Christmas is put on hold for Manchester private eye, Sal Kilkenny, after she reluctantly decides to investigate the death of a mentally unstable mother, Miriam Johnstone. The coroner's verdict is suicide: yet a grieving family and Sal's own suspicions suggest otherwise. Why would a woman so petri...
A corpse in the river; a child mown down; a fugitive slaughtered. Three untimely deaths means three murder investigations unless, of course, they are all part of the same case Life is tough as a cop at the top and tougher still with a new baby at home but when tragedy strikes, DCI Janine Lewis is...
Janine Lewis is recently separated from her husband after finding him in bed with the home help. They have 3 children together and she is pregnant with their fourth. She is also the newly promoted Detective Chief Inspector of South Manchester police station called in to investigate the murder o...
She's a single parent. A private eye. And liking it. Until, that is, Mrs Hobbs turns up asking Sal Kilkenny to find her missing son. Sal's search takes her through the Manchester underworld, a world of deprivation, of well-heeled organized crime and, ultimately, murder.
The one who spoke to me and asked me to take Florence home and surrender my clothes. He describes what he found in the house and what you said when he spoke to you. The same tale you told me. Mr Cromer asks him to describe you. ‘Mr Tennyson was wearing sweatpants, a lightweight sports top and bla...
I told him I’d be there as soon as possible. I slapped on the wig and glasses and the long mac, got the sports bag from my room and told Ray where I was going. He looked at me for a while and for an awful moment I thought he was going to ask me if I’d changed anything but he finally figured it ou...
What if it was too late? What if those agonizing screams were her mother’s last words? If a heart attack or haemorrhage had taken her? Janet wasn’t ready yet, not halfway ready. Losing her father had been hard. Her dad, a lovely man. But her mum? The thought of life without her filled Janet with ...
I’d also got the visiting details for Golborne, the place in East Lancashire where Luke was being held. It made sense to start by seeing him first and then the others who’d been interviewed. I’d rung and arranged a visit as soon as I’d got home on the Tuesday after seeing Mr Wallace. They’d booke...
Young – well, young in Janet’s eyes – and mild-mannered with a slight stutter, he had explained to Elise her rights, why she was there and that she was free to leave at any time.His colleague, DC Khan, spoke to introduce herself, then kept notes and listened intently to Elise’s answers.So far Eli...
‘Did you want to see Chris Chinley charged with murder? Does that make anything better? For them? For you?’ There was a pause, his face remained impassive. ‘You should have told me. You should never have been assigned to this case. Why didn’t you say anything?’ He didn’t answer her, just stood th...
Papers strewn about, Post-it notes and pens. It looked like she was preparing a report for work. She often brought work home, responsible for training across all the departments at the town hall. But he knew this current project was personal: the burial of their son. ‘Do you need a hand with that...
They knew I’d taken the tablets. Homelea had complained about me. I took the police officers into the kitchen. Ray made himself scarce and went to join the children in the lounge. There were two of them, plainclothes. A thick-set man with blue-black hair and very white skin, and a younger woman w...
She looked up at Janet, an expression of bitter regret on her face. ‘You all right?’ Janet said. What do you think? Rachel thought. ‘What went on here?’ Rachel told her, fractured sentences, covering her eyes with the heels of her hands on occasion. ‘I am in such deep shit,’ Rachel said. ‘What we...
He’d had customers on his back: several express deliveries not received, the firm’s golden guarantee rendered worthless. Mike explained the situation and Ian had nowhere to go with it. Took a while for his body to catch up with his brain: face still grimacing, shoulders flexing as he processed th...
Lilian Gough had to see Mr Russell at St Mary’s. He was very nice but they didn’t really know why some women had her problem and couldn’t carry to full term. But he was clear that there was little hope of the situation improving. She had expected him to say that. Well, more or less, but she had h...
Unbelievable, bruv. We’re all here: Coxie and Jonny and Stella, all the crew from the estate. There’s this buzz – like massive. We go down Market Street and then along into St Ann’s Square. More people coming all the time. Waves of them, like they’re turning up for a rave or something. Yeah, like...
Cover photo and design by Tim Preston. Copyright © 2013 by Cath Staincliffe The moral right of the author has been asserted. This book is sold subject to the conditions that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s...
Now I was returning and he would go to Laura’s. My apprehension grew as I drew nearer home, my throat and shoulders tightening and a weight pressing on my chest. Ray barely expressed any interest in where I’d been or any concern for me. We exchanged practical information about the kids before he ...
Cath was shortlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library Award in 2006. She lives in Manchester with her partner and their three children. Constable & Robinson Ltd 3 The Lanchesters 162 Fulham Palace Road London W6 9ER www.constablerobinson.com First published in the...