Judith Cutler crafts her novels against the vibrant backdrop of the Midlands, a region she knows intimately. A prize-winning short-story writer, she brought her extensive experience as an English lecturer to teaching creative writing at university. Her engagement with the literary world extends to leading writing courses and contributing to organizations for crime writers.
Twenty years ago, a car was found abandoned, with a desperately ill baby in the back. The child's mother was never seen again. Newly-retired, ex-Chief Superintendent Fran Harman and her partner Mark have volunteered to help reinvestigate, and it soon becomes clear key witnesses aren't telling them the whole truth...
Fran is preparing for her forthcoming wedding to Assistant Chief Constable Mark Turner, but renovations at the rectory they plan to move into are disrupted by the discovery of a skeleton buried in the vegetable patch. As investigations into its identity progress, it's also clear that Mark's two grown-up children are less than ecstatic at the prospect of their father's forthcoming nuptials. In fact, at least one of them seems to be behaving very strangely indeed . . .
A Mystery
Introducing Birmingham Detective Sergeant Kate Power, exiled from London's Metropolitan Police by personal tragedy and making a new start in the distant outpost of Birmingham CID. Her new Brummie bosses are good men, for the most part, but they can't seem to let their new female colleague alone long enough to get on with her job. Kate is anxious to lose herself in her work, and before too long a case comes along that will consume her in a way she could never have imagined.Young boys are being abducted, abused, and murdered on her patch, and she feels intense personal and professional pressure to catch those responsible. Kate must navigate the unfamiliar channels of power in male-dominated Birmingham; are her colleagues being deliberately obstructive or simply dragging their feet? Soon she is forced to make an important Should she follow the conventional line of enquiry, toe the company line, and work as part of the team, or should she strike out on her own, reputation be damned?Kate's got her work cut out for her, but she's a tough young cop who's seen a lot in her brief career and no one, not a heavy-handed supervisor or a vicious killer, is going to stop her from surviving, and thriving, in Birmingham. Power on Her Own is a taut, gritty cop novel from talented crime writer Judith Cutler.
May 1861, Victorian England. Harriet and Matthew Rowsley find themselves stranded at a house party at Clunston Park due to flooding when shockingly, one of the guests is murdered! The finger is pointed at Clara, an eleven-year- old maid, and convinced she cannot be the culprit, Harriet and Matthew agree to investigate!
England, 1810: Young Parson Tobias Campion is excited and nervous to be starting at the small parish of Moreton Priory. But his first night in the village brings excitement of the wrong kind when he has to intervene in the attempted rape of housemaid Lizzie Woodmanf.
The latest intriguing mystery featuring feisty antiques dealer Lina Townend.It’s a busy weekend for she wins a dance competition, annoys a valuable client and has to play gooseberry when Griff, her business partner, meets an old flame. Killing time, she drives across Dartmoor, only to find two men robbing a medieval church. Outraged, she manages to stop them – only to discover that it’s not just in Devon that they are working.Safely back in Kent, she makes some new friends. One, a frail and confused pensioner, may have been the victim of a heartless crime. Another is a bright young woman eager to hear all about Lina’s life. But suddenly Lina realises that she may have made new enemies too – or maybe just stirred up some very dangerous old ones.
A delayed retirement, sexual assaults and a media frenzy have Superintendent Harman seeking to resolve this on-going nightmare
The narrative unfolds a gripping tale filled with intricate layers of crime, featuring themes of kidnapping and the mysterious nature of disappearance. As the plot thickens, characters are drawn into a web of danger and moral dilemmas, leading to unexpected twists that keep readers on the edge of their seats. The story promises to engage with its depth and the exploration of human motivations behind such dark actions.
It is Easter Day, and a body hangs crucified on a tree. Unlike the Master whom Tobias serves, it will not rise from the dead. Naked except for a loincloth and a crown of thorns, the victim is unrecognisable, his face bludgeoned to a pulp.
With her husband away on an England cricket tour of Pakistan, and the deadline for her MEd dissertation looming on the horizon, Sophie Rivers is in no mood for unwelcome distractions. Unfortunately, as a member of the university choir, she is finding it nigh on impossible to avoid them. It soon becomes apparent that the music faculty of the University of the West Midlands has more than its fair share of nutty professors and insecure students - and for some reason Sophie seems to have been appointed their unofficial guidance counsellor. But when the body of a professor turns up at a concert at the Birmingham and Midland Institute, all this fades into insignificance. Sophie's old friend, DI Chris Groom, calls on her insider knowledge to find out who - and what's - behind the killing.
