Ed James
Hey,
I’m Ed and welcome to my website. There’s some news on what’s out, pages for each of my series (which I’ll update soon), and many ways to contact me and to find my books.
Hope you like it and let me know what you think.
Cheers,
Ed
Latest News
Who lives… Cullen? Bain? Neither?
It’s here. The Last Drop, the final book in the Cullen & Bain saga.
Here’s the guarantee — at least one of these two is going to die in this book.
It’s been just shy of ten years since I first published GHOST IN THE MACHINE, which is the debut appearance of both of these two. But here’s where the story ends.
A dead student found in a bath. A missing killer, hiding more than her location.
When the body of a postgraduate student is found in an ice-cold bath, DI Scott Cullen and his team must hunt for the flat’s tenant.
But she doesn’t want to be found, hiding more than just her location.
Meanwhile, Brian Bain is nearing the endgame in his mission to bring down Cullen, aided and abetted by DS Luke Shepherd, another person who is hiding the truth from Cullen.
Will Cullen find the killer? Will Bain succeed in taking revenge? Will Shepherd achieve closure?
Click here to buy it now in Kindle or paperback, or read free in Kindle Unlimited.
I hope you enjoy it. And more, I hope you’re still speaking to me later.
Cheers,
Ed
Ed James reading order August 2021
[Updated 11-Aug-2021: Added the graphic to show the current state of play]
Where do I start?
The tl;dr (too long; didn’t read) version is:
- Senseless, and both the Carter and Fenchurch series can be read on their own.
- For Cullen, Hunter and Dodds, read in publication order, namely Cullen 1-7, Hunter 1-2, Cullen 8, Hunter 3, Dodds 0, Dodds 1-2, Cullen & Bain 1-2, Dodds 3, Cullen & Bain 3-6. Cullen & Bain 5 can be read as the first book or in order.
Here’s a link to my Amazon page featuring all of my books:
https://geni.us/EJHAuthor
Here for the long answer? Okay, settle in.
At the time of writing (14th July 2021), I have published a lot of books. Eight Scott Cullen novels, seven Simon Fenchurch, three Craig Hunter, two Vicky Dodds, and six Cullen and Bain short novels (with the six out in November). And three Max Carter FBI thrillers. And Senseless. And that’s not even mentioning the two vampire books (which are currently unpublished) or the three practise novels.
That’s 30 novels, with an eighth Fenchurch out in December.
And it’s further complicated by the continuity between series, both hard and soft.
So let’s start with the easy stuff. The Max Carter books are out of continuity with the rest of my books. Easy.
Next, Senseless and the Fenchurch books share the easter egg of Charlie the Seahorse, but nothing else.
The Fenchurch books feature some easter eggs with the Scottish ones, e.g. Fenchurch 3 features a bottle of Dunpender whisky from Cullen 3. You can surmise that the gap in the criminal market created in Fenchurch 6 led to some antics in Hunter 3.
(You could also link events in Fenchurch 6 to events in the Carter books, if you want. I haven’t, but if you want to, it’s totally cool.)
Now for the hard stuff, and Scott Cullen’s messy tales.
The first novel I published was Ghost in the Machine, back in April 2012, quickly followed by another three in just over a year (Devil in the Detail, Fire in the Blood and Stab in the Dark, originally published as Dyed in the Wool), then a fifth in 2015 (Cops & Robbers, originally published as Bottleneck), which I heavily edited recently (read: rewrote virtually from scratch) and added Craig Hunter to the book. Then I published a sixth in 2015 (Liars & Thieves, originally Windchill), followed by a seventh (Cowboys & Indians).
There was a three-year gap between the seventh and the eighth Cullen books, during which time I published two Craig Hunter books, Missing and Hunted, which feature Cullen in a somewhat adversarial role (and also could feature Alan from the Dodds books and Liam from the Fenchurch books covering the big news story).
Also, Craig Hunter features in the eighth Cullen, Heroes & Villains. And Cullen again appeared in the third Hunter book, The Black Isle. Then Hunter appears in all of the Cullen & Bain books (City of the Dead, World’s End, Hell’s Kitchen and Gore Glen). The fifth Cullen & Bain is a prequel, basically when Cullen met Bain, and could be read as the first or the penultimate (book 6, The Last Drop, is out in November).
