Books published by Allison & Busby

Derby Day at Epsom Downs. A multitude of people crowd to watch the races: dukes and dustmen, bishops and beggars, privileged ladies and prostitutes. The gamut of Victorian society and a hotbed for crime and crooks of all kinds. With the nation a-flutter in the run up to this national event, a disembodied head is discovered on a passenger train at Crewe; the first in a murky course of events that takes in murder, fraud and race-fixing. Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck and his assistant are assigned to the case and are soon snarled up in a web of skulduggery stretching across the country. They are forced to ask themselves, just how much is someone prepared to hazard to win?

Commissioned to design and build a house for Francis Polegate, a merchant, Christopher Redmayne is pleased when the project is completed without a hitch. To celebrate the success of the venture, Polegate throws a party and invites Christopher as the guest of honour. But the party comes to an abrupt end when one of the guests is murdered.

It is 1852, and Inspector Robert Colbeck and his assistant Sergeant Victor Leeming are faced with their most difficult case to date. As a train speeds over the Sankey Viaduct, a man is hurled from a carriage into the canal below. It later transpires that he has been stabbed to death. This book is the third in the "Railway Detective" series.

College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation, where the popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school's social scene: somewhere less than zero. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better.

'You'd never believe it to look at me now, but once upon a time I killed a man'Historian Daniel Kind is finding winter in the Lake District tough, especially as his relationship with Miranda seems to be on the rocks. Far from the bright lights of London, Miranda feels increasingly isolated, and Daniel fears that she will just up and leave. She wouldn't be the first. Years ago, Emma Bestwick left her cottage and never came back, her disappearance never resolved, much to the chagrin of DCI Hannah Scarlett, head of the local Cold Case Review Team.But recently there are been calls to the local newspaper dropping hints about Emma's death. With the case reopened, Hannah and Daniel are thrown together again, and soon discover that someone is desperate to preserve the secrets of the past, whatever the cost.

'I thought you were dead...'In the peaceful village of Old Sawrey, in the idyllic Lake District, Warren Howe is brutally slaughtered with his own scythe by a mysterious hooded figure. The police have several suspects, but there is insufficient evidence to make an arrest.Years later an anonymous tip-off sparks the interest of DCI Hannah Scarlett, who heads the local Cold Case Review Team. With the help of historian Daniel Kind, Hannah digs deeper in the quest for truth and discovers that, in Old Sawrey, old sins cast long shadows. Following the killer's trail, Hannah arrives at a shocking conclusion, one that will change lives forever.

A thrilling, dark tale from one of Scotland's finest writers of human envy and intrigue.

When a murdered prostitute is found in a Glasgow train station, DCI Lorimer is perplexed by the ritualistic arrangement of her body. It isn't long before there is another murder and he realises there's no time to waste if he is to stop Glasgow's latest serial killer. A taut, suspense-filled thriller, A Small Weeping takes the reader on a gripping journey from the inner city to the wilds of the Scottish Isles, and far into the darkest depths of human nature.

A perplexing new case for the Railway DetectiveOn the shocking discovery of a passenger's body on the Great Western Railway excursion train, Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck and his assistant, Sergeant Victor Leeming, are dispatched to the scene. Faced with what initially appears to be a motiveless murder, Colbeck is intrigued by the murder weapon - a noose. When it emerges that the victim had worked as a public executioner, Colbeck realises that this must be intrinsically linked to the killer's choice of weapon. However, the further he delves into the case, the more mysterious it becomes. And when a second man is strangled by a noose on a train, Colbeck knows he must act quickly; can he catch the murderer before more lives are lost? Set in Victorian England and rich in historical detail, The Excursion Train will hold you captivated from the beginning to the end of its journey.

The River Thames is frozen over and the discovery of a dead body casts a pall over the annual Frost Fair.