Henry Johnstone has retired from the police, but when he suddenly disappears his old colleague and friend, Inspector Mickey Hitchens, investigates.December, 1930. Henry Johnstone has retired from his role as detective chief inspector at London's Scotland Yard and is staying at the home of the late Sir Eamon Barry on the south coast, cataloguing and inventorying his extensive library. Until he suddenly – and inexplicably – vanishes. Mickey Hitchens, Henry's old partner-in-crime, now an inspector himself, investigates the house with his colleague, Sergeant Tibbs. The room Henry was staying in had eight unusual, curved windows, and the pair quickly uncover disturbing signs of a struggle, along with a blotter that has the name of a man who was murdered five years ago written on it. Is there a link between that case and Henry's disappearance? Can Mickey find his friend and bring him home safely, or is...

When two bodies are washed up in the Kentish marshes, Detective Chief Inspector Henry Johnstone is propelled into a disturbing investigation.December, 1928. When two bodies are found washed up in the Kentish marshes, it doesn't take long for DCI Henry Johnstone and DS Mickey Hitchens to identify at least one of them. Billy Crane was a known associate of Josiah Bailey, one of the East End's most notorious gangsters. But what were the victims doing in this remote and desolate spot? Is it a set-up? A revenge attack? Or could this be the start of a vicious turf war?If so, who would be brave enough to challenge Josiah Bailey, whose tentacles have a disturbingly long reach? With witnesses too frightened to talk, the two London detectives must dig deep into the past if they are to make headway in the investigation and stop the escalating violence.

Was the wrong man hanged for a young woman's murder, or is a copycat killer on the loose? DCI Henry Johnstone and DS Mickey Hitchens must crack a darkly complex case when the community close ranks.1930, Leicestershire. Everyone in the quiet market town of East Harborough is convinced that local miscreant Brady Brewer is responsible for the brutal murder of Sarah Downham. Despite Brewer's protestations of innocence, and his sister's pleas for help from DCI Henry Johnstone and DS Mickey Hitchens, Brewer is convicted and hanged.Two weeks after the hanging, a farmworker finds the body of another young woman less than a mile from where Sarah was found - and there are other disturbing similarities between the two murders. Is a copycat killer on the loose, or was Brewer innocent after all? Where is the missing yellow dress that Sarah wore the night she was murdered? As the locals close ranks, Henry and Mickey soon discover that reputations - and the truth...

A daughter seeks Naomi Blake's help in proving her artist father was murdered.When artist and sometime forger Freddie Jones is found dead of an apparent heart attack, no one is surprised. Freddie drank heavily and was a lifelong smoker. The only dissenting voice comes from Freddie's daughter, Bee. Before he died, her father confided that he was afraid of something - and she is convinced he was murdered.Unable to interest the police, Bee takes her suspicions to her father's old friend, Bob Taylor, who in turn seeks the advice of ex-police officer Naomi Blake. When a prominent gallery owner is murdered and a portfolio of Freddie's drawings is stolen, it would appear to confirm Bee's suspicions. What dangerous games had Freddie Jones been playing? And is Bee herself in danger?

Twenty three years ago Helen Jones disappeared on her way to school. She was twelve years old. No trace of her was ever found. But now a confession in a sealed envelope has turned up in a dead man's possessions. Naomi Blake was Helen's best friend and the last person to see her alive. They had quarrelled and Naomi has never forgiven herself. Now blinded and an ex-policewoman, she sets out with Helen's brother to uncover the dusty truth behind Helen's vanishing.

When a man dumps a body on a beach in full view of onlookers, the investigation that follows throws up a number of dark twists for DCI Henry Johnstone. January 5, 1930. On a cold, grey winter morning, a mysterious man walks along Bournemouth beach carrying a bundle in his arms. He lays it carefully on the shoreline and calmly walks away. The man has dumped a body. The dead young woman is Faun Moran, a wildchild in her twenties wearing a sparkling cocktail gown. But Faun was supposedly killed in a car crash after leaving a party attended by other wealthy bright young things the previous autumn. So who was the young woman in the car, and where has Faun Moran been all this time? Still recovering from the trauma of his last case, DCI Henry Johnstone returns to work to solve this baffling mystery. But as he and DS Mickey Hitchens investigate, the path to the truth is darker and twistier than they could ever have imagined.

The murder of a student re-opens a series of cold cases in this intriguing mysteryA young student is found brutally murdered in her room, killed while her flatmates slept nearby. The police soon recognize that this is frighteningly similar to a crime committed fifteen years before. A crime investigated by the now discredited Detective Inspector Joe Jackson, but never solved.Other deaths, linked to the same modus operandi and stretching back more than twenty years, have also remained unsolved. No link has been found between the victims – but it seems Joe Jackson had a perpetrator in mind. He had however been unable to prove his guilt.Can the new investigation trust the judgement of a man who was himself a killer? Or did that give Naomi Blake's one-time friend and mentor an insight his colleagues did not have?

