DI Marjory Fleming Series

A sunny evening, a tranquil garden and an old man brutally gunned down on his doorstep. In the pretty and tranquil market town of Kirkluce a proposed superstore development has divided the population in an increasingly bitter war. The low-level aggression of bored youth that is generally tolerated has become sinister. The bloodied carcass of a sheep abandoned in the streets is more than just unpleasant vandalism and teenage bikers, terrorising a woman to breaking point, are impossible to control. When a second victim is killed in what seems a random shooting, the fear in the town becomes tangible. DI Fleming will not accept that the crimes are motiveless, but she struggles to make sense of the two murders, when nothing makes sense any more and no one will believe anything. Not even the truth.

Dead in the Water

by Aline Templeton

Published 28 May 2009

'When you lift a stone, dark creatures, safely hidden before, panic in the light of day ...someone out there would become desperate to stop her finding the truth. She had to move fast.' The young victim had been pregnant, her body washed up on the rocks. Twenty years on the murder remains unsolved; her father is now dead, and her mother refuses to talk about what went on all those years ago. Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming is called in to reopen the case that her late father, a policeman, was unable to put to rest. As Fleming digs deeper it becomes clear that her father had struggled to keep secret some of the shameful details around the young girl's death. Can she handle the truth she will unearth, not just about her father but about herself?

Cradle to Grave

by Aline Templeton

Published 31 December 1925

Accused of murdering the baby in her care, seemingly cold and measured nanny Lisa Stewart maintains her innocence. But when she changes her name and tries to run away, the terrifying threats always find her. Is she an innocent victim of public anger? Or a calculating murderer on the run?

The Third Sin

by Aline Templeton

Published 1 January 2015

Pleasure is the highest good: the Cyrenaics practised the principle until the death of one from an overdose and the apparent suicide of another. Sobered, the group went their several ways. One heads to Canada, another disappears and a third is believed to have committed suicide, at least until his body turns up two years later in the wreck of a car swept up on to the Solway mud flats.
DI Marjory Fleming finds the case on her own patch, obstructed by the unpleasant and resentful Inspector she has been asked to direct, and DC Hepburn and DS Macdonald, still at loggerheads, don't make it any easier.

Evil For Evil

by Aline Templeton

Published 22 November 2012

In a sea-cave on Lovatt Island, just off the west coast of Scotland, a skeleton is found shackled to the rocks. Although the apparent victim of a crime of unparalleled brutality, the skeleton seems to belong firmly in the past. Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming, called in to investigate, anticipates a straightforward case unhampered by the pressures of time. But when a modern watch is discovered on the skeleton's wrist, Fleming realises the crime may be far closer to home than she initially assumed. Meanwhile, in the nearby village of Innellan, mysterious events begin to occur. Matt Lovatt, eponymous owner of the island, is at the centre of a series of escalating crimes - could someone be targeting him? The villagers, members of a small and introverted community, are little help - many seem damaged by their own enigmatic pasts, and all are reluctant to speak out. Fleming, sensing a pattern she cannot clearly make out, becomes increasingly desperate to prevent more violence. Are the skeleton and the current spate of crimes connected? If so, what evil act could have motivated such a deadly, merciless design?

Lying Dead

by Aline Templeton

Published 17 May 2007

If you're looking for a gripping new crime series, you'll love Aline Templeton. Featuring DI Marjory Fleming - 'Big Marge' - and set in Galloway. If you enjoy novels by Ann Cleeves, Faith Martin, Val McDermid and LJ Ross, try Lying Dead.

'The crime czar of the Scottish small town!' Val McDermid

On a beautiful, eerily quiet May morning in a remote corner of Scotland, a girl is found brutally bludgeoned to death, the silence of the scene broken only by the ringing of her mobile telephone.

DI Marjory Fleming thrives on the adrenalin and tension that come with heading a major crime investigation, but with the discovery of not one, but two murdered corpses on her patch, she's about to feel the pressure like never before . . .

The community of Drumbreck - a tranquil weekend playground for rich Glaswegians - is small and close-knit. But the veneer of contented prosperity conceals nasty secrets and daily betrayals. DI Fleming must watch her own back as she searches for a link between the two crimes. Uncovering layer upon layer of intrigue and deceit, Fleming is about to learn that while the dead can't tell lies, the living most certainly can . . .

Reader reviews:

'A must read for all detective story fans'

'Highly recommended, Aline deserves greater recognition as a crime writer'

'This book has everything. Well drawn characters, humour, pathos a wonderful plot and I never guessed whodunnit!'

Bad Blood

by Aline Templeton

Published 28 October 2013

Marnie Bruce has hyperthymesia; she can remember everything she has ever seen. Everything except from one fateful night when she was eleven; she woke up in an isolated cottage with a head injury and her mother gone. Twenty years later Marnie heads back to Scotland seeking answers to what happened, but in the small town of Galloway, her mother's disappearance still burns in the air and Marnie's return looks set to tear open old wounds for many of the locals. For DI Marjory Fleming the disappearance of Karen Bruce is a case she would prefer not to re-open but the ripple effect of Marnie's return makes it clear this is one mystery that must be solved. As Fleming unravels the secrets of the past, she realises Marnie's life is inextricably, terribly linked to a monstrous crime decades ago. Can Fleming fit the puzzle together before it's too late? And will the truth be one Marnie wants to remember?

Cold in the Earth

by Aline Templeton

Published 9 May 2005

Death is in the air. Death is on the ground. Death is everywhere for the people of Galloway. As a catastrophic virus devastates the Scottish countryside, killing cattle and destroying lives, Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming finds herself at the stormy heart of a troubled, trapped community. Pyres are built, infected animals are burnt, and farmland is dug up as burial ground. But the all-pervasive stench of death develops a horrifying, unfamiliar edge when human remains are dug up near the small market town of Kirkluce. Thousands of miles away in New York City, a woman called Laura resolves to unearth the dark secrets of her past. Determined to discover the truth behind her older sister's disappearance fifteen years ago, her journey takes her back to Galloway, to a world of suspicion, fear and menace. A dead body, a missing girl, and a mysterious family's dangerous obsession with bull running provide a sinister backdrop to DI Fleming's first murder investigation. And as the cold shadow of death looms ever larger over this quiet corner of rural Britain, one thing becomes clear: it won't be her last.

The Darkness and the Deep

by Aline Templeton

Published 22 May 2006

The wreck of the Knockhaven lifeboat with the loss of all three of its crew is a hard blow for the small Scottish town. But it's harder still when DS Tam MacNee discovers that it isn't simply a tragic accident. Was it just the act of vandals, bored in a fishing port stricken with unemployment? Could it be linked to the drugs trade which has taken root in the locality? Or is there someone who, in their determination to kill one person, is callous enough to take two innocent lives? And if so, who is the intended victim? As DI Marjory Fleming and her team investigate multiple murders, with a whole community hungry for justice, the pressure - professional and personal - is on.