John Raven and his wife Kirstie are holidaying in Lisbon at Ilona Szecheyi's villa when Ilona's father Stephen reveals his well-guarded secret: shortly before the communist occupation of Hungary in 1945, he was entrusted with 17 million in government gold bullion. Now, thirty-seven years later, the courts have awarded him full ownership of the money - and the current Hungarian regime is not pleased. They will stop at nothing to get it back, and when blackmail and murder strike, Raven can't pull out fast enough before he becomes the main suspect . . . 'Donald MacKenzie is a born storyteller' Guardian

It was largely chance that took Dougal Macneil to the empty racetrack that morning, but when he inadvertently sees - and photographs - something he shouldn't he is soon under threat from a seemingly omnipotent force. Colonel Weber, head of police of the tiny Central American country of Montoro, is sheltering a former Nazi whose name is high on Israel's most-wanted list. And on the face of it he holds all the cards: control of the police force, the trust of government officials - and Macneil's wife, whom he is holding in 'protective custody'. But Macneil is not an adversary to be underestimated . . .

When a bent London policeman carries out two ruthless murders, it is with the goal of making himself rich through the sale of stolen diamonds. And to cover his tracks he sets up an ingenious labyrinth of false covers and alibis. But when ex-cop John Raven is brought into the case by accident, it becomes a whodunit with Raven as detective in an exhilarating race against time. 'Donald MacKenzie is a born storyteller' Guardian

George Drake, the former Commander at Scotland Yard and nemesis of John Raven, is out of prison having served a sentence for police corruption. In court, Drake vowed retribution on Raven, who was instrumental in his conviction, and now he's out to snare him. When heroin is planted on Raven's houseboat and in his wife Kirstie's camera both husband and wife are arrested, but what will it take for John Raven to clear their names? 'Quick moving and sure footed, with sharp, realistic London details' Times Literary Supplement

John Raven - the ex-cop with a taste for exotic adventures and voluptuous adventurers - is unexpectedly thrust into the thick of the action. His Andalusian holiday turns out to be no picnic when he finds himself at the crossroads of the snow-white heroin trail and the blood-red trail of international murder . . . 'A swift, stylish novel' Publishers Weekly

When Kirstie Macfarlane's younger brother is framed for stealing a Van Eyck portrait, she puts the case in the able hands of ex-Scotland Yard Inspector John Raven. Seduced away from his quiet life on the Thames, Raven dives back into the seamy London underworld filled with police corruption and high-handed swindles. Kirstie and Raven soon realise they have more than one opponent and their lives are perilously on the line. 'Donald MacKenzie is a born storyteller' Guardian