Detective Inspector Walter Hardcastle is following in his father's footsteps, but is his rapid rise about to be threatened by a spate of disturbing break-ins linked to the war effort August, 1939. As war looms, Detective Inspector Walter Hardcastle is following in the footsteps of his father, Ernest, and progressing through the ranks of the Metropolitan Police. Summoned to the office of Charles Marriot, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of CID at New Scotland Yard, Walter learns that he has been promoted to a senior role at V Division, and is plunged into a top secret case when burglaries occur at the homes of those working on a new type of war submarine. Could a German spy be behind the break-ins? When one of the burglaries ends with a double murder, the stakes get higher for Walter. Can he track down an enemy agent on the streets of London while also resolving another disturbing case?

A letter from a vicar in Norfolk leads DDI Hardcastle and DS Marriott on the road to a shocking and macabre discovery . . . One rainy morning in March 1927, Divisional Detective Inspector Ernest Hardcastle of the Metropolitan Police is summoned to the office of the Chief Constable CID at New Scotland Yard. Frederick Wensley has received a letter from a Reverend Percy Stoner in Norfolk, convinced that his nephew, Captain Guy Stoner, has been murdered. He recently received a letter, supposedly from Guy, claiming that there had been a fire at his farm in Ditton, Surrey, and asking for money. Assigned the case, Hardcastle and Detective Sergeant Charles Marriott travel to Ditton, where they make a shocking discovery, and are soon drawn into a shady world of deception, fraud, ex-army officers and West End nightclubs, navigating a labyrinth of twists and turns in their determination to see justice served.

DCI Harry Brock's leisurely Saturday afternoon is shattered when he receives the news that Robert Sharp, a charming, good-looking man in his thirties, has been found dead in a suspicious fire in his hut at the Pretext Club, a nudist club near Harrow. Besides being a philandering husband, it seems Robert Sharp was a conman on the wanted list of three different constabularies, a chameleon who managed to escape the police's clutches and justice . . . until now. Plunged into a deadly mix of deception, betrayal and fraud, Harry and his colleague DS Dave Poole soon uncover a number of people with a grudge against Robert, but can they unmask his killer?

The new mystery featuring Detective Inspector Hardcastle in this popular First World War series - September 1916. A Zeppelin with a deadly payload is aimed at Victoria station, but when the bombs miss their mark and instead destroy a nearby house in Washbourne Street, mystery ensues for DI Hardcastle. The body of a woman is discovered, who was not only unknown to the tenants of the building but also appears to have died before the bombs were even dropped...

As the Great War grinds to its bloody finale, DI Hardcastle is encumbered with a frustrating and complicated investigation . . .  -March, 1918. The Great War is grinding slowly to its bloody finale.  Divisional Detective Inspector Ernest Hardcastle, head of the Whitehall Division of the Metropolitan Police, is called to a body is recovered from the Thames. Mavis Parker, the victim’s attractive widow, proves to be a good-time girl, and to complicate matters, all the suspects seem to be known to each other, including a South African who purports to be an actor. But it is when Special Branch intervene that things really get complicated . . .Review"Meticulously researched historical details, period ambience, authentic British working-class dialogue, a splendid plot, gentle humor, and two clever detectives add up to an outstanding historical procedural."Booklist on Hardsastle's FrustrationAbout the AuthorDuring Graham Ison's thirty year career in Scotland Yard's Special Branch he was involved in several espionage cases and the investigation into the escape of the spy George Blake. He spent four years at 10 Downing Street as Protection Officer to two Prime Ministers and also served as second-in-command of the Diplomatic Protection Group.

The latest case for Brock & Poole leads to a trip abroad . . . and tragedy at home. When Richard Cooper is found shot to death in his luxury apartment in North Sheen, London, Detective Chief Inspector Harry Brock and Detective Sergeant Dave Poole are assigned the case. They immediately question Dennis Jones, who found Cooper's lifeless body, and Lydia Maxwell, who lived in the apartment opposite – but is either of them telling the truth? Richard Cooper appears to have been a very private man who left few clues behind. As the investigation gathers pace, however, a trip to Belgium could signal the possible unravelling of the mystery. But it soon becomes clear that the hunt for a determined killer could lead to tragedy for Harry and his team.

Hardcastle's mission to find a headstrong young woman leads to some disturbing twists and turns. March, 1919. The head of CID at New Scotland Yard has a task for Divisional Detective Inspector Hardcastle of A Division: find Lily Musgrave, the missing daughter of Austen Musgrave MP. Hardcastle, aided by Detective Sergeant Charles Marriott, discovers that the headstrong Lily Musgrave provides risqué entertainment for a number of ex-officers. When she returns home of her own accord, however, Hardcastle assumes the case is closed and turns his attention to arranging the finer details of his daughter Maud's wedding. But no sooner is the wedding over than Lily Musgrave goes missing again. And this time, finding her might not be so easy . . .

July, 1917. DI Ernest Hardcastle and his assistant, DS Charles Marriott, investigate the murder of a cashier operating in London's Victoria Station. An army officer claims to have seen the murderer running away, and an army cap left behind appears to identify the criminal. Hardcastle believes that it will be a simple matter to go to Aldershot and arrest him, but things are never as easy as they seem. Soon Hardcastle and Marriott find themselves investigating a frustrating and seemingly unsolvable case. Has Hardcastle finally met his match? . . .From BooklistIt’s 1914, and the Great War is up and running. Food rationing, blackouts, air raids, and the deaths of thousands of soldiers are hitting the usually stiff-upper-lipped British particularly hard. But crime doesn’t stop, even with a war on, and DDI Ernest Hardcastle and his long-suffering sidekick, DS Charles Marriott, must solve the murder of a cashier at Victoria railway station. Left at the crime scene are an army-issue revolver and cap, but the owner of the cap claims it was stolen and the revoler isn’t his, leaving Hardcastle and Marriott faced with doing the slogging police work they’d hoped to avoid. The Hardcastle novels are consistently well constructed, thoroughly researched, and historically accurate, and this one is no exception. But readers beware: the period idiom and rhyming cockney slang are a struggle to interpret, even with the aid of the glossary at the end of the book. --Emily Melton ReviewIt's 1914, and the Great War is up and running. Food rationing, blackouts, air raids, and the deaths of thousands of soldiers are hitting the usually stiff-upper-lipped British particularly hard. But crime doesn't stop, even with a war on, and DDI Ernest Hardcastle and his long-suffering sidekick, DS Charles Marriott, must solve the murder of a cashier at Victoria railway station. Left at the crime scene are an army-issue revolver and cap, but the owner of the cap claims it was stolen and the revoler isn't his, leaving Hardcastle and Marriott faced with doing the slogging police work they'd hoped to avoid. The Hardcastle novels are consistently well constructed, thoroughly researched, and historically accurate, and this one is no exception. But readers beware: the period idiom and rhyming cockney slang are a struggle to interpret, even with the aid of the glossary at the end of the book. --Booklist, 15th February 2010