Detective Chief Inspector Jonah Porter is a hero: his life was changed forever when he was paralysed by a gunshot from an unknown assailant but, against the odds, he has succeeded in resuming his career in the Police Service. To the outside world he appears confident and capable, almost unaffected by his disability. This novel views Jonah's life through the medium of his favourite hymns, revealing beneath his self-assured exterior, his vulnerability and dependence on others. Each chapter in his life shows us new insight into Jonah's world both before and after his injury, exploring a range of...

This is a detective novel that also explores social and ethical issues. A body in the river is all in a day's work for Detective Inspector Peter Johns and his Sergeant, Paul Godwin. But things start to become more personal when Paul recognises their key witness as a close childhood friend and Peter's son is detained for suspected child abduction. Peter and Paul discover that they have more in common than they realised and it becomes difficult to keep work and family life separated. Meanwhile - what of the body in the river? It looks like suicide. But could something more sinister have been...

Seven friends decide to band together to campaign to save the environment. They call themselves the Martians, because, as everyone knows, Martians are green Over the years, they go their separate ways and some of them seem to have forgotten their early ideals. Then, out of the blue, one of their number is murdered: struck down by an unknown assailant. Another of the group comes under suspicion and yet a third member is implicated. Did geology tutor Martin Riess kill his journalist friend or was the murderer one of the victims of the reporter's caustic pen? Was the crime sparked off by recent...

These short stories have previously been published as individual e-books. This compendium brings them together and makes them available in paperback for the first time. Peter Johns grew up in a children's home. On leaving school, he entered the police force. A chance encounter led to his transfer to CID, after which he began slow but steady progress up the promotion ladder to Detective Inspector. Reaching the heights of Detective Sergeant gave him the courage to propose to the love of his life, Jamaican nurse Angie Wheeler. Their long and happy marriage was blessed with two children: Hannah,...

Exiled Liverpudlian, Bernie Fazakerley, makes a sentimental journey back to her home city to visit relatives and to take her daughter, Lucy, back to their roots. Before long, events take a sinister turn when they are witnesses to a murder aboard the famous Mersey Ferry. Then the killer strikes again, and the race is on to make an arrest before more lives are lost. Who could have wanted to kill a young Roman Catholic priest? Is Bernie's own life under threat?

Three young mothers take their infants to an Oxford park, but only two of the babies return home. When six-week-old Abigail goes missing from her pram, the race is on to find her before she comes to harm. Who would want to steal a baby girl? And why? Are other children in danger? Is Abigail's distraught mother as innocent as she appears? DCI Jonah Porter has a tough assignment to find little Abigail and reassure Oxford mothers that their families are safe.