Death's Breath cover art

Death's Breath

DS Tomek Bowen Crime Thriller, Book 8

Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Unlimited access to our all-you-can-listen catalogue of 15K+ audiobooks and podcasts
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Death's Breath

By: Jack Probyn
Narrated by: Scott Fleming
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £14.99

Buy Now for £14.99

About this listen

Mersea Island. Over 2,500 acres of farmland, marshland, and several caravan parks. Usually, it is home to 7,000 people. But for the August Bank Holiday weekend, it is home to two more residents: DS Tomek Bowen and his daughter, Kasia, looking to make the most of the end of the school holidays, the end of summer, and the end of Tomek’s extended time away from work.

But when a body is discovered tethered to a buoy one morning, Tomek is pulled into the murky world of murder and death sooner than anticipated. Cut off from his team and the rest of the police force, Tomek is forced to put his years of experience into practice. But as the tide comes closer, severing connection with the outside world, can he catch the killer before they strike again?

Death’s Breath is the fantastic eighth book in the DS Tomek Bowen Essex Murder Mystery series by Jack Probyn. If you love fast-paced British police procedurals filled with memorable characters, mind-bending twists that will keep you guessing, and oodles of black humor, you'll love this series. Fans of JD Kirk, Mark Billingham, and JM Dalgliesh can't put this book down.

THE SETTING: Mersea Island, a seemingly tranquil retreat off the Essex coast, hides a web of secrets beneath its picturesque surface. As the tide rolls in, it reveals crumbling boathouses and rusting fishing gear, relics of a once-thriving community now marred by evidence of crime. Narrow lanes wind through quaint cottages, where the laughter of children is overshadowed by the ominous presence of a shadowy figure lurking in the dusk. Here, amid the charm and isolation, the island’s true nature waits, ready to ensnare the unwary.

©2025 Jack Probyn (P)2025 Jack Probyn
Crime Crime Thrillers Mystery Police Procedurals Thriller & Suspense Murder Exciting Witty
All stars
Most relevant

Listener received this title free

I am really enjoying this series and cant believe in the time line though so much happens to this family. This narration works so well.
I am discovering parts of Essex that I never knew existed.

Absolutely great series

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Listener received this title free

Tomek is suspended in the aftermath of Zeus and the Harpies and Kasia is still very much afraid and licking her metaphorical wounds. Tomek plans them a week in a caravan on Mersea Island that coincides with the annual regatta.

Their weekend is going well until he and a neighbour find a body on the beach, during their morning run. After that, the bodies keep coming, but Tomek can't investigate whilst suspended, so what can he do?

If you've read the first 7 books in the series, this makes an excellent 8th. There's a lot of development between Tomek and Kasia and it was interesting to see murder solving away from the office.

great narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.