Inspector Carlyle
10 primary works • 18 total works
Book 1
'A cracking read' BBC Radio 4
A good cop in a bad city . . .
Can you win an election and cover up murder at the same time?
In the middle of a General Election, someone is targeting former members of the ultra-exclusive Merrion Club - youthful hedonists...
Read more'A cracking read' BBC Radio 4
A good cop in a bad city . . .
Can you win an election and cover up murder at the same time?
In the middle of a General Election, someone is targeting former members of the ultra-exclusive Merrion Club - youthful hedonists addicted to excess metamorphosed into pillars of the political establishment.
Next in the murderer's sights is charismatic, ruthless Edgar Carlton, the man poised to be the next Prime Minister. But, with power almost in his grasp, Edgar will not stand idly by while his birthright is threatened.
When Inspector John Carlyle finds a body in a luxury London hotel room he begins a journey through the murky world of the British ruling classes which leads all the way to the top. Carlyle has to find the killer before Carlton's people take the matter into their own hands.
Praise for James Craig
'Fast paced and very easy to get quickly lost in' Lovereading.com
'So addictive you won't be able to tear yourself away' Library Journal
'The Clash should be the soundtrack for this close to pitch-perfect debut introducing Inspector John Carlyle' Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Book 2
Carlyle is attempting too much and achieving too little and he's upsetting all the wrong people - this time it could be terminal...
Jake Haggar has been kidnapped by his father who is threatening to sell the boy to a paedophile ring. Carlyle is struggling to get him back. It's...
Carlyle is attempting too much and achieving too little and he's upsetting all the wrong people - this time it could be terminal...
Jake Haggar has been kidnapped by his father who is threatening to sell the boy to a paedophile ring. Carlyle is struggling to get him back. It's not his case but it is his problem - it was his fault Jake was taken in the first place.
But Carlyle's own caseload includes the murder of Agatha Mills. Her husband, Henry, has been arrested for murder but his explanation is so outlandish that Carlyle wonders if it may just be true. Agatha is the sister of William Pettigrew, a priest killed in Chile during the Fascist coup in 1973 and after 30 years of campaigning, Agatha was about to see his killer brought to justice. So a seemingly straightforward case of murder quickly escalates into a diplomatic incident that has Carlyle, once again, clashing with his bosses and their political masters...
Book 3
When Inspector John Carlyle discovers a disorientated girl in a park near Buckingham Palace, he takes it upon himself to find out who she is and where she's from.
His hunt for the identity of this lost girl takes him from Ukrainian gangsters in North London to the lower reaches...
When Inspector John Carlyle discovers a disorientated girl in a park near Buckingham Palace, he takes it upon himself to find out who she is and where she's from.
His hunt for the identity of this lost girl takes him from Ukrainian gangsters in North London to the lower reaches of the British aristocracy. Soon, the inspector is on the trail of a child-trafficking ring that stretches from Kiev to London, and back to the palace itself...
Book 4
Book 5
'I need to talk to you... about your father.'
Inspector John Carlyle gets the shock of his life when his mother announces she is getting a divorce after 50 years of marriage. But that's nothing compared to the storm that erupts when he stumbles across an execution of a...
Read more'I need to talk to you... about your father.'
Inspector John Carlyle gets the shock of his life when his mother announces she is getting a divorce after 50 years of marriage. But that's nothing compared to the storm that erupts when he stumbles across an execution of a wealthy businessman in a luxury London hotel room.
The victim is the latest in a line of bodies being left across London by a ruthless Israeli hit squad. Going up against this deadly crew could prove to be fatal to Carlyle, but compared to his troubles at home, however, tracking them is something of a relief.
But the body count continues to rise and then it gets personal... Can Carlyle sweep the killers from London's streets before more innocent people die?
Book 6
Hunting down a paeodophile priest, Carlyle finds himself up against his old adversary Christian Holyrod. The Mayor of London is responsible for hosting an upcoming visit by the Pope and does not want any more scandals involving the Catholic church. Carlyle, however, is not prepared to let crimes side,...
Read moreHunting down a paeodophile priest, Carlyle finds himself up against his old adversary Christian Holyrod. The Mayor of London is responsible for hosting an upcoming visit by the Pope and does not want any more scandals involving the Catholic church. Carlyle, however, is not prepared to let crimes side, putting him on a collision course with both the mayor and the church.
Without his sympathetic boss, Carole Simpson, to protect him, could this be the end of the line for Carlyle? Never one to fight only one battle at a time, he also has to deal with an armed robbery at an upscale jewellers in Mayfair... and a serious health scare for Helen, his wife.
Book 7
When French gangster Tuco Martinez threatens Carlyle and his family, the inspector has to call on the resources and skills of Dominic Silver to try and see him off. But Dom won't do all the dirty work and so Carlyle has to go into hiding.
