Showing results by publisher "Headline" in Police Procedurals

When homicide Detective Kit McKittrick and psychologist Sam Reeves discover a mutilated body in the desert outside San Diego, any number of people could be on their suspect list. The murder victim, local Councillor Brooks Munro, was a hated figure. Following the killer's trail, it becomes clear that those who abducted Brooks - and his prized Ferrari - went to extreme lengths to cover their tracks and wipe out any witnesses. As Kit and her team delve deeper, they uncover a twisted blackmail scheme worth millions of dollars.

When millionaire Leo Speight is found poisoned at his Ayrshire mansion, Police Scotland has a tough case on its hands. The charismatic young Speight was a champion boxer with national hero status. A long list of lovers and friends stand to benefit from his estate. Did one of them decide to speed things up? Or was jealousy or rivalry the motive? Suspecting links to organised crime, the Security Service wants to stay close to the investigation. They have just the man to send in: ex-Chief Constable Bob Skinner.

When Jerry Harrison receives an unwelcome visitor at his remote Cotswold cottage one winter's night, the last thing he expects is to end up dead. But, next morning, his cleaners find him fatally stabbed and the police have a murder inquiry on their hands. With no witnesses coming forward and very little evidence to go on, Jess and Ian must dig deep to find the answers to this baffling case. But not before another villager is attacked and left for dead . . .

Throughout her distinguished career, Ann Granger has penned an array of hugely entertaining and gripping short stories. From a nosy neighbour who trusts no one to a jealous nephew protecting his inheritance, and from a ghostly apparition on a cruise ship to an Oxford undergraduate who cannot escape his past, Ann's short stories transport listeners from the Highlands of Scotland to the rugged coast of Cornwall and from the Victorian era to the present day.

A mother walks into the sea...and never comes back. Why? One perfect summer day, mother of two Alice walks into the sea...and never comes back. Her daughters - loyal but fragile Lily and headstrong, long-absent Marietta - are forcibly reunited by her disappearance. Meanwhile, with retirement looming, DI Fox investigates cold cases long since forgotten. And there's one obsession he won't let go: the tragic death of an infant 20 years before. Can Lily and Marietta uncover what happened to their mother? Will Fox solve a mystery that has haunted him for decades?

When struggling ex-copper Terry Coats was discovered in bed with an air hostess, his excuse that he was 'going undercover' cut no ice with the force - or his wife. But now he's been brutally killed on Hogmanay night, it seems there may have been more to his plea. Dragged from the New Year celebrations, Special Constable Sir Bob Skinner is shocked to find Coats' body alongside that of Griff Montell: his erstwhile protégé and former lover of Skinner's own daughter, Alex. Could there be some dark truth under Coats' cock-and-bull story, after all?

Inspectors Cetin Ikmen and Mehmet Suleyman from Istanbul are sent to a policing conference in Detroit, but little can prepare them for the corruption that lies at its heart. When Ezekial Goins, an elderly man of Turkish descent, approaches them to crack the long-unsolved murder of his son, a quiet trip takes a far more sinister turn. As they delve deeper into the case, the pair find themselves immersed in a terrifying world of intergang drug war and racial prejudice that puts them in mortal danger.

Superintendent Alan Markby and his wife, Meredith, have retired for the night when they are disturbed by a visitor. It's not the first time someone has called at the Old Vicarage in search of a priest, but in this case, having just found a dead body in the churchyard, Callum Henderson needs the police. Accompanying Callum to the graveyard, Alan declares that this has all the hallmarks of a murder scene.

Carl Finch is a desperate man. Cut out of his stepfather's will, he is heavily in debt, and unless he can persuade his stepsister Hattie to bail him out, he'll be in even more trouble. Hattie's husband, Guy, has never liked Carl and wants his wife's inheritance for his own use, so Hattie agrees to meet Carl in secret to discuss his predicament. Little does she realise that when she arrives at their meeting point in Crooked Man Wood, she'll find Carl's dead body....

When a man is found savagely 'crucified' amidst a murky swamp in northern Australia, Detective Dana Russo and her team are called to a shocking scene. The victim is a convicted rapist, just released from prison, who years earlier committed an atrocious crime yards from where he was killed. Who murdered him - and why? With several potential leads, the investigation quickly becomes more complex and sinister than anyone imagined. And Dana realises she'll have to confront her own troubled past to understand the true motives of the killer.

