Three murdered women, 15 years apart, all from the same family. There’s no such thing as Just A Coincidence. In book two of the Dave Slater Mystery series, the sleepy town of Tinton is shocked at the discovery of three bodies in one day. One is a recent murder victim, the others are fifteen-year old skeletons, both victims of an axe murder. When evidence emerges the three are related, it seems there’s no such thing as just a coincidence.

A body, an orphanage and a wraith at dawn. What really happened at Hatton House? Not all deaths are suspicious. Detective Dave Slater always hopes for the best but assumes the worst. In the third Hampshire-set mystery, the body of an elderly man looks innocent, until one loose thread unravels fifty years of lies, blackmail and bones.

When Diana Woods is found stabbed to death in her kitchen, DS Slater and DS Norman Norman are plunged into another major investigation. The finger of suspicion quickly points at Diana’s estranged husband, Ian – a bully who regularly abused his wife. But as Slater learns more, he begins to wonder if everything is as it seems. When a new suspect appears on the scene, it seems that Slater’s instincts were right. But the evidence seems just a bit too convenient, and Slater and Norman have to face the possibility that their suspect is being framed – and they could be back to square one.

When DS Dave Slater is called from his bed in the middle of the night, he is horrified to find that the flat belonging to his colleague, DS Norman Norman, has been set alight. His relief at being told Norman wasn’t inside at the time quickly turns to concern, as no trace of the missing officer can be found. As the minutes stretch into hours, and DS Slater starts to dig into the circumstances surrounding Norman’s disappearance, he discovers that the involvement of a mysterious Russian man could mean Norman is in an even more dangerous situation than first feared. With a new DI in charge – who just so happens to be a woman – and more twists and turns than a rollercoaster, DS Slater faces a race against time to find Norman before it’s too late.

Detective Sergeant Dave Slater is fed up. His girlfriend is off travelling the world, his trusty partner Norman could be retiring, and to top it all off, his boss has assigned him a rookie to babysit. He finds himself wondering if being a police officer is for him anymore. And then he picks up the phone to the case that no police officer ever wants to deal with– a missing eight-year-old girl. When little Chrissy’s body is found curled-up in nearby woodlands, DS Slater and the rest of the team are plunged into an investigation that sees them delve back into history in a bid to solve the mystery of Wild Boar Woods. Can they find Chrissy’s killer? And could they uncover an even larger crime in the process? Slater only knows one thing – it’s up to him to find the truth.

Detective Sergeant Dave Slater returns to work after an injury to find himself embroiled in yet another disciplinary shambles. His interrogation at the hands of the aptly named DI Grimm is interrupted, however, when Tinton Police Station is rocked by an explosion. After rushing to the scene, Slater is shocked to find a bomb blast has killed his friend and colleague – who shouldn’t even have been in the building in the first place. Vowing to find justice for his friend, DS Slater throws himself into the investigation to find the mystery bomber. But as ever in Tinton, secrets lie barely buried below the surface, and his friend’s life may not have been all it seemed. And with so many skeletons in the closet, which one will end up rattling the loudest?

When Joe Dalgetty is found dead at home, a postmortem reveals he died of a heart attack, and with no suspicious circumstances to suggest otherwise, he becomes just another statistic. Neighbour Rosie Hewitt isn’t convinced, and when Joe’s house, and then her own, are broken into, she tries to persuade the police something’s not right, but with a burglar targeting pensioner’s houses they don’t think Rosie’s case is anything special. Whatever the police might think, Rosie knows she’s right, and she’s heard there are two ex-police officers who are starting a detective agency. Maybe they will be prepared to listen to her. It’s not long before Slater and Norman uncover their first anomaly: Joe Dalgetty might have been 62 years old, but officially, he didn’t exist until five years ago! And that’s just the start. In a case involving a robbery that happened almost 30 years ago, an old London gangster, a protected witness, false identities, and two dead schoolboys from the sixties, it’s difficult for Slater and Norman to work out who’s really who, and what’s really going on.

When a homeless man is found burned to death in a skip, it seems to police like an open and shut case. After all, it was probably just a tragic accident, wasn’t it? But when former Detective Sergeant Dave Slater (now just plain Mr) arrives back from a holiday to Thailand, it’s not long before he and former partner Norman Norman get the distinct whiff that something isn’t quite right. Why has homeless veteran Ryan suddenly gone missing? And why is he so sure that it should have been him in that skip? And why had the dead man recently had a kidney removed? No longer having the resources and clout of Tinton Police behind them, Slater and Norman must put their detective skills to good use to find the truth before there are more victims

Newly promoted Detective Inspector Dave Slater could groan when he’s handed his first case in his new role. This isn’t the first time he’s had to deal with dug-up old bones – and things get even worse when he gets to the scene to discover the skeleton is that of a little boy. Along with new partner DS Samantha Brearley, known as Watson, he tracks down a couple whose only son went missing years previously. But they are adamant that the remains found, and even a distinctive antique silver pendant discovered beside the body, can’t have anything to do with their missing son. When DNA results back up their assertion, Slater finds himself at a crossroads, the evidence pointing every which way. But there’s an unfortunate fact about digging – once you start, you never know what else you might find. And Slater soon begins to realise, there could be more than the bones of a little boy lying buried deep in the past.

DS Dave Slater is suspended from duty. The injustice of taking the rap for a fast-track London detective’s botched investigation hits him hard. To add insult to injury, his boss hands him a closed case for a discreet re-investigation. Is this a chance to redeem himself or a way of ensuring he fails? Ruth Thornhill went missing six months ago. According to the evidence, she ran off with another man, so the Met closed the case. However, Ruth’s sister Beverley refuses to give up. And Beverley has friends in high places. Slater’s enquiries soon find inconsistencies in the original investigation, and after a near-fatal encounter with a London bus, he realises the stakes are far higher than he imagined. Someone wants him to disappear. An unlikely ally, in the form of fellow scapegoat DS Norman Norman, helps him uncover disturbing connections between the missing woman, a Chinese businessman, a glossy magazine, an online escort agency, a top London banker and senior officers from London’s Serious Crime Unit. The two uncover a mire of corruption, blackmail, deception and possibly the most cunning murder ever seen. The evidence stacks up against one particular suspect and Slater and Norman close in. But as with most things in Slater’s life, nothing is ever simple.