In Balimar�s capital, Andruan, a sadistic killer is stalking a terrified dwarf community. Meanwhile, with plans underway to celebrate the birth of a new heir to the throne, a mysterious assassin threatens the royal family. With the militia making no headway, the King turns once again to personal inquisitor Lowmar Dashiel. He and his dwarf sidekick, Grishen, soon find themselves up to their necks in both cases - but not before Dashiel narrowly escapes an attempt on his own life. Is the attack on Dashiel linked to one of the cases he is investigating? Or is one of Dashiel�s many enemies seeking revenge?

For nine hundred years, the Guild of Sorcerers has maintained an uneasy peace between magic users in the kingdom of Balimar. Now Carnen, the Sorcerer Supreme and head of the Guild, has been murdered, and his named successor, Zarna, is the prime suspect. If she is found guilty, Balimar could be torn apart by a new and terrifying conflict. With everyone seemingly having an agenda, the King turns to an unlikely source of help. And personal inquisitor Lowmar Dashiel finds himself in a race against time to solve the case, prevent a war and save the life of the woman he loves.

Serial killers, revenge seekers, trained assassins, and a rather sinister teddy bear... they’re all here in this chilling little collection of coffee break crime stories. There are ten in total - enough to get you through a fortnight of mid-morning coffee breaks.
Many of the tales will have your hair standing on end, but the author’s grim brand of humour is never far away.
So put the kettle on, break out the biscuits, and prepare to visit some dark places.

A VIOLENT DEATH...

In a quiet market town in Buckinghamshire, a brutal killer strikes, shattering any illusions Detective Inspector Lizzie Archer might have had about her new patch in Aylesbury Vale being a sleepy hollow.

NEW SCARS...

Disfigured in the line of duty, Archer has transferred in from the Met, hoping to make a fresh start in her life and her career. The last thing she needs is an awkward colleague, but that is what she seems to find in Detective Sergeant Dan Baines.

OLD SCARS...

Baines bears scars of his own, the kind that cannot be seen. Eleven years ago, his family fell victim to a serial killer, and recently his life has fallen into fresh turmoil. Haunted by dreams and visions of his still-missing son, and confused by feelings for his murdered wife�s identical twin sister, he finds himself resenting a new boss who knows nothing about the area.

HOW MANY MORE VICTIMS?

But the killer shows no sign of stopping and with no obvious connection between the victims and the body count rising daily, Archer and Baines must put aside their differences and work together if they are to stop a maniac whose appetite for slaughter seemingly knows no bounds.

TWO DEATHS...

When a teenage Olympic swimming hopeful is found drowned in a water-filled disused quarry in Buckinghamshire, it looks as if fears that the local swimming hole was an accident waiting to happen have been fulfilled in the worst possible way.

A few days later, a small-time thief turns up on an allotments site a few miles away, his head bashed in with a spade. Thefts from Aylesbury Vale allotments have been rife, and now it seems that an elderly vigilante may have made good on his threats to take matters into his own hands.

NO EASY ANSWERS...

But murder is never simple. As Detective Inspector Lizzie Archer and Detective Sergeant Dan Baines investigate, they realise that neither case quite adds up. The truth, and the motive behind each death, is much darker than they could have imagined.

And some people will go to any lengths to make sure the truth stays buried.

EVEN THE DEAD HAVE THEIR SECRETS

A reformed teenage gang leader is gunned down in cold blood and an angry DS Dan Baines, who knew the victim well, reckons he knows who is responsible. But his boss, DI Lizzie Archer, wants to know the identity of the mystery man who died with him � and whether he was intended victim or innocent bystander.

When an officer from the National Crime Agency turns up and declares the case off limits to Archer and her team, its clear that there is more going on than meets the eye. Several conflicting agendas are in play and the body count is rising.

And Archer and Baines realise that the only people they can truly trust are each other.

