Sally Spencer Books

Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend and his loyal sergeant tackle a murder with as many suspects as there are clues in this tight puzzler. Swann's Lake, 1960. When Robbie Peterson, a criminal-turned-club-owner, is found dead in his office, a six-inch nail driven deep into his skull, Chief Inspector Woodend and Sergeant Bob Rutter are brought up from London to investigate. Why was Robbie's office broken into twice on the day of his funeral? What caused Robbie's son-in-law to attack his own brother on the night of the murder? As the case unfolds, Woodend uncovers several crimes, but it is only as it draws to a close that he realizes the murder has nothing to do with Robbie's criminal past--and everything to do with his domestic present.

Spanning 20 years, this is at once a family saga and a story of the indomitable working class spirit; it is also the story of a beautiful woman - Becky Taylor - who is determined to rise above her origins and lead a better life.

Although the affair between his two detectives, Bob Rutter and Monika Paniatowski, has been over for a year, Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend knows that both parties are thoroughly unhappy, which adversely affects the entire team's camaraderie. Still, when the body of local secretary Pamela Rainsford is found on a canal path, raped and mutilated, Woodend, Rutter, and Paniatowski join forces effectively, painstakingly amassing evidence and reviewing forensic clues.

Inspector Sam Blackstone struggles to track down an arsonist attempting to extort money from the British government, and follows a trail of destruction with the assistance of Dr. Ellie Carr, a specialist in the new science of criminal pathology

The fourth book in the acclaimed new series. Monika, a detective, determines to spend time finding a young prostitute, but when a heavily mutilated body is discovered on the moors, it begins to look as if she has made the wrong decision.

DCI Monica Paniatowski is assigned to be an advisor for the Earl of Ridley's rock festival, but events become chaotic when the Earl hires a motorcycle gang to act as security and a tabloid journalist turns up dead nearby.

Before she can even begin to track down the killer of the old woman dumped on the lonely canalside, Monika Paniatowski needs to find out who she is - and no one seems to know. It's not until there is a second, even more brutal, murder that Paniatowski realises she will have to call on the help of her old mentor, ex-DCI Charlie Woodend.

DCI Monika Paniatowski investigates the killing of an American guest - and uncovers a link to a 50-year-old murder. When the body of an American woman is found in the Prince Alfred suite at the Royal Victoria Hotel, DCI Monika Paniatowski is faced with one of the most baffling cases of her career. The woman who called herself Mary Edwards had been a guest at the hotel for the past two weeks, having paid cash in advance. But who was she really - and what was she doing in a small town like Whitebridge? If Monika could discover why the dead woman had come to Lancashire, she would be one step closer to catching her killer. The investigation takes an intriguing twist when Monika learns of a possible link to a fifty-year-old murder - but the only person who could tell her why it's relevant is lying in a coma.

When Eddie Barnes, of popular group The Seagulls, is electrocuted on stage in front of 300 adoring fans, Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend can't understand why Eddie's mother says he had a girlfriend, while his best mate insists he didn't. And that's only the first anomaly in this strangest of cases.