Showing results for "The Book of Joy" in Crime Fiction

A teenage boy's body is found on a lonely country road at dawn. By the time police arrive, it has vanished without trace. The blanket that covered him remains. The witness is adamant the boy was dead. But when Detective Bob Foreman reaches the scene, there is nothing. No body. No blood. No explanation. With no forensic evidence and conflicting accounts, Foreman is running out of leads. He's already looking for a second missing boy. Last spotted on a moonlit towpath, and never seen again. At the same time, two children are displaying abilities that defy explanation.

Rowan Jackman and Marie Evans are the detectives who take on the toughest cases on the Lincolnshire fens. This time trouble comes in threes. 6 a.m. on a dark autumn morning. Retired detective Bob Ruston is about to feed the dog when the doorbell rings. The man on the doorstep has blood running down his cheek and a look of terror on his face. 'Please! Let me in! They're going to kill me!' Bob sees a handcuff dangling from the man's lacerated wrist.

A brand new Nikki Galena mystery where echoes from the past haunt the twistiest, most complex investigation of her career.

The peaceful little village of Saltern-le-Fen is buzzing with excitement. A film crew are in town, shooting a new TV police drama, Fen Division Five. But Detective Jackman receives a disturbing tip-off that something is wrong. Detective Marie Evans meanwhile is looking forward to moving into her dream home. But there’s no time to celebrate. The naked body of a young man is found at the river’s edge. He’s been strangled, his skin massaged in expensive oil. Two days later, another handsome young man is discovered in a shallow lake.

It arrives in the morning. An old-fashioned airmail envelope addressed to Detective Nikki Galena. Inside, on a single sheet of blue airmail paper, are three words: You failed me. The second airmail envelope arrives at Nikki's home address. The same message. Only this time, it's followed by four names: Alexandra Cornfield, Ruth Baker, Bethany Lyons, Leanne Delaney. Four missing women. Four local women whose bodies were never found.

A crime wave has hit town. The target is a highly sought-after brand of streetwear called Hybird X, clothing that costs a fortune and resells for unbelievable prices. Houses are burgled, kids mugged on the streets...and finally a young man dies, all for the sake of his shoes. Then another boy’s body is found in a pile of rubbish. Meanwhile illegal steroids are flooding the streets. And there are dark movements on the marshes.

TWO MISSING BACKPACKERS. ONE VAST OUTBACK. DS Lucas Walker is on leave in his hometown, Caloodie, taking care of his dying grandmother. When two young German backpackers, Berndt and Rita, vanish from the area, he finds himself unofficially on the case. But why all the interest from the Federal...

One moonlit night, the bodies of two young people are discovered lying entwined on a blanket in the woods. The young man is clutching a red rose. It appears to be a lovers' suicide pact.... Until Detective Nikki Galena and DS Joseph Easter look more closely. Romeo and Juliet, as they decide to call them, were murdered somewhere else and brought to the woods. But why? Then another young couple are found dead, again beautifully posed as lovers. 

In the beautiful gardens of Shelley House a shocking discovery is made. A blackened hand dangles over the side of a wheelbarrow. The horrific scent of burnt flesh lingers in the air. Detectives Nikki Galena and Joseph Easter are called in to investigate.

An old friend's sister disappears without a trace. There's no sign of foul play, but she'd been acting very peculiarly. Meanwhile, Liz's cousin, Christie, comes to stay. She takes an immediate - and uncharacteristic - dislike to the local bookshop owner, Gina. Why does everyone put up with her awful behavior? Christie is convinced that Gina is manipulating everyone around her. Is she onto something dangerous or just pushing her new friends away? No one believes her suspicions until another friend goes missing late at night on the misty Fen marshes.

Holly Stewart moved into Solace House thinking it would be a fresh start for her and her family. She knew a tragic murder had taken place there, but she didn’t know the full ghastly history of the house. Now, her husband has lost his job, the children are bullied at school, and someone is prowling around the garden at night. Someone who wants them gone. Detective Jackman wants to help. Instead he’s been pulled into a 20-year-old cold case.

Jackman’s sister-in-law Sarah disappears to London and throws herself into the river. What drove her to this? She was a woman with a seemingly happy home life and two beloved sons. DI Jackman and DI Evans dig into Sarah’s life. And Jackman realises he knew almost nothing about his sister-in-law’s past. Then, they discover a woman in a neighbouring village died in similar circumstances. What is the connection to a convicted murderer whose family are convinced he is innocent? Who is really pulling the strings?

A sporting legend. A brutal death. A dark legacy. DS Lucas Walker is back home in Queensland, following the dramatic fallout from his last case. He is just getting to grips with his new role in the small outback town of Katima, when the body of an unknown young man is found hanging from a tree...

Flower shop owner Ellie McEwan is driving home late one frosty November night when a shadowy figure leaps into the road out of nowhere. Ellie swerves to avoid him — and slams head-on into the crash barrier. Days later, Ellie wakes up in hospital — and notices there’s something different. Everyone she looks at — the doctor, the nurse, her friend Carole — is surrounded by a coloured aura. Her near-death experience seems to have given her a new ability. And now Ellie must use her new-found gift to catch a killer.

It’s the night shift worker who finds them. Huddled in a hospital store cupboard is elderly Edith Higgins. Knifed to death. Sitting behind her is Staff Nurse Lily Frampton, a scalpel clasped in her blood-soaked hand. No one can understand why this kind-hearted, dedicated nurse would brutally murder a frail patient she’s spent months caring for. That same day, mild-mannered schoolteacher Rod Black is found surrounded by the battered bodies of his pupils. Why would a well-respected teacher beat five schoolboys to death?

The Fens are burning, and Detective Nikki Galena faces a cat-and-mouse battle with a killer arsonist. Someone is lighting fires. First they target homes and businesses, but then a body is found at one of the crime scenes. More fires are lit. And at each one a single person dies. But the victims have led spotless lives, and apparently there's no connection between them. Meanwhile, the town is facing a very peculiar threat from a group of sinister Satanists led by a charismatic businessman. Who is burning with anger, and can Nikki stop them before anyone else dies? 

Matt is intrigued when his partner Liz brings home an old carpet bag she found dumped in the local library. It contains a pile of mysterious handwritten notes. Liz is convinced the bag belongs to Old Molly, a local woman who lives on the streets. The following day, a body is discovered in a marshy lagoon. It's Old Molly. Suffocated with an expensive men's handkerchief. Molly clearly knew something that got her killed. Liz believes she was trying to tell them something important. She calls on her nephew David to help decipher the carpet bag notes.

As the mists roll over the fens and enigmatic lights twinkle in the distance, only the locals know their way along the hidden paths through the mysterious watery terrain of one of England's most beautiful and sometimes dangerous places. Detective Matt Ballard may have retired but there's still plenty going on in the fens to keep him busy. Someone trashes an old lady's garden and daubs her isolated cottage with hateful graffiti. Emilia Swain seems to be totally harmless, so why is she being targeted?

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