Showing results by author "Helen Phifer" in All Categories

When reports come in of an attack on a group of friends on the grounds of an abandoned summer camp, Detective Morgan Brookes races to the scene. Seeing a body in the lake, she throws herself into the freezing water, but the boy’s battered face and blue lips are evidence that she is far too late. With his killer at large, and one young girl missing, a desperate search ensues.

When reports come in of a family trapped in a burning house, Detective Morgan Brookes rushes to the scene. But as soon as she enters the ruined home, she is devastated by what she finds. Tied to the kitchen table, Sally and David Lawson and their young son had no chance of escaping the flames and the smoke.... Neighbors all agree the Lawsons were the perfect family, and CCTV shows nothing suspicious. Morgan’s only clue is the silver crucifix necklace around Sally’s neck.

The girl’s body is lying still and the crown of rare darling roses is perfectly positioned in her beautiful auburn hair. Morgan thinks she looks picture-perfect. Until she notices the blood dripping down one side of the boulder beneath her. Following her colleague Ben up to Castlerigg Stone Circle, Detective Morgan Brookes is shocked at what she finds. A young woman has been killed, left on display at the top of the hill with a crown of roses on her head. As the team race to get the popular tourist spot cordoned off, Morgan hears the heartbroken sobs of the woman who found the body.

Morgan tries to steady her trembling hands as she enters the abandoned tent in the shadow of the mountains. The woman once lay peacefully watching the stars in the glistening night sky. But she has been dead for some time… When a farmer reports an abandoned campsite in Rydal Falls, Detective Morgan Brookes hopes its occupants are just out enjoying the beautiful views nearby. But nothing can prepare her for the smell of death in the air, or what she finds as she crawls inside the wind-ravaged tent.

On the banks of the River Rothay, as the first rays of sunshine hit the fast-flowing water, Melody Carrick’s body lies lifeless, red strangulation marks where her gold cross necklace used to hang. Detective Morgan Brookes is certain the killer was surprised by early-morning dog walkers, and she won’t rest until she unearths the evidence she needs to stop his next attack.

When the body of a teenage runaway is found hidden inside someone else’s grave in a small-town cemetery in the Lake District, an urgent call is made to forensic pathologist Beth Adams. Still traumatised by a recent attempt on her own life, one look at the beautiful girl’s broken body is enough to bring Beth out of hiding for the first time since her attack. She’s the only one who can help her trusted friend, Detective Josh Walker, crack the most shocking case of his career.

Detective Lucy Harwin is called out to attend the discovery of a woman’s body in an abandoned, crumbling church and is quickly plunged into a case that will test her leadership skills to the limit. With no leads except the crudely-fashioned crucifix the victim was displayed on, Lucy is at a complete loss. That is, until another body turns up: an elderly woman who devoted her life to the church. Faced with a killer stalking the streets of her small coastal town, while also throwing herself into work to forget the love of her life, Lucy’s first case is turning into a nightmare.

Arriving at a quiet family home on the outskirts of the Lake District, Detective Morgan Brookes must deliver devastating news to a heartbroken mother. Seeing Lexie’s pink boots against the side of the house, she remembers the girl’s happy face and can’t help but think of her carefree childhood. Three years ago, Morgan saved Lexie from a serial killer, who is now behind bars. But this time, she’s failed to protect her. Certain a new and more terrifying killer is at large, Morgan finds a neighbor who claims a man in a silver car was watching Lexie’s house.

For decades the Moore Asylum was home to the forgotten children of Brooklyn Bay. But ever since a scandal forced its closure, the abandoned building has cast an imposing shadow. Until now - when an elderly man is found dead, his body strapped to an ancient gurney. Detective Lucy Harwin, still reeling from a previous case that ended in the devastating murder of a mother and her child, finds herself on the trail of a killer ruthlessly fixated on avenging the asylum's wrongs.

Running from a devastating relationship that almost cost her everything, Maddy Hart impulsively accepts a job as a live-in caretaker at imposing Lakeview House. She has no memories of having visited the crumbling mansion on the banks of Lake Thirlmere before, but when she arrives, something about the house feels familiar. The more time Maddy spends in the house, the more unsettled she feels. By day, she clears out the dusty rooms, but in the dead of night, it’s hard to explain away the eerie noises or crackly radio she hears hours after she turned it off.

