Helen Carter Series

Helen Carter has just landed her first case as a detective: a murder in an abandoned cinema. A mysterious clock-like symbol is drawn on the wall...in blood. Stranger still is what the killer left behind: the business card of an ex-cop. Since being promoted from WPC, Helen is having trouble making her mark in the male-dominated Edinburgh CID, working under Inspector Jack Craven. He’s not happy about having a woman on his team. Witnesses won’t talk to her; her colleagues don’t take her seriously.

Detective Helen Carter is called to a crime scene: a barmaid, Tina French, has been strangled. Murdered on her way home from work to look after her sick son. Meanwhile, Moira McKenzie leaves her lover's townhouse and gets home to find her abusive husband, Reggie, washing blood from his hands. Later, in their garden shed, she finds incriminating photos, keepsakes and newspaper cuttings about old murder cases. When the police are called to their home, they find a pool of blood and a shattered glass table, but no sign of Moira.

Detective Helen Carter needs a break. Instead, she's going head-to-head with notorious cop killer Jimmy Osbourne. Eight years ago he pulled off the perfect heist and fled to Spain, leaving behind a trail of carnage. But not a shred of evidence to implicate him. Now he's back in Edinburgh. But why? Helen has her suspicions. Within days, a mysterious jewel thief surfaces on CCTV. A gunman shoots up a seedy back-alley. The suspects are piling up, but Helen knows Jimmy is behind them. All her instincts tell her he's guilty. She's watching him. But he has eyes on her too.