Showing results by author "Phillip Strang" in All Categories

Perfect for fans of Jane Harper, Chris Hammer, and Garry Disher In the remote opal mining town of Lightning Ridge, Detective Senior Constable Riley Murphy investigates petty theft and neighbourly disputes. Then, respected opal dealer Elena Kozlov is found brutally murdered in her ransacked workshop. The crime scene tells a disturbing story. Elena's most valuable stones remain untouched. Her workshop was systematically searched, not robbed. And someone tortured her before killing her—trying to get information she refused to give. Riley's investigation uncovers Elena's recent obsession: ...

In the drought-stricken Kimberley, where water means the difference between survival and ruin, Special Investigator Odysseus "Odie" Kalaris is called to a sacred waterhole where the body of water project engineer Michael Crawford lies half-submerged, surrounded by poorly staged traditional elements. What begins as a murder investigation evolves into something far more sinister, revealing connections between ancient underground water systems and generations of deliberate deception. When a second victim—environmental consultant Rebecca Palmer—is found at another sacred site, Odie must ...

In the scorched heart of Alice Springs, where unrelenting heat bakes the empty Todd River to dust, Detective Senior Constable Sarah Reeves is called to investigate a death at the town's most bizarre sporting event—the Henley-on-Todd Regatta, a boat race without water. What begins as an apparent tragic accident during the quirky desert festival soon reveals something far darker lurking beneath the surface of this isolated community. When the victim is identified as mining CEO Richard Hargrove, and evidence suggests his "accident" was meticulously staged, Sarah must navigate both the ...

If it hadn't been for the circumstances, Detective Inspector Keith Tremayne would have said the view was outstanding. Up high, overlooking the farmhouse in the valley below, the panoramic vista of Salisbury Plain stretching out beyond. The only problem was that near where he stood with his sergeant, Clare Yarwood, there was a body, and it wasn't a pleasant sight.

In the parched landscape of Alice Springs, where unforgiving heat intensifies every human emotion, Detective Senior Constable Sarah Reeves is called to a motel room where a man lies dead from a point-blank shotgun blast. What begins as a seemingly random shooting rapidly escalates into a killing spree. The killer, Curtis Langford, is hunting for pieces of his missing prison cellmate, convinced that innocent victims have "absorbed" parts of his friend. When bodies begin appearing across town, Sarah must navigate the brutal mechanics of tracking a delusional killer and the failures that ...

Three bodies. Thirty-five years buried. One cop's signature on all three cases. Detroit detective Jordan Cross thought she'd seen the worst the city could offer. Then construction workers found three skeletons in a condemned basement—teenage girls, locked in and left to die in 1989. The department called them runaways. Closed the cases in days. Moved on. But Jordan finds the pattern. Same neighborhood. Same six-month window. Same investigating officer on all three reports: Patrol Officer Edward Brennan. Now he's Deputy Chief Brennan. Thirty-five years of climbing ranks. Seven ...

An early-morning jogger is murdered in Hyde Park. It's the center of London, but no one saw him enter the park, no one saw him die. He carries no identification, only a water-logged phone. As the pieces unravel, it's clear that the dead man had a history of deception. Is the murderer one of those that loved him? Or was it someone with a vengeance? It's proving difficult for DCI Isaac Cook and his team at Challis Street Homicide to find the guilty person—not that they'll cease to search for the truth, not even after one suspect confesses.

Perfect for fans of CJ Box, Brad Thor, and Kyle Mills After a case goes catastrophically wrong, FBI profiler Alex Harlan returns to his Appalachian hometown to care for his ailing father—and escape the guilt of three deaths he couldn't prevent. But when a mutilated body turns up in the mountains bearing the signature of a cartel execution, Sheriff Maggie Blackburn needs his expertise. The murder method is identical to one from twenty-five years ago: the death officially ruled an accident that killed Alex's mother. Digging into the case reveals a ruthless trafficking network called the ...

Nobody liked Gloria Wiggins, a woman who regarded anyone who did not acquiesce to her jaundiced view of the world with disdain. James Baxter, the previous vicar, had been one of those, and her scurrilous outburst in the church one Sunday had hastened his death. And now, years later, the woman was dead, hanging from a beam in her garage. Detective Inspector Tremayne and Sergeant Clare Yarwood had seen the body, interviewed the woman's acquaintances, and those who had hated her.

A mass shooting. An amoral Romanian gangster. A Russian oligarch who claims to be an honest businessman, but isn't. No one knows who was the target or why, but there are eight dead. The men seem the most likely, or could have it been one of the two women, the attractive Gillian Dickenson, or even the celebrity-obsessed Sal Maynard?

