Written in Blood

by Caroline Graham

Published 7 July 1994

It's clear to most members of Midsomer Worthy's Writers' Circle that asking bestselling author Max Jennings to talk to them is a little ambitious. Less clear are the reasons for secretary Gerald Hadleigh's fierce objections to seeing the man - a face from his past - again. Astonishingly, Jennings accepts the invitation but, before the night is out, Gerald is dead.

Summoned to investigate, Chief Inspector Barnaby finds that Gerald's life is as much of a mystery to his neighbours as his violent death. The key is surely their illustrious guest speaker - but where is he now?


A Place of Safety

by Caroline Graham

Published 4 May 1999
Charlie Leathers was not the most popular man in the charming English village of Ferne Basset, but few people seemed to hate him enough to murder him. Still, that was his fate one night, and it brings Inspector Barnaby to the scene to investigate. What Barnaby doesn't know is that before his death, Charlie witnessed what might have been the suicide--or murder--of a young woman whose troubles with the law have landed her in the home of a local retired minister and his none-too-pleased wife. Now a man is dead, a girl is missing, and a town is in chaos as long-kept secrets begin to unravel, with deadly repercussions.

A Ghost in the Machine

by Caroline Graham

Published 1 March 2004
All men should have a hobby: it keeps them out from under their wives' feet. Dennis Brinkley's hobby, though, was killing machines. No wonder the village was uneasy...Mallory Lawson believes that inheriting his aunt's beautiful house in Forbes Abbot may have saved his sanity. It enables him to take early retirement from his appalling teaching job in London, and his wife Kate to realise her dream of starting her own company. Life will be so much simpler in the country, won't it? But Forbes Abbot is not quite the close-knit community it seems, and little differences and squabbles can become violent - even murderous. Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby has encountered many intriguing cases, but the case of the ghost in the machine is one to test even the most experienced of detectives.

'Simply the best detective writer since Agatha Christie' The Sunday Times

Named by the CWAs as one of 'The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time', The Killings at Badger's Drift is the first spectacular novel in the Midsomer Murders series by Caroline Graham, the novel that inspired the ITV hit drama, now featuring an exclusive foreword by John Nettles who played best-loved TV detective and star of Midsomer Murders, DCI Tom Barnaby.

If you love Agatha Christie, M C Beaton and James Runcie's The Grantchester Mysteries, you won't be able to get enough of the Midsomer Murders mysteries.

The village of Badger's Drift is the essence of tranquillity. But when resident and well-loved spinster Miss Simpson takes a stroll in the nearby woods, she stumbles across something she was never meant to see, and there's only one way to keep her quiet.

Miss Simpson's death is not suspicious, say the villagers. But Miss Lucy Bellringer refuses to rest: her friend has been murdered. She is sure of it.

She calls on Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby to investigate, and it isn't long until the previously unseen seamy side of Badger's Drift is brought to light.

But as old rivalries, past loves and new scandals surface, the next murder is not far away.

Praise for Caroline Graham's novels:

'One to savour' Val McDermid

'A mystery of which Agatha Christie would have been proud. . . A beautifully written crime novel' The Times

'Tension builds, bitchery flares, resentment seethes . . . lots of atmosphere' Mail on Sunday
'A witty, well-plotted, absolute joy of a book' Yorkshire Post

'Swift, tense and highly alarming' TLS

'Lots of excellent character sketches . . . and the dialogue is lively and convincing' Independent

'Read her and you'll be astonished . . . very sexy, very hip and very funny' Scotsman


Faithful Unto Death

by Caroline Graham

Published 12 September 1996

The Fawcett Green bell-ringers aren't particularly surprised when Simone Hollingsworth fails to turn up at practice. Her fellow campanologists just assume that bell ringing has become the latest in a long list of abandoned hobbies.

But then the increasingly strange behaviour of Simone's husband, Alan, begins to raise neighbourly suspicions about her whereabouts. And when the discovery of a body draws Chief Inspector Barnaby to the village, it becomes clear that unravelling the couple's tangled lives will have painful repercussions for the whole village...


Death of a Hollow Man

by Caroline Graham

Published 13 April 1989

'Simply the best detective writer since Agatha Christie' The Sunday Times

Discover the novels that inspired the hit ITV series Midsomer Murders, seen and loved by millions.

Death of a Hollow Man is the second instalment in the Midsomer Murders series, featuring Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby with an audience of 10.34 million. Featuring an exclusive foreword by John Nettles, ITV's DCI Tom Barnaby. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Ann Granger and James Runcie's The Grantchester Mysteries.

Backstage nerves are fraying, and revenge is on its way. As Causton Amateur Dramatic Society prepares for the opening night of Amadeus, offstage Esslyn Carmichael suspects his wife is having an affair with another cast member. And where better to settle scores than the stage?

Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby expects an evening of entertainment, attending only to show support for his wife. But when someone turns Esslyn's final grand gesture into a gruesome coup de theatre, Barnaby's investigation suddenly begins.

Praise for Caroline Graham's novels:

'Characterisation first rate, plotting likewise. . . Written with enormous relish. A very superior whodunnit' Literary Review

'Hard to praise highly enough' The Sunday Times

'Her books are not just great whodunits but great novels in their own right' Julie Burchill

'Enlivened by a very sardonic wit and turn of phrase, the narrative drive never falters' Birmingham Post

'Guaranteed to keep you guessing until the very end' Woman


Death in Disguise

by Caroline Graham

Published 9 July 1992

'Simply the best detective writer since Agatha Christie' The Sunday Times

Discover the novels that inspired the hit ITV series Midsomer Murders, seen and loved by millions.

Featuring Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby and created by Caroline Graham, Death in Disguise is the third Midsomer Murders mystery, now featuring an exclusive foreword by John Nettles, ITV's DCI Tom Barnaby. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, James Runcie's The Grantchester Mysteries and Ann Granger.

To the distaste of the Compton Dando villagers, the big house has been taken over by a group of New Age eccentrics. And when the first death is reported, no one is surprised . . . or disappointed. The Coroner rules it an accident.

But only weeks later, there's another death. And this time, it is murder.

Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby is called to the scene immediately, and there'll be no escape until he has sifted through the world of psychics, cult leaders and horrifying deaths to get to the cause of it all.

Praise for Caroline Graham's novels:

'Swift, tense and highly alarming' TLS

'Tension builds, bitchery flares, resentment seethes . . . lots of atmosphere, colourful characters and fair clues' Mail on Sunday

'A mystery of which Agatha Christie would have been proud. . . A beautifully written crime novel' The Times

'Wickedly acidic, yet sympathetic' Publishers Weekly

'Everyone gets what they deserve in this high-class mystery' Sunday Telegraph

'Read her and you'll be astonished . . . very sexy, very hip and very funny' Scotsman