Cut off from his...
Read moreWhen French gangster Tuco Martinez threatens Carlyle and his family, the inspector has to call on the resources and skills of Dominic Silver to try and see him off. But Dom won't do all the dirty work and so Carlyle has to go into hiding.
Cut off from his home turf, both literally and metaphorically, Carlyle struggles to cope with the situation while meanwhile, back in London, the charismatic major, Christian Holroyd, is finally spiralling completely out of control...
Book 8
When Julian Schaeffer is shot in front of his son in a London park, suspicion falls on his estranged wife. The woman has a seemingly watertight alibi, but Carlyle – trying to make the best of a difficult relationship with his new sergeant, Umar Sligo – won’t stop digging.
...
When Julian Schaeffer is shot in front of his son in a London park, suspicion falls on his estranged wife. The woman has a seemingly watertight alibi, but Carlyle – trying to make the best of a difficult relationship with his new sergeant, Umar Sligo – won’t stop digging.
Focused on the Schaeffer case, the inspector is not too interested when Daniel Sands is hauled in to Charing Cross, accused of kidnapping. Then he discovers Sands’s back-story and finds himself propelled forward in a quest for justice for two fathers and their destroyed families.
Praise for James Craig:
‘A cracking read.’ BBC Radio 4
‘Fast paced and very easy to get quickly lost in.’ Lovereading.com
Book 9
In and out of prison for over 40 years, Seymour Eriksson is officially 'London's most unsuccessful criminal.' So why can't Carlyle keep him off the streets for more than five minutes - and how can he stop hack Bernie Gilmore naming and shaming him in his tabloid rag?
Worried...
Read moreIn and out of prison for over 40 years, Seymour Eriksson is officially 'London's most unsuccessful criminal.' So why can't Carlyle keep him off the streets for more than five minutes - and how can he stop hack Bernie Gilmore naming and shaming him in his tabloid rag?
Worried about his own personal profile, Carlyle is slow to notice several alarming cases involving missing schoolgirls. So can he get his act together and start solving crimes before Bernie brands him publicly as 'London's most unsuccessful cop'?
Praise for James Craig:
'A cracking read' BBC Radio 4
'Fast paced and very easy to get quickly lost in' Lovereading.com
Book 10
Awakening the sleeping dragon...
Smooth expat Michael Nicholson is a fixer, getting on by doing favours for the rich and powerful in booming China. When he makes the mistake of getting too close to one of his clients, the wife of a leading Communist Party official, the ageing Lothario fears...
Awakening the sleeping dragon...
Smooth expat Michael Nicholson is a fixer, getting on by doing favours for the rich and powerful in booming China. When he makes the mistake of getting too close to one of his clients, the wife of a leading Communist Party official, the ageing Lothario fears for his life as a vengeful husband decides to put his house in order.
So when a domestic dispute from the other side of the world leads to a shoot-out in a luxury penthouse apartment in Chelsea, an ex-cop called Marvin Taylor is one of the casualties. Inspector John Carlyle is little more than a casual onlooker until Taylor's widow turns up, looking for answers. The inspector is drawn into the morass of dealing and double-dealing, much to the dismay of his boss, Carole Simpson, who wants him to focus on Barbara Hutton, a Bloomsbury housewife who may - or may not - be a former German terrorist wanted for a forty-year-old murder...
'A cracking read' BBC Radio 4
'Fast paced and very easy to get quickly lost in' Lovereading.com
His father is dying.
He's stuck in the middle of a gang war.
And he has to solve a case with no clues.
Welcome to the world of Inspector John Carlyle.
Work goes on the backburner for Inspector Carlyle as he tries to manage his father's final days. But when the drug...
His father is dying.
He's stuck in the middle of a gang war.
And he has to solve a case with no clues.
Welcome to the world of Inspector John Carlyle.
Work goes on the backburner for Inspector Carlyle as he tries to manage his father's final days. But when the drug dealer providing the old man's pain relief ends up dead, London's least conventional copper finds himself in the middle of a vicious East London turf war. Meantime, he is supposed to be dealing with the case of a young woman found badly beaten in an alleyway. With no idea who she is, and no clues as to her attacker, he has to get help from some unlikely sources.
Dying well is an art . . . the rest is just murder
Inspector John Carlyle is waiting for his father to die of a terminal illness. Meanwhile, others are dropping like flies.
An elderly professor is found dead in his Bloomsbury flat. The verdict is that of heart attack. But...
Dying well is an art . . . the rest is just murder
Inspector John Carlyle is waiting for his father to die of a terminal illness. Meanwhile, others are dropping like flies.
An elderly professor is found dead in his Bloomsbury flat. The verdict is that of heart attack. But who then stuffed the deceased academic in a closet? And who emptied the man's bank account?