Okay, so that sound complicated, right? But it’s actually straightforward. The optimal way to read them is in publication order, so:
- The first seven Cullens, then
- The first two Hunters, then
- The eighth Cullen, then
- The third Hunter, then
- The six Cullen and Bain books.
The next hard continuity is in the Vicky Dodds books. The first one, Tooth & Claw, came out in 2015 as “Snared”, but I heavily edited it back in 2018, though didn’t introduce any continuity with other books. Vicky features in a very brief cameo in Heroes & Villains (yes, that’s her on the training course). But there’s a lot more continuity with the Cullenverse in the second book, Flesh & Blood. And the third, Skin & Bone, features a lot more continuity and is set just after the second Cullen and Bain book, World’s End. One of the characters in that features in the fourth. And there might be other characters appearing in Cullen & Bain 6, The Last Drop.
So, to summarise:
- Senseless, and both the Carter and Fenchurch series can be read on their own.
- For Cullen, Hunter and Dodds, read in publication order, namely Cullen 1-7, Hunter 1-2, Cullen 8, Hunter 3, Dodds 0, Dodds 1-2, Cullen & Bain 1-2, Dodds 3, Cullen & Bain 3-6. Cullen & Bain 5 can be read as the first book.
Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the books.
Final note is that I’m committing to make the first books in all of the main series I publish at the lowest price Amazon will let me, which is currently 79p/99c, and also all of the books I publish are available in Kindle Unlimited to read free.
Again, here’s that link to my Amazon page with all of my books:
Cheers,
Ed
Podcast with me
Just a quick one to say I featured on Joanna Penn’s fantastic podcast this week, talking about my career and crime writing. If you don’t know her, Jo is the goddess of indie publishing. Her site is a treasure trove of resources for self-publishing (as it used to be known) and her podcast is a must-listen, featuring a wide range of authors.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!
https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2021/07/12/writing-and-marketing-crime-fiction/
Cheers, Ed
Dead in the Water out now!
Just a quick note to say that the fifth Cullen & Bain book, “Dead in the Water”, is out today on Kindle and paperback.
The ghosts of the past stay dead. Don’t they?
Ten years ago, a case brought two cops together and drove a wedge between another pair.
As Acting DC Scott Cullen works with DC Craig Hunter to track down a witness who didn’t show during a court case, they stumble upon another crime. Two homeless women, dying of a suspected heroin overdose.
As they investigate, they uncover a far-reaching criminal empire, dealing death and misery to Edinburgh’s underclass. And come across another investigative team who may not be exactly on the same side.
Travel back to the past and uncover the roots of the troubles that bedevil Cullen and Hunter in the present day.
Also, I just updated the reading order page here:
V&A stands for Violence & Action, right?
This is my year of Dundee, clearly.
In the last twelve months, I’ve published the second in the series (Flesh & Blood) after a long wait for it, then a half-length “book zero” (Blood & Guts, which is FREE), and now now now! Now, iit’s time for the third full book in the series, Skin & Bone.
A dead boy. A missing girl. A dark mystery.
When a teenage boy is abducted from a Dundee street in broad daylight, DS Vicky Dodds and her team are put on the case. The drowned body is found with just one clue — an inscrutable code scratched onto his arm.
Vicky must hunt across Dundee for the brutal killers, drawing on old friends and family to probe the deep corners of the dark web and Scottish gangs.
As Vicky learns to doubt who she can trust, she connects with a new friend, someone who can maybe help her resolve her own murky past.
It’s available now from Amazon on Kindle and in paperback at https://geni.us/EJD3web — I hope you enjoy it, but let me know how you get on with it.
Cheers,
Ed
Dundee Christmas Crime. In April?
Hey,
Hope you’re all doing as well as can be in the pandemic. Things are starting to open up a bit in Scotland — we’ve gone from not being able to leave your county and staying at home to pubs and shops being open and even being able to sit in a café. It’s very strange — I almost had an epiphany in TK Maxx yesterday.
Anyway, I wanted to let you know about a couple of releases of my books.
First, Blood & Guts is out now. It’s a FREE (as in beer) DS Vicky Dodds short novel out now on Amazon (and other retailers). Also out in paperback.
Chr
istmas Eve. A dead teenager, another missing. One hell of a case.
