A buried clock holds the key to a decades-old mystery.On holiday to escape the nightmares of his last case, disgraced soldier turned private detective John “Slim” Hardy comes upon something buried in the peat on Bodmin Moor.Unfinished and water-damaged but still ticking, the old clock provides a vital clue to an unsolved missing-persons case.As Slim begins to ask questions of the tiny Cornish village of Penleven, he is drawn into a world of lies, rumours, and secret...

"An absolute feast for noir and paranormal thriller fans alike. Highly recommended." ~~ bestthrillers.comJohn "Slim" Hardy, heavy drinker and disgraced soldier turned bumbling private detective, is hired to investigate Ted Douglas, an investment banker who slips out of work every Friday to visit a desolate cove on the Lancashire coast. There, he walks to the shore, opens an old book, and begins to read aloud.His wife thinks he's having an affair.Sli...

A Murderer on the Loose.A Detective Haunted by the Past.A Race Against Time.DCI Jonathan Walker is a senior detective for the Lancashire Constabulary in North West England. He’s haunted by events of the past and hell bent on redemption, if he can stay healthy for long enough that is."A moody, enveloping crime thriller." (SPR Editorial Review)After a body turns up in the sleepy villag...

Book 1: The IcehouseA Murderer on the Loose.A Detective Haunted by the Past.A Race Against Time.DCI Jonathan Walker is a senior detective for the Lancashire Constabulary in North West England. He’s haunted by events of the past and hell bent on redemption."A moody, enveloping crime thriller." - SPR Editorial Review ★★★★★Book 2: The Pike

Traumatised by a recent case, private investigator John “Slim” Hardy tries to create a new life for himself on the remote Cornish coast. However, when he is recognised by a local woman, he is unable to resist the draw of a dark mystery which has left a long shadow over the village.Fourteen years earlier, a local man, Richard Maynard, died in mysterious circumstances. The only witness was his five-year-old daughter, Ellen. Now, Richard’s sister, Wendy, wants answers. But the only pe...

A party gone wrong?Or a sickening group attack?Not everything is what it seems, and not everyone is who they appear to be.A young girl is found dead at the Pike Tower on Winter Hill near Chorley and DCI Walker and the newly promoted DC Briggs are drafted in to investigate. But what they find extends far beyond the Rivington Pike. What seems like a party gone wrong, or a sickening group attack, transpires to be much ...

THE NEW JOHN "SLIM" HARDY MYSTERYWhen her mentally disabled son develops a strange obsession, Audrey Johnson contacts private investigator John “Slim” Hardy for help.Andy Johnson has been making teddy bears and leaving them on the memorial of a nine-year-old girl who drowned on Dartmoor more than forty years ago. When nothing will put him off his bizarre tribute to a child who died before he was even born, Slim moves to the peaceful rural community of Brent...

Not every story begins in light.Perhaps there was nothing I could have done differently. The atrocities I committed, the lives that I scorched from existence, the power I wielded with so little regard.Or maybe it was the love that I lost? The love that my priest father had snuffed like a candle whose flame has been violently blown out.I have destroyed, killed, manipulated, betrayed, tortured, and I have laughed at it all.Perhaps I lied. Perh...

The second collection of Jack Benton’s thrilling Slim Hardy Mysteries, including books 4-6 in the series: Slow Train, The Angler’s Tale and Eight Days.Slow TrainOn the evening of Saturday, January 15th, 1977, a local commuter train is delayed at a small village station by a freak blizzard. Young nurse Jennifer Evans, keen to get back to her family, plans to walk the last couple of miles to her home in a neighbouring village. She phones her ...

Three stunning John "Slim" Hardy mysteries from Jack Benton, collected together for the first time.When the Wind BlowsTraumatised by a recent case, private investigator John “Slim” Hardy tries to create a new life for himself on the remote Cornish coast. However, when he is recognised by a local woman, he is unable to resist the draw of a dark mystery which has left a long shadow over the village.Fourteen years earlier, a local man, Richard Maynard,...

THE FIRST THREE SLIM HARDY MYSTERIES COLLECTED TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME.THE MAN BY THE SEAJohn "Slim" Hardy, heavy drinker and disgraced soldier turned bumbling private detective, is hired to investigate Ted Douglas, an investment banker who slips out of work every Friday to visit a desolate cove on the Lancashire coast. There, he walks to the shore, opens an old book, and begins to read aloud.His wife thinks he's having an affair.Slim thinks he's insane....

THE NEW SLIM HARDY MYSTERYOne autumn night in 1992, young trapeze artist Maria’s circus career is cut short by a shocking fall. Later investigation reveals sabotage, but by then the ramshackle Southern Cross Circus has folded, and its garrulous ring master and owner fled to Spain.And the prime suspect in the possible crime, Maria’s boyfriend, has disappeared without trace, never to be seen again.After a chance encounter with Maria decades afterwards...