Across town, Sergeant Alison Roche is back from maternity leave. Struggling to juggle The Job and a new baby, she needs Carlyle's help after a controversial financier is controversially murdered at a charity dinner. Similarities with a previous, unsolved killing, which left a black mark against Carlyle's record, only raise the stakes higher.
With problems at work and problems at home, Carlyle just wants to keep his head down but there's little chance of that. Can he do his job, nail a couple of murder cases - and be there for his father at the end?
To everyone's surprise, John Carlyle has been promoted to Commander. The new job comes with its own office, a PA, and a diary filled with meetings. Struggling to come to terms with the his new responsibilities, Carlyle finds his position threatened by investigative journalist Bernie Gilmore. Gilmore is digging...
Read moreTo everyone's surprise, John Carlyle has been promoted to Commander. The new job comes with its own office, a PA, and a diary filled with meetings. Struggling to come to terms with the his new responsibilities, Carlyle finds his position threatened by investigative journalist Bernie Gilmore. Gilmore is digging into Carlyle's relationship with ex-drug dealer Dominic Silver and the pair's involvement in the killing of gangster Tuco Martinez. Carlyle hopes he can put Bernie off the scent but Dom favours more drastic measures. Meanwhile, Carlyle's new boss, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Michelle Mara, wants him to help out mysterious 'security consultant' Gregory Cosneau. Pining for his old job, Carlyle has to try and keep everyone happy, or face losing everything.
Praise for James Craig:
'A cracking read' BBC Radio 4
'Fast paced and very easy to get quickly lost in' Lovereading.com
'Craig writes like an angel' Crimefictionlover.com
Inspector Carlyle has a new partner in crime . . . but for how long?
When a fortune in uncut diamonds are nicked by a group of soldiers, Carlyle teams up with Captain Daniel Hunter of the Military Police to hunt them down. But Hunter has come up against this...
Inspector Carlyle has a new partner in crime . . . but for how long?
When a fortune in uncut diamonds are nicked by a group of soldiers, Carlyle teams up with Captain Daniel Hunter of the Military Police to hunt them down. But Hunter has come up against this crew before and they are not going to let him stand in their way a second time.
The investigation is turned upside down when Hunter's family are kidnapped by the gang. The inspector has to look on helplessly while the military policeman goes off on a personal mission of revenge. As events spiral horribly out of control, Carlyle faces a terrible choice: does he let Hunter take matters into his own hands or should he try and bring his new partner to justice?
'A cracking read' BBC Radio 4
'Fast paced and very easy to get quickly lost in' Lovereading.com
Who is the man with no head?
Commander John Carlyle has enough on his plate with a dead film producer and a runaway actor, not to mention the alcoholic boss who's accused him of harassment. The last thing he needs is a headless corpse in the cells of...
Who is the man with no head?
Commander John Carlyle has enough on his plate with a dead film producer and a runaway actor, not to mention the alcoholic boss who's accused him of harassment. The last thing he needs is a headless corpse in the cells of a recently closed police station. Does the killing have something to do with the station's dark past? It seems more than coincidence but Carlyle has to identify the victim before he can solve the murder...
Praise for James Craig:
'A cracking read' BBC Radio 4
'Fast paced and very easy to get quickly lost in' Lovereading.com
'Craig writes like an angel' Crimefictionlover.com
Victim or assassin - the lines are blurred...
A badly beaten woman walks into A&E and is promptly arrested by the Home Office on suspicion of being an illegal alien. However, she is neither illegal, nor a victim. After she escapes detention, the bodies of her attackers start to pile...
Victim or assassin - the lines are blurred...
A badly beaten woman walks into A&E and is promptly arrested by the Home Office on suspicion of being an illegal alien. However, she is neither illegal, nor a victim. After she escapes detention, the bodies of her attackers start to pile up.
Commander Carlyle faces a race against time to find out who she really is - and to stop her from killing again.
Praise for James Craig
'A cracking read' BBC Radio 4
'Fast paced and very easy to get quickly lost in' Lovereading.com
Coward?
Or scapegoat?
When a terror attack in Westminster leaves a colleague dead, Commander John Carlyle is accused by the media of fleeing the scene. For a man with more than his fair share of enemies, the fight to save his good name - and his career - might just prove...
Coward?
Or scapegoat?
When a terror attack in Westminster leaves a colleague dead, Commander John Carlyle is accused by the media of fleeing the scene. For a man with more than his fair share of enemies, the fight to save his good name - and his career - might just prove to be a battle too far for him.
Praise for James Craig:
'A cracking read' BBC Radio 4
'Fast paced and very easy to get quickly lost in' Lovereading.com
'Craig writes like an angel' Crimefictionlover.com