App Store

Google Play

BG - Details page - Device banner - 894x1036

Открийте безкрайна вселена от истории

Слушайте и четете

Geraldine Evans

For Readers who like mysteries without a lot of gore, humorous mysteries, and police procedurals.

*

Absolute Poison

Superstitious British Detective Joseph Rafferty is having a bad week – not an unusual occurrence – and he can't help feeling trouble comes in threes.

Rafferty's premonition turns out to be accurate when a company manager is found dead at his desk. The tyrannical Barstaple had known full well that he was hated by most of the office. But did he really deserve to be poisoned? And so horribly.

*

Dying For You

Detective Inspector Joe Rafferty manages to become chief suspect in his own double murder investigation. And all he'd been doing was looking for love…

*

It had been his sergeant's wedding that had brought home to him that, far from still being the 'Jack the Lad' of old, he was not only lonely, but in danger of turning into a sad old git. So, with his fortieth birthday on the horizon, he decides it's time to take the initiative. To this end, he signs up with the Made in Heaven dating agency. Wary of Ma and his colleagues discovering his shameful secret, he borrows a fake ID. It's just unfortunate that the first two women with whom he strikes up a rapport should wind up murdered and with himself – or rather his alter ego – in the frame for the crimes.

*

Bad Blood

A robbery gone wrong, Detective Joe Rafferty thought, when the latest murder victim, wealthy widow, Clara Mortimer was found battered to death in her home. Then Rafferty learned she wasn't a widow at all—and her estranged husband was living in the same block under a false name. But that's not the only suspicious aspect of the case: Clara Mortimer's family add another complication, not eased either by their several deceptions or by the difficulties in Rafferty's personal life, which, as always, seems to be guided by a malign fate and makes him take his eye off the investigatory ball. But could he help it if his automatic reaction when his live-in girlfriend Abra said she might be pregnant, wasn't exactly New Man?

Their investigation brings Rafferty and Llewellyn face to face with just how down and dirty families can be. And not just the families of murder victims.

*

Love Lies Bleeding 

A most unlikely killer is British Detective Joe Rafferty's immediate thought when the slender and bloodied Felicity Raine stumbles into the police station and confesses to murdering her husband. Rafferty thinks her even more unlikely a murderer when he meets her in-laws, and catches them out in several deceits. There is something peculiar going on, he is convinced. Because although Felicity isn't due to receive any financial benefit from her husband's death, others in the Raine family certainly are.

Solo Books

Rafferty & Llewellyn British Mystery Series

Rafferty & Llewellyn Boxed Set Books 5-8: British Detectives

RAFFERTY & LLEWELLYN BRITISH MYSTERIES BOX-SET BOOKS 1 TO 4

*

Little gore but a lot of laughs

*

Dead Before Morning #1

Down Among the Dead Men #2

Death Line #3

The Hanging Tree #4

*

Dead Before Morning
British Detective Joe Rafferty and his partner, Sergeant Dafyd Llewellyn, in a murder mystery involving the killing of a young woman, bludgeoned beyond recognition, with no ID and found in a secure place to which she supposedly had no admission. Who is she? How has she gained access? And who murdered her?

*

Down Among the Dead Men
British Detectives Joe Rafferty and his partner, Dafyd Llewellyn, must discover who murdered Barbara Longman, a woman with no known enemies. But when it soon becomes apparent that someone who must have known the victim well has committed the murder, the police investigation shifts to the victim's family, the wealthy and influential Shores. Rafferty suspects that Charles Shore, not a man known to forgive failure, will use his influence to damage Rafferty's career should he fail to find the murderer.

*

Death Line
Death Line sees the detective duo trying to solve the murder mystery-with his own crystal ball-of the famed 'seer', Jasper Moon. Gradually they discover that Jasper Moon was a man of many parts, not all of them very savoury. Moon was a wealthy man, but seems to have written no will; certainly, Detectives Rafferty and Llewellyn can't find it. The detective duo must take their murder investigation back through the years to the victim's youth to answer that question: 'Who did it?'. And Rafferty fears that after such a long time, the evidence their murder inquiry needs will no longer be there to find.

