Inspector Skelgill Investigates Series by Bruce Beckham

Inspector Skelgill Investigates #8

A STAND-ALONE MURDER MYSTERY, #8 IN THE SERIES. MEET MAVERICK BRITISH DETECTIVE DI SKELGILL... “MAD, BAD AND JUST A LITTLE BIT COZY.” WHEN A DOG WALKER discovers a decaying corpse in Harterhow Woods it is surely just a matter of time before the police will close in upon the murderer. But despite a nationwide appeal the distinctive remains defy identification. Skelgill believes he knows the perpetrator – but his team have other ideas. As they unearth contradictory clues Skelgill becomes impatient – an arrest is made. But when the victim is finally named a new prime suspect emerges. Skelgill is determined to prevail – but the facts don’t fit his gut feel. And yet, as they search for a vital witness it dawns on him that there may be not one but two killers at large. And one of them may be compelled to strike again.

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Published: 2017

Inspector Skelgill Investigates #9

Murder at the Flood

Bruce Beckham

A STAND-ALONE MURDER MYSTERY, #9 IN THE SERIES. MEET MAVERICK BRITISH DETECTIVE DI SKELGILL... "MAD, BAD AND JUST A LITTLE BIT COZY." WHEN LATTER-DAY LOTHARIO and expert kayaker Roger Alcock disappears on the night of the 'Great Cockermouth Flood', his attractive wife Maeve takes 24 hours longer than might reasonably be expected to notify the authorities. But when Roger's corpse washes up on the Solway coast, a post mortem suggests his death could legitimately be classified as misadventure. DI Skelgill, however - engaged as a rescuer to the inundated Cumbrian town - detects a sinister undercurrent that pervades the tightly knit community in which Roger Alcock moved. As the floodwater recedes, reasons surface why Roger's erstwhile associates might celebrate his demise. Could this be a murder - of the kind that suits the innocent as well as the guilty to hold their peace? Could spurned lovers and fleeced creditors and others who might benefit be acting in silent concert? Jealousy, revenge, greed... these are sentiments that trouble Skelgill - for he realises that unless he can divine a motive, he cannot begin to ascribe a crime. To penetrate the mystery he enlists a female duo, a visiting TV reporter, and the sister-in-law of the late Roger Alcock. But are these alluring ladies simply playing him for their own devices? While DS Jones is temporarily absent, Skelgill becomes doubly conflicted. Barely treading water in the case, he flounders in the perpetrator's wake. Can his famous 'sixth sense' come to his rescue in time - or will a second murder erase forever all trace of the killer?

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Published: 2017

Inspector Skelgill Investigates #10

Murder at Dead Crags

Bruce Beckham

A blood-curdling howl haunts moonlit Skiddaw Forest – its source the precipitous cliffs known as Dead Crags. Locals evoke the legend of the Black Dog, harbinger of misfortune, devil’s familiar – an ancient myth revived in living memory by the unexplained death of Piet Crow, controversial founder in 1959 of Dead Crags Zoo. If the curse blighted Old Man Crow, could it now be visited upon his descendants? Elderly granddaughter Antonia is found dead beneath the crags. Her twin Vivienne survives a life-threatening ordeal. Murder? Attempted murder? Or innocent coincidence? Skelgill is torn – until a long-serving zoo hand falls victim to a rifle bullet. Unearthly baying hound there may be, it takes a finger to pull a trigger – and human predators circle the ailing zoo and its valuable land. A property tycoon with bulldozers at the ready. A titled aristocrat who covets ancestral hunting grounds. Volatile animal rights activists that protest malpractice. Dark clouds gather above the isolated Northern Fells – some great storm is brewing – but to divine its nature defies all logical investigation. Skelgill is drawn inexorably to Dead Crags – where presentiment prickles at his skin. But will his legendary intuition read the signs before the curse makes its final destructive strike?

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