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Set in St. Petersburg, Russia, this novel won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award (1981) by the Romantic Novelists' Association.St Petersburg, 1912. Rose Gowrie is a Scottish girl with a mysterious gift for healing who is hired into the aristocratic household of Dolly Denisov, supposedly as a companion for the youthful Ariadne Denisov. But Rose gets more than she bargains for when she is called upon to cure the aged Princess who lives at the top of the Red Staircase, and the frail young Tsarevitch…

Commander John Coffin investigates the deaths of two policemen, and the apparent suicide of a police officer’s wife. A darkly authentic crime novel from one of the most highly praised English mystery writers, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie.The Coffin Tree grew in a garden in London. It had been struck by lightning, which would have killed most trees – but not this one. Near it, a shrouded body has been burnt. Had the victim voluntarily climbed on to the fire, as one eyewitness reports?That same summer, two of Coffin's young detectives died – deaths that were said to be accidental. In Coffin's view, however, two accidents are two too many.Commander John Coffin is not a fanciful man, but somehow the half-dead tree, its top killed by lightning, standing in a sad patch of rough earth, seems to him to epitomise his problems. Why did the two policemen die? How did one dead police officer's wife come to die a grisly death herself at the foot of the coffin tree?Coffin can't believe that it was suicide, but in his efforts to solve the crimes, he is forced to question his own judgement, and to confront the mysteries of another human heart.

Scotland Yard Inspector John Coffin must track down a murderer whose double life threatens to claim many more victims. A darkly authentic novel from one of the most universally admired English crime writers. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie.Dr. Marion Manning is being watched. The man watching her is quiet, determined, curious even – and always in his spot across the street from her home. Sometimes he follows her when she leaves town on lectures or other scholarly occasions.What obsession does he harbour for the intelligent, kind, sensible Marion Manning? Only her housekeeper, Joyo, a flamboyant contrast to her friend, has a clue to the mystery.Murder brings Scotland Yard Inspector John Coffin into the picture and into a horrifying clash of past and present… and a murderer whose double life threatens to claim many more victims.

Two women are brutally murdered within a year of each other. John Coffin, Commander of the Police, investigates. From one of the most highly praised English crime writers, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie.Student Amy Dean has disappeared with her boyfriend Martin – a year after Martin's former girlfriend Virginia was found beaten to death. Then Amy’s body is found, encased in a crude wooden box. The connection between the two incidents seems clear – but John Coffin, Commander of the Police, discovers that both girls worked at Star Court House, a home for battered women and children. Coffin is under pressure – personal and professional – to untangle a tragic web of murder and lies.

Detective Constable John Coffin investigates the murder of a young woman, whose body is found floating in the Thames with a sinister note attached to her. A gripping crime novel from one of the most universally praised English mystery writers, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie.In 1946, newly promoted detective-constable John Coffin arrives in Greenwich to take up his post. Soon after, the body of a young woman floats down the Thames to South London.It quickly becomes clear that this is no ordinary murder: the victim has been strangled, stabbed and mutilated. Attached to the body is a note reading «Present for my mother,» a reference to former actress Rachel Esthart, whose son drowned under mysterious circumstances 17 years previously, and who has just received a postcard promising an imminent gift from the boy, whose death she has never acknowledged.Then two other bodies are found in the river, murdered in the same brutal way, and Coffin has a multiple murder case on his hands…

Scotland Yard Chief Superintendent John Coffin investigates a spate of killings at the notoriously evil No.22 Church Row. But he suspects there’s more to it than just a haunted house…From one of the most universally praised English crime writers, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie.Scotland Yard Chief Superintendent John Coffin is openly sceptical of the evil reputation of the house at No. 22 Church Row. True, the house has seen violent death over the centuries. But none of it suspicious. Until now…Coffin suspects something more than a haunted house. He sees a human, complex web of relationships, interlocking and interacting in a way he can't yet fathom, and in which people get caught up and destroyed – as they play into the game of a very clever killer.

