Speak no Evil

by Martyn Waites

Published 2 February 2009
Anne Marie Smeaton is back in the hometown she hasn't seen for forty years, trying to live a normal life with her partner and teenage son. But that's impossble for Anne Marie. Because forty years ago, when she was eleven, she killed a little boy.

She is trying to make peace with her past by telling her story to journalist Joe Donovan. But it's not that simple. By dredging up memories and emotions she usually keeps repressed, Anne Marie is unleashing old nightmares from the past. Suffering from horrifying visions, she sometimes does bad things. Things she has no memory of afterwards. So when a teenager on her housing estate is murdered and she wakes up with blood on her hands, Anne Marie naturally fears the worst.

Her fragile life falling apart, Anne Marie turns to those she loves. But where she was expecting support, she finds only betrayal. Desperate, she turns to Donovan for help. But Donovan may have his own reasons for helping her. Reasons which have to do with the disappearance of his own son . . .

White Riot

by Martyn Waites

Published 7 January 2008
When the savagely beaten body of a Muslim student is discovered in a rundown area of Newcastle, blame falls on the far right National Unity Party - but for once they appear to be innocent. In fact, with elections looming, they are poised to make significant gains. Not the best time for Trevor Whitman, ex-70s radical, to return to his native north-east. Haunted by his violent past, he's receiving death threats over the murder of a policeman years ago. Joe Donovan is called in to investigate. After the death of a supposed would-be suicide bomber, the investigation takes a more dangerous turn as Donovan and his team find themselves the targets of a ruthless killer unlike any they have faced before. A killer who will do anything to ensure an explosive 30-year-old secret remains buried. Anything - no matter who stands in his way. Anything - even orchestrating a brutal race war that will tear the city apart.

Bone Machine

by Martyn Waites

Published 2 January 2007
The body is discovered in a disused burial ground. A young woman, ritualistically mutilated, her eyes and mouth crudely sewn shut. Her boyfriend is arrested and charged with the murder. He might have a vicious temper and a history of violence towards women, but is Michael Nell really a killer? Michael's lawyer doesn't think so. She's hired Joe Donovan to prove his alibi. Donovan's investigations lead him into the murky world of people trafficking and illegal prostitution. But when the second body shows up, he realises it's not just local gangsters he's up against - but a deranged serial killer. A killer obsessed with the city's dark history. A killer who leaves clues pointing to his twisted plan. And if Donovan and his team can't decipher those messages in time, a killer who will kill again ...

The Mercy Seat

by Martyn Waites

Published 1 January 2006
Once a renowned investigative journalist, since the unsolved disappearance of his 6-year-old son, Joe Donovan has lived a broken, reclusive life. He's abruptly thrust back into the real world when a teenage boy makes contact, in desperate need of his help. Jamal has in his possession something that holds a key to Donovan's past, a past that can only be unlocked by forcing him to make a terrifying journey into the present. As long buried secrets begin to emerge and bodies pile up, Donovan finds himself caught up in a harrowing web of fear. In order to survive and uncover the disturbing truth at the heart of the dangerous world he's found himself in, he puts together a team to help him, a team of outsiders that doesn't care which side of the law it operates on. And Donovan will need their help. He and Jamal are being hunted by a death metal addicted serial killer. A killer with a 100% success rate. A killer who doesn't know the meaning of the word mercy.