�Sivers has created a dark world indeed.� - Rebecca Bradley

The quiet Buckinghamshire village of Houghton is reeling. Soon after twelve year old Leanne Richards is killed by a hit and run driver, the two classmates who were with her that night disappear, one by one.

Jade and Becky said they couldn’t identify the car or the driver. Does someone want to make sure it stays that way? Or are other, darker motives in play?

As DI Lizzie Archer and DS Dan Baines search for the truth, buried pasts and secret loves begin to reveal themselves. But is time running out for the girls? Or is it already too late?

After an explosion rips through a block of flats in a Buckinghamshire town, investigators make a grisly discovery.Even as DI Lizzie Archer, DS Dan Baines and their team attempt to identify the body that has lain buried in concrete for more than a decade, a much fresher corpse turns up on the notorious Northfields Estate. Reading gangster Kit Meredith looks like the first victim in a cross-county gang war that threatens to use Aylesbury Vale as its battleground.

As Archer and Baines struggle with both cases, and the body count rises, they have to face personal demons and make tough choices, with the stakes higher than they've ever been.

A cruel death. A macabre calling card.
A killer on a mission.

A body is found outside a church in a small Hertfordshire town. Alastair Murdoch suffered before he died. But what really disturbs DI Nathan Quarrel is the Tarot card motif adorning the body: The Fool.

Just 24 hours later, another body turns up.A different card, but from the same pack.

Unless Quarrel can decipher the meaning behind the cards and the connection between the victims, more will follow in a twisted agenda of abduction, pain and death.

THE NIGHTMARE’S JUST BEGINNING…

A rainy night in Buckinghamshire. A vicious homophobic attack in the centre of Aylesbury sees the start of a new investigation for detectives Lizzie Archer and Dan Baines. As they search for answers, another woman is found left for dead, her partner missing – and this time the victims are closer to home for the team.

Amid a desperate race to find the missing woman, Baines finds himself once again confronted by the demons he hoped he was finally putting behind him. It’s a distraction that could cost him his sanity – and a friend her life.

The latest in the popular Archer and Baines series, perfect for fans of Val McDermid and Peter Robinson.

'Fast-paced, devious and twisty - the pages turned themselves! I loved it!' - Liz Mistry

'A satisfying and well-constructed police procedural' – Cara Hunter

Too many enemies. Too much to lose.

Following an arrest that went wrong, leaving her disfigured and her life in ruins, DCI Lizzie Archer transferred to Buckinghamshire’s Aylesbury Vale, hoping to rebuild her confidence, her career and her life. Eleven years later, she’s happily married, her career is back on track, and she has friends she would trust with her life.

But things can change in a heartbeat.

Meanwhile, her friend and colleague, DI Dan Baines, has worries of his own as the long shadow of the serial killer known as the Invisible Man continues to hang over him. When the chance comes to finally get answers to some troubling questions, he is almost afraid to learn the truth. Because sometimes the reality can be worse than your imagination.

Soon after receiving unsettling threats from local criminals, an old flame makes an unwelcome return to Lizzie’s life. Days later, a grisly murder too close to home plunges her into a nightmare that could cost her everything as suspicion falls on her and her husband, Dominic.

Dan and his team are sidelined from the murder investigation, but they’re not going to let that stop them when a friend is in trouble. And the clock is ticking. Because, if they can’t uncover the truth soon, things will get even worse for Lizzie and Dominic.

Every action has a consequence…


‘As dark, gritty and chilling as it gets. Keep the lights on!’ – Liz Mistry


An anonymous call leads DI Nathan Quarrel and his team to a secluded house in a Hertfordshire village and a horrific discovery: three chest freezers containing the naked bodies of five women.

As the painstaking business of identifying the apparently unconnected victims gets underway, it becomes frighteningly clear that a sadistic serial killer has been at work, probably over a long period of time.


With no strong suspects, and no leads, unmasking the killer takes on a new urgency. Because the discoveries at what the media is calling a 'house of horrors' may not stop the killer, or even slow them down. Indeed, they may already have targeted their next victim.