D. S. Butler

A dark secret. A haunted past. And a house full of lies. When two teenage girls vanish without a trace from an educational retreat at Chidlow House in Lincolnshire, the students and teachers are put on high alert. Called in to investigate, Detective Karen Hart questions everyone who came into...

A perfect village. A perfect crime. When two young girls disappear from their primary school, the village of Heighington is put on high alert—and not for the first time. Called in to investigate, Detective Karen Hart is sure that parallels with a previous disappearance are anything but...

Three boys were taken and murdered fifteen years ago. The killer is in jail. So why is history repeating itself? A family outing to Tattershall Castle comes to a chilling end when eleven-year-old Tommy Burton disappears without a trace in broad daylight. All that remains in his place is a small...

Only one person can help crack this case—but he’s also the prime suspect. DC Sophie Jones was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Viciously bludgeoned one night in a dark alley, she is left fighting for her life in hospital, leaving no clues as to why she was there or what might have...

Can DS Karen Hart rely on the word of a little girl to save the life of a woman in grave danger? When a woman is abducted from a quiet suburban street and bundled into the back of a white van, the only witness to the crime is a child with a reputation for telling tall tales. The police doubt the...

Beneath a quiet village, dark crimes lie buried. When decomposed human remains are discovered in a suitcase behind a locked door in the home of an elderly man, Detective Karen Hart thinks the facts speak for themselves. That is, until she finds the warning: It’s time to pay for your crime. The...

A merciless killer who will stop at nothing. And a detective with nothing left to lose. When Detective Karen Hart hears a scream echoing out of beautiful Lincoln Cathedral one snowy evening, she is the first officer on the scene. In the chapel a man lies murdered, a bloody cross carved into his...

You can cover up the truth, but it won’t stay buried forever. A man is found bludgeoned to death in woodland by the village of Canwick, and the close-knit community is sent into shock. Detective Karen Hart, still haunted by the tragic loss of her husband and daughter nearby, is brought in to...

A young girl finds a woman murdered. Can DS Karen Hart uncover the truth and find the killer? In the dead of night, four teenagers taking a shortcut through an archaeological dig site find a body in a trench. It doesn’t take long for them to be more scared than they’ve ever been in their...

Is Karen Hart’s latest investigation a routine missing persons case—or part of a dark conspiracy? Detective Karen Hart is finally getting her life back on track—enjoying her new relationship and dealing with the grief in her past. Then someone from her counselling group asks for help...

As soon as he picks up the phone, Arnie knows something is terribly wrong. ‘We’ve found him. Damon’s finally been found.’ For thirty-five years, DS Arnie Hodgson believed his childhood friend was dead. But he didn’t die back then. He was murdered yesterday. DS Karen Hart’s heart...

A man is found poisoned by the deadly toxin aconite. A note found at the scene leads Detective Sergeant Jack Mackinnon to a University of Oxford laboratory, where staff and students are desperate to hide their association with the victim. As Mackinnon gets closer to the truth, he finds his own...

Detective Jack Mackinnon’s career is in serious trouble. Still in the Detective Chief Inspector’s bad books and excluded from the Major Investigation team, Mackinnon is assigned the case nobody wants. As Mackinnon investigates, he discovers a horrifying link to a crime committed a decade ago...

A young Polish girl fixated on fame ~ A killer with a deadly obsession Detective Jack Mackinnon has his work cut out trying to track down missing student, Anya Blonski. As Mackinnon follows the trail of obsession and murder to the shady owners of the Star Academy, who thrive on society's...

Two years ago, Beth Farrow turned her back on her three-year-old niece, Jenna, for just a few seconds. She disappeared without a trace. How does a three-year-old go missing from a crowded summer fete without anyone noticing? When Beth leaves the country to try and escape her guilt, someone sends...

Every instinct is screaming at her that something is wrong. ‘Lorraine?’ The door stands open, the kettle cold, the house dark and silent. Behind an overturned chair, she sees a figure on the floor. Rushing forward, a gasp of fear escapes Karen’s chest: her future mother-in-law will never...

On a hot August day, Abbie’s best friend is murdered, and her goddaughter, Sienna, disappears. Abbie is desperate to find and protect Sienna, but unanswered questions haunt her every move....

When a murder victim is found with an unusual wooden disc beneath their tongue, speculation is rife. Though clues suggest ritual murder and supernatural goings-on, DS Jack Mackinnon knows the perpetrator is very real....

A late summer heatwave seems to have triggered an unusually high number of suicides. As the dead bodies pile up, DS Jack Mackinnon and the rest of MIT realise things aren’t as straightforward as they seem....