Two men are found shot dead aboard a luxury yacht, and the key lies with a company that makes computer games. What secret were the men protecting that others were prepared to kill to get hold of? Rina Martin decides to find out, much to the consternation of her friend, DI McGregor. But her impulse to help those threatened puts the people she most cares for in grave danger.

Ex-DI Alec Friedman is recovering from the car crash that almost killed him. Now back at home, with his wife Naomi, he feels as though he has lost something of himself. He may be alive, but he is hollowed out and empty. Another man standing at the same crossroads is Gregory. Soldier, mercenary, hired killer, Gregory is contemplating retirement and struggling to find meaning in the idea. Then a brutal murder, followed by the kidnap of a mother and child, drags Alec, Naomi and Gregory back into the game. Why was Anthony Palmer tortured and killed and what sort of kidnappers send no ransom demand and make no contact with the family of the victim? Whoever they are, they killed Palmer, and now the race is on to find Katherine and her baby before they too end up dead . . .

The new Naomi Blake crime novel A teenage boy is found drowned in a canal, just hours after telling his mother that he has killed a man. Rob Beresford was a schoolfriend of Patrick's; in their shock and grief, Patrick and his mates turn for help to Naomi. The dead man is identified as Adam Hensel: in his mid-forties, from the other side of town. There seems to have been no link between the two, and Rob was a model student, who had never been in trouble with the police. His mother, Clara, is devastated, adamant that Rob could not have killed anyone - despite evidence to the contrary - and his friends rally around her. Naomi is drawn into the case, by her friendship with Patrick, and because the detective handling it is her boyfriend, Alec. Then a surprising alliance is formed, between Clara and Ernst Hensel, father of the dead man. It becomes clear to Naomi that there is a complex, tragic story behind the bald facts of the case, one that has its roots in the past?

A chilling murder ruins a fun day at the races in the fifth historical mystery featuring Detective Chief Inspector Henry Johnstone. 1929. Police surgeon Dr Clive Mason is devastated when his wife Martha is found dead in an empty horsebox at Southwell Races, her handbag stolen. The Masons were enjoying a day out at the races with their friends, Dr Ephraim Phillips and his wife Nora, when Martha went to speak to a face she recognized in a crowd - and disappeared. As Detective Chief Inspector Henry Johnstone and Sergeant Mickey Hitchens investigate, it's clear this wasn't a robbery gone tragically wrong - Martha was deliberately murdered. Why did the life of this well-respected, popular member of the community meet such a tragic end? Henry and Mickey soon learn that the Masons' marriage was not what it seemed, and make a number of shocking discoveries. Who was Martha Mason, and what secrets was she hiding?

The new 'Naomi Blake' mysteryWhat had Neil Robinson been about to tell journalist Jamie Dale? Whatever it was, it got them both killed, and Alec and his DCI are called away to help with the investigation. Jamie was an old friend of Naomi's, and now she is being harassed by phone calls seemingly from the dead journalist. With Alec away, Naomi turns to another old friend, Harry Jones, for help. Then the violence strikes close to home, and Alec is forced to question which side of the law he is actually on...

The murder of a family forces former policewoman Naomi Blake to face her pastVictor Griffin seemed to be one of the good guys, but that didn't stop someone coming to his home and killing him and his wife. The last act of Vic's life was to try and save his children: fifteen-month-old Jack, and his beloved stepdaughter, Sarah.But why were Vic and his wife shot dead? Why is there no record of them before they came to live in Ferrymouth three years ago? The one clue to their past is a business card, wedged between the pages of an almost empty address book. A card with Naomi's name on it.Naomi and Alec find themselves drawn back to face events that happened when Naomi was still a serving police officer - just before the accident that blinded her - and which have now led to murder.

February, 1929. Clockmaker Abraham Levy's young nephew has vanished. He was last seen boarding a train on his way to see his fiancée, and with no sign of foul play, the suspicion is that he may have got cold feet about his upcoming nuptials and alighted at an earlier stop. The police seem to think so, but Abraham isn't convinced. Feeling he has no other option, Abraham makes an unexpected visit to DCI Henry Johnstone to appeal for his help. Despite his initial reluctance, Henry's curiosity gets the better of him, and his review of the case soon leads to a startling discovery. As Henry is plunged fully into a new investigation, it seems the truth is far more complicated and disturbing than it first appeared.