DARK HOUSES a gripping detective thriller full of suspense (19 page)

THE FOUR CALLADINE AND BAYLISS MYSTERIES (book 3 features DI GRECO)

BOOK 1 DEAD WRONG:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/WRONG-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B010Y7641M/

http://www.amazon.com/WRONG-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B010Y7641M/

First a shooting, then a grisly discovery on the common . . .

Police partners, D.I. Calladine and D.S. Ruth Bayliss race against time to track down a killer before the whole area erupts in violence. Their boss thinks it’s all down to drug lord Ray Fallon, but Calladine’s instincts say something far nastier is happening on the Hobfield housing estate.

Can this duo track down the murderer before anyone else dies and before the press publicize the gruesome crimes? Detectives Calladine and Bayliss are led on a trail which gets dangerously close to home. In a thrilling finale they race against time to rescue someone very close to Calladine’s heart.

BOOK 2: DEAD SILENT

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SILENT-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01185U8NE/

http://www.amazon.com/SILENT-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01185U8NE/

A body is found in a car crash, but the victim was already dead . . .

BOOK 3: DEAD LIST

This book is the first to feature D.I Greco

http://www.amazon.co.uk/DEAD-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B013J9BUAW

http://www.amazon.com/DEAD-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B013J9BUAW

An unlikely serial killer with a bucket list of victims . . .

BOOK 4: DEAD LOST

An abandoned cotton mill holds horrific secrets

Police partners, D.I. Calladine and D.S. Ruth Bayliss face one of their toughest challenges yet. A group of homeless people have set up camp in the grounds of a disused cotton mill belonging to local businessman Damien Chase.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/DEAD-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B018W6EANQ/

http://www.amazon.com/DEAD-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B018W6EANQ/

CHARACTER LIST (contains minor spoilers)

DI Stephen Greco

Greco is a dedicated policeman who can’t imagine ever doing anything else. He is in his mid-thirties, tall, blonde, strait-laced, and meticulous in his approach to work. Greco is the first to admit that he is ‘faulty.’ He has mild OCD and is not a people person. He finds making friends difficult.

He is based in Oldston, an industrial town in the north of England. He recently moved there from East Anglia, after his divorce. He followed his ex-wife north so that he could be near to his five-year-old daughter, Matilda. Life in Oldston is very different from what he was used to. He finds Oldston raw and doesn’t like the poverty prevalent in the town. In DARK MURDER he reconciled with his ex-wife and they started living together again.

DS Jed Quickenden

Known as ‘Speedy’ to his mates. Quickenden is disillusioned with his job. He was born and bred in Oldston, everyone he knows lives there. Most of his friends from school are wasters who have turned to gambling or crime to make ends meet. Speedy is tall and thin, he towers over most of his colleagues. He is frequently untidy in appearance.

DC Grace Harper

She likes to know the gossip. She is ambitious and wishes she could give all to her job and win promotion. But she has small child, Holly, and she’s a single parent. Her partner did a runner while Grace was pregnant and has nothing to do with Holly. She feels guilty about going back to work, leaving Holly in nursery or cared for by her mother. She is torn between the job and her daughter. Given the chance she could be a good detective. She is bright, intuitive and popular.

Grace Harper is in her early twenties. She is slim — a figure that is straight up and down — boyish, with long blonde hair that she tends to wear back in ponytail. She is pretty, but the trials and tribulations of life have hardened her features. She looks like the sort of woman who’d stand no nonsense. She doesn’t eat much and Greco deduces that is why she is so thin. She was bullied for being fat when she was a schoolgirl.

DC Craig Merrick

Early promise was compromised by Craig falling foul of a local gang member. He was accused of taking a bribe, and although nothing was proved, it has hampered his career. He idolises Quickenden, definitely the wrong choice. Craig is young, takes care over his appearance and is more fashionable than either Greco or Quickenden.

Georgina Booth

Known as ‘George’ to the team. She works as the information officer for the station. She is good at the job and gets results because she is a plodder and takes it seriously. She is very much in Grace’s shadow. Grace is the pretty one, the one the men notice — they pay little attention to George. She is short, overweight and has dark hair worn in a style that does her no favours. She is in her late twenties and lives alone.

