When the body of twenty-year-old Julie Cooper is found - her pockets stuffed full of wilting flowers - in an iron-age hill fort on the edge of the fens, Detective Tara Thorpe and her team are called in to investigate. The evidence points to an illicit affair gone wrong... but is there more to the story? As always at the Cambridge Constabulary, the case turns personal. Detective Blake is exhausted after the arrival of a new baby with wayward wife Babette, and Tara is keen to put as much distance between herself and Blake as she can - both at the station and on the hunt for the killer. Charming rookie officer Jez is the perfect distraction... but is he a little too good to be true? Then Tara makes a startling breakthrough when she finds an unsettling family heirloom hidden in the late victim's bedroom - a golden statue of a sinister-looking cat with emerald eyes. As she traces its origins, Tara begins to realise that Julie's murder is no one-off crime, but a sinister plot with its roots in a terrible secret that was covered up decades earlier. An unputdownable page-turner, perfect for fans of Faith Martin, Agatha Christie and Joy Ellis. Can be read as a standalone. The Tara Thorpe Mystery Series: Book 1 - Murder on the Marshes Book 2 - Death on the River Book 3 - Death Comes to Call Book 4 - Murder in the Fens Readers absolutely love Clare Chase: 'Literally couldn't put it down!! This was an excellent thriller with well-developed characters and great twists!! From the first page until the end... a great ride of mystery, suspense and murder... Excellent thriller and crime read!!' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'Wow what a book! One of the best mysteries I have read! Loved it from start to finish and couldn't put it down! A masterpiece! Plotting perfection! The writing is brilliant and flows off the page, the characters stay with you. A thoroughly satisfying, absolutely stunning book! I cannot wait to read more by this amazing author!' Renita D'Silva 'Fast-paced, twisty... I just ripped right through this book.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'I have to say that I loved this book.'Jen Med's Book Reviews, 5 stars 'I absolutely loved this book... grabbed me by the throat from the opening chapter and refused to let go until the very end... The story was a fantastic puzzle... all set against the beautiful backdrop of Cambridge and the menacing emptiness of the surrounding Cambridgeshire fens.' A Little Book Problem, 5 stars 'Clever, twisty stories, with great characters.' Kate Rhodes, author of Hell Bay 'You'll enjoy her books including this one if you like Joy Ellis, L. J. Ross, and Faith Martin... I absolutely adored the setting here. It reminds a little of the sort of setting in Midsomer Murders - quaint and idyllic with some very shady characters. The twists in the plot were plentiful and I liked the relationship and dynamic between Thorpe and Blake.' Goodreads reviewer 'A tense, exciting read with plenty of twists... an addictive read.' Goodreads reviewer

The Fens is a gripping modern crime novel which opens with the discovery of a body lying dead on top of a grave in a local churchyard. Mysteriously, it has been laid out in decorous and reverential fashion, completely at odds with the fact that the victim has been murdered! Detective Inspector John Naylor is put in charge of the murder of local councillor and MP Malcolm Fenton. He chooses newly qualified Police Constable Cassandra Money to help him untangle the MP’s complex private life and business interests. It seems that everyone they meet had a good reason to want to get rid of Malcolm Fenton. The investigation takes a turn when one of Fenton’s colleagues complains about Inspector Naylor’s attitude and a commissioner from Scotland Yard arrives at the rural police station to take over. Is Inspector Naylor simply annoyed because he has lost control over the investigation, or is he more involved in the case than he is letting on? Constable Cassandra Money is torn between her loyalty to the inspector and her growing suspicion that he is keeping secrets. Can she solve the murder and save the inspector’s reputation?

Discover this coastal plain in England—and the crimes that have taken place there over the centuries. The Fens of England, thinly populated with isolated farmsteads, has been the setting for a number of popular crime novels—but it has also been the actual site of many horrific, bloody, and bizarre incidents. This book takes a gripping look at the darker side of the area’s history—from crimes of callous premeditation to those born of passion or despair. Included are tales of conspiracy, robbery, violence, cruelty, and murder that reveal a previously neglected side of Fenland society. Unforgettable cases are featured—a mother who murdered her son, a police officer who hid the body of his mother, a farmer brutally slain for his money, a dustman who killed a local girl, and the headless body of a woman who has never been identified. Covering a wide range of human weakness and wickedness, this chronicle of the hidden side of the Fens will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the sinister side of human nature and the social conditions that nurture it.

The darkest secrets can be found in the coldest hearts... When the fog clears one December morning in Lincolnshire, the body of a young woman is discovered lying face down in a field. Murdered in cold blood, the case falls to DI Freya Bloom and her team to unearth the sequence of events, and bring the deadly truth to light. A carer by day, the victim, Emma Blanch, tended the needs of the elderly. A big heart, and a gentle touch were all she needed to get by. But when Bloom learns that Emma was recently the suspect in another murder enquiry, she discovers that someone has taken the law into their own hands - and they are still tidying up loose ends. In the tiny settlement of Wasps Nest, Bloom must dig up the past to discover who Emma Blanch really was. But one fact is clear - the truth died with Emma, and the killer will stop at nothing to have his way. Who had more to gain from her death? Who had more to lose? And how far will the killer go until his deadly secrets are buried forever? Set in the wild Lincolnshire fens, this British detective novel is a murder mystery with a touch of humour, a hint of romance, and a series of twists that will keep you guessing until you turn the final page. -- Back cover.

Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, as well as Peterborough City Council, all lay claim to a part of the Fens. Since Roman times, man has increased the land mass in this area by one third of the size. It is the largest plain in the British Isles, covering an area of nearly three-quarters of a million acres and is unique to the UK. The fen people know the area as marsh (land reclaimed from the sea) and fen (land drained from flooding rivers running from the uplands). The Fens are unique in having more miles of navigable waterways than anywhere else in the UK. Mammoth drainage schemes in the seventeenth and eighteenth changed the landscape forever – leading slowly but surely to the area so loved today. Insightful, entertaining and full of rich incident, here is the fascinating story of the Fens.

The criminal cases vividly described by Glenda Goulden in this book take the reader on a journey into the dark history of the Fens. This flat and wide open landscape, thinly populated with isolated farmsteads, has been the setting for a series of horrific, bloody, sometimes bizarre incidents over the centuries.

The young woman in the barn had been kept captive for some time. And the case shows strong similarities to an unsolved murder in Derbyshire. When another woman is found alive with similar injuries the case grows even more complicated. At the same time, the Fenland police have received intelligence that the ruthless criminal Freddy Carver plans to make Greenborough the hub for his new enterprise. DI Nikki Galena is desperate to track down Freddie Carver and make sure that he does not put down roots in the Fens, but finding him is not easy. And what's his connection to the kidnapped girls? And who is the woman being held captive in a remote location? DI Nikki Galena must rally her team of detectives, while facing a traitor on the inside, as Nikki races against time to save more than one victim, including someone she care deeply about.