Fiona Griffiths Series by Harry Bingham

This short story introduces Fiona Griffiths, a brand new police officer in her first proper night on patrol. The events are set in Fiona’s home city of Cardiff, South Wales.If you like this story and want more, there’s a whole series for you to explore. Following the events of The Night Beat, Fiona goes on to become a detective in the Major Crimes Unit, dealing with homicide amongst much else. There are now five full-length novels in the Fiona Griffiths series for you to explore and enjoy... moreThis short story introduces Fiona Griffiths, a brand new police officer in her first proper night on patrol. The events are set in Fiona’s home city of Cardiff, South Wales.If you like this story and want more, there’s a whole series for you to explore. Following the events of The Night Beat, Fiona goes on to become a detective in the Major Crimes Unit, dealing with homicide amongst much else. There are now five full-length novels in the Fiona Griffiths series for you to explore and enjoy. But be warned: these books are addictive. less

SHE KNOWS WHAT IT'S LIKE. . . . At first, the murder scene appears sad, but not unusual: a young woman undone by drugs and prostitution, her six-year-old daughter dead alongside her. But then detectives find a strange piece of evidence in the squalid house: the platinum credit card of a very wealthy--and long dead--steel tycoon... moreSHE KNOWS WHAT IT'S LIKE. . . . At first, the murder scene appears sad, but not unusual: a young woman undone by drugs and prostitution, her six-year-old daughter dead alongside her. But then detectives find a strange piece of evidence in the squalid house: the platinum credit card of a very wealthy--and long dead--steel tycoon. What is a heroin-addicted hooker doing with the credit card of a well-known and powerful man who died months ago? This is the question that the most junior member of the investigative team, Detective Constable Fiona Griffiths, is assigned to answer.But D.C. Griffiths is no ordinary cop. She's earned a reputation at police headquarters in Cardiff, Wales, for being odd, for not picking up on social cues, for being a little overintense. And there's that gap in her past, the two-year hiatus that everyone assumes was a breakdown. But Fiona is a crack investigator, quick and intuitive. She is immediately drawn to the crime scene, and to the tragic face of the six-year-old girl, who she is certain has something to tell her . . . something that will break the case wide open.Ignoring orders and protocol, Fiona begins to explore far beyond the rich man's credit card and into the secrets of her seaside city. And when she uncovers another dead prostitute, Fiona knows that she's only begun to scratch the surface of a dark world of crime and murder. But the deeper she digs, the more danger she risks--not just from criminals and killers but from her own past . . . and the abyss that threatens to pull her back at any time. less

The second novel featuring recovering psychotic DC Fiona Griffiths opens with as intriguing a pair of murders as you could imagine. Firstly, part of a human leg is discovered in a woman's freezer, bagged up like a joint of pork. Other similarly gruesome discoveries follow throughout a cosy Cardiff suburb, with body parts turning up in kitchens, garages and potting sheds... moreThe second novel featuring recovering psychotic DC Fiona Griffiths opens with as intriguing a pair of murders as you could imagine. Firstly, part of a human leg is discovered in a woman's freezer, bagged up like a joint of pork. Other similarly gruesome discoveries follow throughout a cosy Cardiff suburb, with body parts turning up in kitchens, garages and potting sheds. And while the police are still literally putting the pieces together, concluding that they all belong to a teenage girl killed some ten years earlier, parts of another body suddenly start appearing, but this time discarded carelessly around the countryside clearly very shortly after the victim - a man - was killed.Mysteries don't come much more macabre or puzzling than this. Who were the two victims, and what connection could they have shared that would result in this bizarre double-discovery?But that's only half the story. The most gruesome moments are much more about Fiona and her curious mental state. There is a complex and very clever double mystery here, and what makes the story unique is the parallel unraveling of Fiona's own mystery, and it's her voice, established precisely in the first book but given even freer rein here, that makes it so compelling. less

It started out as nothing much. A minor payroll fraud at a furniture store in South Wales. No homicide involved, no corpses. Detective Constable Fiona Griffiths fights to get free of the case, but loses. She's tasked with the investigation. She begins her enquiries, only to discover the corpse of a woman who's starved to death. Looks further, and soon realizes that within the first, smaller crime, a vaster one looms: the most audacious theft in history... moreIt started out as nothing much. A minor payroll fraud at a furniture store in South Wales. No homicide involved, no corpses. Detective Constable Fiona Griffiths fights to get free of the case, but loses. She's tasked with the investigation. She begins her enquiries, only to discover the corpse of a woman who's starved to death. Looks further, and soon realizes that within the first, smaller crime, a vaster one looms: the most audacious theft in history. Fiona’s bosses need a copper willing to go undercover, and they ask Fiona to play the role of a timid payroll clerk so that she can penetrate the criminal gang from within. Fiona will be alone, she’ll be lethally vulnerable – and her fragile grip on ‘Planet Normal’ will be tested as never before ... less

This Thing of Darkness

The fifth in the acclaimed series featuring crime fiction's most unusual and engaging detective, DC Fiona GriffithsWhen the body of a young woman is found in an old 'dead house' - the annexe where the dead were stored before burial in medieval times - of a tiny Welsh church, it seems that past and present have come together in a bizarre and horrifying way... moreThe fifth in the acclaimed series featuring crime fiction's most unusual and engaging detective, DC Fiona GriffithsWhen the body of a young woman is found in an old 'dead house' - the annexe where the dead were stored before burial in medieval times - of a tiny Welsh church, it seems that past and present have come together in a bizarre and horrifying way. For DC Fiona Griffiths, the girl - a murder victim whose corpse was laid out with obvious tenderness - represents an irresistibly intriguing puzzle, given Fiona's unusual empathy with the dead. And when her investigations lead her to an obscure and secretive monastery hidden in a remote valley, she finds that the dead girl is far from the only victim of a sinister melding of modern crime and medieval religious practices. Only Fiona is capable of putting the mismatched pieces together in this disturbing puzzle, but immersing herself in this dark and obsessive world could threaten her fragile grip on her own sanity. less

An ancient battle. A dead researcher. And a very modern crime.It's been more than a year since Detective Sergeant Fiona Griffiths had any sort of murder case . . . when all of a sudden, she gets the call. A local archaeologist has been found bloodily murdered. Her head severed from her body. Her eyes apparently fixed on a fragment of Latin text. The crime seems to summon the ghosts of Dark Age Britain - and the shade of King Arthur... moreAn ancient battle. A dead researcher. And a very modern crime.It's been more than a year since Detective Sergeant Fiona Griffiths had any sort of murder case . . . when all of a sudden, she gets the call. A local archaeologist has been found bloodily murdered. Her head severed from her body. Her eyes apparently fixed on a fragment of Latin text. The crime seems to summon the ghosts of Dark Age Britain - and the shade of King Arthur. But why are those ancient enmities alive once again? Why are armed burglars raiding remote country churches? And how many more people will die before these clues are unravelled?Fiona thinks she knows the answers to these questions . . . but the crime that underlies them all is so utterly unexpected, so breathtakingly audacious in its execution, that it hasn't yet been committed.This book will be perfect for anyone who's enjoyed the work of Ann Cleeves, Elly Griffiths, or Andrea Camilleri. less