Lake District Cold-Case Mysteries
8 total works
The Lake District's cold case specialist, DCI Hannah Scarlett, is determined to uncover the truth behind Bethany Friend's apparent suicide in the Serpent Pool. Why would Bethany, so afraid of water, drown herself? Hannah fears that her partner, bookseller Marc Amos, is keeping dark secrets. Does he hold the key to Bethany's past - and why was his best customer burnt to death in an Ullswater boathouse? Hannah still carries a torch for Daniel Kind, who is researching Thomas De Quincey and the history of murder. Once Daniel and Hannah suspect connections between Bethany's drowning and a current sequence of killings, death comes dangerously close to home.
When Orla Payne was seven years old, her brother, Callum, mysteriously vanished. Shrouded in complicated family matters, namely their parents' divorce and the suicide of their uncle, there were no clear leads or possible reasons. The case was eventually dismissed, as the police concluded their uncle killed himself out of guilt over murdering Callum, despite the fact that his body was never found. Twenty years later, Orla is still convinced that her uncle was innocent and wants to find out the truth. Through working at the residential library, a position she took in order to be near the Hanging Wood where these events too place, Orla comes across Hannah Scarlett's name on historian Daniel Kind's recommendation. She frantically contacts Hannah, but her alcohol-induced frenzy leaves Hannah confused over her piece-meal description on the phone. Hannah initially drops the case. But when Orla is found dead, she reconsiders, partly out of sense of duty and partly out of guilt, and decides to reopen this once closed case to investigate.
Twenty years ago, Malcolm Whiteley discovers his attractive wife Lysette is having an affair. The Whiteleys are wealthy, and live with their 16-year-old daughter Amber in the magnificent Dungeon House, overlooking Cumbria's remote western coast. But Malcolm is under financial and emotional pressure, and he begins to disintegrate psychologically, suspecting the men in their circle of being Lysette's lover. When Lysette tells Malcolm their marriage is over, he snaps, and takes out the old Winchester rifle he has been hiding from Lysette...
Back to the present day, and Hannah Scarlett's cold case team are looking into the three-year-old mystery of the disappearance of Lily Elstone, whose father was Malcolm Whiteley's accountant. Their investigation coincides with the disappearance of another teenage girl, Shona Whiteley, daughter of Malcolm's nephew Nigel. Nigel now lives in the Dungeon House, despite its tragic history. Twenty years earlier, Malcolm shot his wife and apparently killed his daughter before shooting himself. But as Hannah's team dig down into the past, doubts arise about what exactly happened at the Dungeon House twenty years ago...
Back to the present day, and Hannah Scarlett's cold case team are looking into the three-year-old mystery of the disappearance of Lily Elstone, whose father was Malcolm Whiteley's accountant. Their investigation coincides with the disappearance of another teenage girl, Shona Whiteley, daughter of Malcolm's nephew Nigel. Nigel now lives in the Dungeon House, despite its tragic history. Twenty years earlier, Malcolm shot his wife and apparently killed his daughter before shooting himself. But as Hannah's team dig down into the past, doubts arise about what exactly happened at the Dungeon House twenty years ago...
Oxford historian Daniel Kind and his partner Miranda both want to escape to a new life. On impulse they buy a cottage in Brackdale, an idyllic valley in the Lake District. But though they hope to live the dream, the past soon catches up with them.
Tarn Cottage was once home to Barrie Gilpin, suspected of a savage murder. A young woman's body was found on the Sacrifice Stone, an ancient pagan site up on the fell, but Barrie died before he could be arrested. Daniel has personal reasons for becoming fascinated by the case and for believing in Barrie's innocence. When the police launch a cold case review, Brackdale's skeletons begin to rattle and the lives of Daniel and DCI Hannah Scarlett become strangely entwined. Daniel and Hannah each find themselves risking their lives as they search for a ruthless murderer who is prepared to kill again to hide a shocking secret.
Tarn Cottage was once home to Barrie Gilpin, suspected of a savage murder. A young woman's body was found on the Sacrifice Stone, an ancient pagan site up on the fell, but Barrie died before he could be arrested. Daniel has personal reasons for becoming fascinated by the case and for believing in Barrie's innocence. When the police launch a cold case review, Brackdale's skeletons begin to rattle and the lives of Daniel and DCI Hannah Scarlett become strangely entwined. Daniel and Hannah each find themselves risking their lives as they search for a ruthless murderer who is prepared to kill again to hide a shocking secret.
