Constable


Books published by Constable

Requiem in La Rossa

When a university professor appears to meet his death at the hands of a young drug addict outside the opera, Daniel Leicester is asked by an aging rockstar friend to try to prove the young man’s innocence. 

Reviewed on 29 April 2023 by Sylvia Maughan

The Botanist

When a killer known as The Botanist starts targeting the sort of people the public love to hate, it’s a job for DS Washington Poe and civilian analyst Tilly Bradshaw. But Poe has to juggle this investigation with the need to save their friend pathologist Estelle Doyle from a murder charge.

Reviewed on 12 November 2022 by Linda Wilson

Too Much of Water

1670. John Grey and his wife journey to Suffolk, where the Sheriff has requested assistance in the matter of the drowning of Admiral Digges.

Reviewed on 20 August 2022 by Chris Roberts

Death of a Green-Eyed Monster

No one in Lochdubh expects the new constable to stay for long. Dorothy is a distraction for work-shy Sergeant Hamish Macbeth. Then a brutal murder comes along and the pair are plunged into a tangled web of conspiracy.

Reviewed on 25 June 2022 by Fiona Spence

The Hunting Season

A Korean/American couple ask English detective Daniel Leicester, who lives in Bologna, to find their son Ryan.  Ryan has gone missing in the city while visiting for work.

Reviewed on 30 April 2022 by Sylvia Maughan

The Body Falls

When the body of a cyclist drops from a muddy bank onto her friend’s Jeep in the middle of a storm, local solicitor Ben (Benedicta) O’Keefe is caught up in a dangerous web in a town cut off by rising flood waters.

Reviewed on 27 November 2021 by Linda Wilson

The City Under Seige

Garda Special Branch Inspector Stefan Gillespie hunts a serial killer and becomes involved with Indian independence activists and the deadly aerial siege of Malta by Axis bombers.

Reviewed on 27 November 2021 by John Cleal

If I Disappear

Sera’s obsession with missing podcaster Rachel Bard is about to become a journey into the wild where only death is a certainty.

Reviewed on 23 October 2021 by Kati Barr-Taylor

Dead Ground

DS Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw of the National Crime Agency are called into to investigate a murder at a pop-up brothel and its connections to an important summit being held nearby.

Reviewed on 25 June 2021 by Linda Wilson

Highland Fling

A Highland holiday to visit Superintendent Alan McGregor’s family turns into a week fraught with danger for ex-secret service sleuth Mirabelle Bevan when her arrival is greeted by the murder of a Russian/American fashion buyer.

Reviewed on 25 June 2021 by John Cleal

A Death at the Hotel Mondrian

When Dutch detective Lotte Meerman is approached by a man claiming to be someone who has been dead for more than 30 years, she ignores him but later regrets her decision.

Reviewed on 25 June 2021 by John Cleal

The Cat and the Corpse in the Old Barn

Ceramic artist Clarice Beech finds herself lying on a decomposing body after a fall as she attempts to capture an escaped cat. Together with her separated husband Rick, a detective inspector, she sets out to uncover the truth behind the death.

Reviewed on 25 June 2021 by John Cleal

A Quiet Death in Italy

The body of an elderly man is found in one of the canals beneath Bologna. Daniel Leicester, an Englishman who works in Bologna as a PI, sets out to investigate with his boss, the Commandante, who happens to be his father-in-law.

Reviewed on 13 March 2021 by Sylvia Maughan

The City in Flames

Garda Special Branch Inspector Stefan Gillespie goes undercover to investigate a plot inspired by the IRA and the Germans to assassinate the Irish president.

Reviewed on 31 October 2020 by John Cleal

The Curator

When body parts start turning up in Cumbria, National Crime Agency investigators DS Washington Poe and civilian analyst Tilly Bradshaw are called in to make sense of an increasingly complex puzzle.

Reviewed on 04 July 2020 by Linda Wilson

Playing Dirty

A family firm of gangsters finds their territory invaded by a larger gang from out of town. With the police looking over their shoulder they need to play it smart to come out ahead.

Reviewed on 13 June 2020 by Chris Roberts

Making Wolf

Weston Kogi returns to his birthplace in West Africa for the funeral of his aunt and is pushed into investigating the death of a revered statesman.

Reviewed on 22 May 2020 by Chris Roberts

The Bleak Midwinter

Civil war intelligence officer John Grey, now lord of an Essex manor, must discover the truth of the killing of a local lothario in order to save the life of a woman accused of witchcraft.

Reviewed on 25 April 2020 by John Cleal

Black Summer

When a supposedly dead woman turns up at a police station, an old case comes back to haunt Washington Poe.

Reviewed on 14 March 2020 by Linda Wilson

A Death in the Medina

During a hot Ramadan in Marrakech, the body of a Moroccan girl is found dead, dumped in a handcart. Despite distractions, local detective Belkacem persists with an investigation.

Reviewed on 14 March 2020 by Chris Roberts

The Puppet Show

A serial killer is torturing men and then burning them alive, leaving their bodies in stone circles in and around the Lake District. Disgraced copper Washington Poe teams up with the brilliant but socially inept civilian analyst Tilly Bradshaw in the hunt for the killer.

