Showing results by author "Helen Phifer" in All Categories

Morgan tries to steady her trembling hands as she enters the abandoned tent in the shadow of the mountains. The woman once lay peacefully watching the stars in the glistening night sky. But she has been dead for some time… When a farmer reports an abandoned campsite in Rydal Falls, Detective Morgan Brookes hopes its occupants are just out enjoying the beautiful views nearby. But nothing can prepare her for the smell of death in the air, or what she finds as she crawls inside the wind-ravaged tent.

When Detective Morgan Brookes is urgently called to her Aunt Ettie’s cottage, hidden in Covel Woods, she rushes to the scene. Panicked Ettie is shaken having discovered the chilling remains of a woman in the river, one skeletal hand reaching out from the deep water. The unknown woman was dressed to walk the rugged trails of the Lake District, so Morgan’s team assume she fell in the water and was taken by the current. But thin diagonal bruises on her neck suggest something far more sinister.

When the body of a woman is found hanging from a tree in her front garden, rookie Detective Morgan Brookes is first on the scene. But Olivia Potter is past saving. And when her husband and daughters cannot be traced, Morgan knows there is more to this tragedy. And then she finds them. Lying huddled together in the dark basement, each of their faces covered with a small cotton cloth, their bodies cold to the touch. But as Morgan kneels beside the family, she realizes that one of the girls is still breathing.

When reports come in of a family trapped in a burning house, Detective Morgan Brookes rushes to the scene. But as soon as she enters the ruined home, she is devastated by what she finds. Tied to the kitchen table, Sally and David Lawson and their young son had no chance of escaping the flames and the smoke.... Neighbors all agree the Lawsons were the perfect family, and CCTV shows nothing suspicious. Morgan’s only clue is the silver crucifix necklace around Sally’s neck.

When nine-year-old Charlotte Standish goes missing from her street in the small town of Rydale Falls, it sparks a media frenzy. Detective Morgan Brookes leads a frantic hunt for the girl, but little Charlie seems to have vanished into thin air. Chasing up a lead at Charlie’s school, Morgan is chilled to learn that this isn’t the first time a child has gone missing on this street. Another girl disappeared 15 years ago, and Morgan is the only one who thinks the cases could be related. But in the moment that she takes her eye off Charlie’s case, another child goes missing.

When the body of a teenage girl is found in Rydal Falls’ churchyard, Detective Morgan Brookes abandons her own birthday to attend the scene. In the dim evening light, Morgan can just make out the girl wrapped in a pristine white sheet and is certain she’s been left here for them to find. The autopsy identifies the girl as 16-year-old Shea Wilkinson, and Morgan’s heart cracks with sorrow. The beautiful teenager has been missing for weeks; could she have been suffering all this time?

When the body of a teenage runaway is found hidden inside someone else’s grave in a small-town cemetery in the Lake District, an urgent call is made to forensic pathologist Beth Adams. Still traumatised by a recent attempt on her own life, one look at the beautiful girl’s broken body is enough to bring Beth out of hiding for the first time since her attack. She’s the only one who can help her trusted friend, Detective Josh Walker, crack the most shocking case of his career.

Arriving at a quiet family home on the outskirts of the Lake District, Detective Morgan Brookes must deliver devastating news to a heartbroken mother. Seeing Lexie’s pink boots against the side of the house, she remembers the girl’s happy face and can’t help but think of her carefree childhood. Three years ago, Morgan saved Lexie from a serial killer, who is now behind bars. But this time, she’s failed to protect her. Certain a new and more terrifying killer is at large, Morgan finds a neighbor who claims a man in a silver car was watching Lexie’s house.

The stunning second book in the Annie Graham crime thriller series * * * * Six months on from the case that changed everything, police officer Annie Graham is not looking to stir up more shadows of the past. She’s still haunted by the crimes she’s witnessed, and she’s found a new role...

The girl’s body is lying still and the crown of rare darling roses is perfectly positioned in her beautiful auburn hair. Morgan thinks she looks picture-perfect. Until she notices the blood dripping down one side of the boulder beneath her. Following her colleague Ben up to Castlerigg Stone Circle, Detective Morgan Brookes is shocked at what she finds. A young woman has been killed, left on display at the top of the hill with a crown of roses on her head. As the team race to get the popular tourist spot cordoned off, Morgan hears the heartbroken sobs of the woman who found the body.