Settling down for a nice Christmas Eve with her daughter and her best friend, a phone call pulls DS Vicky Dodds into work and to a deadly new case.
A teenage girl, her body cooling in a cold, dark supermarket car park. Found next to her friend’s car, but she’s missing too — has the killer taken her? Or is she the killer?
As the clock ticks down, Vicky digs deep as she investigates Dundee’s grim underbelly, and shows real blood and guts as she cuts through the lies of teenagers and a colleague’s furious rage in her pursuit of the truth.
It’s set a few months before Tooth & Claw (originally published as SNARED, way back in 2015 — how time flies!). Blood & Guts was originally supposed to be a mailing list hook but it grew serious arms and legs as I worked on it. And as for the Christmas thing, well, it would’ve been out in time for Christmas 2020 if I hadn’t had all that hassle with my ticker (still going strong over five months since my procedure).
And don’t forget that Skin & Bone, the third full-length Vicky Dodds outing, is due to land on the 1st of May. Thanks to everyone who preordered it, it means a lot. I hope you enjoy it. It’s out in paperback now too (and I updated the loon and feel of the first two books if you want a cool-looking matching set).
And, and, and! There are audiobooks of Tooth & Claw and Flesh & Blood coming (but there’s a bit of a logjam with Audible, I gather). I’ll update you when they’re out.
Hope you enjoy the books — please leave a review if you can and do let me know.
Cheers,
Ed
These boots are made for running down back alleys
Just a quick note to say that the seventh Fenchurch novel is out now (and has been since early December, whoops).
Dead Man’s Shoes features the return of East London’s most-put-upon detective, toiling with the confines of a new role and a new boss.
One dead body. Enough blood for two.
Struggling in his new role, where he feels nowhere near worthy of following his predecessor, DCI Simon Fenchurch is called to a hipster brewery’s basement. A dead body has been found in a pool of blood. And there are two pairs of shoes at the scene. Does the second pair belong to the killer? Or another victim?
As the case veers off in an unexpected direction, Fenchurch comes to face-to-face with someone from his past, someone intent on causing havoc by revealing case secrets to the public. Secrets even Fenchurch doesn’t know.
As the hidden past becomes a present threat, can Fenchurch catch a brutal killer before they murder again? And can Fenchurch fill dead man’s shoes?
Currently sitting with over ninety five-star reviews, you can buy it for the price of £1.99 (for a limited time) from Amazon in ebook or paperback here. Also available to read for free in Kindle Unlimited. And if enough of you buy it, I’ll write more!
And if you want to catch up with the series to date, there are two boxed sets collecting the first six, available here.
(In other news, my heart operation in late November was a success and I’ve been recovering well ever since — huge thanks for all the best wishes.)
Into the Cullenverse (reading order)
[Updated 11-Aug-2021: Added the graphic to show the current state of play]
Where do I start?
The tl;dr (too long; didn’t read) version is:
- Senseless, and both the Carter and Fenchurch series can be read on their own.
- For Cullen, Hunter and Dodds, read in publication order, namely Cullen 1-7, Hunter 1-2, Cullen 8, Hunter 3, Dodds 1-2, Cullen & Bain 1-2, Dodds 3, Cullen & Bain 3-6. Cullen & Bain 5 can be read as the first book.
Here’s a link to my Amazon page featuring all of my books:
https://geni.us/EJHAuthor
Here for the long answer? Okay, settle in.
At the time of writing (14h July 2021), I have published a lot of books. Eight Scott Cullen novels, seven Simon Fenchurch, three Craig Hunter, two Vicky Dodds, and six Cullen and Bain short novels (with the six out in November). And three Max Carter FBI thrillers. And Senseless. And that’s not even mentioning the two vampire books (which are currently unpublished) or the three practise novels.
That’s 30 novels, with an eighth Fenchurch out in December.
And it’s further complicated by the continuity between series, both hard and soft.
So let’s start with the easy stuff. The Max Carter books are out of continuity with the rest of my books. Easy.
Next, Senseless and the Fenchurch books share the easter egg of Charlie the Seahorse, but nothing else.
The Fenchurch books feature some easter eggs with the Scottish ones, e.g. Fenchurch 3 features a bottle of Dunpender whisky from Cullen 3. You can surmise that the gap in the criminal market created in Fenchurch 6 led to some antics in Hunter 3.