*

The Hanging Tree
This murder mystery involves the detective pair in the case of the vanishing hanged man. But when the hanged man turns up in Dedman Woods for a second time, the British detectives can confirm that he is a man many had reason to hate. Because Maurice Smith, charged years earlier with four child rapes, had escaped on a legal technicality. Detective Rafferty feels ambivalent about the case from the start. Not sure his desire to solve it is strong enough, he has to fight the feeling that natural justice, in winning out against the judicial sort, has right on its side. Rafferty, caught between the law and his own sense of morality, feels this is an investigation that could cause him to demand his own resignation as a detective.

*

There are 18 novels in the Rafferty & Llewellyn Mystery Series

Rafferty and Llewellyn British Mysteries Books 1 - 4: British Detectives

'This often comic tale sharpens the appetite for more.' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

'Evans' humor seriously added to my enjoyment of her book. The series has stand out central characters and clever plots.' AUNT AGATHA'S BOOKSHOP, ANN ARBOR

Dead Before Morning

#1 of 18 in the Rafferty & Llewellyn British Detective Series

A Little Laughter. A Little Mayhem. A Little MURDER…

For readers who like cozy mysteries, humorous mysteries and police procedurals.

With his superstitious Irish nature, British Detective Joe Rafferty isn’t surprised that his first murder case as a newly-promoted Essex detective is a tough one. The murder victim, whom the media has dubbed 'The Faceless Lady', has no ID and has been bludgeoned beyond recognition. She also supposedly had no access to the secure psychiatric facility where her dead body is found. The news media has seized on the case, placing Rafferty in an unwelcome spotlight. His boss, with whom he shares a mutual loathing, would love to see him fail.

And these are not his only little difficulties. Because Detective Rafferty is cursed by a malign fate and with a large family who believe obeying the Law of the Land is optional, Rafferty capitulates to his ma's demand that he does whatever it takes to get his crooked distant cousin out of the pokey in time for his marriage to Ma’s niece. Successfully accomplishing this sticky manoeuvre is sure to be challenging, but keeping it upwind of his morally stiff new partner might be a demand too far.

If Rafferty can't spring his cousin in time, his Ma's liable to commit murder—his. And if the Faceless Lady's case remains unsolved, the Superintendent will black-mark his record so indelibly that his career as a detective will never recover. If he still has a career left to ruin.

The first book in the quirky, not quite so Traditional British mystery series.

Rafferty & Llewellyn series

Dead Before Morning #1

Down Among the Dead Men #2

Death Line #3

The Hanging Tree #4

Absolute Poison #5

Dying For You #6

Bad Blood #7

Love Lies Bleeding #8

Blood on the Bones #9

A Thrust to the Vitals #10

Death Dues #11

All the Lonely People #12

Death Dance #13

Deadly Reunion #14

Kith and Kill #15

Asking For It #16

The Spanish Connection #17

Dead Before Morning: British Detectives

'A great duo and a great read.'

'The pairing of the two detectives is brilliant. Rafterty is desperate to get one over on his partner but never quite succeeds. The plot keeps you guessing with many twists and turns. Read and enjoy!'

A Little Laughter. A Little Mayhem. A Little MURDER…

Jasper Moon, internationally renowned ‘seer to the stars’, had signally failed to foresee his own future. He is found dead on his consulting-room floor, his skull crushed with a crystal ball and, all, around him, his office in chaos.

Meanwhile, Ma Rafferty does some star-gazing of her own and is sure she can predict Detective Inspector Joe Rafferty’s future –- by the simple expedient of organising it herself. She is still engaged on her crusade to get Rafferty married off to a good Catholic girl with child-bearing hips. But Rafferty has a cunning plan to sabotage her machinations. Only trouble is, he needs Sergeant Llewellyn’s cooperation and he isn’t sure he’s going to get it.

