Showing results by author "Mark L. Fowler" in All Categories

“Mummy – Daddy – there’s Santa! He’s hurt!” A young girl travelling home with her family, witnesses a man dressed as Santa Claus lying in an alleyway, his throat slashed. Noel Winters had been doing the rounds, playing Santa. His final engagement was at a private party hours before his murder. Winters had a reputation for heavy drinking and female company, and it had recently cost him his marriage. Local gossip suggests he had plans to be up and down a few chimneys over the festive period. DCI Tyler and DS Mills struggle to narrow down the suspects, including a bitter Santa ...

When a woman with a past is brutally murdered, the detectives assigned to the investigation discover that there’s no shortage of motives and suspects. A faceless corpse is found in a local park. DCI Tyler and DS Mills establish that the dead woman was working at two brothels in the city, and operating under the name Scarlet. A wealth of suspects and motives are uncovered, and Scarlet, a complex young woman with an interesting past, appears to have been leading a secret life. The investigation stalls, and Tyler’s long-suffering boss goes off sick, his ambitious replacement demanding a ...

When a series of women are stabbed to death in their showers, DI Charlie Reed puts her neck on the line, disregarding the orders of her superiors in a desperate bid to catch the killer before they can strike again. DI Charlie Reed is called to the scene of a murder in Fallowfield, a young woman found stabbed to death in the shower. The attack was frenetic, the victim suffering more than a hundred wounds. And yet there is no trace of evidence at the scene. With the help of her faithful sidekick DS Paul Rigsby, Reed investigates and a man is brought in for questioning. But while he is in ...

He escaped the city of nightmares once. And now he must go back... William Twist is on the brink. Yet even with his detective agency failing, he’s wary when an attractive, wealthy widow strolls into his office. But when she makes an offer for him to look into the suspicious suicide of her son, he’s in no position to refuse. Following the case to a city holding the dark and disturbing past he’s spent twenty years trying to escape, Twist is determined to rise to the challenge. Despite people depending on him, he soon deeply regrets his decision ... and curses the day that woman walked ...

When a grocer is found dead in his corner shop, it seems clear that he was killed by the same man apprehended for other robberies in the area. But DCI Tyler is not convinced that the case is that simple. The pressures of inner-city policing are relentless, and Tyler is only adding to his reputation as a maverick and a liability by keeping on with the investigation, despite repeated warnings from above. But the detective, true to form, is like a dog with a bone, regardless of the consequences. When complaints about his methods start to pour in, Tyler becomes more convinced that he is onto ...

EVERY COFFIN HE COMPLETES, SOMEONE DIES. The Coffin Maker lives and works alone in the Kingdom of Death. When he completes a coffin, a life on Earth ends. That’s how it’s always been. One day, as Coffin sits writing in his journal, The History of Death, trying to sum it all up in one perfect sentence, a note sails past his window. Announcing the arrival of two apprentices... 'This author is in a class of his own. Brilliant. Mark Fowler has such a unique writing style, I would love to be inside his head just to see how all these ideas come together. He is the odd ball to me, the soldier ...

A crucified priest. A detective haunted by the past. A day of reckoning. When a priest is found crucified, following the desecration of local churches, hysterical media coverage focuses on terrorism, and a satanic cult operating out in the wilds of North Staffordshire. Panic grips the city. DCI Tyler and DS Mills are under pressure as the toxic atmosphere deepens. One line of enquiry, involving historic allegations against the murdered priest, is close to home for Tyler and threatens to tip him over the edge. But Mills has a hunch that could lead the investigation in a different direction, ...

TWO SISTERS. ONE DEADLY RIVALRY. In the small town of Valemore, twin sisters Penny and Susan live at home with their doting parents. The sisters share immense musical talent, but also a twisted rivalry that would have shocked even Cain and Abel. As children they played a game: Good Susan, Bad Penny, inflicting suffering, followed by experiments in healing through writing music. Attending college, it seems they have outgrown their sadistic childhood games. The illusion is shattered when Penny arranges an attack on Susan for stealing her boyfriend. Susan languishes on a psychiatric ward, ...

