Shirley Wells - Jill Kennedy & DCI Max Trentham Series (01-05)

1. Into the Shadows
When Rodney Hill, wrongly arrested for a series of murders, hangs himself, Jill Kennedy, the forensic psychologist whose profile led to Hill’s arrest, gives up her work with the police and moves to the peaceful village of Kelton Bridge to write self-help books, enjoy a quiet life with her cats and perhaps an occasional flutter on the horses. Then the likeable but unremarkable vicar’s wife, Alice Trueman, is brutally murdered, and Jill discovers that Kelton Bridge is far from the quiet refuge she had anticipated. According to DCI Max Trentham, Jill’s ex-colleague and ex-lover, the case if pretty cut and dried — Alice’s son was found standing over her body with the murder weapon in his hand. But he won’t talk. And that’s not all. Someone is intent on reminding Jill that she made a mistake in the Rodney Hill case. Is it a malicious joke, or is there a more deadly agenda? It begins to look as if the real killer — the man who should have stood in Rodney Hill’s shoes, the man still terrorizing the Lancashire Pennines — is stalking her. And that is a truly terrifying thought.

2. A Darker Side
Forensic psychologist Jill Kennedy has given up police work for a quiet life in the Lancashire village of Kelton Bridge. But when Martin Hayden, a seventeen-year-old schoolboy, is murdered, DCI Max Trentham, Jill’s ex-colleague, wants her back at work. As they hunt Martin’s killer, they discover that nothing is as it seems.

When the killer strikes again, Jill and Max find themselves in a desperate.

3. Where Petals Fall
A woman's body is found in a quarry, wrapped in a shroud. Five years earlier, four women were killed the same way. But the man whom Jill Kennedy and Max Trentham believed to be guilty is dead--or is he?

4. The Broken Circle
In the quiet Lancashire village that is home to forensic psychologist Jill Kennedy, the wealthy new owner of nearby Kelton Manor is found dead in the woods. Local residents are wary of newcomers; Jack Taylor, a man who regularly walks his dog near to where the man’s body is found, seems especially determined to hinder the investigation. As Jill and her sometime lover and colleague DCI Max Trentham hunt the dead man’s killer, they are drawn ever deeper into the victim’s dark past. When the name of prominent local businessman Thomas McQueen crops up in the course of their inquiries, Max finds himself adrift in uncharted waters; already facing suspension for harassing McQueen — believing him to be responsible for an unsolved murder a year earlier. But is McQueen really as innocent as he claims?

5. Shades of Evil
Residents of the sleepy Lancashire village of Kelton Bridge, where forensic psychologist Jill Kennedy has made her home, are looking forward to Christmas. But then the body of a young woman is discovered on the bleak hillside and, for some, life will never be the same again. The season of goodwill has bypassed Jill's colleague DCI Max Trentham. Having spent the past four months looking into the disappearance of schoolgirl Yasmin Smith, Max now begins the hunt for Lauren Cole's killer. And all the evidence points to one man. But Max's chief suspect is Jill's neighbour and she refuses to believe him guilty of the brutal murder. Yet, as they delve into his past, Jill to clear her friend's name and Max to secure a conviction, Jill is forced to question her own judgement. And then another body is found...