Böcker i Detective Rutherford Barnes Mysteries-serien

On a wild and stormy night on England's south coast, ambitious young police constables Rutherford Barnes and Harriet Holden are doing the rounds when they see a burglar fleeing the scene of the crime.And the location is Harriet's house. The ground floor is ransacked. Scrawled in red across one wall are the words: DEAD COPS SLEEP LONG.Then a few days later, Harriet's battered body is discovered in a shabby seafront hotel.Newly promoted to detective, Barnes vows to discover who killed his partner, and why.

Just before midnight, Mandy is woken by a frantic knocking at the door. It's her ex-husband. Drunk. Again. At that moment her new partner James gets home from work. Mandy hears raised voices. Then a dull, smacking sound. Followed by a sickening crunch . . .DC Barnes is back on the job after an eighteen-month suspension. He's offered this case no one else wants - and he's in no position to refuse. A one-punch homicide.The accused is Mandy's partner James. An honest, upright citizen and a firefighter. The victim is Mandy's ex, an aggressive alcoholic.James's acquittal is a sure thing. No jury will convict this good man defending his girlfriend.So why does James suddenly disappear just before the jury reach their verdict?The following day a body is found at the foot of Beachy Head. The injuries sustained reveal this wasn't a suicide.Barnes's case has now become something deeper and darker than anyone could have imagined.

For five long years, Detective Barnes has been hunting the killer of the person he cared about the most. Now, the one man who could have revealed the truth is dead. His charred and blackened body is all that remains in his burnt-out flat. A week later, a desperate, emaciated young woman hammers on the door of a late-night convenience store. She speaks no English - but it's clear that she's terrified - and running for her life. It's only Barnes who connects the two events. He and his new boss, Superintendent Samson Kane, team up to uncover the truth. Their investigations stir up dangerous undercurrents within Eastbourne's criminal community. And the two police detectives are vulnerable. Both Barnes and Kane have secrets in their pasts. Secrets which look set to catch up with them . . . with horrifying consequences.