A Hardcastle and Marriott Historical Mystery

7 primary works • 8 total works

Hardcastle's Soldiers

by Graham Ison

Published 2 December 2009

It is July 1917. DDI Ernest Hardcastle, head of the CID for the A or Whitehall Division of the Metropolitan Police, and his assistant, Detective Sergeant Charles Marriott, investigate the murder of a cashier operating an army bureau de change at London's Victoria Station. An army officer claims to have seen the murderer running away, but despite giving chase he was unable to catch him. An army cap left behind appears to identify the murderer, and Hardcastle believes that it will be a simple matter to go to Aldershot and arrest him. But things are never as easy as they seem, and soon Hardcastle and Marriott find themselves investigating a frustrating and seemingly unsolvable case. Has Hardcastle finally met his match?

Hardcastle's Frustration

by Graham Ison

Published 1 January 2012

Hardcastle's Traitors

by Graham Ison

Published 11 July 2013

It is New Year's Eve 1915 and the Hardcastle family are welcoming 1916 at their home in Kennington, London. But an hour into the New Year, Hardcastle is called to a murder in a jeweller's shop in Vauxhall. In a first for the A Division senior detective, the killers apparently made their escape in a motor car. As Hardcastle's enquiry progresses, what he believed to be a fairly straightforward investigation turns into one with ramifications extending from Chelsea via Sussex and Surrey to France, close to the fighting on the Western Front. And as is so often the case in wartime, the army becomes involved and so, to Hardcastle's dismay, does Scotland Yard's Special Branch...

Hardcastle's Quartet: A Police Procedural Set at the End of World War One

by Graham Ison

Published 1 January 2014

Hardcastle's Quartet

by Graham Ison

Published 24 July 2014

June 1918. A patrolling constable discovers the body of Georgina Cheney, wife of a naval commander, in the basement area of a house in Westminster. At first it is thought to be suicide or even a tragic accident. But as Divisional Detective Inspector Ernest Hardcastle of the A or Whitehall Division of the Metropolitan Police begins to investigate - ably assisted by Detective Sergeant Charles Marriott - they soon discover a different story. It is clear that the woman was murdered, and revelations about the victim's previous life in Malta arouse Hardcastle's interest.

But things are destined to get even more complicated for Hardcastle, when he is assigned two further murder cases by Detective Chief Inspector Frederick Wensley, head of the CID at New Scotland Yard. Could they be connected? This may be a puzzle too tricky even for Hardcastle to solve . . .

Hardcastle's Collector

by Graham Ison

Published 5 October 2015

Detective Inspector Hardcastle ruffles feathers in a sleepy Hampshire village, when he investigates the murder of a local girl August 1917. The head of the CID at Scotland Yard sends Divisional Detective Inspector Ernest Hardcastle and Detective Sergeant Charles Marriott of the Whitehall Division of the Metropolitan Police to a small Hampshire village, to investigate the murder of a local girl. For once, Hardcastle has plenty of suspects. Was the murderer one of Daisy Salter's many suitors? Was it the shifty individual who left the local pub and disappeared the moment he saw Hardcastle? Or could it have been Daisy's own father? In an entirely different world from London, Hardcastle is forced to adapt to the slower pace of country life, and he soon finds he is ruffling feathers as he carries out his investigations in his own inimitable fashion.

Hardcastle's Runaway

by Graham Ison

Published 28 February 2017

Hardcastle's mission to find a headstrong young woman leads to some disturbing twists and turns.

March, 1919. The head of CID at New Scotland Yard has a task for Divisional Detective Inspector Hardcastle of A Division: find Lily Musgrave, the missing daughter of Austen Musgrave MP.

Hardcastle, aided by Detective Sergeant Charles Marriott, discovers that the headstrong Lily Musgrave provides risqué entertainment for a number of ex-officers. When she returns home of her own accord, however, Hardcastle assumes the case is closed and turns his attention to arranging the finer details of his daughter Maud's wedding.

But no sooner is the wedding over than Lily Musgrave goes missing again. And this time, finding her might not be so easy . . .

Hardcastle's Secret Agent

by Graham Ison

Published 31 March 2021

Detective Inspector Walter Hardcastle is following in his father's footsteps, but is his rapid rise about to be threatened by a spate of disturbing break-ins linked to the war effort?

August, 1939. As war looms, Detective Inspector Walter Hardcastle is following in the footsteps of his father, Ernest, and progressing through the ranks of the Metropolitan Police. Summoned to the office of Charles Marriot, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of CID at New Scotland Yard, Walter learns that he has been promoted to a senior role at V Division, and is plunged into a top secret case when burglaries occur at the homes of those working on a new type of war submarine.

Could a German spy be behind the break-ins? When one of the burglaries ends with a double murder, the stakes get higher for Walter. Can he track down an enemy agent on the streets of London while also resolving another disturbing case?