Reviewed on 26 October 2019 by Linda Wilson

Dangerous Deception at Honeychurch Hall

Former TV antiques show presenter Kat Stanford now has her own thriving business in the peaceful Devon countryside. But things start to go wrong with the arrival of a beautiful ex-girlfriend of her beau Piers Carew, heir to the earl of Chawley.

Reviewed on 10 August 2019 by John Cleal

A Clean Canvas

When a valuable painting goes missing from a London gallery, suspicion falls on Lena’s cousin Sarika, but Lena is determined to clear her name and find the real culprit.

Reviewed on 23 February 2019 by Linda Wilson

Russian Roulette

Upper-class debt collector and amateur detective Mirabelle Bevan becomes involved with a brutal murder and must cut through an iron curtain of call girls and high stakes gambling to find the truth.

Reviewed on 23 February 2019 by John Cleal

The Case of the Fool

“So he want kill me. Or he want marry me? Which?” Doris is faced with a stark question from a Russian immigrant tangled up in a web of squatters and drug dealers and needs to find her way out of the tangle before the first of those options becomes a reality.

Reviewed on 09 February 2019 by Anthea Hawdon

In Strangers' Houses

Reviewed on 12 January 2019 by Linda Wilson

The City of Lies

Garda Special Branch Inspector Stefan Gillespie, investigating the IRA murder of a Garda, a pitched battle between racecourse gangs and the partly burnt bodies of a family of five, is called off for a sensitive mission to Berlin, but soon discovers all the incidents are connected and that his own life is in danger.

Reviewed on 12 January 2019 by John Cleal

Cold Breath

Officer Gunnhildur Gísladóttir’s new task is to protect an enigmatic guest of the Iceland’s controversial Minister of Justice. Ali Osman is either a saviour of war zones’ refugees, or a manipulative arms dealer.

Reviewed on 12 January 2019 by Ewa Sherman

The Well of Ice

When the local pub burns down, the heart seems to have been ripped out of the small Irish town of Glendara. Matters get worse when local solicitor Benedicta ‘Ben’ O’Keefe and Garda Sergeant Tom Molloy make a grim discovery on Christmas Day.

Reviewed on 24 November 2018 by Linda Wilson

The Betel Nut Tree Mystery

Chen Su Lin, assistant to Singapore’s Chief Inspector Le Froy, ends up at risk when a rich young Englishman is found dead, his body soaked in betel nut juice.

Reviewed on 10 November 2018 by Chris Roberts

Vengeance in Venice

Honorary consul Nathan Sutherland is enjoying a preview at the Venetian Biennale when a critic is decapitated falling from a defective balcony on to glass artwork.

Reviewed on 21 July 2018 by Chris Roberts

Agatha Raisin and the Witches' Tree

A vicar and his wife driving home from a dinner party find the body of a wealthy spinster hanging from a lightning-blasted ‘Witches Tree’. When more deaths follow, it’s another case for former PR expert-turned detective Agatha Raisin.


Reviewed on 21 July 2018 by John Cleal

The Killing Connection

No one knows the woman found dead on the rocks in St Andrews, and DCI Andy Gilchrist senses this will be a complicated murder case.

Reviewed on 07 July 2018 by Kati Barr-Taylor

Fire

In 1666 England is at war with Spain and France. A massive blaze destroys much of London. Lawyer John Grey is tasked with discovering whether a Frenchman is to blame and is plunged into danger that threatens both himself and the nation.

Reviewed on 28 April 2018 by John Cleal

The Girl in the Green Dress

Transgender teenager Allie Kennaway is brutally murdered at her school’s prom night. As Manchester police face the most vicious of hate crimes, two parents must decide how far they will go to protect their own child.

Reviewed on 17 March 2018 by John Cleal

Death on the Canal

Amsterdam detective Lotte Meerman is relaxing at a canal-side bar when a man is stabbed and killed. There looks to be a drug connection, but Lotte is not so sure.

Reviewed on 03 March 2018 by Chris Roberts

The Prime of Ms Dolly Greene

A missing woman, a body in the river and dangerous dealings next door. Dolly Greene, tarot reader, must use her people skills and sixth sense to make sense of the puzzle.

Reviewed on 17 February 2018 by Anthea Hawdon

The Painted Queen

Amelia Peabody and her archaeologist husband Radcliffe Emerson are again in danger as they search for a priceless, stolen bust of legendary Queen Nefertiti.

Reviewed on 20 January 2018 by John Cleal

The Venetian Game

Nathan Sutherland is the English honorary consul in Venice, a post that pays nothing but allows him to be of assistance to tourists in trouble. A rather dull life suddenly becomes exciting when he is offered a considerable amount of money to look after a small package.

Reviewed on 25 November 2017 by Arnold Taylor

Cambridge Black

A young woman sets out to prove her father’s innocence of an arson blaze in which two people died and her inquiries lead DC Gary Goodhew to two more connected crimes, including the death of his own grandfather.