(You could also link events in Fenchurch 6 to events in the Carter books, if you want. I haven’t, but if you want to, it’s totally cool.)
Now for the hard stuff, and Scott Cullen’s messy tales.
The first novel I published was Ghost in the Machine, back in April 2012, quickly followed by another three in just over a year (Devil in the Detail, Fire in the Blood and Stab in the Dark, originally published as Dyed in the Wool), then a fifth in 2015 (Cops & Robbers, originally published as Bottleneck), which I heavily edited recently (read: rewrote virtually from scratch) and added Craig Hunter to the book. Then I published a sixth in 2015 (Liars & Thieves, originally Windchill), followed by a seventh (Cowboys & Indians).
There was a three-year gap between the seventh and the eighth Cullen books, during which time I published two Craig Hunter books, Missing and Hunted, which feature Cullen in a somewhat adversarial role (and also could feature Alan from the Dodds books and Liam from the Fenchurch books covering the big news story).
Also, Craig Hunter features in the eighth Cullen, Heroes & Villains. And Cullen again appeared in the third Hunter book, The Black Isle. Then Hunter appears in all of the Cullen & Bain books (City of the Dead, World’s End, Hell’s Kitchen and Gore Glen). The fifth Cullen & Bain is a prequel, basically when Cullen met Bain, and could be read as the first or the penultimate (book 6, The Last Drop, is out in November).
Okay, so that sound complicated, right? But it’s actually straightforward. The optimal way to read them is in publication order, so:
- The first seven Cullens, then
- The first two Hunters, then
- The eighth Cullen, then
- The third Hunter, then
- The four Cullen and Bain books.
The next hard continuity is in the Vicky Dodds books. The first one, Tooth & Claw, came out in 2015 as “Snared”, but I heavily edited it back in 2018, though didn’t introduce any continuity with other books. Vicky features in a very brief cameo in Heroes & Villains (yes, that’s her on the training course). But there’s a lot more continuity with the Cullenverse in the second book, Flesh & Blood. And the third, Skin & Bone, features a lot more continuity and is set just after the second Cullen and Bain book, World’s End. One of the characters in that features in the fourth.
So, to summarise:
- Senseless, and both the Carter and Fenchurch series can be read on their own.
- For Cullen, Hunter and Dodds, read in publication order, namely Cullen 1-7, Hunter 1-2, Cullen 8, Hunter 3, Dodds 1-2, Cullen & Bain 1-2, Dodds 3, Cullen & Bain 3-6. Cullen & Bain 5 can be read as the first book.
Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the books.
Final note is that I’m committing to make the first books in all of the main series I publish at the lowest price Amazon will let me, which is currently 79p/99c, and also all of the books I publish are available in Kindle Unlimited to read free.
Again, here’s that link to my Amazon page with all of my books:
Cheers,
Ed
Hell’s Kitchen
Hey, hope you’re holding up well during all this madness.
Just a quick note from me to say that Hell’s Kitchen, the third Cullen & Bain book, is out now in ebook and paperback.
Two cities in lockdown. Two cops in distress, separated by an ocean.
“Ach, it’ll be fine.” Famous last words that leave DS Brian Bain trapped across the other side of the Atlantic from where he needs to be. Recording a podcast while the world ends.
“This a nightmare.” Shoved back into operational policing to manage the lockdown in Edinburgh, Acting DI Scott Cullen is faced with some ghosts from his past. Ghosts that kill. And with Bain thousands of miles away, can his long-standing plan come to fruition? Or will events dictate his actions?
Buy it now at Amazon! The fourth, Gore Glen, will be out in November.
I hope you’re keeping well. I’ve just finished the third Max Carter book, which will be out in late January 2021.
Flesh & Blood
Just a quick note to say that “Flesh & Blood”, the second DS Vicky Dodds book, is FINALLY out and available to read.
A dead body in a golf bunker. A serial killer back from the past. A daughter learning about her father.
When a body turns up in a golf course bunker, covered in blood and sand, DS Vicky Dodds must switch her usual Dundee patch to search her home town of Carnoustie for a murderer.
But when a second, connected body turns up, Vicky must confront the one who got away from someone close to her — the serial killer her cop father lost his mind hunting down back in the 90s.