A serial killer targeting writers, and an unfinished manuscript that the publishing world would die for. When best-selling romance novelist Joy Haversham was murdered she left behind an unfinished, disturbing manuscript: Silver. The book has become the Holy Grail of the publishing world, yet Joy’s husband, computer scientist Roger Haversham, still refuses to allow publication. His daughter, Grace, is worried about him. Joy’s killer, Gil Ray, is due out of prison on the day Joy and Roger should have been celebrating their silver wedding anniversary. And Roger is spending long nights in ...

When an estate agent goes missing, her husband, a security consultant, is the chief suspect. But when DCI Tyler and DS Mills are involved, things rarely prove to be so straightforward. Estate agent Paula Lyons has it all. Young and beautiful, living in a dream house, in a desirable part of town, married to a successful hunk of a man, a recent promotion and plans to start a family. But leaving for work one morning, she never arrives. Her husband, John, a security consultant, reports her missing, and DCI Tyler and DS Mills investigate. Paula and John appear to have perfect lives, and everyone...

The Stakes Couldn't be Higher Actress Kate Tolle falls victim to an illness baffling the medical world. In desperation her husband Ben appeals to the public, and an anonymous benefactor steps forward. The couple find themselves on a flight bound for San Francisco. Where the mysterious Merle is waiting. Kate’s health appears to improve as people around her die. Merle tells Ben that healing comes at a price and questions what he’s willing to pay. But what does Merle want? And what is the chilling truth waiting out in the desert ... in Las Vegas and beyond? 'Original, thrilling, and ...

FIRST IN AN EXCITING HISTORICAL CRIME SERIES. Bullying. Corruption. Murder. It’s the summer of 2002. The corpse of a 15 year old boy, missing for thirty years, is discovered in Stoke-on-Trent, a city on the cusp of change. Chief Superintendent Berkins wants the case solved quickly. DCI Jim Tyler has arrived from London under a cloud, and finds himself teamed up with born-and-bred local DS Danny Mills to investigate the case. There is tension between the chalk-and-cheese detectives from the start, but mingled with a growing mutual admiration. When the dead boy’s sister comes forward, ...

When DCI Jim Tyler believes he has uncovered evidence of deep rooted corruption in the police department, his thirst for justice and loathing of authority combine in a deadly cocktail that threatens to destroy him. A police officer is found dead in a Staffordshire park. It looks like suicide. DCI Tyler and DS Mills want to speak to the dead officer’s partner, a bent copper recently thrown off the force. Then the partner is found dead in almost the same location. It appears to be another suicide. Tyler believes there’s a bigger story and digs deeper, upsetting half of the local police ...

Hero of a best-selling mystery series ... and his author wants him dead. Frank Miller is the tough detective tasked with cleaning up the weird streets of Chapeltown. He is also the fictional hero of the best-selling mystery novels written by the mysterious Man Upstairs. Frank believes awareness of his own fictional existence is a sign the author's losing the plot. As Frank investigates this latest case, he understands the depth of his creator’s sickness. And comes to a shattering conclusion ... The Man Upstairs plans to end the series with the Death of Frank Miller. 'How I love Mark ...

FAME. FORTUNE. MURDER.Highly acclaimed crime series featuring the inimitable DCI Jim Tyler and DS Danny Mills. Detectives Tyler & Mills uncover the dark underbelly of the music scene when a singer goes missing and a band member is murdered. Johnny and the Swamp Seeds are on the cusp of success when singer Johnny Richards goes missing. The body of a young man is found in the local canal. But the dead man is not Johnny Richards. DCI Jim Tyler leads the investigation into the brutal murder of Adam Lane, ex band member and friend of Richards since schooldays. Is the disappearance related? Is ...