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Sally Spencer

Scotland Yard’s Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend finds himself in a backwater village investigating a murder in this taut police procedural.

1950s Cheshire, England. When the strangled body of teenager Diane Thorburn is found buried in the salt store, Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend is pulled in from London to investigate. An outspoken Northerner, he does his policing the old-fashioned way, and he is convinced that Margie Poole, Diane’s best friend, knows more about Diane’s last movements than she is prepared to tell. Then Woodend’s inquiry turns up the death of another young girl a generation before. The similarities in the two cases begin to look more sinister than mere coincidence. Could there be a serial killer on the loose… ?

“Spencer conjures a great sense of menace in the troubled village, and her epilogue is a real stunner, promising more from a very talented writer. ” —Booklist

“Spencer’s US debut provides sturdy mystery-mongering, reliably quaint suspects, and an unusually detailed list of clues. ” —Kirkus Reviews

Severn House

The Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend Mysteries

The Salton Killings

Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend and his loyal sergeant tackle a murder with as many suspects as there are clues in this tight puzzler. 
 
Swann’s Lake, 1960. When Robbie Peterson, a criminal-turned-club-owner, is found dead in his office, a six-inch nail driven deep into his skull, Chief Inspector Woodend and Sergeant Bob Rutter are brought up from London to investigate. Why was Robbie’s office broken into twice on the day of his funeral? What caused Robbie’s son-in-law to attack his own brother on the night of the murder? As the case unfolds, Woodend uncovers several crimes, but it is only as it draws to a close that he realizes the murder has nothing to do with Robbie’s criminal past—and everything to do with his domestic present.

Murder at Swann's Lake

Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend enters the smoky dens of Liverpool to stop a killer stuck in a deadly groove. 
 
Liverpool, 1960s. When Eddie Barnes, lead guitarist of the rising group The Seagulls is electrocuted on stage at the Cellar Club in front of three hundred adoring fans, the Liverpool Police call in Scotland Yard’s Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend. But Woodend doesn’t understand why Eddie’s mother says that Eddie had a girlfriend, while his best mate insists that he didn’t. And who has been playing nasty tricks on The Seagulls, culminating in Eddie finding a dead rat—with a noose around its neck—in his guitar case? As Woodend battles with the complexities of the case, he is more than aware that if he does not find the murderer soon, there could well be another death.
 
 “Solid and reliable as Woodend himself.” —Kirkus Reviews 
 
 “Characters are diverse, intriguing and believable, plots never fail to surprise . . . Recommend Spencer confidently to anyone who enjoys British procedurals.” —Booklist

Death of a Cave Dweller

Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend will have to rely on his observational gifts to have a ghost of chance in solving his latest murder case. 
 
 The night after the mysterious appearance of the legendary Dark Lady on the road outside Westbury Park, a German efficiency expert, Gerhard Schultz, is found battered to death in the woods and Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend is faced with his most puzzling case yet. Why did Schultz seem so frightened when on his colleagues mentioned the legend of the Dark Lady? Did the workers at the BCI chemical factory—many of whom are known to hate the Germans—have anything to do with his death? How could Fred Foley, the tramp whose bloodstained overcoat was found close to the scene of the crime, have completely disappeared? And is this murder connected with one which occurred in Liverpool nearly twenty years earlier?
 
 “A very successful British procedural, nicely complicated by leftovers from both local lore and the war.” —Library Journal
 
 “Excellent work from a too-little-known author.” —Booklist

The Dark Lady

When a bobby’s killed in Blackpool, Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend takes a ride through England’s wild side to get to the bottom of a mystery. 

The investigation into the brutal murder of a Blackpool policeman during holiday season was never going to be easy, but the case is not Chief Inspector Woodend’s only problem. His new boss, DS Ainsworth, is just waiting for an opportunity to stick a knife in his back; and his invaluable assistant, Bob Rutter, has been replaced by a sergeant more intent on advancing her own career than helping him. Then, it appears, the Blackpool police seem to think it might be better if the killer were never found …

“Should give the reader a shiver or two. ” —Publishers Weekly

“Unique settings and psychological details supplement Woodend’s usual antics: a surefire series addition. ” —Library Journal