Books published by Semiologic Ltd

Edward Ransome is one of England's most famous artists - rich, a friend to celebrities and known for his devotion to his craft for almost fifty years.Then someone steals his favourite painting - the painting that set Ransome on course to fame and fortune but was never sold and rarely seen.Sam Dyke is hired to find the painting, and the thief, but quickly discovers that the loss of the painting is only one of the many losses suffered by Ransome, and his family. What's more, whoever stole the painting is keen to keep it a secret, and committing murder to do so is not out of the question. Soon Dyke finds he has more than a simple burglary on his hands - it's a case that spans generations and includes more than one ordinary crime.The Cobalt Sky is a subtle but exciting exploration of the ways in which families can hurt each other over time ... without even trying.From the two-time winner of the Chanticleer Reviews CLUE Award in the private eye/noir category, for The Bleak and The Innocent Dead.

Private Eye Sam Dyke promises to help his son find his missing girlfriend. But then he discovers that two Liverpudlian gangsters-the Ginger Twins-are involved up to their eyeballs. And they're not nice people. Bribery, corruption and murder stick to them like tar.So Sam and the Twins are set on a headlong confrontation that can only terminate in death or destruction. Just the kind of action that Sam likes.Filled with fascinating characters, intriguing situations and exciting action, The Private Lie has topped Amazon's 'hard-boiled crime' charts in both the UK and the US.

WINNER OF THE 2014 CHANTICLEER CLUE AWARD FOR PRIVATE EYE/NOIR FICTION!An arrogant Russian scientist plus an explosive device. A dangerous combination. He has a superb mind but no morals. What's to stop him destroying the lives of thousands of people? Only PI Sam Dyke can piece the clues together ...Sam's new client works in a secret research unit where security is king. It's scaring her to death.The head of the unit, Stratford Greif, arrived from Russia with a reputation for brilliance and a history of sowing discord. He knows he's the cleverest person in any room ... and he's going to make everyone pay for their ignorance with one final cataclysmic act. Dyke sets himself on a course to prevent this madman from achieving his ends. A course that endangers him, his new partner and it seems anyone else who gets in the way of the doomsday plan ...The Bleak is a crime thriller with suspense, action, intriguing characters and a compelling story. Keith Dixon has been compared to Ian Rankin and Lee Child and he's very happy with that."I enjoy Lee Child, Robert Crais, Tess Gerritson. So I think Keith Dixon is up there with the greats." - Amazon Reviewer

FEBRUARY 1942: The Struma, a broken-down steamer, explodes and sinks in the Black Sea, drowning 768 Rumanian Jews fleeing the Nazis and heading for Palestine, and safety.JUNE 1944: Thirty-one SAS soldiers are captured behind enemy lines and are forced to dig their own graves before being shot and buried in a forest in the heart of France.SEVENTY YEARS LATER: A young woman is attacked in the grounds of Edinburgh Zoo - the attacker seeking the document that might link these two wartime events.Private Investigator Sam Dyke becomes involved in unravelling a mystery that dates back to the Second World War. He rescues a woman who's on the point of being abducted and, for all he knows, murdered. He helps the woman, Chantal Bressette, escape, subsequently learning that she's carrying a document of vital importance to a group of powerful people. Sam Dyke discovers he's the only one who can stop them.Based on true events, and with action ranging from Edinburgh through to a quiet village in the centre of France, The Hard Swim pits Sam Dyke against his toughest opponents yet-an experienced team of killers backed by a ruthless MP about to ascend to one of the great roles of State.

Student Alistair Minton is missing, and his parents want Sam Dyke to find him. He does ... and then learns the reason Alistair disappeared. It harks back to an event that his parents, Carol and Giles, have been hiding both from others and from themselves since Alistair was a child. As he delves deeper, Dyke uncovers two murders separated by fifteen years. And he learns they're connected by people with a moral blindness and a willingness to act as if ends always justify the means.Racing to solve the case before his client participates in an important election, the question Dyke must face is how he can preserve his own integrity and still bring the murderer to justice.Written in the tradition of Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald, The Lonely Grave examines how damaged families can extend the hurt and shame experienced by one generation into the next, with results that are damaging to all.Keith Dixon is a two-time First-place winner, private eye/noir category, in Chanticleer Reviews' CLUE Awards for crime writing."Dixon's somewhat surly, often cocksure crime fighter, Dyke, is a marvelous creation. His investigative skills rival that of any intellectual British parlor sleuth, while his tendency to get in the face of dangerous characters shows he is no stranger to backroom brawls. Throw in a few sarcastic zingers to add humor to some otherwise very tense moments-and you have the essence of Dixon's anti-hero. There's no word out of place in this practiced writer's prose; he knows how to pressurize a plot to the point of near explosion, then reins it all in and sweeps up the loose ends. Highly recommended."Extract from Chanticleer Review of The Innocent Dead.

Making a killing in business is one thing - doing it for real is another.In this thrilling detective story, Private Investigator Sam Dyke turns down a job that would require skills that he doesn't have - patience, computer-literacy, tact. Then he finds that the skills he does have - tenacity, aggression, street-smarts - are exactly the ones he needs for his next case - hunting down a cold-blooded murderer who seems to know what his every step will be. To solve the case Sam must negotiate with his ex-wife, cement a relationship with a new love, unravel an office-based financial fraud and fight off an arrogant murderer armed only with a pen-knife.Altered Life is gripping, fast-paced, bitterly comic and introduces a tough new English private eye who knows what he wants and, usually, how to get it.

FIRST IN CATEGORY WINNER (PRIVATE EYE/NOIR) 2016 CHANTICLEER REVIEWS CLUE AWARDS!Mark and Bobbie Ware have the perfect life-a huge mansion, enough money to satisfy every conceivable need, and a delightful son of ten years of age.But this all changes when a man disrupts that life by taking from it the single most important possession the family enjoys: its happiness.With little hope they call on Private Investigator Sam Dyke to help regain their peace of mind. To help them he must confront and defeat an enemy whose high intelligence and will-power is dedicated to promoting the cause of the most deadly threat facing the world today-international terrorism.If Sam fails, not only do the Wares lose everything they've worked for, but the global battle against terrorism in the Middle East will become almost impossible to win.The Innocent Dead is an exciting and unusual thriller that made Keith Dixon a two-time First in Category winner (Private Eye/Noir) in the Chanticleer Reviews CLUE Awards. If you like thrillers with unusual characters, involving plots and that seem to be drawn from today's headlines, then this is the book for you!CLICK THE BUY BUTTON TO DOWNLOAD THE INNOCENT DEAD NOW!"I enjoy Lee Child, Robert Crais, Tess Gerritson. So I think Keith Dixon is up there with the greats." - Amazon Reviewer