DCI Warren Jones

When Professor Alan Tunbridge is discovered in his office with his throat slashed, the suspects start queuing up. The brilliant but unpleasant microbiologist had a genius for making enemies. For Warren Jones, newly appointed Detective Chief Inspector to the Middlesbury force, a high-profile murder is the ideal opportunity. He’s determined to run a thorough and professional investigation but political pressure to resolve the case quickly and tensions in the office and at home make life anything but easy.

DCI Warren Jones has a bad feeling when the body of a young woman turns up in Beaconsfield Woods. She’s been raped and strangled but the murderer has been careful to leave no DNA evidence. There are, of course, suspects - boyfriend, father - to check out but, worryingly, it looks more and more like a stranger murder. Warren’s worst fears are confirmed when another young woman is killed in the same way. The MO fits that of Richard Cameron who served 12 years for rape. But Cameron never killed his victims and he has a cast-iron alibi.

The body of Reginald Williamson had been well concealed under a bush in Middlesbury Common and the murder efficiently carried out - a single stab wound to the chest. Reggie’s dog had been killed just as efficiently. With no clues or obvious motive, the case is going nowhere. Then he gets a break. Warren’s instincts tell him that the informant is dodgy - a former police officer under investigation. But when Warren hears the incredible story he has to tell, he's glad to have given him a chance to speak.

In Middlesbury, a rally is being held by the British Allegiance Party - a far-right group protesting against the opening of a new Mosque. When the crowd disperses, a body is found in an alleyway. Tommy Meegan, the loud-mouthed leader of the group, has been stabbed through the heart. Across town, a Muslim community centre catches fire in a clear act of arson, leaving a small child in a critical condition. And the tension which has been building in the town for years boils over.

A fire breaks out in a chapel, and DCI Warren Jones is alarmed by what is discovered at the scene. Curled up in the ash and debris is a body - and it’s soon clear that the chapel doors were locked from the inside. The disappearance of a local priest, Father Nolan, and a cryptic note left in his room, point to an unusually violent suicide. But when further evidence confuses the picture, Warren begins to suspect foul play – and murder. Clearly, someone wanted this seemingly innocent man to suffer.  

It should be an easy solve: a murder in broad daylight with two eyewitnesses. But the victim is the son of a notorious local crime family who has a habit of hitting on other men’s wives; the witnesses are Serbian nationals who speak limited English. For DCI Warren Jones, this is his most challenging case yet. As the suspects pile up, the victim’s family work to protect their son’s memory by destroying any evidence that could betray his criminal past - or might have led to his killer.

When a body is found abandoned under a bridge, teeth and fingerprints removed, DCI Warren Jones and his team have little to go on. And once they finally identify the victim, the case doesn’t get any easier. Estranged from his family but desperate to reconnect, the victim led a solitary life—apart from secretive liaisons with a series of partners he met online. Could one of them be guilty of his murder? Or does the truth lie closer to home?

DCI Warren Jones is deep into the investigation into an apparent murder-suicide when another case is thrust onto his desk. Winnie Palmer, missing for two months, has been found dead, her body stripped and propped against a tree in the woods. Two cases are more than enough to handle—but things get even harder for the team when they realise the cases might be linked. And when a third suspicious death is added to the pile, it raises a horrible question. Is there a serial killer on the loose?