Chris Simms

Manchester, 2002. The Commonwealth Games are coming to town and the city is alive with possibilities. Caught up in the commercial feeding frenzy is Tom Benwell, account manager at an advertising firm. The pressure is getting to Tom - too many deals to make and lies to tell, and the passion for his job is waning. Meanwhile his friend, DI Jon Spicer, is on the fast track, showing a commitment to the job that borders on obsession, or so his girlfriend Alice tells him. Then, in the aftermath of the Games, a series of brutal killings shatters the city's new found spirit. Jon Spicer gets the case. Each victim has been murdered in the same bizarre and grotesque manner, yet the lack of motive leaves the police utterly baffled. With the race on to catch the killer, both men find themselves caught up in a nightmare where the most innocent action can cost the highest price. In this nail-biting crime thriller, Chris Simms draws us into the shadows that lurk behind the city's shiny new exterior, then plunges us into the mind of a madman.

Killing The Beasts

Don't open your car door to anyone, even if you believe they're there to help you.

Outside the White Lines

L’ispettore di Manchester Jon Spicer e il suo collega Rick vengono incaricati di indagare sul brutale assassinio di un richiedente asilo russo, ma si trovano in un vicolo cieco quando l’identità dell’uomo si rivela falsa. Gli unici indizi sono un gommone trovato alla deriva, delle misteriose lettere restituite dal mare e una flottiglia di paperelle di gomma che navigano in direzione della costa britannica. Intanto altri richiedenti asilo iniziano a morire, ognuno ucciso nello stesso orribile modo. Anche Spicer e la sua famiglia si trovano in mortale pericolo, perché la sua ex moglie Alice, un’assistente sociale, sta cercando di aiutare una giovane donna, che è il prossimo obiettivo del killer.

Alla deriva

The deliberate torching of a church creates outrage across Manchester. And when a charred corpse and satanic symbols are found in the smoking ruins, DI Jon Spicer and the city's Major Incident Team are called in. Jon Spicer quickly finds himself drawn into the depths of a horrifying underworld he didn't know existed. Soon, fresh killings bring the realisation that those responsible are prepared to commit unspeakable acts of evil in homage to their God. DI Spicer knows the atrocities must be halted, but even in his worst nightmares he could never imagine how close to his own home the investigation will take him. As the case threatens to engulf Manchester in fires of hatred, can Spicer and those he loves escape unharmed?

Hell's Fire

Sixth book in the critically-acclaimed Jon Spicer series, also includes the opening of the seventh novel in the series, Sleeping Dogs. Reviews 'I'll be downloading more of Chris Simms' books ASAP. I feel like I've found a hidden gem.' (Amazon Reader Review - Pecking Order) Chris Simms has been quietly building one of the best police procedural series in this country. (CATHOLIC HERALD) Pacy, gripping and original storytelling (YORKSHIRE POST) This highly polished study of madness and murder shows how well Simms' talent is maturing. (SHOTS MAGAZINE) A must-read for those who like their crime fiction psychological (DEADLY PLEASURES MAGAZINE) The story's dramatic events are drawn out, gradually building to a page-turning, heart-stopping - and totally unexpected - ending. (THE BOOK PLACE) The novel's high-quality storytelling has an authentic, documentary feel' (CITY LIFE MAGAZINE) Book description She is alone on the ocean. Drifting without hope, she writes her harrowing story on scraps of paper, seals them in anything that will float and casts them from her makeshift raft. In Manchester, DI Spicer is investigating the brutal slayings of several Russian asylum-seekers. MI5 warn him to back off, but he cannot let the case go - especially once he suspects a link to the series of heart-wrenching notes being washed-up on the British coast. As he closes in on the truth, he realises - too late - he's now the target of a trained killer who will do anything to protect his master's secret. About the Author Chris Simms' acclaimed first novel in the DI Spicer series, KILLING THE BEASTS was selected as a Best Crime book for 2005 by SHOTS magazine. He was then selected as a Waterstone's Author for the Future, one of 25 writers tipped by publishers, editors and agents, to produce the most impressive body of work over the next quarter century. Since then he has been nominated several times for the THEAKSTON'S CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR and for CRIME WRITERS' ASSOCIATION DAGGERS. Chris lives in Manchester. Find out more on his official web site, www.chrissimms.info or, for regular postings, see his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AuthorChrisSimms

Only the Fittest Will Survive

Cut Adrift

In this thrilling sequel to Loose Tongues, DC Sean Blake returns to investigate a number of violent drownings in the Greater Manchester area. A corpse is found in a Manchester canal, encased in a sleeping bag and weighed down by bricks. DC Sean Blake’s investigation has hardly begun before another body with links to it is discovered . . . also drowned. A mysterious figure seen asking questions about the victims becomes the prime suspect. But as Blake delves into the shady pasts of those killed, he finds connections to friends still living – including a crime lord of the city. Matters are complicated for Blake when those who once formed their childhood gang refuse to cooperate. With a killer so elusive and targets so unwilling to accept help, can Blake stop the body count from rising?

Marked Men

What’s wrong, killer got your tongue? It’s DC Sean Blake’s first week on the job, but already he faces a series of brutal and bizarre killings: women are being strangled in their homes, each with a mobile phone forced down their throat. There are never any signs of a struggle or forced entry. The Greater Manchester Police have no leads. Blake can’t afford to waste any time – even as he picks apart the disturbing motive behind the murders, the case takes a turn for the personal. Can he stop the killer before another woman is silenced forever?

Loose Tongues

Laura and Owen's new home should be lovely. But soon after moving into the secluded cottage on the edge of the Peak District, Laura starts to hear faint snatches of birdsong. Her husband, wrapped up in his job, is rarely at home. Nervous and confused, Laura cannot decide whether the noise is real - or is coming from inside her head. Her doctor can find nothing wrong with her hearing. Then an archaeological dig on a neighbouring hill unearths some disturbing finds - and Laura's life starts to become terrifying.

A Ghost Story

Sing Me to Sleep

It starts with the death of a teenage runaway, killed when she leaps from a motorway bridge into the speeding traffic below. The girl’s identity remains a mystery – until the discovery of the dead girl’s details along with profiles of three other girls, all recently reported missing. And a further shocking discovery causes the whole file to be handed over to Greater Manchester Police’s Counter Terrorism Unit. Detective Constable Iona Khan – still struggling for acceptance in the male-dominated CTU – little realises that, because of her close resemblance to the girl who leapt from the bridge, she is now in the sights of a sinister figure. Someone whose reputation for ruthlessness has attracted notoriety, even among those who trade in the most depraved of human markets ...

A Price to Pay

Silvia Visintini

Thriller

Totenhaut

After a couple of bodies are discovered drowned, a figure seen asking questions about both victims becomes the prime suspect. As DC Sean Blake delves into the pasts of the friends killed and still living - including one who's now the crime lord of Manchester - their group's transgressions as teenagers come to light and, with them, more suspects.

The body of a woman with her throat ripped out is found on Saddleworth Moor, near Manchester. She is discovered in an area where several sightings of a mysterious large black cat have been made. When analysis shows that hairs caught under the victim's nails are those of a panther, it is assumed that the animal has killed its first human prey. But then a man DI Jon Spicer is investigating as part of an entirely different case is murdered in exactly the same way. Only this time the body is found in a secluded car park - a popular gay rendezvous far closer to the city centre. Soon DI Spicer finds himself hunting a killer dubbed The Monster of the Moor, a creature whose stealth and savagery strike terror into the local population and way beyond it to the whole of the north west...

Chris Simms

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