An experienced detective’s unorthodox methods land him in troubled waters in this first book in the DC Smith/Kings Lake Investigation series by prolific British crime writer Peter Grainger.The story opens with the apparently accidental drowning of a sixth form student in the Norfolk countryside. As a matter of routine, or so it seems, the case passes across the desk of Detective Sergeant Smith, recently returned to work after an internal investigation into another ...

In this thrilling novel, dark secrets and reminders of the past must be brought into the light as DC Smith and his team try to stick together and solve their most challenging case yet.“We are living in the departure lounge,” said Ralph Greenwood, “and flights leave with monotonous regularity.” So when another resident of the Rosemary House care home is found dead in her chair one Saturday evening in December, no-one is very surprised—not until the results of a rout...

Other detectives are content to connect the dots of a case, but DC Smith paints a whole picture in this thrilling murder mystery from an internationally bestselling author.Mark Randall lay dead in a field near Lowacre long before Smith had done what he had to do in Belfast. By the time he went back to work, the investigation was well underway. “It’s not my case,” he says more than once, and he really doesn’t need it to be; he has enough to think about as it is. But...

DC Smith must confront both a violent history and the ghosts of his own past in this twisty thriller.**“The greatest fictional sleuth you've probably never heard of." —**Financial TeamsRecovering from knee surgery, DC Smith is prescribed two weeks of bed rest. There will be no chasing murderers through the streets of Kings Lane—just a simple cuppa and a good book. He’s almost looking forward to it. That is, until there is a knock a...

Get ready to be hooked by the brand-new, gripping murder mystery from the million-copy-selling crime writer, in hardback for the first time ever.An aristocratic fatality leaves behind no body, no forensics, and enemies in the highest places...'Pitch-perfect crime writing.' DAILY EXPRESS'Peter Grainger's books are addictive.' CRIMINAL ELEMENT**'Full of suspense, danger...

When Caroline Thorpe succeeded in casting doubt on the verdict of the inquest into her brother’s death, she could not have anticipated what would follow.Freddie was Earl Thorpe of Burnham, and as the Kings Lake detectives, headed by DCI Cara Freeman, soon begin to realise, influential people have gone to considerable lengths to cover up a potential scandal surrounding the young man’s death.Their investigation will take them from Norfolk into the capital, and from idealistic y...

In this heart-pounding thriller, DC Smith is looking for a body, but what he finds is far more sinister ...When a worker goes missing from a North Sea gas platform, there seem to be just two possible explanations—it was a tragic accident or a suicide. It does not take Smith and his detectives long, however, to discover that James Bell led a double life back onshore in Kings Lake, a life complicated enough to make him at least one dangerous enemy.Before the ...

Detective Sergeant Chris Waters got the call at 5:29 that July morning. “This is it,” said DCI Reeve, “you'll be first there, it's all yours.” Suddenly, after months of waiting and wondering, Waters finds himself in at the deep end, and alone at the scene of a puzzling murder. When a young woman's body is discovered near the edge of town, the Kings Lake Major Investigation Team must learn that the smallest details can hide the darkest secrets. Known to some as charming and vibrant—and to o...

DC Smith has solved hundreds of crimes, but he’s never been accused of one. Until now.In the peace and tranquility of the woods at Pinehills on a Saturday afternoon, a mobile phone begins to ring. The phone belongs to DC Smith, and it isn’t unusual that the call is from Kings Lake Central police station; what is unusual is the fact that he seems to be the subject of an investigation rather than taking part in one. What can the links be between a prisoner’s violent ...

In this exciting thriller, the murder squad are put to the test as their latest investigation uncovers dark secrets and uncomfortable truths.Life, as DC Smith used to say, is just one thing after another. As one investigation ends, a new one begins. But for reasons unknown to the rest of her team, DCI Cara Freeman will be haunted by the next case for the Kings Lake Central murder squad. They find themselves delving into the seamy side of life in the town, and one o...

Sometimes the past comes back to haunt you, and for DC Smith, that time is now ...When fourteen-year-old Zoe Johnson doesn’t come home on a Monday night in early December, the alarm bells in Kings Lake Central police station do not ring straight away—after all, she’s from the Dockmills, one of the toughest estates in the town. But for Detective Sergeant DC Smith, due to retire in just three weeks’ time, there are some strange echoes of the case that has haunted him...

DC Smith is determined to find the connection between two crimes that take place over a century apart in this thriller from a bestselling author.On a quiet Monday morning, an unexpected appointment unsettles the delicate balance at Kings Lake Central. A new Detective Inspector takes up the post, while veteran investigator Detective Sergeant D.C. Smith, chooses this moment to submit his resignation. With just months left before retirement, Smith must confront not on...