Showing results by author "Rachel McLean" in All Categories

When a body is found draped over Swanage’s iconic Globe monument, DCI Lesley Clarke is called in. A message points to the motive: Go Home. Is this a hate crime? Or something closer to home? Lesley must find the killer before he or she strikes again, all while dealing with a mutiny in her team and political pressure from her boss. At the same time, a local journalist has been investigating the death of Lesley's predecessor — and claims to have key information. Wary of involving her team, Lesley brings in her old colleague Zoe Finch to help.

DI Zoe Finch has enough on her plate as the trial of her deadliest enemy gets underway. But when a birdwatcher stumbles across a body in the shifting flatlands of the Solway coast, the evidence takes her team in some disturbing directions. Has the victim fallen foul of the same organised criminals Zoe has spent the last two years trying to put behind bars? Or could there be a connection with the disappearance of a man from a local caravan park years earlier?

A vicious killer... a race against time. When two men are found mutilated in Birmingham's gay village just before Christmas, DI Zoe Finch and her team are perplexed. Did their attacker mean to kill one of the men, or simply injure them both? And who would have the surgical skills for such a precise mutilation? When more bodies are found with the same injuries, the city's gay population is rightfully scared. And then someone close to Zoe becomes a target... Can Zoe and her team find the killer before it's too late? And will the new members of the team help crack the case, or make things worse?

An isolated community... a web of secrets... a mysterious death. When a body washes up on the shores of Brownsea Island, DCI Lesley Clarke initially suspects suicide. But as she gets closer to the island's close-knit community, she starts to suspect foul play. Why did the victim argue with her closest friend days before her death? What secrets is the victim's manager keeping? And can Lesley get to the bottom of the mystery before someone else dies?

DCI Lesley Clarke is back! The dust has settled after the arrest of DCI Mackie's killer and Lesley has been told to make a few changes. She's got two DIs to manage, including one she's clashed with in the past, and is overseeing the return of a colleague who left Dorset under a cloud. Just as she's starting to get to grips with it all, a body is found in Poole Harbour. Is it Jackie Kendal, who went missing a year ago, or Rowena Sharp, who mysteriously vanished after leaving her baby alone in a Sandbanks hotel in 1973?

DI Zoe Finch is settling into her new role in Cumbria CID. She’s solved her first murder with the help of her new team, averted a potential riot, and is starting to learn who she can trust inside Cumbria Police – and who she can’t. But when a businessman and former miner is found dead at a new mine that’s the focus of local protest, Zoe is presented with a new challenge. Her boss is trying to play the death down, and she’s being encouraged to ignore leads by colleagues whose motives seem increasingly suspicious. Zoe’s sure they’re wrong.

It's summer and Lyme Regis is rammed with tourists. DC Tina Abbott is hoping her kids can have some fun on the beach with their granny Annie, who in turn is enjoying time with her swimming club. But then Annie and her friends’ morning swim is disturbed when they spot the body of local artist Clifford Muldoon, floating near the Cobb. Tina has things under control. But Annie, emboldened by her involvement in Lyme Regis’s last murder case, wants to get involved. And could the swimmers have information that might help solve the crime?

DI Zoe Finch has been in Cumbria long enough to know who’s pulling the strings in organised crime, and who’s helping them from within the police. But just as she’s closing in on the evidence to prove it, she finds herself scrambling in the fallout from the murder of a key witness, and struggling to keep the case out of the hands of the very man she suspects of orchestrating it.

The Susannah Ramsay and Sadie Dawes cases are solved and DCI Lesley Clarke's team is back together. But there are tensions. Is Dennis hiding more than just mental health problems? Did Superintendent Carpenter cover up the details of DCI Mackie's death? And does Lesley's girlfriend Elsa know more about Mackie than she's letting on? Just as Lesley feels she is getting closer to answers, she's forced to work on the other side of Dorset after a body is uncovered by a landslide at Lyme Regis's beach. Who is the body and is there a connection to DCI Mackie, Arthur Kelvin, and Elsa's law firm?

