The Sleeping and the Dead
In this vivid psychological suspense novel, a diving instructor makes a gruesome discovery in Cranwell Lake - the body of a teenager who has clearly been in the water for many years.
Detective Peter Porteous is called to Cranwell Lake where the body of a teenager has been discovered. After trawling through the missing persons files, he comes to the conclusion that the corpse is Michael Grey, an enigmatic and secretive young man who was reported missing by his foster parents in 1972.
The news report that a body has been found leaves prison officer Hannah Morton in shock. Michael had been her boyfriend, and she had been with him the night he disappeared. And now the discovery is bringing back dreaded and long buried memories from her past ...
The Sleeping and the Dead was first published in the UK in 2001. It was reissued by Pan MacMillan in their 'Ann Cleeves Classic Crime' series on 5th January 2023. Order a copy via the publisher's website, or from any bookshop or library (ISBN: 978-1-5290-7051-4).
The audiobook, read by John Telfer, is available in a choice of formats from the Reading House, or as an audio download from Amazon.
Burial of Ghosts
For Lizzie Bartholomew, a holiday in Morocco will change life forever. But not in the way she had hoped...
Lizzie had planned her trip to Marrakech as the perfect escape from her life - and her nightmares - in Northumberland. Abandoned as a baby, and having spent her childhood moving between foster homes, Lizzie certainly has much to escape from. And for Lizzie, Morocco is the exotic paradise that she had imagined. Especially when she finds herself on a bus sitting next to a fellow tourist, who is also travelling to fulfil his dreams.
After a brief affair, Lizzie returns to England. In the days that follow, she is distracted by thoughts of her mysterious lover, hoping against hope that Philip might come and find her. But suddenly she receives a letter from a firm of solicitors. Philip Samson has died. In his will, he has left Lizzie a gift of £15,000. But there are conditions attached to this unexpected legacy, conditions that will alter the course of Lizzie's life forever...
Burial of Ghosts was first published in 2003. It has been reissued in a new Pan paperback edition, published in August 2023, and is available via the publisher's website or from any bookshop or library (ISBN: 978-1-5290-7052-1).
The audio edition, read by Colleen Prendergast, is available from the Reading House in a choice of formats or from Amazon as an Audible audio download..
The George & Molly books
Ann Cleeves Classic Crime
Ann Cleeves's publishing career began back in 1986 with a murder mystery featuring George Palmer-Jones, an elderly birdwatcher - helped by his wife, Molly. A Bird in the Hand was to be the first of a whole series of George and Molly murder mysteries. Ann is very aware of the advances she has made as a writer since these books were published: in her online diary, she told her younger self "Focus on what you're good at. A BIRD IN THE HAND is a flawed first novel, but you've created some interesting characters and it contains the elements that will work well with you later - a strong sense of place and a traditional mystery with a contemporary twist...." (Read all of Ann's letter to her younger self).
Fans have never forgotten those early mysteries: in a review of Dead Water, the New York Times Book Review remarks "her early birding mysteries are classics." now they are being reissued on an 'Ann Cleeves Classic Crime' edition, so keep an eye out for new additions to the series!
- A Bird in the Hand
- In England's birdwatching paradise, a new breed has been sighted - a murderer ...
- Young Tom French was found dead, lying in a marsh on the Norfolk coast, with his head bashed in and his binoculars still around his neck. One of the best birders in England, Tom had put the village of Rushy on the birdwatching map. Everyone liked him. Or did they?
- George Palmer-Jones, an elderly birdwatcher who decided quietly to look into the brutal crime, discovered mixed feelings aplenty. Still, he remained baffled by a deed that could have been motivated by thwarted love, pure envy, or something else altogether.
- But as he and his fellow "twitchers& flocked from Norfolk to Scotland to the Scilly Isles, in response to rumours of rare sightings, George - with help from his lovely wife, Molly - gradually discerned the true markings of a killer. All he had to do was prove it - before the murderer strikes again.
