18 books like A Blunt Instrument
They Found Him Dead
Inspectors Hannasyde & Hemingway #3
ONE HEIR AFTER ANOTHER TURNS UP DEAD….
Silas Kane's sixtieth birthday party is marred by argument and dissension amongst his family, and then the next morning, Kane is found dead. The coroner's verdict of death by misadventure would seem to confirm that Silas accidentally lost his way in the fog. But then Clement, his heir, is shot, and threats are made…
Shares: Hannasyde, Inspector Hannasyde, 1930s, Contemporary
Behold, Here's Poison
Inspectors Hannasyde & Hemingway #2
When Gregory Matthews, patriarch of the Poplars, is found dead one morning, imperious Aunt Harriet blames it on the roast duck he ate for supper. After all, she had warned him about his blood pressure. But a post-mortem determines the cause of death as murder by poison. Suspicion falls immediately amongst his bitter, quarrelsome family. Each has a motive;…
Shares: Hannasyde, Inspector Hannasyde, 1930s, Contemporary
Death in the Stocks
Inspectors Hannasyde & Hemingway #1
The moonlight shone on the quiet village green when an English bobbie returning from night patrol finds on a man's two motionless feet stuck through the holes of a pair of stocks. He identifies the corpse in evening dress immediately. Wealthy Andrew Vereker was not a well-loved man, and when he was found stabbed, no one seemed to be particularly disturbed. The…
Shares: Hannasyde, Inspector Hannasyde, 1930s, Contemporary
The Unfinished Clue
It should have been a lovely English country-house weekend. But the unfortunate guest-list is enough to exasperate a saint, and irascible General Sir Arthur Billington-Smith was nobody's idea of the perfect host. In fact he was absolutely frightful. He bullied his wife, Fay, grumped at his guests, refused gleefully to help his financially stricken indigent nephew, and positively blew his stack…
Shares: 1930s, Contemporary, Police, England
Why shoot a butler?
Every family has secrets, but the Fountains' are turning deadly…On a dark night, along a lonely country road, barrister Frank Amberley stops to help a young lady in distress and discovers a sports car with a corpse behind the wheel. The girl protests her innocence, and Amberley believes her—at least until he gets drawn into the mystery and the clues incriminating Shirley Brown begin to add up…In…
Shares: 1930s, Country homes, Contemporary, Investigation
Footsteps in the Dark
BED, BREAKFAST AND MURDER
The ramshackle old house, with its rambling charm is beloved of Peter, Margaret and Celia, who have inherited it from their uncle. But local wisdom says The Priory is haunted. It wasn't the lack of modern conveniences that made a summer spent at the ancient priory mansion such an unsettling experience. It was the ghost... or whatever was groaning in the cellars and…
Shares: 1930s, Country homes, Contemporary, Investigation
Envious Casca
Inspectors Hannasyde & Hemingway #6
'Tis the season--to be dead...
Resigned to spending Christmas at Lexham Manor, Mathilda Clare wasn't sure what she dreaded most--the foul temper of Nat Herriard, the filthy-rich old Scrooge who owned the place, or the sweetness-and-light of his brother, Joseph. Joseph had concocted a guest list brilliantly headed for mayhem... acid-tongued young Stephen, his…
Shares: Inspector Hannasyde, Contemporary, Police, Investigation
The Redbreast
Don’t Miss the Netflix series Detective Hole, based on Jo Nesbo’s Harry Hole series, premiering March 26, 2026!“An elegant and complex thriller….Harrowingly beautiful.” —New York Times Book Review“The Redbreast certainly ranks with the best of current American crime fiction.” —Washington PostJo Nesbø, the New York Times bestselling author of The Snowman, has solidified his spot as one of the most…
Shares: Police, Investigation, Murder
The King of Diamonds
David Swain has spent two years of his life sentence for murdering the lover of his ex-girlfriend, Katya Osman. On the night he escapes from prison, Katya is found murdered in her uncle's home. Inspector Trave heads the manhunt for David, but his personal life becomes entangled in case because his ex-wife his having an affair with Katya's uncle.
Shares: Police, Investigation, England, Murder
Beau Death
Shares: Police, Investigation, England, Murder
The Conqueror
A fictionalized biography, fast-moving and minutely-wrought chronicle about William, Duke of Normandy who became King of England in 1066.
The day she gave birth to William, the beautiful Herleva dreamt that a tree sprang from her womb--a giant among trees, whose mighty branches overshadowed all of Normandy and England. No sooner her half-noble bastard of the Duke of Normandy had grown to manhood…
Shares: 1930s, England
Death at the president's lodging
Inspector Appleby is called to St Anthony's College, where the President has been murdered in his Lodging. Scandal abounds when it becomes clear that the only people with any motive to murder him are the only people who had the opportunity - because the President's Lodging opens off Orchard Ground, which is locked at night, and only the Fellows of the College have keys.
Shares: Police, England, Thriller, Mystery
Resurrection Men Double Sided A2 Poster
Sent to a rehabilitation school after a serious mistake, Inspector John Rebus discovers that among his fellow "resurrection men" are a group of classmates plotting a drug heist and joins forces with his protTgT, Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke to investigate ties to an art dealer's murder, a crime that could lead to scandal and danger at the highest level of law enforcement. 50,000 first…
Shares: Police, Thriller, Mystery
Find The Lady
When gangster Mike Spagliotti is found shot through the head inside his locked New York hotel suite, it is a perplexing problem for Detective-Inspector Flannel. And when newspaper reporter Anita Curzon begins to interfere, Flannel's temper does not improve ... In THE EGYPTIAN TOMB Tony Gilmour and his friends Ron and Alan travel to Egypt to investigate the suspicious death of Ron's father - but…
Shares: Police, Investigation, England, Murder
A Burial at Sea
In March 1873 aristocratic sleuth Charles Lenox undertakes a delicate espionage mission to Egypt, where five British agents have been killed, apparently by the French. But soon after Charles's ship sets sail, the captain calls on him to dust off his deductive skills when a crew member is murdered and left eviscerated on the deck.
Shares: Investigation, Murder
A Shilling for Candles (Inspector Alan Grant #2)
A woman's body is found on the English seacoast, and twisted in her hair is an article screaming murder. For Inspector Alan Grant, the case becomes a nightmare, as too many clues and too many motives arise. (cc. Edmonton Public Library website.)
Shares: Police, England, Mystery
Done in one
"One bullet equals one kill. For SWAT sniper Jake Denton, the bullet casings he saves as grim reminders of his "kills" are beginning to add up. His wife, his department-ordered psychiatrist, and even Jake himself are all beginning to question just how these sanctioned kills are affecting his mental health. Nobody wants him to end up like Lee Staley, his mentor and ex-partner--now out on permanent…
Shares: Police, Investigation, Murder, Mystery
Detection Unlimited
Inspectors Hannasyde & Hemingway #9
On a hot June evening in the village of Thornden, the Hasells celebrate a tennis party at the Cedars, their mansion. The young Haswell had just motored the lovely Abby Dearham back from social event of the week. Nearly everyone of the village uppercrust had come to the party--the Squire, the Vicar, the sharp-tongued heir to five centuries of local real estate.…
Shares: Contemporary, Police, Thriller, Mystery