During their murder investigations, Inspector Rafferty and Sergeant Llewellyn discover a highly incriminating video concealed in Moon’s flat, a video which, if made public, could wreck more than one life. Gradually, connections begin to emerge between Moon and others in the small Essex town of Elmhurst. But how is Rafferty to solve the case when all of his suspects have seemingly unbreakable alibis?

RAFFERTY & LLEWELLYN SERIES

Dead Before Morning #1

Down Among the Dead Men #2

Death Line #3

The Hanging Tree #4

Absolute Poison #5

Dying For You #6

Bad Blood #7

Love Lies Bleeding #8

Blood on the Bones #9

A Thrust to the Vitals #10

Death Dues #11

All the Lonely People #12

Death Dance #13

Deadly Reunion #14

Kith and Kill #15

Asking For It #16

The Spanish Connection #17

Game of Bones #18

Death Line: British Detectives

'A WONDERFULLY ENTERTAINING READ'.

A Little Laughter. A Little Mayhem. a Little MURDER…

'The old crossroads used to run by here, ' Sam told Rafferty.'Legend has it that this was the original Hanging Tree. '

When Inspector Rafferty hears that a bound and hooded body has been seen hanging from a tree in Dedman Wood, he dismisses it as a schoolboy hoax. But then the witness turns out to be a respectable local magistrate, who identifies the corpse as Maurice Smith. Once accused of four child rapes, Smith's case became a cause-celebre when it was thrown out on a legal technicality, causing much ill-feeling in the community. And now Smith seems to have disappeared…

Then the body turns up again in the woods. Could there be a self-appointed executioner at work, meting out his own form of justice on the legendary Hanging Tree?

'CLEVER AND BELIEVABLE CHARACTERS.'

There are eighteen books in the Rafferty & Llewellyn series.

BOOKS IN THE RAFFERTY & LLEWELLYN SERIES

Dead Before Morning #1

Down Among the Dead Men #2

Death Line #3

The Hanging Tree #4

Absolute Poison #5

Dying For You #6

Bad Blood #7

Love Lies Bleeding #8

Blood on the Bones #9

A Thrust to the Vitals #10

Death Dues #11

All the Lonely People #12

Death Dance #13

Deadly Reunion #14

Kith and Kill #15

Asking For It #16

The Spanish Connection #17

Game of Bones #18

ABOUT THE SERIES:

DI Joe Rafferty, working-class lapsed Catholic, is cursed by coming from a family who thinks -- if he must be a copper -- he might at least have the decency to be a bent one. When you add the middle-class, more moral than the Pope intellectual DS Dafyd Llewellyn to the brew the result is murder with plenty of laughs for readers and plenty of angst for Rafferty.

The Hanging Tree: British Detectives

#5 of 18 in the Rafferty & Llewellyn British Mystery Series

A Little Laughter. A Little Mayhem. a Little MURDER…

DI Joe Rafferty -- another murder investigation -- another little family difficulty.

Detective Inspector Joseph Rafferty is having a bad week and he can't help feeling trouble comes in threes. Also niggling in his mind is the fact that Llewellyn, his posh sergeant, has brought a 'bargain' suit from Rafferty's Ma. Sure to be stolen goods, the suit is bound to drop Rafferty in it when the holier-than-thou Llewellyn wears it on his wedding day.

Rafferty's first premonition turns out to be accurate when a company manager is found dead at his desk. The tyrannical Barstaple had known full well that he was hated by most of the office. But did he really deserve to be poisoned? And so horribly.

Rafferty's week goes from bad to worse and worse again. And when you take the 'bargain' suit into the equation, the week really has gone to Hell in a handcart. And taken Rafferty with it.

