The police are reluctant to believe young Lucy Paige when she tells them that she saw two men chasing a woman across a field. They suspect her of inventing a mysterious stranger, who hit her and then ran away, in order to protect her friend, Martin, from accusations of child abuse and assault. But they have to reassess her story, when a woman’s body is found a few days later and Lucy recognises it as her attacker. Who is the corpse in the graveyard? Why was she running away? And who were t...

When the bursar of Lichfield College is found strangled in an Oxford hotel, Detective Chief Inspector Jonah Porter rapidly concludes that the killer is one of the nine college staff attending a meeting there, but who is the most likely suspect? Is it mathematics fellow, Tom Carrington, who found the body? Or was it the Master, who was the last to see him alive? Was the bursar blackmailing one of his colleagues? Or could it be a crime of passion committed by his former mistress?

What could be more pleasant than a short break on the Algarve with a group of friends? But, when the wheelchair on which he depends is damaged in flight, DCI Jonah Porter wishes that he had never come. Relationships are stretched to breaking point as his frustrations mount. Then a guest falls from the balcony of a neighbouring apartment and foul play is suspected. With a puzzling case to solve, Jonah is back in his element. Who could have wanted to kill a popular family-man who makes frien...

When newly-qualified nurse, Susan Parry, is found dead in her bed in the nurses’ home, her colleagues call the police to investigate and Detective Constable Peter Johns finds himself involved in a murder enquiry for the first time in his career. It is not just his career, however, which is dramatically affected by the events that follow.As he gets to know the other inmates of the home, he finds himself becoming personally involved in the life of one nurse in particular, and this he...

Newly-promoted Detective Inspector Andy Lepage is in charge of a murder investigation for the first time. It looks like a routine street crime, but how did it come about on the doorstep of one of Oxford’s ancient colleges? Who is the victim, and why was he out on the streets without a coat on a cold November night? Then an unexpected twist makes it a more personal affair and Andy is forced to face difficult questions about his own identity.

A body in the river is all in a day’s work for Detective Inspector Peter Johns and his Sergeant, Paul Godwin. But things become personal when Peter’s son is detained for suspected child abduction and Paul recognises their key witness as a close childhood friend. The detectives soon discover that they have more in common than they realised and it becomes difficult to keep work and family life separated when difficulties arise in the investigation of the body in the river. It looks like suic...

Teenage “joy-riders” mow down a young man on his way home after a night out with his mates. As he fights for his life in hospital, the police struggle to find the culprits. Expert tracker dog, PD Q, follows a scent from the abandoned car, but it leads to a dead-end. Where is the driver of the stolen vehicle? Could this incident be the culmination of a sequence of escalating attacks on participants in Oxford’s Pride Parade? DCI Jonah Porter steps in to find out.

A Powerful Lesson on Unconditional Love and How to Raise Happy Children"A must for every family library." —USA TodayThis collection of essays offers a gentle guide on how to put your love into daily actions. A parent's calling is to raise a person. By making loving actions part of your life, you have the power to build the kind of family unit most people long for. Wonderful Ways to Love a Child is filled with true stories of parents and children who are nurturing strong and loving families...

Bernie Fazakerley, an eccentric Oxford don with a penchant for marrying police officers, has a habit of becoming involved in murder cases, which often turn out to have a more personal side for her and her long-suffering friends and family. The books are presented here in chronological order of the events described in them. This is not the same as the order in which they were published.Two Little Dickie Birds is set in 2002, when Bernie’s daughter Lucy is two years old and her frien...

Peter Johns is an ordinary Bobby on the beat, but everything changes when a child goes missing and the only witnesses seem to be concealing vital information. This is the first short story in the series: The Criminal Career of DI Peter Johns. Peter also features in five full-length novels, alongside his wife, Bernie, and collegaue, Jonah.

Bernadette Fazakerley (“Our Bernie” to her friends) left her home city of Liverpool for Oxford in 1976. There she gained a first Class degree in Mathematics and a fiancé, Stephen. That was the point in her life when things started going wrong. Stephen killed himself by jumping from a high building. Bernie, unable to shake off the suspicion that Stephen had been unable to face life with her, buried herself in her academic work. Soon she obtained a doctorate and a tutorial fellowship at St L...

When Detective Superintendent Richard Paige is killed while pursuing a suspect, his pregnant wife, Bernie, is determined to find out more about his background for the sake of their unborn child. His mother, Eleanor, is strangely reluctant to speak about Richard’s early life and Bernie becomes suspicious that there may be some dark secret in his childhood.With the help of two of Richard’s police colleagues, she starts to piece together the story of his life. A childhood sweetheart a...