Three little girls are reported missing in the same district of South London and Superintendent John Coffin suspects there could be more. A gripping crime novel from one of the most universally praised English mystery writers, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers.Three little girls have been reported missing recently in the same district of South London and Superintendent John Coffin believes there might be others.The area has more than its fair share of cranks, and Tony Young’s club of UFO watchers is no exception. But Tony’s concerns start to grow as more children disappear, always at a time when members of the club are out investigating a sighting.While Coffin probes the backgrounds of the victims, trying to establish a pattern, Tony takes matters into his own hands and does some detecting of his own…

‘[Gwendoline Butler’s] inventiveness never seems to flag; and the singular atmosphere of her books, compounded of jauntiness and menace, remains undiminished’ Patricia Craig, TLSIn the aftermath of a terrorist explosion in London’s Second City, a woman’s battered corpse is found in a damaged building. But it is soon evident that this is no bomb victim. A sadistic killer has mutilated the remains, removing the fingertips and leaving the face unrecognizable. The only clue to the dead person’s identity is a handbag found on the scene. Its owner: Stella Pinero, actress wife of Chief Commander John Coffin.The investigation which follows is complicated by Coffin’s refusal to believe that the remains could be Stella’s, and Chief Superintendent Archie Young faces the unenviable task of questioning a superior officer as to the sort of men his wife was in the habit of associating with. Meanwhile, the secretive Inspector Lodge of the Terrorist Investigation Squad harbours fears of his own.When a second body is discovered, Coffin finds himself drawn into a nightmarish game. The murder inquiry reveals terrible truths as it unfolds, bringing pain and bitterness to John Coffin as he is forced to confront death and treachery in his own backyard.

When a parcel containing dismembered limbs is found outside a women’s refuge with the initials J.C., Chief Commander John Coffin is forced to confront the ghosts of his past. A gripping crime novel from one of the most universally admired English mystery writers.Everyone has a few ghosts in their lives, especially John Coffin, Chief Commander of the Second City of London’s Police. He had thought all his were laid to rest though, and, newly recovered from a gunshot wound, is hoping for a calmer life with his actress wife Stella Pinero.But he is soon to learn how wrong he is when a parcel containing dismembered limbs is found outside a women’s refuge. The Serena Seddon Shelter for battered wives is located in Barrow Street, not far from Coffin’s own home in St Luke’s Tower. The link to Coffin, though, is more sinister than mere proximity, for the initials J.C. are written on the package, and the shelter is housed in the building where he lived on his arrival in the Second City.The discovery opens a door, through which troop a succession of horrible and violent events: lies, deception and sudden death.Thus Coffin’s ghost walks…

A young girl's body is discovered in an alleyway in London's Docklands, brutally murdered. Police chief commander John Coffin investigates. From one of the most universally praised English crime writers, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie.A young girl's body is discovered in an alleyway in London's Docklands. The brutal murder polarizes the inhabitants of the newly gentrified neighbourhood under the jurisdiction of police chief commander John Coffin.Coffin receives a series of notes from ‘the Paper Man’ promising more bodies if the young girl's killer isn't caught. As the case goes unsolved, more bodies turn up, and now Coffin must deal with escalating neighbourhood turmoil, while unravelling a complex sequence of events to find two killers…

A corpse in his new house leads detective John Coffin on the trail of a murderer… A dark, gripping crime novel from one of the most appraised English mystery writers, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie.The body of an adolescent boy is found by workmen under the floor of detective John Coffin’s house – and though it's not his case, Coffin keeps up with an investigation that comes to centre on his own neighbours.Attracted to Rose Hilaire, the sergeant learns that her son was a friend of the murder victim and of other missing boys. Rose's troubles multiply as she fights to protect her son and her dress factory, hard-won after years of poverty. The business is threatened not only by scandal but by Rose's designer, Gaby Glass, who schemes to take off with her creations.

The first John Coffin story with a contemporary setting. A recently-promoted John Coffin soon has his hands full when a severed human head turns up the steps of his new home. From one of the most appraised English mystery authors, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie.John Coffin now commands his own force in the newly created second city of London, established on the site of the old Docklands.Life is good for Coffin – he's earned a promotion and has just moved into a new home in the tower of a renovated church-turned-theatre. Then a severed human head is found in an urn on the church steps, and a hand turns up in a freezer upstairs. Coffin must hunt down the serial killer before more body parts start appearing.

When a small boy disappears from the notorious Regina Street in the Second City of London, Chief Commander John Coffin takes on the case. From one of the most universally praised English mystery authors.Regina Street, nicknamed Murder Street, has known more than its fair share of murders and violent deaths – and one inhabitant predicts that worse is yet to come. The local police dismiss him as an eccentric, but then a small boy disappears.Chief Commander John Coffin takes on the case, and discovers that the boy’s mother, a young actress, is something of an enigma herself. And soon the story behind the boy's disappearance unfolds into a history of jealousy and love.