RAFFERTY AND LLEWELLYN SERIES

Dead Before Morning #1

Down Among the Dead Men #2

Death Line #3

The Hanging Tree #4

Absolute Poison #5

Dying For You #6

Bad Blood #7

Love Lies Bleeding #8

Blood on the Bones #9

A Thrust to the Vitals #10

Death Dues #11

All the Lonely People #12

Death Dance #13

Deadly Reunion #14

Kith and Kill #15

Asking For It #16

The Spanish Connection #17

Game of Bones #18

Absolute Poison #5: British Detectives

'This was an interesting and entertaining mystery. It not only relates the details of the crimes committed, but also delves into the life of the lead investigator, Joe Rafferty. I highly recommend it to other mystery readers.'

'This is yet another instalment in the excellent Rafferty and Llewelyn series of British police procedurals. D. I. Rafferty and sergeant Llewelyn have a murder at a Public School reunion to solve. As usual their boss, Supt. Bradley, wants instant results, at the lowest possible cost to his budget.

Rafferty’s home life is as chaotic as usual, but I won’t spoil the plot by giving any details.

This is a very good detective story, well worth reading.'

#14 of 18-novel series

When a former pupil attending a school reunion at the prestigious Griffin School is found dead it is at first assumed Adam Ainsley died from a simple heart attack while out for a run in the nearby woods.

But the retired ex-professional rugby player was a fit young man in his thirties, who hadn't been near a doctor for years, so a post-mortem is called for. The PM's toxicology report shows that Ainsley was poisoned, but whether by his own hand or that of another's is far from clear.

When DI Joe Rafferty and his partner, Dafyd Llewellyn, are called in to investigate, they find plenty of simmering emotions amongst Ainsley's co-reunees. It seems Adam Ainsley, the school's sporting hero, had made a lasting impression, and not always for his prowess on the sporting field.

And when the detective pair delves deeper, they find reasons for the lasting resentment. But how to prove which one of the ex-pupils has let feelings fester for twenty years, to end in murder, isn't so readily apparent.

And Rafferty's Ma, Kitty Rafferty, hasn't chosen her dates well for organising a reunion of her own. Coping with a high-profile murder case at work, and temporary guests at home ensures Rafferty finds little peace to think constructively in either place.

Will this be the investigation that culminates in Superintendent Bradley finally achieving his aim of stripping Rafferty of his hard-won inspector rank?

Books in the Rafferty & Llewellyn British Mystery series

Dead Before Morning #1

Down Among the Dead Men #2

Death Line #3

The Hanging Tree #4

Absolute Poison #5

Dying For You #6

Bad Blood #7

Love Lies Bleeding #8

Blood on the Bones #9

A Thrust to the Vitals #10

Death Dues #11

All the Lonely People #12

Death Dance #13

Deadly Reunion #14

Kith and Kill #15

Asking For It #16

The Spanish Connection #17

Game of Bones #18

Deadly Reunion: British Detectives

ʻHer writing, along with red herrings, is usually done in such a clever way that when you leave the roller coaster you have had a thrilling ride. ’

When Sophia Egerton, matriarch of a family of fashion designers, is murdered on her ninetieth birthday, British Detective Joe Rafferty wonders if one of her family thought she'd lived too long. Because most of the suspects just happen to be the wealthy Sophia's ever-loving relatives.

*

Rafferty's murder investigation is thwarted by his own parish priest, Father Roberto Kelly. The priest, so frequently Rafferty's bête-noire, has turned up to offer succour to one of his lady parishioners. And Rafferty realises that it is only by getting the wilful priest on-side that he will ever get to solve this murder mystery and get a conviction.

*

But can he ever persuade the wilfully self-righteous priest that helping to solve a murder is more worthy of a nod from God, than protecting the secrets of the confessional?