When Detective Morgan Brookes is called to the scene of a suicide, she’s devastated to recognize the young teacher sprawled out on the grass like a broken doll. She hasn’t seen Brittany for years. Not since the tragic death of Morgan’s high school boyfriend ripped their friendship group apart. But when witnesses describe Brittany’s erratic behavior and jumbled speech that morning, Morgan is convinced the fearless, life-loving girl she once knew didn’t jump of her own accord.

Thunder rattles the windows of the deserted hotel. Morgan spots the young girl on the floor, her dark hair fanned out and covered in shattered glass. Lightning strikes, illuminating the blood on every surface. Following an emergency call in the middle of a fierce storm, Detective Morgan Brookes arrives at Keswick Manor, a crumbling, empty hotel in the Lake District, where she finds the dead body of a young woman. She recognises her bright blue eyes instantly.

The thrilling fourth book in the Annie Graham crime thriller series A serial killer on the loose. A mystery that must be solved before time runs out. Elderly Martha Beckett is a prisoner in her own home, and has been ever since her older brother disappeared at just nine years old. * * * * Six...

When a concerned neighbor reports a woman missing, Detective Morgan Brookes squeezes through the stiff front door to find the woman dead. At first, the case appears unsuspicious, but something about the scene unsettles Morgan. Every clock in the house has been stopped, every mirror covered, and the woman seems physically unharmed except for one missing lock of hair.

Morgan kneels beside the fluttering crime scene tape. Their hands clasped, the couple’s embrace looks loving and warm, but an icy chill grips the air. Their lips are blue, and blood is dripping on the floor. They have been silenced forever When sweet-natured teaching assistant Rosie Waite, and her boyfriend Matt, are found dead in their quaint family home in the Lake District, Detective Morgan Brookes is horrified. Sleeping just two doors down, she heard no screams for help, no slamming doors, or alarms in the night.

When the body of a young woman is found, tied to her bed and the victim of a brutal attack in her own home, Detective Morgan Brookes is sickened by what she finds as she searches the house, and unprepared for the nightmares it inspires about her childhood. When the DNA collected gives a positive ID, Morgan can’t wait to put the attacker behind bars. But the person it matches to is already in prison. How could the DNA of someone who has been locked up for over 20 years have shown up in Morgan’s crime scene? And then they make another close match - to Morgan herself.

When the body of a woman is found hanging from a tree in her front garden, rookie Detective Morgan Brookes is first on the scene. But Olivia Potter is past saving. And when her husband and daughters cannot be traced, Morgan knows there is more to this tragedy. And then she finds them. Lying huddled together in the dark basement, each of their faces covered with a small cotton cloth, their bodies cold to the touch. But as Morgan kneels beside the family, she realizes that one of the girls is still breathing.

The stunning second book in the Annie Graham crime thriller series * * * * Six months on from the case that changed everything, police officer Annie Graham is not looking to stir up more shadows of the past. She’s still haunted by the crimes she’s witnessed, and she’s found a new role...

When the body of a teenage girl is found in Rydal Falls’ churchyard, Detective Morgan Brookes abandons her own birthday to attend the scene. In the dim evening light, Morgan can just make out the girl wrapped in a pristine white sheet and is certain she’s been left here for them to find. The autopsy identifies the girl as 16-year-old Shea Wilkinson, and Morgan’s heart cracks with sorrow. The beautiful teenager has been missing for weeks; could she have been suffering all this time?

When Detective Maria Miller walks up creaking stairs into the attic of the old brownstone she senses this isn’t an ordinary crime scene. The brutality of the murder is enough to shock even an experienced detective like Maria. But there’s something else. An unsettling presence seems to lurk in the shadows sending a chill through Maria’s bones, making her desperate to run back down the stairs and never return. The killing is identical to the murder of an actress sixty years before, a crime that tore a family apart and sent shockwaves through New York City.