under her skin and when Cassie joins forces with Detective Phyllida Flyte, together they start to dredge up secrets from the past.

Hannah knows the cage intimately. Small, the size of a shopping mall parking space. A bed, a basin, a table and chair. A hatch and metal drawer through which to exchange food and other items. Then there's him. Always there on the edges of her vision, no matter how hard she tries to block him out. Every day, the same thoughts run through Hannah's mind. What if he speaks to me? What if he hurts me? What if he gets out?

Jacob Malecki killed fifteen people over a thirteen-year period. At the height of the murders, Dr. Jo McCready was at university and, as an exercise, compiled a profile of Malecki, which broke open the case and helped send him down for life. Twenty-five years later a copycat killer is re-creating his murders. What's more, Malecki offers to help the police catch him from his own prison cell. Malecki claims he's repenting for his crimes. Jo doubts it, but as the body count rises, she can't ignore the killer's offer. What does he really want - and can Jo find out before anyone else dies?

The Queen identifies the 70 year-old victim, Edward St Cyr, from his signet ring. But the search for his killer is not so straightforward. Suspects include the Queen's horse groom, a shady land agent, an aristocrat neighbour, as well as the victim's many cousins and relations. The investigation leads the Queen - and her trusted assistant, Rozie - to a local pigeon racing club, back to London, and to the ancient, moated Godwick Hall. But how do the seemingly disparate pieces of the puzzle fit together? And who is the next victim?

Stuart Neville is a writer known for shining an unflinching light on his home country and its people. Ireland - North and South - in Neville's hands, is a land haunted by ghosts, both real and imagined. This collection is divided into two parts: 'New Monsters' and 'Old Friends'. And many of the characters from Stuart's novels, like Gerry Fegan from The Twelve, can be found haunting this audiobook.