DCI Colin Green

Greco’s boss at Oldston police station.

Suzy Greco

Stephen Greco’s ex-wife. She is blonde, attractive and appears to be a person who copes. However Greco comes to realise that this is far from the truth.

Glossary of English Slang for US readers

A & E:
Accident and emergency department in a hospital

Aggro:
Violent behaviour, aggression

A Level:
exams taken between 16 and 18

Barm:
bread roll

Beaker:
glass or cup for holding liquids

Benefits:
social security

Bent:
corrupt

Bin:
wastebasket (noun), or throw in rubbish (verb)

Bloke:
guy

Blow:
cocaine

Bob:
money

Burger bar:
hamburger fast-food restaurant

Buy-to-let:
Buying a house/apartment to rent it out for profit

Charity Shop:
thrift store

Carrier bag:
plastic bag from supermarket

Care Home:
an institution where old people are cared for

Car park:
parking lot

Chat-up:
flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments

Chemist:
pharmacy

Chinwag:
conversation

CID:
Criminal Investigation Department

Clock:
punch

Cock up:
mess up, make a mistake

Common:
an area of park land/ or lower class

Comprehensive School (Comp.):
High school

Cop hold of:
grab

Copper:
police officer

Coverall:
coveralls, or boiler suit

CPS:
Crown Prosecution Service, decide whether police cases go forward

Childminder:
someone who looks after children for money

Council
: local government

Deck:
one of the landings on a floor of a tower block

DI:
detective inspector

Do a runner:
disappear

Do one:
go away

Doc Martens:
Heavy boots with an air-cushioned sole

DS:
detective sergeant

ED:
accident and emergency department of hospital

Early dart:
to leave work early

Estate:
/files/18/63/50/f186350/public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)

Estate agent:
realtor (US)

Fag:
cigarette

Garden Centre:
a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold

GP:
general practitioner, a doctor based in the community

Graft:
hard work

Hard nut:
tough person

HOLMES:
UK police computer system used during investigation of major incidents

Home:
care home for elderly or sick people

Inne:
isn’t he

Into care:
a child taken away from their family by the social services

Lad:
young man

Lass:
young woman

Lift:
elevator

Lorry:
a truck

Mobile phone:
cell phone

MP:
Member of Parliament, politician representing an area

Naff:
lame, not good

Net curtains:
a type of semi-transparent curtain

NHS:
National Health Service, public health service of UK

Nick:
police station (as verb: to arrest)

Nowt:
nothing

Nutter:
insane person

Nursery:
a place which grows plants, shrubs and trees for sale (often wholesale)

Owt:
anything

Pay-as-you-go:
a cell phone you pay for calls in advance

PC:
police constable

Petrol
: gasoline

Piss off:
as exclamation, go away (rude). Also can mean annoy.

Pissing down:
raining

Pleb:
ordinary person (often insulting)

Portakabin:
portable building used as temporary office etc.

Planning Department
: the local authority department which issues licences to build and develop property

Premier League:
top English soccer division

Querent:
person for whom the tarot card reading is done

Rag
: newspaper

Ram-raiding:
robbery where a vehicle is rammed through a shop window

Randy:
horny

Right state:
messy

Ring:
telephone (verb)

Roadworks:
repairs done to roads

Scroat:
low life

Semi:
Semi-detached house, house with another house joined to it on one side only

Shedload:
a large amount

Shout the odds:
talk in a loud bossy way

Sixth-form college:
school for high school students in final two years.

SIO:
senior investigating officer

Skip:
a large open container used for building waste

Slapper:
slag

Sod:
an annoying person

Sort:
to do or make

Solicitor:
lawyer

Stunner:
beautiful woman

Super:
superintendent (police rank)

Sweeting:
endearment, like sweetheart

Tabloid:
newspaper

Tea:
Dinner (Northern English)

Till:
cash register

Tipsy
: a bit drunk

Torch:
flashlight

Tutor:
university teacher

Tower block:
tall building containing apartments (usually social housing)

Upmarket:
affluent or fancy

Wash:
the washing machine

Water board:
company supplying water to an area
White van man:
typical working-class man who drives a small truck