Graham Ison: 31 books

It is June 1917. DDI Ernest Hardcastle, head of the CID for the Whitehall division of the Metropolitan Police, is called to investigate the murder of a very senior civil servant, Sir Nigel Strang. Given that Sir Nigel was the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Munitions, Hardcastle wonders...

It is June 1916, four weeks before the opening day of the disastrous Battle of the Somme. Hardcastle is sent to Kingston-upon-Thames to investigate the murder of Colonel Sir Adrian Rivers, a retired and distinguished soldier. The colonel's second wife, Muriel, seems neither distressed by the murders,...

When Eunice Bailey takes her wedding ring to a London jeweller to have it enlarged, she is very keen for it to be done quickly. She is a reliable and favoured customer and when the jeweller is unable to get in touch with her to collect the ring, he contacts the police. Detective Chief Inspector...

A fast-moving, intricate and compelling contemporary mystery, starting with the brutal murder of a prostitute in London's West End, and uncovering a politician with feet of clay, a bent ex-policeman and a baggage handling scam at Heathrow airport. Brock and Poole might seem mismatched in age and temperament, but their verbal sparring hides a genuine mutual respect.

When a woman's body is found by the Thames river police, floating opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, it doesn't take DCI Brock long to work out that she has been murdered. Further investigation reveals the woman was one of a stable of prostitutes run by a shadowy figure wanted in...

Convicted armed robber Jimmy 'Spotter' Gould is shot dead within seconds of emerging from London's Stone Mill Prison at the end of an eight-year sentence, and Brock and DS Poole are faced with yet anther baffling crime. s enquiries continue, an embezzling solicitor's clerk, a dodgy undertaker and a dubious motor trader all enter the frame.

When MP Hugh Blakemore is shot dead in the Fulham Road, DCI Harry Brock and DS Dave Poole are assigned to the case. Months previously, Blakemore killed an inmate when visiting a prison, and although Blakemore was exonerated, Brock is convinced this is a revenge killing. In an investigation...

A burglary gone wrong turns complicated in this mystery marked by “solid plotting, realistic descriptions of police work, and dry wit” (Booklist).   At near midnight on a sweltering hot July Saturday, Det. Chief Inspector Harry Brock is called to a murder in a house at West Drayton, close to...

When police are called to a house in Chelsea following a complaint of a noisy party, all seems to be quiet - but a short while later, flames are seen coming from the house In the main bedroom, the fire brigade find the body of Mrs Diana Barton, who has been stabbed to death. DCI Harry Brock...

One Saturday night, a masked gunman walks into a jazz club and murders the drummer with a sawn-off shotgun. Shortly afterwards, Detective Chief Inspector Brock and Detective Sergeant Poole find themselves taking an interest in the guests at a party in Surrey's stockbroker belt - a party where naked...

A serial killer is at large. One item ties the victims together: in each case, their bra has been removed. Can DCI Harry Brock and DS Dave Pool crack a disturbing case? On a hot Tuesday morning in June, Detective Chef Inspector Harry Brock is called to Richmond Park in south-west London, where...

A letter from a vicar in Norfolk leads DDI Hardcastle and DS Marriott on the road to a shocking and macabre discovery . . . One rainy morning in March 1927, Divisional Detective Inspector Ernest Hardcastle of the Metropolitan Police is summoned to the office of the Chief Constable CID at New Scotland...

**Introducing the pipe-smoking DI Ernest Hardcastle, bluff straight-talker, canny investigator and no respecter of privilege.**1916. In a London shocked by reports of the first days of the Somme, a woman is found murdered in Shoreditch. At first it's thought she was a common streetwalker, but then...

The strangled body of actress Victoria Hart is found in Windsor Great Park in the early hours of Christmas Day. Hardcastle and Marriott are sent from Scotland Yard to investigate - much to the irritation of their respective wives. The trail leads to the Beaux Belles revue at the Windsor Empire,...