by Ted Tayler
These are some of the story threads in this tenth Phoenix book. The pace is relentless. There are enough passion, excitement and tragedy to last a lifetime. All squeezed into three weeks.
A Frequent Peal Of Bells
The Islamist terror attacks resume.
The Grid wields its power with sustained bursts of criminal activity.
Government resources are stretched to breaking point as austerity cuts hamper their response.
Packed with current issues of political and economic concern, this eleventh book retains the intensely realistic feel of the whole Phoenix Series.
Larcombe Manor
Can Olympus continue to thwart the ambitions of the all-powerful Grid? Will the authorities uncover the truth behind the Olympus Project? Can the Larcombe families survive the troubled waters that lay ahead? These are the unanswered questions. Many dangers face the Olympus agents before the climactic conclusion of this final book in The Phoenix Series.
The Freeman Files Series
Fatal Decision
Gus Freeman is a retired Detective Inspector who has spent the past three years alone.
Freeman’s wife, Tess, died from a brain aneurysm six months to the day after his retirement. He is still coming to terms with his enforced solitary existence.
His old boss wants Gus to head up a Crime Review Team investigating cold cases.
Gus can't resist the chance to enter the fray for one last hurrah.
"It's a mystery that will keep you wondering, with the usual wide array of characters to enjoy that give Tayler's novels their stamp."
Last Orders
A newly-formed Crime Review Team is investigating cold cases that defied their colleagues. Austerity cuts mean that Gus Freeman only has a team of three to assist him.
‘Last Orders’ follows the case of Trudi Villiers, a 26-year old barmaid murdered as she walked home from the Ring O’Bells pub in October 2003. Trudi may have been a good-time girl with a string of lovers, but she was someone’s daughter, and Gus wants his team to find the truth about what happened to her on that fateful night.
Pressure Point
Laura Mallinder left home for work on Sunday, 12th June 2011. She walked to ‘Gentle Touch’, a massage parlour in Broadgreen, Swindon. Her boss, Maggie Monk, discovered her body later that evening. Laura, twenty-seven years old, sustained fatal stab wounds to her back.
Gus Freeman’s Crime Review Team has two successful cold case investigations behind them. Will it be third time lucky? The victim’s profession might make it hard to find someone to talk. ‘Pressure Point’ has a wide array of characters, and offers action, romance, humour and drama.
Deadly Formula
Dr Ian McGuire, a research scientist, was shot dead in his kitchen in 2004
The original investigation found no motive, no leads, and no suspects
Gus Freeman and his Crime Review Team have a tough cold case to solve
In this fourth book in the series, the case becomes the least of their worries
Final Deal
Will the frantic search for DI Suzie Ferris and her kidnapper have a successful outcome? Can Gus end the careers of the corrupt senior officers behind her disappearance? Despite everything, the Crime Review Team has another cold case to unravel.
Dennis Gates was shot dead in August 2010. His killer was never found. The team members have their own crises to face. Will they buckle under the pressure?
Final Deal has two stories woven together to produce a gripping climax not to miss.
Barking Mad
Why did pet shop owner Mark Malone die in a hail of bullets in May 2015?
Gus and the Crime Review Team are faced with many questions, but few answers.
Killer Ricky Gardiner is on the run from the police. Who will catch up with him first?
Tragedy and triumph are intertwined in another gripping instalment in The Freeman Files
Barking Mad has a variety of characters and story threads that keep you turning pages.
Creature Discomforts
A lone sniper killed Grant Burnside, the leader of a violent gang in May 2014.
Four years on, Gus Freeman and his team review a case that refused to give up any answers.
Why does every stone they turn over lead to the solving of unrelated crimes?
The Burnside family prides itself on being impregnable. Nobody speaks out against them and lives.
Gus keeps digging away at the foundations until the fortress topples like a house of cards. But will Gus find Grant Burnside’s killer?
Silent Terror
A brutal murder occurred at a remote bungalow in January 2013
Gus Freeman reviews the murder of Ursula Wakeley, a seventy-eight-year-old spinster
Why did the former librarian become a victim? Was it a robbery, or something more sinister?
Alex Hardy returns to the fold and new girl Blessing Umeh joins the Crime Review Team
With a strong cast of characters this gripping series provides more twists than a corkscrew
Breaking News:
The Freeman Files Series has been extended to 16 titles.
Scheduled for 2020
#9 Night Train – a rail steward murdered on a train at Swindon station
#10 All Things Bright – a 13 year-old girl stabbed and drowned in the canal
Research started for 2021 release
#11 A Genuine Mistake
#12 Buried Secrets
#13 Strange Beginnings
#14 Dead Reckoning
#15 A Normal November
#16 into The Sunlight
Rest assured I will continue to provide interesting, quick reads for busy readers.
Who knows what will follow an action-packed 2021?
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