Showing results by author "Helen Phifer" in All Categories

The edge-of-your-seat fifth book in the Annie Graham crime thriller series * * * * Don’t go into the woods. Because you’re in for a big surprise… Annie Ashworth is currently off duty. With her baby bump growing fast, she is under strict instructions to stay away from police work and look...

1692. On the outskirts of Salem, a bookstore stands covered in overgrown vines. Inside, a young woman hides a linen-wrapped journal under a loose floorboard and runs away, panicked by the sound of hounds barking in the distance. The bookstore vanishes into thin air…

The final book in the Annie Graham series will leave you racing to the finish! * * * * Annie Ashworth is on maternity leave from her police job, enjoying spending time with baby Alfie. Her days at home might lack excitement, but after all of the horrific crimes she’s witnessed, that’s fine...

The thrilling fourth book in the Annie Graham crime thriller series A serial killer on the loose. A mystery that must be solved before time runs out. Elderly Martha Beckett is a prisoner in her own home, and has been ever since her older brother disappeared at just nine years old. * * * * Six...

Shortly before midnight, four teenagers broke into the old abandoned psychiatric hospital on Beacon Hill. Only three came out again. The missing girl—Riley Holt—is the seventeen-year-old daughter of the local police chief and she appears to have vanished into thin air. Called from Manhattan to take over the case, Detective Maria Miller and her partner Frankie Conroy uncover the sinister past of the abandoned hospital, which was once the hiding place of the notorious College Kid Killer, who never revealed the burial site of his final victim.

When Detective Maria Miller walks up creaking stairs into the attic of the old brownstone she senses this isn’t an ordinary crime scene. The brutality of the murder is enough to shock even an experienced detective like Maria. But there’s something else. An unsettling presence seems to lurk in the shadows sending a chill through Maria’s bones, making her desperate to run back down the stairs and never return. The killing is identical to the murder of an actress sixty years before, a crime that tore a family apart and sent shockwaves through New York City.

When reports come in of a family trapped in a burning house, Detective Morgan Brookes rushes to the scene. But as soon as she enters the ruined home, she is devastated by what she finds. Tied to the kitchen table, Sally and David Lawson and their young son had no chance of escaping the flames and the smoke.... Neighbors all agree the Lawsons were the perfect family, and CCTV shows nothing suspicious. Morgan’s only clue is the silver crucifix necklace around Sally’s neck.

When the body of a teenage girl is found in Rydal Falls’ churchyard, Detective Morgan Brookes abandons her own birthday to attend the scene. In the dim evening light, Morgan can just make out the girl wrapped in a pristine white sheet and is certain she’s been left here for them to find. The autopsy identifies the girl as 16-year-old Shea Wilkinson, and Morgan’s heart cracks with sorrow. The beautiful teenager has been missing for weeks; could she have been suffering all this time?

When a concerned neighbor reports a woman missing, Detective Morgan Brookes squeezes through the stiff front door to find the woman dead. At first, the case appears unsuspicious, but something about the scene unsettles Morgan. Every clock in the house has been stopped, every mirror covered, and the woman seems physically unharmed except for one missing lock of hair.

Running from a devastating relationship that almost cost her everything, Maddy Hart impulsively accepts a job as a live-in caretaker at imposing Lakeview House. She has no memories of having visited the crumbling mansion on the banks of Lake Thirlmere before, but when she arrives, something about the house feels familiar. The more time Maddy spends in the house, the more unsettled she feels. By day, she clears out the dusty rooms, but in the dead of night, it’s hard to explain away the eerie noises or crackly radio she hears hours after she turned it off.

When a woman disappears from Forest Pines campsite, Detective Morgan Brookes scrambles a search party. Sara Fletcher has never missed a lunch date with her best friend, and when Morgan finds a large rip in Sara’s tent, she knows that something terrible must have happened. About to lose hope after hours combing through the acres of dense forest, the excited bark of a tracker dog leads Morgan to female remains, partially covered by leaves and dirt - but the bones don’t belong to Sara.

When Detective Morgan Brookes is called to the scene of a suicide, she’s devastated to recognize the young teacher sprawled out on the grass like a broken doll. She hasn’t seen Brittany for years. Not since the tragic death of Morgan’s high school boyfriend ripped their friendship group apart. But when witnesses describe Brittany’s erratic behavior and jumbled speech that morning, Morgan is convinced the fearless, life-loving girl she once knew didn’t jump of her own accord.

A podcast for writer's wanting to unleash their creativity and set themselves free from being stuck inside the writer's closet. If you’ve always wanted to write a book, but not sure where to start then this is the podcast for you. I'll be sharing my publishing journey with you from that initial idea for a book to where I am now and all the very messy stuff inbetween.

When nine-year-old Charlotte Standish goes missing from her street in the small town of Rydale Falls, it sparks a media frenzy. Detective Morgan Brookes leads a frantic hunt for the girl, but little Charlie seems to have vanished into thin air. Chasing up a lead at Charlie’s school, Morgan is chilled to learn that this isn’t the first time a child has gone missing on this street. Another girl disappeared 15 years ago, and Morgan is the only one who thinks the cases could be related. But in the moment that she takes her eye off Charlie’s case, another child goes missing.

When the body of a young woman is found, tied to her bed and the victim of a brutal attack in her own home, Detective Morgan Brookes is sickened by what she finds as she searches the house, and unprepared for the nightmares it inspires about her childhood. When the DNA collected gives a positive ID, Morgan can’t wait to put the attacker behind bars. But the person it matches to is already in prison. How could the DNA of someone who has been locked up for over 20 years have shown up in Morgan’s crime scene? And then they make another close match - to Morgan herself.

When the body of a woman is found hanging from a tree in her front garden, rookie Detective Morgan Brookes is first on the scene. But Olivia Potter is past saving. And when her husband and daughters cannot be traced, Morgan knows there is more to this tragedy. And then she finds them. Lying huddled together in the dark basement, each of their faces covered with a small cotton cloth, their bodies cold to the touch. But as Morgan kneels beside the family, she realizes that one of the girls is still breathing.

When the body of a teenage runaway is found hidden inside someone else’s grave in a small-town cemetery in the Lake District, an urgent call is made to forensic pathologist Beth Adams. Still traumatised by a recent attempt on her own life, one look at the beautiful girl’s broken body is enough to bring Beth out of hiding for the first time since her attack. She’s the only one who can help her trusted friend, Detective Josh Walker, crack the most shocking case of his career.

When the bodies of two teenage girls are discovered in a rundown New York City hotel room, Detective Maria Miller is called to the crime scene. The best friends were supposed to be at a sleepover miles away in the suburbs. With no record of the girls checking in and the room on the thirteenth floor closed off to guests, what were they doing there? Sinister messages on their phones suggest the girls were lured to the hotel, using its reputation for hauntings as bait. The killer left no DNA behind and Maria’s efforts to trace their identity leads to a dead end.

Two Northern women who both write books and share a love of all things writing, reading, life, tv and the witchy bits inbetween.

'A ghost story and a police procedural all rolled into one with bags of tension… I couldn't read it in the dark!' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'A stunning Halloween read' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I finished it in the early hours as I needed to find out what happened!' Reader review...