After his wife and son are gunned down in what appears to be a hit gone wrong, Local drug boss Mansel Shale turns to religion, leaving his drug business up for grabs. His second-in-command, a weirdo who believes he is Generalissimo Franco, is the wrong man to lead the organization, especially with rival Ralph Ember eager to gain control of Shale's territory. Neither Assistant Chief Desmond Iles nor DCS Colin Harpur wants a drug war. Both believe in...

Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Harpur and his boss, Assistant Chief Constable Desmond Iles, worry about the safety of one of the big-time crooks on their ground, Ralph Ember, sometimes known as Panicking Ralph. Yes, Ralph is a villain, but he's a local villain, and Harpur and Iles feel a kind of bizarre affection for him. And in any case, Ralph helps Iles keep the city reasonably peaceful. But now some awkward repercussions from Ralph's lawless...

Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Harpur feels a sort of warmth towards Jack Lamb, a brilliantly prosperous but profoundly dodgy fine arts dealer. Lamb is the greatest informant Harpur has ever dealt with--might be the greatest informant any police officer has ever dealt with--and although Jack ended this arrangement some time ago, Harpur still feels indebted to him. Lamb's posh manor house is stuffed with expensive paintings, ripe for the pinching...and...

"Thomas Wells Hart drifter into a dodgy career as a private investigatorand gre clever at tailing suspects and all the other tricks at the game. Not quite clever enough, however. Coming across Hart's shot-up body, Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Harpur and Assistant Chief Constable Des Iles have to work out their own explanation as to how he came to be executed behind the wheel of a Ford Focus in a quite suburban street. The trail will lead them...

A well-dressed corpse found shot in the sand and gravel wharf sparks trouble for Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Harpur and his unpredictable boss, Assistant Chief Constable Iles. The man is found dead in the local dockyard, shot from behind. Colin Harpur, examining the impeccably dressed corpse on his hands and knees, predicts the execution spells imminent trouble - and not just the unexpected arrival of his spiteful, brilliant boss, ACC Iles,...