Detective Lucy Harwin is called out to attend the discovery of a woman’s body in an abandoned, crumbling church and is quickly plunged into a case that will test her leadership skills to the limit. With no leads except the crudely-fashioned crucifix the victim was displayed on, Lucy is at a complete loss. That is, until another body turns up: an elderly woman who devoted her life to the church. Faced with a killer stalking the streets of her small coastal town, while also throwing herself into work to forget the love of her life, Lucy’s first case is turning into a nightmare.

Thunder rattles the windows of the deserted hotel. Morgan spots the young girl on the floor, her dark hair fanned out and covered in shattered glass. Lightning strikes, illuminating the blood on every surface. Following an emergency call in the middle of a fierce storm, Detective Morgan Brookes arrives at Keswick Manor, a crumbling, empty hotel in the Lake District, where she finds the dead body of a young woman. She recognises her bright blue eyes instantly.

Running from a devastating relationship that almost cost her everything, Maddy Hart impulsively accepts a job as a live-in caretaker at imposing Lakeview House. She has no memories of having visited the crumbling mansion on the banks of Lake Thirlmere before, but when she arrives, something about the house feels familiar. The more time Maddy spends in the house, the more unsettled she feels. By day, she clears out the dusty rooms, but in the dead of night, it’s hard to explain away the eerie noises or crackly radio she hears hours after she turned it off.

For decades the Moore Asylum was home to the forgotten children of Brooklyn Bay. But ever since a scandal forced its closure, the abandoned building has cast an imposing shadow. Until now - when an elderly man is found dead, his body strapped to an ancient gurney. Detective Lucy Harwin, still reeling from a previous case that ended in the devastating murder of a mother and her child, finds herself on the trail of a killer ruthlessly fixated on avenging the asylum's wrongs.

When the body of a young woman is found, tied to her bed and the victim of a brutal attack in her own home, Detective Morgan Brookes is sickened by what she finds as she searches the house, and unprepared for the nightmares it inspires about her childhood. When the DNA collected gives a positive ID, Morgan can’t wait to put the attacker behind bars. But the person it matches to is already in prison. How could the DNA of someone who has been locked up for over 20 years have shown up in Morgan’s crime scene? And then they make another close match - to Morgan herself.

The discovery of a young student floating face down in Lake Windermere, her naked skin almost translucent in the freezing water, looks like yet another tragic teen suicide. But the victim’s lack of clothes make forensic pathologist Beth Adams investigate further. Anything to distract her from the arrival of her abusive ex-boyfriend’s body on the mortuary table that morning. With witnesses keeping tight-lipped and any clues washed away by the tides, it’s up to Beth to find the evidence her team needs. But then another girl is found in the lake, this time still clinging to life.

When a woman disappears from Forest Pines campsite, Detective Morgan Brookes scrambles a search party. Sara Fletcher has never missed a lunch date with her best friend, and when Morgan finds a large rip in Sara’s tent, she knows that something terrible must have happened. About to lose hope after hours combing through the acres of dense forest, the excited bark of a tracker dog leads Morgan to female remains, partially covered by leaves and dirt - but the bones don’t belong to Sara.

Morgan kneels beside the fluttering crime scene tape. Their hands clasped, the couple’s embrace looks loving and warm, but an icy chill grips the air. Their lips are blue, and blood is dripping on the floor. They have been silenced forever When sweet-natured teaching assistant Rosie Waite, and her boyfriend Matt, are found dead in their quaint family home in the Lake District, Detective Morgan Brookes is horrified. Sleeping just two doors down, she heard no screams for help, no slamming doors, or alarms in the night.

Arriving at High Wraith cottage, Detective Morgan Brookes joins her horrified team, who have found a woman’s body chained and dangling from the gnarled branch of an old oak tree. It’s a race against time to preserve any evidence as heavy rain destroys the scene, but they’ve already identified the victim as a woman who once tried to kill her own family. Twenty years ago, Margery Lancaster went to prison for poisoning her husband and infant son. They both survived, and Morgan must treat the pair as her first suspects.

The thrilling fourth book in the Annie Graham crime thriller series A serial killer on the loose. A mystery that must be solved before time runs out. Elderly Martha Beckett is a prisoner in her own home, and has been ever since her older brother disappeared at just nine years old. * * * * Six...