Showing results by author "Simon McCleave" in All Categories

The beautiful town of Llangollen is rocked by the brutal shooting of a local farmer, Aaron Jenkins. DI Ruth Hunter is called in to track down the murderer. When she and the CID team discover that both Aaron and his wife were having affairs, their focus is on this.

Steph spent months planning her perfect birthday celebration. Five days in an idyllic setting with her best friends. Long lazy lunches, crisp white wine by the pool and a climb up the beautiful Mont Ventoux. She couldn't wait. They’ve been there for each other through the good times and the bad. This was the break everyone needed. After their first night partying, they begin their hike. But as the lavender-scented air turns acrid from local wildfires, fierce winds whip up smoke–and tensions in the group. They become separated.

The historical city of Chester has been rocked by the brutal murders of several young men close to the canal. DI Ruth Hunter is called in to track down the murderer – who the papers have dubbed the Towpath Ripper – before they strike again. Ruth identifies a suspect but just as she is about to pounce, they slip through her fingers.

An inmate at Tonsgrove prison is murdered in her cell, but no one is willing to talk to the police. DI Gareth Williams is receiving pressure from above to solve the case – and quickly. Then, a local seventeen-year-old girl vanishes from her home. The close-knit community is shaken and they each have a different theory. Gareth knows that time is of the essence. With two major cases being investigated at the same time, the Beaumaris force is stretched thin. Frustrated at the lack of progress Gareth’s colleague and fiancée, DI Laura Hart, decides to take action: going undercover at the prison.

When a Wrexham based businessman is found murdered across the border in Heswall on The Wirral, Ruth and the Llancastell CID team must work with Merseyside Police to solve the crime. It seems that a fatal accident on a local building site might provide the motive. When Ruth discovers that a gang in Birkenhead have been using intimidation to steal valuable machinery, the focus of the investigation changes. Ruth and her CID team must pursue the dangerous suspects in a deadly game and stop them before there is another cold-blooded killing.

When local teenagers discover a body at the disused Denbigh Asylum, it seems that his murder might be linked to a modern slavery ring trafficking young people from the Indian subcontinent. However, social media then reveals that the victim was involved in a toxic relationship which may provide a clue to his death. When there is another murder, the focus of the investigation switches again. With time running out, Ruth and the Llancastell CID team must find the killer before they flee the country and disappear.

Three years ago, DCI Laura Hart was the top hostage and crisis negotiator for the Greater Manchester Police. Then her husband was kidnapped. Despite her best efforts to reason with the criminals, he was brutally murdered. Now living on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, Laura is slowly healing. Then she gets a call: armed drug dealers have seized a tourist boat—and her 10-year-old son Jake is on board. There’s no other negotiator available, and the police need her to step up.

A dangerous Islamic terrorist. A safe house in the middle of Snowdonia. Can DI Ruth Hunter and DS Nick Evans deliver the suspect safely before there is a deadly rescue attempt?

Detective Ruth Hunter’s ongoing quest for her missing partner has taken a dramatic twist as she continues to live her life away from London in Snowdonia. When a popular rugby coach is brutally murdered, and a young woman vanishes, Ruth must examine the secret lives of a local community in shock. As Ruth and her sidekick DS Nick Evans begin to uncover a confusing mesh of dark deception, she realizes that the answer might lie in the victim’s own clandestine life.

Detective Inspector Ruth Hunter has resolved to put the grief of her missing partner behind her and continue to make a life away from London in Snowdonia. When a 16-year-old girl, Rosie, mysteriously vanishes, the case brings up unresolved issues from the past for Ruth. Ruth realises that the key to Rosie’s disappearance might lie within a violent battle for control of a local prison.

Starting a new life in Snowdonia was always DI Ruth Hunter's dream. Until a twisted killer turned it into her worst nightmare. Detective Inspector Ruth Hunter lives with the pain of her partner’s mysterious and unsolved disappearance. About to hit 50, the veteran police officer trades in the crime-ridden streets of London for a more peaceful life in rural North Wales. But Ruth has barely settled into her new position in North Wales Police, when the body of a brutally murdered woman is discovered...with strange symbols carved into her skin.

A twisted serial killer. A deadly game of cat and mouse. Can DI Ruth Hunter catch a crazed psychopath who seems intent on destroying her life? DI Ruth Hunter hopes that settling in Snowdonia will melt away the grief of a missing partner. Burying herself in her work, she senses that her current missing persons case isn't all that it seems.

Recently divorced Cerys thought buying a luxury Tuscan villa would be the fresh start she so desperately needed. But a year later, she's struggling to move on from the pain of her past. Determined to make Villa Lucia a success, she's pinned all her hopes on this season's guests. Until one of them is found murdered in the villa's infinity pool. Now, as the police descend on the property, the secrets of her guests begin to unravel, and Cerys is forced to confront her own demons

Diary of a War Crime is the first book in the DI Ruth Hunter crime prequel series. If you like chilling police procedurals, true-to-life characters and psychological twists, then you’ll love Simon McCleave’s addictive thrill ride. London, 1997. A series of baffling murders. A web of political corruption. DC Ruth Hunter thinks she has the brutal killer in her sights, but there's one problem. He’s a Serbian War criminal who died five years earlier and lies buried in Bosnia.

A young couple on the run. A trail of death and destruction. Can DI Ruth Hunter stop Snowdonia's answer to Bonnie and Clyde before another innocent victim is murdered?

A double suicide. A dark investigation into historic abuse. Can DI Ruth Hunter link the present killings to secrets of the past before the killer strikes again? Detective Inspector Ruth Hunter has resolved to put her past life in London behind her. So when two seemingly routine suicides start to look suspicious, Ruth is keen to throw herself into a new investigation, lead her CID team and solve what appears to be a complex case. However, as the former London detective digs into the past of the victims’ lives, she uncovers a dark web of abuse within the music industry.

When ex-soldier Ashley Campbell is brutally murdered outside a Peckham nightclub, Ruth's first thought is that it is gang related. Yet, as the investigation progresses, it seems that the victim's time as a recruit at Cranleigh Barracks might hold the key to the true identity of the murderer. As Ruth and Lucy uncover a brutal culture of bullying, racism and sexual abuse at the barracks, it seems that several officers in the British Army will go to any lengths to protect their identity.

Ruth and Nick are called to a fatal shooting at Chirk Castle, a well-known tourist spot in North Wales. The only witness to the murder is Daniel, the 10-year-old son of the victim. Ruth discovers that the victim was a small-time drug dealer and it seems that his killing might be linked to stolen drugs. However, when a local girl is also brutally murdered, Ruth has to change the focus of the investigation as it is clear that the murderers will go to any lengths to cover their tracks.

When the body of a local boat tour operator is found on the beach beside Llandudno Pier, it seems that her murder might be linked to an ongoing rivalry with a new boat tour company. However, when it is discovered that the victim had recently started a relationship with a much younger man, the focus of the investigation changes.

When a young man is murdered in a fire at a holiday park, it seems that his complicated love-life might provide the clues to his killer. However, when DI Ruth Hunter and her CID team discover that there is also drug dealing at the park, the focus of their investigation switches. When their prime suspect disappears and with time running out, Ruth must track down the killer before it’s too late.