As Vicky is torn between her job and her family life, other figures come out of the distant past. But can she stop this killer before he strikes again?
It’s available in ebook (£1.99/$2.99/€2.99) and paperback (£9.99/etc). Buy on Amazon now or read for free in Kindle Unlimited.
And if you missed the first book, TOOTH & CLAW, it’s currently 79p/99c in ebook!
(Note that I’ll be using this website a lot more over the next few months, so please keep checking in, and sign up to my mailing list to keep updated and get free, exclusive books!)
Cullen & Bain? What?
This year, my biggest writing focus has been on continuing the Scott Cullen series, but in a way that freshens it up for me.
Right now, I’m just away to start editing the third book in the series, “Hell’s Kitchen”, available to preorder here, but let me tell you how I got there.
Back in November 2017, I published a short story called “Travel Is Dangerous” in the CWA’s Anthology. Part of the agreement was that I could republish the story after two years. So, me being me, I had a little edit of the 4,000 word story. And it became a 25,000 word novella. And on the way, I somehow started writing from Bain’s perspective. Anyone who’s read one of those books, will know how… interesting that would be. And it was. That came out in March.
And what was next for the pairing? Well, World’s End. A few years back, I learnt that one of my friends was a “yellow item fiend”. You know what I’m saying, the type of guy who hangs around the price reduction section of supermarkets, waiting for the guy with the pricing gun to reduce the prices. In fact, my friend has gamified the system and doesn’t seem to buy anything above 5p.
When I was at high school, I had a part-time job in the local “Willie Low’s”, aka Wm Low, who were bought out by Tesco in 1995-ish. My pay went from £2.02 an hour to £3.90 in one move. Boom!
And that was the start of it. My friend’s deviancy, and some history. The story soon bloomed and blossomed into something different, something new. And it’s a 33k long novella now. “Hell’s Kitchen” draft 1 is almost 40k, so they’re getting longer!
Think of this format is like an episode of a TV show. Frequent episodes with a long-running story arc. They’ll be shorter but also cheaper.
And I’m loving writing these. I was in a bad place with these books. You might’ve noticed that it took three years for “Heroes & Villains” to come around, for instance. And no book nine. Well, here it is. Here they are. I’ve got a solid idea for a fourth book. And a fifth. I’ll keep these coming as long as you keep buying them.
Have a look at the books on Amazon now.
Book 1, City of the Dead.
Book 2, World’s End.
Book 3, Hell’s Kitchen.
Finally, hope you like the website. It’s a bit neglected, and I’m trying to simplify things so you can find stuff, but have a look and let me know if there’s anything you hate!
Cheers,
Ed
“Tell Me Lies” out now
Hey!
The first Max Carter book is out now!
FBI special agent Max Carter is on the hunt – he’ll stop at nothing to catch a kidnapper with a taste for danger and a need for revenge. Fans of Lee Child and David Baldacci will be gripped by this heart-racing thriller from bestselling author Ed James.
As Senator Christopher Holliday walks through the halls of the US Federal Building in Seattle, his phone beeps with an alert. Frustrated by the interruption, he takes a quick glance and is horrified by the image on the screen – his two children, Brandon and Avery, unconscious. The message simply reads: Meet me or they die.
The race is on to find the children and leading the investigation is Special Agent Max Carter from the FBI’s Child Abduction Rapid Deployment team. He will stop at nothing to find children stolen from their families – after all, he was once one of those taken children, so he knows exactly what’s at stake.
Rushing to the Senator’s home in Washington State, Carter faces a wall of police cruisers and blacked-out SUVs. Megan Holliday, the senator’s wife, was ambushed by a man with a gun as she returned home from taking her kids out for ice cream. Bound and drugged, the attacker left her unconscious on the doorstep before messaging her husband.
When Senator Holliday flees the federal building, but fails to show up at home, Carter grows suspicious. The busy politician has vanished without telling anyone what he’s up to. If Carter knows one thing, it’s that Holliday has something to hide. And he just became Carter’s prime suspect.
You can buy it everywhere!
Amazon: https://geni.us/B07ZJC71FCSocial
Apple: buff.ly/2JBFrYz
Kobo: buff.ly/2NbeXxL
Google: https://buff.ly/2Pj0Edm
I do hope you enjoy it, and please leave a review. It’s incredibly helpful!
