With its unfair, caravan sites and social clubs, Swann's Lake is the ideal weekend retreat for working class Mancunians. But it is also the setting for the brutal murder of Robbie Peterson, a criminal-turned-club-owner, found dead in his office, a six-inch nail driven deep into his skull.Brought up from London with Sergeant Bob Rutter, Woodend soon realises this is a far from straightforward case. Why was Robbie's office broken into twice on the day of his funeral? What caused Jack Clough, Robbie's son-in-law, to attack his own brother on the night of the murder? And why, later, does Annabel Peterson, who was educated privately and then turned her back on her family, suddenly try to scratch her sister Jenny's eyes out? As the case unfolds, Woodend uncovers several crimes but it is only as it draws to a close that he realises the murder has nothing to do with Robbie's criminal past -- and everything to do with his domestic present.

Murder at Swann's Lake (Chief Inspector Woodend Mysteries, 2)

Literature & Fiction

SPENCER, Sally

Contemporary

Severn House

Spanning 80 tumultuous years, the incredible story of a peasant girl who become the Red Princess of the Russian Revolution.   Anna Mayakovsky is now a penniless old woman living in London, but no one can take away the vivid memories of her past: the Count who lifted her out of poverty; the Count’s son, Misha, whose baby she bore; Paul, the ruthless factory owner who became her lover – and her deadliest enemy; Sasha, the tough but gentle peasant who converted her to revolution. And her aristocratic husband whom she adored, but could never love as completely as a woman should love her man. Now Anna finds she has one more battle ahead of her: her great-granddaughters Jennifer and Sonia wish to lock her away in an institution. Anna knows this would kill her. She will have to fight back . . .

Silent Land -Lib -Op/026

British & Irish

The Final Beat of the Drum (A DCI Monika Paniatowski Mystery, 15)

DCI Monika Paniatowski is forced to think the unthinkable: could a good friend and long-standing colleague be guilty of murder? On the day of her official retirement from the Force, DCI Monika Paniatowski looks at the two men and one woman who are no longer her team and thinks: Whatever the future holds, I will always be proud of you. She raises a toast. And just like that, her career as a homicide detective is over. Then, fifteen years later, Monika's former sergeant, Kate Meadows, makes a terrible mistake. Monika doesn't hesitate when Kate turns to her for help. She owes her, and she can hardly let her old friend go down for a crime she didn't commit. But as Monika gets deeper into the investigation, she's forced to ask herself the unthinkable: is Kate really innocent, or is she helping her old friend get away with murder? Packed with twists that will make you gasp out loud, the fifteenth - and final - DCI Monika Paniatowski mystery is a stunning conclusion to the long-running series. If you haven't met Monika yet, you're in for a treat.

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

Chief Inspector Woodend is called to investigate the murder of a teenager in the village of Cheshire and suspects there is a serial killer on the loose

The Salton Killings (A Chief Inspector Woodend Mystery, 1)

The Paradise Job

Genre Fiction

Death of a Cave Dweller

Severn House Pub Ltd

The night after the mysterious appearance of the legendary Dark Lady on the road outside Westbury Park, a German efficiency expert, Gerhard Schultz, is found battered to death in the woods, and Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend is faced with his most puzzling case yet. Why did Schultz seem so frightened when one of his colleagues mentioned the legend of the Dark Lady?

The Dark Lady

The new Inspector Woodend mystery The discovery of the body of a young, red-haired school mistress, lying in a pig-pen with her face half-eaten away, is the beginning of a new investigation for Charlie Woodend. But it is to be an investigation he is soon ordered to abandon when Helen Dunn, the daughter of Wing Commander Dunn - and a pupil at the school where the dead woman taught - suddenly vanishes into thin air. While Woodend and Rutter race against time in the desperate hope of finding the girl alive, Woodend's bagman, Monika Paniatowski, continues to work on the murder, under the supervision of the mysterious Chief Inspector Horrocks, a Scotland Yard man who seems to have only a mild interest in finding the killer. Are the two cases connected? Woodend begins to wonder. And if they are, who is it who seems to be blocking both investigations at every turn?

Red Herring (Chief Inspector Woodend Mysteries, 7)

Chief Inspector Woodend investigates when a man and woman are found shot to death in a remote farmhouse on the moors, but is puzzled by the disappearance of the farmer and the identities of the victims.

Death of an Innocent (Chief Inspector Woodend Mysteries, 8)

When a bobby’s killed in Blackpool, Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend takes a ride through England’s wild side to get to the bottom of a mystery. The investigation into the brutal murder of a Blackpool policeman during holiday season was never going to be easy, but the case is not Chief Inspector Woodend’s only problem. His new boss, DS Ainsworth, is just waiting for an opportunity to stick a knife in his back; and his invaluable assistant, Bob Rutter, has been replaced by a sergeant more intent on advancing her own career than helping him. Then, it appears, the Blackpool police seem to think it might be better if the killer were never found . . .

Golden Mile to Murder, The (A Chief Inspector Woodend Mystery, 5)

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Books by SPENCER, Sally