ILL MET BY MURDER​
A Lovegrove & McGrath mystery

The Thursday Murder Club meets The Omen as DCI Alex Lovegrove and partner DS Fionnuala McGrath pursue a secret society set on bringing human sacrifice to an Oxford college’s peaceful cloisters.

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DCI Alex Lovegrove is disillusioned. He runs the murder squad, yes. But the murder squad in Oxford, a city of 150,000 people that only has four murders in a busy year. That changes when a body is found in the carpark of the John Radcliffe hospital. It is the start of a series of human sacrifices by a secret society dedicated to the ancient Mesopotamian goddess Ištar. His partner DS Fionnuala McGrath uncovers similarities to Oxford’s last serial killer attack, 50 years earlier, including black magic at St Gedz College and cover-ups involving powerful people. Pressure follows to close their investigation.

 

Can Lovegrove and McGrath catch the killers before the case is shut down or is Oxford about to witness a murder spree that will make Old Testament carnage look like a walk in the University Parks?

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Shortlisted, Page 100 Competition​ 2024

 

Top Pick, Best Mystery, Claymore Award 2024

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Longlisted, Marlowe and Christie Prize 2024

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"An excellent book; one of the best I've read lately"

Judge comment, RWA Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense competition 2024