- A Bird in the Hand, first published in 1986, has now been reissued in hardback and Kindle editions. It is now also available in a paperback edition (November 2023). The audio edition, read by Seán Barret, is available as an Audible audio download from Amazon.
- Come Death and High Water
- The picturesque privately owned island of Gillibry off the North Devon coast turns out to be the perfect site for a murder ...
- A routine weekend visit by the Gillibry Bird Observatory Trust is made memorable by the owner's announcement that he is going to sell the island. A sale would mean the end of the Observatory, which for some of the birders makes life worth living. A fire in Charlie Todd's cottage adds to their distress. And when, next morning, after a fierce storm, they find Charlie dead in a bird hide, their pleasant September weekend assumes a dangerous new face.
- Charlie Todd's murder could have been the deed of any member of the Trust. And it falls to one of their own, George Palmer-Jones, to unravel the identity of a killer within their midst ...
- Come Death and High Water was first published in 1988. The new Ann Cleeves Classic Crime edition was published in paperback in November 2023. It was previously reissued in November 2014 for Kindle, or as a print on demand paperback (ISBN: 978-1-4472-8906-7) The audio edition, read by Seán Barrett, is available as an Audible audio download.
- Murder in Paradise
- Cheerful festivities take a dark turn when the groom's sister slips and tumbles to the perilous rocks below ...
- Newlyweds Jim and Sarah are welcomed home from their honeymoon to the Scottish island of Kinness with a huge celebration, and the whole island is present to witness the bitter end. But did Jim's younger sister Mary fall? Or was she pushed? George Palmer-Jones, retired birdwatcher and amateur detective, suspects the latter. But proving it will be difficult - no one wants to upset the balance of the island's ancient relationships.
- There are definitely secrets being hidden, and George, helped by Sarah, begin to piece together a tragic story he wishes he had never heard. Kinness is a paradise lost ...
- Murder in Paradise was first published in 1988. It was reissued in a Classic Crime edition on 7th December 2023; also available in a Kindle edition and audiobook, read by Seán Barrett.
- A Prey to Murder
- The huge and powerful hawk dominated the scene. Its talons pierced the woman's flesh and the beak pointed towards her eyes ...
- The sight is a particularly horrible shock for George Palmer-Jones, ornithologist and amateur detective, as he was an old friend of the victim Eleanor Masefield. George and his wife Molly are staying at Eleanor's family-run hotel, and whilst George believed Eleanor was a beautiful and charming widow, Molly has other ideas.
- Is Molly a little jealous? Or was Eleanor more a black widow - a ruthless manipulator of all those caught in her far-reaching web? Can Molly prove it in time to prevent another death?
- A Prey to Murder was first published in 1989. It was reissued in a new Ann Cleeves Classic Crime edition on 7th December 2023; also available in a Kindle edition and audiobook, read by Seán Barrett.
- Another Man's Poison, first published in 1992, has been reissued by Bello for Kindle and as a print on demand paperback (ISBN: 978-1-4472-5021-0)
- The audio edition, read by Seán Barrett, is available as an Audible audio download from Amazon or on CD (audio or MP3) from the Reading House.
- Sea Fever, first published in 1993, was reissued by Bello in May 2013 for Kindle and as a print on demand paperback (ISBN: 978-1-4472-5019-7).
- The audio edition, read by Seán Barrett, is available as an Audible audio download from Amazon.
- The Mill on the Shore, first published in 1994, was reissued by Bello in May 2013 for Kindle and as a print on demand paperback (ISBN: 978-1-4472-5017-3)
- The audio edition, read by Seán Barrett, is available as an Audible audio download from Amazon or on CD (audio or MP3) from the Reading House.
- High Island Blues, first published in 1996, was reissued by Bello in May 2013 for Kindle and as a print-on-demand paperback (ISBN: 978-1-4472-5027-2).
"The backdrop of the rugged countryside as spectacular bird-watching country and the earnestness of the tourists make the book interesting." (Publishers Weekly) - The audio edition, read by Seán Barrett, is available as an Audible audio download from Amazon, or on a choice of audio or MP3 CD from the Reading House.