On the bed, the naked bodies of a man and a woman. "Bullet in the head's not the way to go," Larry Hill, Isaac Cook's detective inspector, said. "Do you recognize him?" Detective Chief Inspector Isaac Cook said. "James Holden, from what I can see." "Rent by the hour?" "Not according to her handbag. There's a business card. She worked for the man." "You know this will be all over the media within the hour," Isaac said. "James Holden, a proponent of the sanctity of the marital bed, man and wife. It's bound to be."

No one gave much credence to the man when he was alive. In fact, most people never knew who he was, although those who had lived in the area for many years recognized the tired-looking and shabbily dressed man as he shuffled along, regular as clockwork on Thursdays at seven in the evening to the local off-license. Apart from the three-story mansion where he lived, no one would have regarded him as any other than homeless and destitute. Just a harmless eccentric, until the morning when he was found dead in his front garden.

A group of children play. Not far away, in the ditch on the other side of the farmyard, the body of a young woman. The nearby village hides as many secrets as the community at the farm, a disparate group of people looking for an alternative to their previous torturous lives. Their leader, idealistic and benevolent, espouses love and kindness, and somebody's not following his dictate. The second death, an old woman, seems unrelated to the first, but is it? Is it part of the tangled web that connects the farm to the village?

Perfect for fans of Jane Harper, Ann Cleeves, and Chris Hammer When local fisherman Richard Harlow is found dead at the base of Wirramurra Bay's limestone cliffs, Detective Jodi Brennan initially suspects a tragic accident. The evidence tells a different story: Richard was not alone when he fell. The investigation reveals Richard's new relationship with café waitress Lisa Templeton—and the dangerous obsession it triggered in Elaine Widcombe, the hardware store owner's wife. Behind Elaine's perfect community image lies a pattern of stalking, harassment, and escalating threats. As Jodi ...

Perfect for fans of Jane Harper, Ann Cleeves, and Chris Hammer Detective Jodi Brennan's transfer to the isolated coastal town of Wirramurra Bay was meant to be punishment. After exposing corruption in Adelaide, she's been exiled to a place where limestone cliffs meet the Southern Ocean and everyone knows everyone's business. When veterinarian Dr. Sarah Kellerman is found dead in what appears to be suicide, Jodi's instincts tell her otherwise. Sarah had been investigating livestock poisoning across the region—and her notes reveal a pattern of deliberate environmental contamination ...

In Warragulla, the powerful don't just bury their secrets—they kill to keep them that way. Detective Maya Thorne has made her peace with the town that broke her. She's back for good, navigating the treacherous currents of a community where founding families control everything from council chambers to morning tea gossip. But when corruption runs this deep, every investigation becomes personal. From race-fixing schemes that fund entire operations to historical land fraud that shaped the district, from medical negligence protected by desperate officials to wool industry deceptions spanning ...

A Bronze-Age burial mound close to Stonehenge, an archaeological excavation. What they were looking for was an ancient body, historical artifacts. When they found a modern-day body, it was then that the police became interested. It's another case for Detective Inspector Tremayne and Sergeant Yarwood. The more recent of the two bodies, the brother of the mayor of Salisbury. The person responsible keeps leading back to the brother, the upright and serious-minded Clive Grantley. Tremayne's sure that it's him, but Clare Yarwood's not so sure. But is her belief based on evidence or personal hope?

An Old Fort in Sydney Harbour – The body of a woman missing for seventeen years. It’s murder, but after so long, can it be solved? Sergeant Natalie Campbell and Inspector Haddock are resolute that it can. But then, there’s the complication of the murdered woman’s father, the bombastic, bullying Bernie Cornell. One of Australia’s richest men, but he’s closing in on death due to old age and ill health. There’s no shortage of intrigue, no shortage of potential murderers. Another gripping thriller, Natalie Campbell and Inspector Haddock at their very best.

In the unforgiving heat of Central Australia, where the red earth harbours ancient secrets, Detective Sarah Reeves is called to investigate when the body of Ruby Tilmouth is found wrapped in a canvas swag and bound with wire on a remote access track. What begins as a murder investigation quickly becomes something more complex when a faded photograph found with the body connects Ruby's death to the twenty-year-old disappearance of Aboriginal teenager Jessie Coolwell. As Sarah digs deeper, she discovers Ruby was investigating Jessie's cold case, following leads that powerful local figures had...

He destroyed careers. She exposed him. Now he wants revenge. Six months after exposing DCI Duncan Reid's corruption, Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Lynch thought the case was closed. Reid disappeared before arrest, but his criminal network was dismantled. Justice was served. She was wrong. Reid emerges from hiding with an ultimatum: help him escape Scotland, or he'll destroy everything Sarah has built. He has evidence of her "illegal" investigative methods—boundary-crossing that technically violates Police Scotland regulations, but brought down murderers and conspiracies. He'll use it to...