When a newborn baby is found drowned in the shallow waters of the Golden Horn, all-out warfare threatens to erupt between rival criminal gangs. Inspector Kerim Gürsel is assigned to the case and he must tread carefully when DNA tests reveal that the baby's father is Görkan Paşahan, Istanbul's most feared Mafia boss. But the identity of the infant's mother is yet to be discovered. Meanwhile, Çetin İkmen and Mehmet Süleyman attend the winter festival known as Bocuk Gecesi, held on the darkest night of the year, and witness a magic trick whereby a young man, Emir Kaya, disappears.

Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, Charon has had only two murders. After years of working as an FBI agent, no one knows better than Titus that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface. But a year after Titus's election, a school teacher is killed by a former student. The student is then fatally shot by Titus's deputies. As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes, and a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight.

From acclaimed author Quintin Jardine comes the latest gripping mystery in his bestselling Bob Skinner series, perfect for fans of Ian Rankin and Peter May.

Homicide Detective Kit McKittrick finds herself standing over a dead body in the Shady Oaks retirement centre. Frank Flynn has been stabbed and his room ransacked. Though he kept his background quiet at the centre, Kit recognises Frank from the San Diego Police Department. Had the former detective been following a trail that led to his murder? When the head of security is also found dead, it points to a conspiracy right at the heart of Shady Oaks. The one person who might be able to help uncover the truth is just who Kit has been avoiding: Dr Sam Reeves.

When Ates Bocuk, son of a feared Istanbul gang leader, is arrested for the brutal murder of his Roma lover, feelings of vengeance are ignited among rival Turkish gangs and the Roma community. Forensic evidence is stacked against him, but Ates refuses to speak, and Inspector Suleyman suspects that there is more to the case than meets the eye. Then Cetin Ikmen discovers that Ates is psychotic and believes that everyone in his life is an imposter, which suggests that Ates might in fact be a victim of a far more sinister game.

During a broiling heatwave, the inner circle of a high-profile charity attend a critical meeting at White Ash Ridge, a small hotel nestled in the Australian wilderness. As the temperature rises, a body is found lying in the thick bush, bludgeoned to death. One of the four remaining guests is a murderer - but who, and why, is a mystery. Detective Dana Russo knows the national spotlight will be sharply focused on the case. The charity was formed when the founders' teenage son was killed after intervening in a vicious assault - sparking public outrage and a damning verdict on the investigation.

As young children, Josh Browning and his sister, Dilys, stumbled across a dead body while playing on the outskirts of their Cotswold village. Terrified by what they'd seen, neither of them told a soul. Now, 20 years later, Josh finds the dead woman's charm bracelet among his sister's possessions. Who better to tell than his trusted friend, the man he gardens for, retired Superintendent Alan Markby? As Markby listens to Josh's confession, alarm bells start to ring. The dates and details tie in with a missing person case that was never solved.

The 30th gritty mystery in Quintin Jardine's bestselling Bob Skinner series, not to be missed by readers of Ian Rankin and Peter May. Former Chief Constable Bob Skinner may have left the police service, but he's never far from a case. When his old mentor on the force, Jimmy Proud, finds himself in a desperate situation, Skinner gets pulled into a murder investigation that's been closed for 30 years.

Amidst a family celebration, a cataclysmic storm uncovers long-buried horrors—and a team of detectives struggle to solve a thirty-year-old double murder. The police are also searching two countries for traces of a mysterious crime novelist who appears to have vanished. Has the faking of his own death been his masterpiece? Alongside each inquiry as it evolves is former Chief Constable Sir Robert Skinner, relishing his new role as a media magnate, but drawn into reluctant action and towards a chilling discovery of his own.

In the early hours of the morning, Turkish TV star Erol Gencer is found dead at his home on the outskirts of Istanbul. But he is not alone. Beside him lies a Syrian refugee whose stomach has been split open with a cheese knife. Did Gencer kill his guest before committing suicide, or are they victims of a sinister double murder? The dead Syrian is soon identified as Wael Al Hussain, whose wife, Samira, is in prison for attempting to kill Gencer a year ago.