Thanks!
Ed
Weekly newsletter
Hey you!
In a possible bout of insanity, I have started a free weekly newsletter. Not for everyone, but maybe it’s just right for you? Sign up at https://edjames.substack.com and you’ll get a blast from the innards of my skull straight into your inbox. Starting tomorrow. Get to it!
Ed
PS Hunter 3 is on preorder now. Out 1st December. Preorder on Amazon now!
KILL THE MESSENGER
He’s back.
A brutal murder. A haunted detective. A case that unearths monsters.
When a young woman is killed, squashed between a London bus and a white van, DI Simon Fenchurch is called in to investigate, soon discovering the case has deeper roots than initially appears.
With new gangs wrestling to take over east London and a fresh wave of innocent victims exploited by new monsters, Fenchurch must work with old friends and new foes to unpick a web of lies and deceit.
As Fenchurch and his wife Abi struggle to reconnect with their daughter, Fenchurch comes face to face with his worst nightmare — the man who allegedly abducted Chloe eleven years ago, now out having served time for another murder. But is Fenchurch just playing to his own prejudices? Is he looking for the real killer? And will he have to pay a high price to catch a brutal murderer?
Available now from Amazon on Kindle (read for free using Kindle Unlimited) and paperback.
https://mybook.to/EJMessenger
And thanks for all of the support over the years — I couldn’t do this without you.
— Ed
Fenchurch 6, by accident
So I thought I was finished with Fenchurch. I really did. But no.
I finished my contract with Thomas & Mercer with the August release of “Kill with Kindness”, and left Fenchurch and his family in a good place. Certainly compared with where he was when we met him in “The Hope that Kills”, it was almost like Fenchurch had found happiness.
But.
When I was editing it, I found a little plot hole in book four, “In for the Kill”, that I wanted to plug with a novella. And novellas are nice and simple, no complexity, just fifteen to twenty chapters, 30,000 words. Easy.
Yeah, right.
I should’ve known myself by now. Two Cullen novels, book 3 “Fire in the Blood” and book 6 “Liars and Thieves” (previously known as “Windchill”), started out as novellas, but grew arms and legs as I explored them. Just like this one has.
Chronologically, the action occurred between books 3 and 4 but, rather than open up the numbering or lose some commercial jiggery pokery, I decided to put in two “bookend” chapters in, set after book 5, where Fenchurch arrives at court to give evidence on a case, then the drama was his testimony.
But.
A few bits and pieces kept growing. Some opportunities presented themselves as I wrote. Before I knew it, my thin bookend chapter at the end had become three. And they didn’t really flow that well. So I had another look at the whole thing, and I could shift some of the drama out of the flashback section, partly because there wasn’t enough reaction and reflection between certain plot points, and…
Well, “Kill the Messenger” is a full novel now. Two parts. One set in the past between “What Doesn’t Kill You” and “In for the Kill”, and the second after book five, “Kill with Kindness”. It’s also a bit of an experiment to see if the self-publishing model works for a series this far advanced — if enough people buy this, then I’ll do more books. Simple. I’ve got ideas on how to make Fenchurch more miserable than he already is.
And it’s on pre-order now, with release on Feb 27th, 2019. For the whole of December, you can buy it for £1.99 (or the local equivalent) on Kindle, after which it’ll go up to £2.99. Which is a bargain. There’ll be a paperback on day one (Amazon don’t allow print-on-demand paperback pre-orders), but sadly no current plans for audiobook (the previous narrator has retired!). And if you’re in Kindle Unlimited, you can read it for free when it comes out.
Anyway, hope you enjoy it when it comes out.
UK Amazon link — https://amzn.to/2BJwhWn
Rest of work — http://mybook.to/EJMessenger
And in case you’ve missed them, the rest of the series is 99p this month (UK, AU, DE only):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B079RTGTD6/
And you have read the latest Cullen, right?
https://amzn.to/2PaODCX
— Ed
Cullen 8 on preorder now!
You lucky, lucky people!
“Heroes & Villains”, the eighth Scott Cullen novel, will be released on 3rd November, 2018.