*

RAFFERTY & LLEWELLYN MYSTERY SERIES

Dead Before Morning #1

Down Among the Dead Men #2

Death Line #3

The Hanging Tree #4

Absolute Poison #5

Dying For You #6

Bad Blood #7

Love Lies Bleeding #8

Blood on the Bones #9

A Thrust to the Vitals #10

Death Dues #11

All the Lonely People #12

Death Dance #13

Deadly Reunion #14

Kith and Kill #15

Asking For It # 16

The Spanish Connection #17

Game of Bones #18

Kith and Kill: British Detectives

ʻThis series gets better and better. ’

A Little Laughter. A Little Mayhem. A Little MURDER…

*

A nine-month pregnant wife, a murder victim found on an archaeological dig minus his fingers, and very limited time, meant that Joe Rafferty wasn’t a happy bunny. Superintendent Bradley, media darling and determined to stay that way, only added to Rafferty’s stress.

*

They discovered that their murder victim had vanished from Spain, where he worked for Charlie Carver, a Mr Big of the Costa del Crime. But Rafferty’s visit to Spain was cut short when to Abra went into labour. And despite his promises that he’d be there at his child’s birth, wouldn’t you know the French air traffic controllers had staged their usual summer strike.

*

Superintendent Bradley, with the heady thought of promotion filling his mind, demanded he get Charlie Carver, who’d be a big feather in his cap with the brass. But Rafferty was convinced Carver wasn’t the murderer this time, whatever else he might be guilty of. Becoming a daddy for the first was a big thing for Rafferty, in more ways than one. But he didn't know how he was to satisfy Abra that he was pulling his weight with the baby and at the same time find the killer.

*

His first marriage had held similar demands, but he couldn't risk what he had with Abra, yet at the same time, he was determined to find the killer, whatever the cost.

*

ʻAlways entertaining. ’

*

RAFFERTY & LLEWELLYN MYSTERY SERIES

Dead Before Morning #1

Down Among the Dead Men #2

Death Line #3

The Hanging Tree #4

Absolute Poison #5

Dying For You #6

Bad Blood #7

Love Lies Bleeding #8

Blood on the Bones #9

A Thrust to the Vitals #10

Death Dues #11

All the Lonely People #12

Death Dance #13

Deadly Reunion #14

Kith and Kill #15

Asking For It #16

The Spanish Connection # 17

Game of Bones #18

The Spanish Connection: British Detectives

'Darn good read.'

'Thoroughly enjoyed the whole series. Great characters and storyline.'

Sergeant Llewellyn's remark that, perhaps, 'Someone else' had made them a gift of Professor Babbington as the murderer, was just sour grapes, in Detective Joe Rafferty's opinion.

But Llewellyn had planted a tiny doubt where none had existed before. Rafferty, convinced in his own mind that they had the right culprit for the murder of University Administrator, Rupert Hunter-York, forced himself to disregard Llewellyn, who was known to greatly admire Babbington. They had so much proof it was embarrassing: Babbington's fingerprints on the murder weapon; the victim's blood on his shirt; and his DNA on the dead man.

So Rafferty couldn't believe it when his 'sure thing' slowly began to unravel. He refused to admit his growing doubts about Babbington's guilt to Llewellyn, who continued to champion the professor, and was as convinced of Babbington's innocence as Rafferty was of his culpability.

But then they discovered surprising new evidence, and all Rafferty's certainty vanished into dust. He prepared himself to face the music when Superintendent Bradley came back from his expensive holiday, to find that the 'sure thing' he had left with Rafferty, had inexplicably become anything but.

Unless Joe Rafferty could find some way to turn defeat into triumph…

Rafferty & Llewellyn British Mystery series

Dead Before Morning #1

Down Among the Dead Men #2

Death Line #3

The Hanging Tree #4

Absolute Poison #5

Dying for You #6

Bad Blood #7

Love Lies Bleeding #8

Blood on the Bones #9

A Thrust to the Vitals #10

Death Dues #11

All the Lonely People #12

Death Dance #13

Deadly Reunion #14

Kith and Kill #15

Asking for It #16

The Spanish Connection #17

Game of Bones #18