'You'd never believe it to look at me now, but once upon a time I killed a man.' Daniel Kind is finding the long winter months at Brackdale tough, especially as his relationship with Miranda is also going through a dark time. Far from the bright lights of London and beginning to feel isolated in their rural idyll, Miranda has a bad case of itchy feet. The fear that she may just get up and leave isn't far from his thoughts. And Miranda wouldn't be the first: ten years ago a solitary woman called Emma Bestwick left her cottage and never came back. Police at the time were unable to establish whether she left of her own accord or was the victim of suicide, accident or murder. Her disappearance went unaccounted for, and the unresolved case has always irked DCI Hannah Scarlett, who heads the local Cold Case Review Team. But in a small, rural community, someone is bound to know something. And that someone has recently started calling the local newspaper and dropping hints about Emma's death. With the case reopened, Hannah and Daniel are drawn together again, and discover to their cost that one person will preserve the secrets of the past at any price.
'The question that haunts us all. Just what is it that drives someone to kill?' In Ravenbank, a remote community in the Lake District, Hallowe'en is particularly chilling. It is a time for telling the story of the Faceless Woman, a young housemaid brutally murdered in a nearby lane, her corpse discovered with a makeshift shroud frozen to her battered face. And five years ago, the tale became even more unsettling when another woman was murdered in exactly the same grisly manner. Daniel Kind, a specialist in the history of murder, becomes fascinated by the old cases, and begins to wonder whether the obvious suspects really did commit the crimes. While Daniel attends a Hallowe'en party in Ravenbank, death returns for a third time to the beautiful but eerily isolated spot. Once more, the victim is a woman - and once more her damaged face is shrouded from view. The latest horrifying murder presents DCI Hannah Scarlett, head of the Cold Case Review Team, with the toughest challenge of her career. Is the case linked to the two earlier killings - and if so, how? Hannah and Daniel join forces in an attempt to solve the puzzling mystery.But in doing so, both may be forced to confront ghosts from their own pasts .
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In the peaceful village of Old Sawrey, set in the idyllic Lake District, a murderer strikes. Warren Howe, a husband and father of two, is brutally slaughtered with his own scythe by a mysterious hooded figure. The police manage to identify several suspects, but due to the lack of evidence they fail to make an arrest.
Years later an anonymous tip-off sparks the interest of DCI Hannah Scarlett, who heads the local Cold Case Review Team. Scarlett's investigations lead her to suspect Howe's widow, Tina. Meanwhile, someone is sending vicious poison pen letters to Tina and her two children.
With the help of a historian, and his information on the goings on in his unusual garden, Inspector Scarlett delves deeper and deeper in her quest for the truth, discovering old sins that are casting long shadows. The clues are eventually pieced together, leading to a shocking revelation that will change Hannah's life forever.
Years later an anonymous tip-off sparks the interest of DCI Hannah Scarlett, who heads the local Cold Case Review Team. Scarlett's investigations lead her to suspect Howe's widow, Tina. Meanwhile, someone is sending vicious poison pen letters to Tina and her two children.
With the help of a historian, and his information on the goings on in his unusual garden, Inspector Scarlett delves deeper and deeper in her quest for the truth, discovering old sins that are casting long shadows. The clues are eventually pieced together, leading to a shocking revelation that will change Hannah's life forever.
DCI Hannah Scarlett is an acknowledged expert in solving cold cases, but is struggling under the weight of bureaucracy when Ramona Smith's disappearance from Bowness more than twenty years ago crosses her desk.
The prime suspect was charged but found not guilty. Now the case has come back into the public eye
as the result of a shocking tragedy on the Crooked Shore, the fount of dark legends in the south of the
Lake District. Tensions mount in the summer heat as a ruthless killer, who has already got away with one
murder, plans further appalling crimes. Hannah finds herself racing against the clock as she strives to solve the mysteries and save innocent lives.
The prime suspect was charged but found not guilty. Now the case has come back into the public eye
as the result of a shocking tragedy on the Crooked Shore, the fount of dark legends in the south of the
Lake District. Tensions mount in the summer heat as a ruthless killer, who has already got away with one
murder, plans further appalling crimes. Hannah finds herself racing against the clock as she strives to solve the mysteries and save innocent lives.