Available together for the very first time, these are the first three crime novels in the inimitable Bob Skinner series by Quintin Jardine. Skinner's Rules As head of Edinburgh's CID, Detective Chief Superintendent Bob Skinner has seen it all... but even he is shocked by the savagely mutilated corpse discovered in a dark alleyway. Further random killings in the city suggest a vicious serial killer is on the rampage. But when the first victim's fiancee is also murdered, Skinner realises that someone is in deadly earnest... Skinner's Festival An explosion rocks Princes Street in the midst of the Edinburgh Festival. Responsibility is claimed by a group supposedly demanding political separation from Britain, but as atrocities escalate Skinner realises this is no gang of fanatics, but a highly professional team. And he is forced to assemble a crack task force, carry the ball when the government fumbles on the air, and wrestle with the beast within, who emerges with periodic ferocity to foil a clever, greedy scheme involving the crown jewels and Skinner's own daughter. Skinner's Trail First the joyous birth of Skinner's son... Then the grim reality of murder in one of Edinburgh's prosperous suburbs. As the murder investigation continues without result, it seems the killer was particularly cunning in covering his tracks - leaving no clues or leads to pursue. But then another seemingly minor crime takes Assistant Chief Constable Bob Skinner in a new direction, along a tortuous and bloody trail.

The book that launched a legend: the first novel in the acclaimed Bob Skinner series. As head of Edinburgh's CID, Detective Chief Superintendent Bob Skinner has seen it all... but even he is shocked by the savagely mutilated corpse discovered in a dark alleyway. The victim is identified as a successful young lawyer, and the motive for the brutal death remains a mystery. Then further seemingly random killings in the city begin to suggest a vicious serial killer is on the rampage. But when the lawyer's fiancee is also murdered, Skinner realises that someone is in deadly earnest...

Deputy Chief Constable Bob Skinner has a lot on his plate. One of the world's most ruthless terrorists is on his way to Edinburgh with only one thing on his mind: the forthcoming conference of world Heads of Government. If Skinner doesn't pick up his trail fast, he could have a global disaster in his backyard. While all eyes are focused on the terrorist threat, a terminally ill woman is found dead - an apparent suicide. But the marks of an assisted death are discovered. Yet this seemingly random death soon proves to be the beginning of an ominous pattern. For Skinner, the desperate race to find a heartless terrorist mixes uneasily with the search for a mercy killer- a search which takes on a poignant personal significance. And it's not long before Skinner himself will be staring death straight in the eye...

THE DARKEST DEEDS ARE HIDDEN FROM SIGHT . . . Bob Skinner is back in the latest gritty mystery in Quintin Jardine's bestselling series, not to be missed by readers of Ian Rankin and Peter May. New Year's Day, and Edinburgh lies sleeping. But two men will never wake again . . . When struggling ex-copper Terry Coats was discovered in bed with an air hostess, his excuse that he was 'going undercover' cut no ice with the force - or his wife. But now he's been brutally killed on Hogmanay night, it seems there may have been more to his plea. Dragged from the New Year celebrations, Special Constable Sir Bob Skinner is shocked to find Coats' body alongside that of Griff Montell: his erstwhile protégé, and former lover of Skinner's own daughter, Alex. Could there be some dark truth under Coats' cock-and-bull story, after all? As the secrets start unravelling, Skinner realises he has gravely underestimated someone close to him - and the effects will cost him, and those he loves, dear . . . Praise for Jardine's gripping mysteries: 'The legendary Quintin Jardine . . . such a fine writer' Denzil Meyrick 'Scottish crime-writing at its finest, with a healthy dose of plot twists and turns, bodies and plenty of brutality' Sun 'Another powerful tartan noir that packs a punch' Peterborough Evening Telegraph 'Incredibly difficult to put the book down . . . a guide through a world of tangled family politics, hostile takeovers, government-sanctioned killing, extortion and the seedier side of publishing . . . Quintin Jardine should be . . . your first choice!' Scots magazine 'Well constructed, fast-paced, Jardine's narrative has many an ingenious twist and turn' Observer

Detective Chief Constable Bob Skinner is involved in security for the Pope, but he must find out if there's a connection between the unusual deaths that are happening and the important visit.

One of Scotland's most successful crime writers is found dead in the author tent at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and Bob Skinner is on the case.

The killing was an expert hit: three shots through the head as the lights dimmed at a concert in Glasgow. Edinburgh Chief Constable Bob Skinner is right in the center of the storm as it breaks over the Strathclyde force. The shooters are dead, killed at the scene. But who sent them? The crisis finds Skinner, his private life shattered by the shocking end of his marriage, taking a step that he had sworn he never would.