Stuart Pawson Books In Order

The Picasso Scam

Detective Inspector Charlie Priest is the kind of officer who likes to get on with the job, though his unorthodox ways have held him at inspector level for a record breaking length of time. Yet while few other modern detectives will chase a Rolls Royce down a country lane in an ancient Cortina, Priest does get results. When he’s not putting crooks behind bars, he s watching out for his team of young constables, only too aware that for them as much as for him the knock about humor of the station is in stark contrast to the dangers they face on the beat. Sheep steeling and shoplifting are everyday crimes in Heckley, but there are local villains with bigger fish to fry. When Charlie suspects a now respected businessman, with a background of extortion and GBH, of involvement in an international art fraud, he’s taking on an enemy with friends in high places. But Charlie can be persistent to the point of recklessness and, once he’s realized that there’s a link to the lethal doctored hero*in that’s striking down the local kids, no threat will stop him…

The Judas Sheep

Detective Inspector Charlie Priest of the East Pennine force is officially on sick leave, but this brief break from work comes to an abrupt end when Mrs. Marina Norris’s chauffeur is found dead from unnatural causes namely a blast to the head from a Kalashnikov. Her husband, an American tobacco tycoon, is distinctly unfazed. Meanwhile, big time drug smugglers on the Hull to Rotterdam run demand his attention. When Charlie discovers the connection between his previous enquiry and the drug smugglers he realizes that he’s on very dangerous territory indeed.

The Mushroom Man

There’s nothing Detective Inspector Charlie Priest hates more than a case involving children. When Georgina, the eight year old daughter of local businessman Miles Dewhurst, goes missing, Charlie and his colleagues soon start to fear the worst. And Charlie s suspicions are focussed on Dewhurst is his performance as a desolate parent a little too pat? Meanwhile, these are dangerous times for clergymen. Three have died suddenly, and a picture of a Destroying Angel mushroom has been left beside the body of the most recent victim. It seems that something more than coincidence links the deaths but why would a serial killer focus on men of the cloth? As he races against time to find Georgina, and discovers the first clue in the hunt for The Mushroom Man, Charlie Priest has another preoccupation his tentative pursuit of bishop s widow Annabelle. And Charlie s courtship is about to take a dramatic turn for he is more deeply embroiled in one of the cases than he realizes

Deadly Friends

When Dr Clive Jordan’s dazzling career is brought to an abrupt end by a bullet, his colleagues are devastated especially the female ones. If the doctor hadn t been as discreet as an undertaker s cough, Detective Inspector Charlie Priest of the East Pennine force would suspect a jealous husband. But it s not going to be that simple. And Charlie has another case on his hands that he d give his eyeteeth to solve. Janet Saunders description of her attacker makes him easy to find, but his story doesn t quite gel with hers. She couldn t get enough of him, he says; she s only complaining because he dumped her. Charlie knows for certain there s a killer on the loose…
and almost certainly a rapist as well. The chances of bagging either of them seem slim, but Charlie s a lot tougher and smarter than his affable manner indicates, and that s bad news for the villains on his patch.

Some by Fire

Charlie Priest was a newly promoted sergeant on the Leeds force when he was called to the scene of a tragic fire, deliberately set. Now a DI in nearby Heckley, Charlie jumps on the chance to re open the investigation when a message left by a suicide suggests a new lead. The cat is well and truly amongst the pigeons for those who thought, after two decades, they were safe from justice. By a combination of luck, detective work and, Charlie would say, soaring flights of the investigative imagination, he is soon closing in on the perpetrators. But a cornered villain with nothing to lose can be dangerous for a copper who ll take every kind of risk in the hunt for justice.

Chill Factor

When salesman Tony Silkstone confesses to murder, the top brass of the Heckley police are keen to convict and close the lurid case. But Detective Inspector Charlie Priest is not convinced that things are as simple as they seem. A hitman coming to town and a juvenile car thief wreaking havoc complicate matters for Charlie. As links between his case and another murder emerge, Charlie pursues the trail and finds himself faced with questions about his own friends and his feelings towards them.

Laughing Boy

Laura Heeley was just an average mother of two, but at the age of thirty eight her life was swiftly taken from her, stabbed in the back on the way home from bingo. Colinette Jones was a popular, attractive and intelligent student but she has been strangled, her body dumped on the roadside. What is the connection between the victims? Detective Inspector Charlie Priest must solve the mystery, though with no clear motive and police movements constricted by foot and mouth disease this proves an increasingly frustrating task. As the number of victims mount, it becomes clear to Priest that this could be his biggest challenge yet

Limestone Cowboy

Times are good for Yorkshire DI Charlie Priest. His last murder case has been neatly sewn up, the weather is fine, and he has fallen for the charms of Rosie Barraclough, teacher of geology at the local high school. Chasing petty criminals is a low stress occupation, just what Charlie needs, but when two people nearly die after eating contaminated food from a local supermarket the race is on the find the culprit before it becomes a murder hunt.

After Rosie learns that Charlie is a detective her feelings for him change, and he discovers that she has a dark secret. A television company is trying to make a film about her story and she cooperates with them, against Charlie’s advice. He promises to help her, but sometimes helping only makes things worse…

Over The Edge

Joe Crozier, a businessman with a decidedly shady past, is enjoying a pleasant evening of being wined and dined in all the best places. But the congenial atmosphere is shattered when his host yet again tries to persuade him to sell his nightclub, the painted Pony. Refusing this time, however, costs Joe more than he could ever have imagined…
. Bound and gagged, he takes a silent and deadly dip in the nearby river. Meanwhile, Charlie Priest is called to another murder scene only to find that the victim is an old school friend of his, the famous mountaineer, Tony Krabbe. But what could this amiable lecturer have done to deserve being attacked with his own ice pick? And could the two cases be linked? As girlfriends from Krabbe’s past return to savage his carefully built reputation, Charlie s own love life takes a turn for the worse. Charlie is both desperate to help his girlfriend and to seek out the truth, but can work and love ever make comfortable bedfellows?

Last Reminder

Detective Inspector Charlie Priest’s day hasn’t got off to a good start. Late for work for the first time in twenty years, thanks to a sloe gin hangover, he’s faced with the rather grisly evidence of a crime in the local park before a call comes in to say that one of his new constables has discovered a body. Hartley Goodrich has been found dead in his armchair, right beside the flowerpot that caused the gaping gash in his head. There’s little doubt that this was murder, and when Charlie discovers that Hartley’s financial advice had lost his clients a small fortune, there’s no shortage of murder suspects either. But is the case all it seems? The enquiry re opens an investigation involving diamonds, drugs and stolen gold bullion…
and plenty of danger to boot.

Shooting Elvis

A bizarre death leads to discoveries about low tech industrial espionage, but is selling details of your employer’s customer base to their rivals a reason for murder? Appearances deceive, and it transpires the victim may have been the victim of a mistaken identity. DI Charlie Priest is content in his work, and his home life shows signs of improving. When his new girlfriend, a former world class athlete known as La Gazelle, wins her comeback race his happiness overflows. But when a second mysterious death turns up on their patch, Charlie and his team find themselves under pressure to discover what catalyst motivates the killer. They suspect it might be Charlie himself, and this is confirmed when La Gazelle is kidnapped. Now it’s getting personal…