It's Christmas in Lyme Regis, and DC Tina Abbott is looking forward to some well-earned time with her family. But then her mum Annie, true to form, reports a crime. The pottery shop has been broken into and the owner Peg, Annie's friend, attacked. The evidence is scant. A solitary fingerprint in blood, but nothing stolen, at least as far as the police can tell. But when Annie discovers a gaudy pottery reindeer that was left at the scene of the crime, she and her swimming club friends get drawn into the mystery.

DC Tina Abbott from Dorset Police’s Major Crime Investigations Team is on maternity leave, and spending some time with her mum Annie in Lyme Regis. But then after a morning swim, two members of Annie’s swimming club discover a dead body in another member's car. A body that later vanishes into thin air.

Still reeling from the death of one colleague and a near miss for another, DI Zoe Finch could have done with a quiet winter. But when a body is pulled from the ice at a rural beauty spot, Zoe and her team find themselves back in the thick of murder and intrigue. Who is the dead man? Why was he there? And is there a connection with a web of blackmail and corruption that spreads across the county?

DCI Lesley Clarke is back in Dorset, and her world has turned upside down. One of the people she's closest to is to under arrest for the murder of DCI Mackie and a body has been found in the remote lighthouse at Portland Bill. And not just any body, but the body of someone she investigated before moving to Dorset. Can Lesley win the trust of the close-knit Portland community and find the killer? And can DI Zoe Finch of the West Midlands force help her track down potential suspects? Does Superintendent Carpenter know more than he's letting on about Mackie's death?

DCI Lesley Clarke has promised her new wife that their Scottish honeymoon won’t be spoiled by murder investigations. But when she’s out for a walk on the first day and finds a body, she can’t help but be dragged into a case.

Abbey Road. Site of the iconic studio where The Beatles recorded, plus THAT zebra crossing. Without access to their beloved Routemaster buses, Diana and Zaf are hopeful that they can attract business to Chartwell and Crouch tours by hosting tours of the studio. And Diana has the connections to make it happen... But then on a tour of the studio, they hear disturbing noises from a recording booth. And moments later, an old friend of Diana's is found dead.

With a long-term target finally in custody and the appearance of a key witness, DI Zoe Finch might have expected everything else to fall into place. But when the body of a man she knows is found inside the Port of Workington, the investigation takes her team in some unexpected directions, and working with unlikely allies. Why was he killed? Is there a connection with the missing mother of a local businessman? Can Zoe’s team even keep the case in the face of a bitter territorial spat?

An anonymous murder victim and a missing journalist: can Lesley uncover the truth? DCI Lesley Clarke has too many suspects to choose from when a wealthy lawyer and her unidentified companion are found brutally murdered in a Sandbanks mansion. Was it the victim's ex-husband, resentful at her new lifestyle? Her housekeeper, who found the bodies? Or could it have been a murder-suicide? Lesley and her team must unravel the evidence and find the real killer, while also investigating the disappearance of local journalist Sadie Dawes.

DI Zoe Finch has solved three major cases and is establishing herself as West Midlands Police's newest detective inspector. But when a terror attack strikes Birmingham, she has to step up another gear. A member of her team is acting suspiciously, and may even be connected to the attack. And is the whole thing just a smokescreen for other criminal activity? The stakes are raised even higher for Zoe when her boss, DCI Lesley Clarke, is injured and must hand over responsibility for the investigation. Can Zoe uncover the truth and save the lives of two innocent women?

DI Zoe Finch has survived her first winter in Cumbria CID. She’s learning to trust her team, even if they do have a tendency to get themselves into dangerous situations. And finally, the sun is beginning to shine. But when a competitor in a local fell race is found dead near an isolated cairn, Zoe finds herself navigating an unfamiliar landscape. From the rough and competitive world of the fell runners, through the local business community, to the exclusive Bassenthwaite Manor Hotel, people are keeping secrets from her — and not all of her colleagues seem keen for her to unearth them.

When a young man is found dead at Birmingham University, the police initially think it's a drug overdose. But when DI Zoe Finch learns that the victim was accused of raping a fellow student, she starts to suspect this might not be so straightforward. Suspicion falls on the rape victim, but when she provides an alibi, Zoe's team. must look elsewhere. And then another man dies in the same way... Does someone want to teach these men a lesson? And if so, who?