Pre-order it now:
Amazon UK | Rest of the world
Book blurb:
After a previous case got him sidelined to a drugs investigation, DS Scott Cullen of Police Scotland’s Edinburgh MIT closes in on a long-time adversary. Dean Vardy, Edinburgh’s latest drug kingpin, and notorious rapist. Every time they close in on him, he gets off, aided and abetted by his lawyer, Campbell McLintock. But this time Vardy goes too far.
Or does he? After a witness dies, Cullen is soon desperately trying to hold the case together, with Vardy’s conviction dangling by a thread. Will McLintock get Vardy off yet again?
But soon, Cullen and his team are facing a different threat. A brutal vigilante, doling out frontier justice and obeying no laws. Can Cullen catch a killer who could be one of their own?
Kill with Kindness out today!
A sadistic killer. An infamous victim. A crime that gets darker and darker…
The body of a young woman is found in a London hotel room, the victim of a suspected poisoning. Called in to investigate, DI Simon Fenchurch soon discovers the case is far more sinister than he could have imagined.
He should have recognised the woman at once—a teacher at a local school, her scandalous affair with a pupil has been splashed across the tabloids. As Fenchurch interrogates those closest to her, a web of suspicious connections begins to emerge.
Meanwhile Fenchurch’s own life is still in turmoil: his family fragmented, his baby son in intensive care, and his mentor replaced by an unsympathetic new boss. The streets of London are in chaos too, with a spate of acid attacks on seemingly random victims.
Struggling to hold on to hope on both fronts, Fenchurch faces the toughest few days of his career. Can he keep his family safe and catch whoever is behind the murder before more lives are lost?
Buy it now!
UK — https://amzn.to/2nhcxkL
Rest of world — http://mybook.to/Fenchurch5
What's new?
Hello you.
Quick new post from me to update you on what’s happening in my world. Realise that I’ve been very quiet since April, so let’s fix that.
Fenchurch
Most of my time in 2017 was spent on that old rascal. Two novels, now called IN FOR THE KILL and KILL WITH KINDNESS, out in April and July respectively. They progress the Fenchurch story in a satisfying way, given what happened in book three, hopefully enough to buy me a little time and not have to write any more of him for a while. You’ll forgive me in time. I know you will.
Cullen & Hunter
I’ve started work on the eighth Cullen book, HEROES & VILLAINS. Given the release of the two Fenchurch books, it won’t be out until October. I’m trying something new with this one, so hopefully it’ll work well. There won’t be a Hunter book this year, but expect one next year assuming that book 2 keeps selling as well as it has.
Vicky Dodds
Watch out for a new edit of book 1 to drop in the new month or so. New cover, a ton of editing (it’s almost a new book, goddammit) and hopefully enough energy to make people want a sequel. Book 2, FLESH AND BLOOD, will be the next Scottish cop book I do after Cullen 8. Both are long overdue, but Cullen is the one I get messages about every day, so . . .
What else am I doing?
Aha. Two big things. New things. As for what they are, you’ll have to watch this space, but they’re both going to be brilliant, even if I do say so myself.
Hope 2018 has been good to you.
— Ed
Morning Splurge
I’ve been doing a daily blog called Morning Splurge. I’ve just put in a new books update which might shut you lot up about Cullen 8. Though it probably won’t.
— Ed
Fenchurch 3 out today!
Hello you!
The third DI Fenchurch book is out now. NOW. NOW!
What doesn’t kill you only serves to make you stronger. Or does it? Questions are answered, wounds reopened.
The body of a young City lawyer is discovered on an East London building site, assaulted and brutally murdered. Initial enquiries lead DI Simon Fenchurch to a driver employed by Travis, a controversial new app-based cab company. Within days another woman—a Travis driver—is found murdered.
As the body count goes up, DI Fenchurch and his colleagues on the East London Major Investigation Team delve into the crimes and unveil a murky conspiracy that some will do anything to keep hidden.
When familiar faces begin to emerge from the shadows, Fenchurch realises this case is more personal than he’d thought. Could he finally be on the brink of solving the mystery that has dogged him for over a decade: who abducted his daughter, Chloe—and where is she now?
UK link — http://amzn.to/2piriXl
US link — https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M1EOQDS/
AU link — https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B01M1EOQDS/
I seriously hope you enjoy the book and are still talking to me after it’s all done and dusted.
— Ed