Reviewed on 11 November 2017 by John Cleal

Dark Asylum

The principal physician at Angel Meadow asylum is found brutally murdered. The police concentrate on the inmates, but apothecary Jem Flockhart and Will Quartermain believe it an act of vengeance.

Reviewed on 16 September 2017 by John Cleal

Treacherous Strand

When solicitor Ben O’Keefe is told that one of her clients has apparently committed suicide, she isn’t convinced, and is determined to do some investigating of her own.

Reviewed on 02 September 2017 by Linda Wilson

Where She Went

TV journalist Melanie Black wakes up in bed next to a man she doesn’t know. And that’s not the least of her problems. She then realises that she’s dead.

Reviewed on 19 August 2017 by Linda Wilson

The Bone Ritual

Inspector Ruud Pujasumatra has to contend with a brutal serial killer, the visit of an old friend and his mother-in-law’s constant attempts to embarrass him.

Reviewed on 08 August 2017 by Linda Wilson

The City in Darkness

In 1939, neutrality distances Ireland from the struggle in Europe, but the Irish Special Branch have plenty of concerns about what is happening at home.

Reviewed on 27 May 2017 by Chris Roberts

Hostage

A man has been kidnapped, though there is no question of a ransom. He is locked in a car and succumbs to carbon monoxide poisoning. Soon others will be killed, but nobody knows why.

Reviewed on 13 May 2017 by Arnold Taylor

The History of Blood

The daughter of an assassinated politician is found dead in a Cape Town motel, her stomach full of cocaine. Police establish a link to an extended web of crime.

Reviewed on 01 April 2017 by Chris Roberts

Blood Torment

DCI Andy Gilchrist and his team are on the case of a missing three-year-old girl. But is this abduction a kidnapping or murder? And how involved is the girl’s mother?

Reviewed on 01 March 2017 by Kati Barr-Taylor

Beloved Poison

St Saviour’s Infirmary in London awaits demolition. Apothecary Jem Flockhart uncovers six tiny coffins and her search for their meaning reveals a long forgotten past and sparks a series of murders.

Reviewed on 18 February 2017 by John Cleal

Penance

Rosalie cannot watch her daughter, Maddie, spin any further out of control. She takes her to bereavement counselling, not realising her nightmare has only just begun.

Reviewed on 24 December 2016 by Kati Barr-Taylor

The Plague Road

Who killed actor/spy Charles Fincham? And what is the secret of the letter he was carrying from Charles II’s brother to the French ambassador? In plague-hit London, rising young lawyer and civil war intelligence officer John Grey must find out.

Reviewed on 24 December 2016 by John Cleal

The Promise

Maverick DC Gary Goodhew returns to duty after injury to help investigate the strange killing of a down-and-out and part-time informant and finds a chain of events which all point to an obsessed killer.

Reviewed on 26 November 2016 by John Cleal

Skin and Bone

Preston Coroner Titus Cragg is called in when the body of a baby is discovered in the town’s notorious tanning yard.

Reviewed on 01 October 2016 by Linda Wilson

Operation Goodwood

Mirabelle Bevan escapes a fire in her block of flats, but her racing driver neighbour is found hanged. When it is established he was murdered, Mirabelle investigates – and meets a wall of lies and evasion.

Reviewed on 30 August 2016 by John Cleal

Death at Whitewater Church

The discovery of a skeleton wrapped in a blanket in the crypt of a deconsecrated church puts rather a crimp in the sale, and leaves local solicitor Benedicta ‘Ben’ O’Keefe with some difficult skeins of local history to unravel.

Reviewed on 11 June 2016 by Linda Wilson

The Scrivener

Coroner Titus Cragg leads an inquest into the death of a Preston pawnbroker, attempting to determine whether the man committed suicide or was murdered.

Reviewed on 11 June 2016 by Linda Wilson

The Serpentine Road

The heiress of a billionaire industrialist is murdered in an apparent race-hate crime. Colonel Vaughn De Vries of the Special Crimes Unit investigates and finds a morass of  corruption – and a link to an event in his own past he would rather forget.

Reviewed on 23 April 2016 by John Cleal

Toxic

The body of a man, headless and missing his hands, turns up on a deserted beach at Dungeness in Kent. He is soon identified as an important banker, but why he should have been murdered is a mystery.

Reviewed on 02 January 2016 by Arnold Taylor

The Bone Orchard

Mike Bowditch has left the Maine Warden Service and now works as a fishing guide, but when his mentor and friend Sergeant Kathy Frost finds trouble, he is compelled to get involved.

Reviewed on 12 December 2015 by Chris Roberts

Half The World Away

Graduate Lori Maddox goes travelling and is teaching English in Chengdu when communications home cease. Her parents Joanna and Tom are frustrated by the lack of action in China, and set off to find her.

Reviewed on 12 September 2015 by Chris Roberts

Massacre Pond

Warden Mike Bowditch is called in when a number of moose are slaughtered, an atrocity seemingly linked with local hatred for the landowner, who is seeking to create a new national park.

Reviewed on 07 February 2015 by Chris Roberts