Detectives are led up the garden path when a clever scam turns fatal
Down-on-his-luck businessman Tam McDonnell thinks he may have rescued his ailing pub when a local man comes good on his promise to fill the venue with punters in exchange for a percentage of the takings. That's until he discovers a newly hired barmaid dead in the toilets...
DI Charlie West's team struggle to find a motive. Clearly murdered, if the corkscrew in her neck is anything to go by, the victim was loved by all who knew her and apparently led a squeaky-clean life – cleaner than the toilet, at any rate.
Whilst they are puzzling over the case and trying to track down witnesses, the detectives are presented with a new problem. A string of unusual robberies have been occurring in the Scottish coastal town of Ayr. Shop owners have suddenly passed out only to come round and find that luxury goods have gone walkabout.
With the pressure on, West makes some good calls. But it is only when sagacious retired DI James Munro adds his tuppence worth that the penny will finally drop.
RUSE is the thirteenth book in this bestselling murder mystery series set on the west coast of Scotland. It can be enjoyed as a standalone or alongside the other books.
A suspicious scarecrow, an unprovoked assault, and a missing person baffle Scottish police. PENURY is the twelfth book in a series of witty murder mysteries set in the south west of Scotland.
It is a serendipitous encounter for the hapless DI Greg Byrne when retired sleuth James Munro stumbles upon his crime scene. And perhaps also for Munro himself who, his protégé Charlie West having firmly snapped his apron strings, needs other lambs to wean. The day is far less auspicious for the victim in the affair, the unfortunate property developer Rebecca Barlow who has been trussed up like a scarecrow in her yard. Though occurring off DI West's Ayrshire patch, the investigation will soon intertwine with one of her own. But just what does the young drug pusher she is tracking have to do with a bizarre, apparently ritualistic death involving a rowan tree? With superstition running rife and an individual pertinent to the inquiry nowhere to be found, West might just need the help of Munro after all.
DI Charlie West and irrepressible ex-detective James Munro return in a new murder mystery. HUBRIS is the eleventh book to feature retired detective James Munro and his protégé DI Charlotte West.
When a sheep farmer boards a stricken fishing vessel stranded on the shore, he is in for the shock of his life. Within lies the body of a man who is inside out. The police find a filleting knife in the hold, covered in the victim's blood. DI Charlie West arrives on the scene, and given the obvious disembowelment, immediately determines that a murder has taken place. The boat is otherwise abandoned, but detectives soon trace the owner, a man well known to the police. He has a clear alibi but after some less-than-delicate probing, his story springs a leak. However, the investigation is thrown into confusion when a local girl goes missing. What is the connection to the gutless sailor? Or the arrogant boat owner?
Detectives Munro and West get more on their plate than they bargained for in this clever murder mystery
DI Charlie West is investigating a series of robberies when three fingers are found in a refuse site. The investigation leads the team to a local restaurant, the university campus and the municipal dump. But when a man walks into a jeweller's shop and calmly bashes in the head of the owner, they have a murder case on their hands. Despite the discovery of a man in some discomfort due to missing the fingers on his hand, the investigation draws blanks. It will take the wisdom of Munro, officially retired and recovering from heart bypass surgery, to see the connections between these places and events. With plenty of red-herrings, twists and a satisfying ending, you'll love the latest DI Munro mystery.
Penitent is the ninth standalone murder mystery in this bestselling series. When the known stalker of a young woman is arrested for her murder, it should be an open-and-shut case for DI Charlie West.
A woman is found bludgeoned to death in a swimming pool. A pensioner who disappeared many moons ago turns up out of the blue. A cockeyed boxer has more success outside the ring than in it. What connects these events may be the clue DI Charlie West is looking for to solve the latest murder on her patch. But just when West has a likely suspect in custody, Munro returns to the scene - his enforced repose having done little to dent his appetite for the finer and richer things in life - with an oblique angle on the case. Has West got it right, or will the investigation have to start from square one?
RANCOUR is the eighth Scottish murder mystery to feature detectives James Munro and Charlie West.
The conditions were terrible for a hike up Goat Fell, so why did a group of schoolgirls attempt it? One of the girls presses on when the others turn back; inappropriately dressed and unprepared, she meets her death. After mountain rescue retrieve the body, various questions start to be raised. Inconsistencies in her companions' accounts of events are exposed, and it turns out the victim may have been drugged. The police investigation begins to centre on a suave, enigmatic Italian man who has made his home on the mainland. Having conquered more than a few hearts, his past record troubles detective Charlie West. When the body of another young woman is found, police move quickly. But have they got the right guy?
If you enjoy Scandinavian-style noir, police procedurals and stories with a sucker punch of a twist, PERDITION is for you.
An employee of an investment bank is found dead in his car by a freshwater loch in Ayrshire, Scotland, but there are few signs of foul play. Newly promoted and in charge of the investigation, DI Charlie West wants to probe further. And when the victim's links to a minor crime involving an assault on an associate come to light, a suspicious motive begins to emerge. DI West must explore shady financial dealings in the up-market parts of Glasgow, and connections to illicit drugs to track the killer in what is now being treated as a murder investigation. She is relieved that her mentor, Detective James Munro, once more steps out of his not-so tranquil retirement to lend a hand.
A young boy finds a body on a deserted Scottish beach. DS West searches for absconded DI Munro to help track down the killer.
Left to her own devices, Detective Sergeant Charlie West struggles with the responsibility of a full-blown murder investigation when a man is pushed off a cliff. Not ready to have her apron strings severed so soon, West finds Munro who reluctantly agrees to shed light on the Ayrshire detectives' most challenging case yet. Once the police have discovered the identity of the dead man, and established his demise was the result of foul play, the race is on to hunt down the murderer. Given the victim's links to a local drug ring there is no shortage of suspects, yet few of them are willing to share their knowledge with the police. Can they work out why the man was killed and will the murderer strike again?
Having been the victim of a hit and run accident, and despite being black and blue, DI Munro wastes no time in trying to find out the identity of the perpetrator. In the meantime, a junior detective receives a call from a concerned member of the public, worried that a recently deceased friend's will had been unlawfully changed. What connects these two events will be crucial to the detective's investigation. But when prime witnesses turn up dead, they'll discover they have a more serious case on their hands. With attempted murder upgraded to a full-scale murder investigation, can the police close in on a mysterious killer or will Munro be finally outwitted?
Detective Inspector Munro is a burly Scottish policeman who doesn't suffer fools gladly. Detective Sergeant West is an intelligent young woman, new to the force, with a lot to prove. When a missing person case lands on their desks, Munro is skeptical there is much to it. But their investigation soon comes to some strange findings, and before long, a body is found. With a serial killer on their hands they must act fast to trace a woman placed at the scene of the crime. Yet discovering her true identity, let alone finding her, proves difficult. And as the plot thickens they realize the crime is far graver than either of them could have imagined.
When a body is found in a remote Scottish glen, DI Munro comes out of retirement to investigate. The Police chief wants everything wrapped up before the upcoming regatta, but the locals are remarkably unforthcoming with helpful information. Sassy and quick, London detective sergeant Charlotte West is roped in by DI Munro to help solve what is now a murder case. It is good police work that will unravel the truth behind the crime, but not without ruffling a few feathers first. Will the killer escape the sharp-witted detectives' grasp?
A serial killer is framing innocent people. When a young woman is found murdered in her flat, CCTV identifies a suspect. But when he is brought in for questioning, his willingness to cooperate with Munro and West raises doubts about his guilt. When another body turns up, he falls under suspicion once more. But with him off the radar, they must follow a new line of investigation...