The Second City is gripped by the tragic murder of four boys, each connected to the police force in some way. Commander John Coffin investigates, simultaneously dealing with a different horror closer to home. From one of the most highly appraised English mystery writers, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie.The discovery of the mutilated body of Harry Seton shouldn’t have concerned John Coffin, Commander of London’s Second City. But the victim, a detective doing undercover work on the sale of illegal pharmaceuticals, had left a note amongst his papers: ‘Ask Coffin’. What he meant by this no one seems to know, including his superior, but it appears that Seton had been secretly investigating internal corruption just before his brutal murder. Coffin, acting on private instructions from above, directly involves himself in following up on Seton’s work only to find that someone is ahead of the game, muddying tracks and destroying evidence.But the Second City is bracing itself for a far greater tragedy. Four boys, each connected to the police in some way, have gone missing, and just as Coffin starts off in Seton’s footsteps a child’s body turns up – buried in a shallow grave in common land. That the children have been specifically targeted by someone with a grudge against the police seems obvious; that the perpetrator is deranged is now clear. The only witnesses to the abductions are a gang of rollerbladers, but fear and something else is keeping them quiet.The Second City is gripped by the horror of these events, and horror too comes stalking directly to Coffin’s door, threatening both him and Stella. But is it Harry Seton’s nemesis who is seeking out Coffin, or the child-killer still out there in the night?

John Coffin is left reeling after the former Prime Minister makes a shocking confession. A dark and gripping crime novel from one of the most appraised English mystery writers, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie.A visit to the riverside apartment of the long retired former prime minister, Richard Lavender, is to have startling consequences for John Coffin. For it transpires that the old man, nearing the end of his life, has a confession to make: he is the son of a serial killer. He tells Coffin how, as a boy, he helped to bury one of his father’s victims. Feeling death is near, he wants to repair and reclaim the past – with Coffin’s help.Unsure whether Lavender is caught up in fantasy or telling the truth, Coffin agrees to investigate and appoints Chief Inspector Phoebe Astley to the task. But then a young woman is found murdered on a foggy November night, and all too soon the sins of the past and present come together in a terrifying denouement.

A man from John Coffin’s past is looking for his identical twin brother – a dangerous man, capable of murder. But are their identities one and the same? From one of the most appraised English crime writers, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie.Sad, savage and bitter is what Stella Pinero says to her husband John Coffin, Commander of London's Second City, of the murder case which cuts into both their lives.Coffin is at the height of his powers when he is surprised by a visit from the past: Inspector Harry Trent, with whom Coffin had worked years ago, is looking for his identical twin brother- a dangerous man; a man who might already have killed a woman; a man Trent fears might threaten violence to the Macintoshes, the couple who fostered the twins as children.When Joe and Josie Macintosh are found stabbed to death, Coffin has to discover not only their killer, but their true identities. And even more important is the question hanging over all of them: who is this man called Harry Trent and what is he capable of? The answer lies in the past- bizarre, terrifyingly and horribly real…

When three young women are murdered, Inspector John Coffin must investigate the past to unravel the present. From one of the most universally praised English crime writers, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie.Annie Briggs, whose evidence as a child was responsible for convicting two killers, feels a sense of unease and fears she is being watched. She then discovers that the murderers have been released and are living nearby. Annie is terrified and dreads the revenge she knows will come. When three young women are murdered, Inspector John Coffin is challenged to connect the present-day incidents to the past.

The discovery of a pile of infant skulls and a grisly triple murder are just the start of Chief Commander Coffin’s worries in this gripping crime novel from one of the most universally admired English mystery writers.London’s Second City has been the scene of many a terrifying crime, but the discovery of a pile of infant skulls unearthed near police headquarters is particularly horrifying. Another major worry for John Coffin, Chief Commander, is a triple murder on his patch, that of a midwife and her two daughters. The obvious suspect is her son, Black Jack Jackson, a local villain, but both Coffin and DI Phoebe Astley are reluctant to accept his guilt.Two further murders add renewed urgency to both investigations: one of a doctor, discovered in a hospital laboratory surrounded by grisly trophies, might well be connected to the disinterring of the children’s skulls; the other, of a notorious Second City criminal, with the brutal midwife killings. Coffin is able to take all this in his stride, however, until the growing violence comes closer to home – directly threatening the safety of his wife, the actress Stella Pinero.