Page Updated: 16/04/99

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Frank Palmer - Page 2

Dark Forest Red Gutter China Hand

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Paperback - Allison & Busby (1997)

Dark Forest
Dark Forest introduces Phil 'Sweeney' Todd, Frank Palmer's new character, taking over from Detective Inspector 'Jacko' Jackson, happily retired and writing his long-awaited crime novels.
'Disillusioned, disaffected, dangerous' - just some of the labels the police are attaching to their new high flier Phil 'Sweeney' Todd.
A blast from a killer's shotgun leaves him lame and seeking medical discharge from the force with compensation.
His flame-haired, hot-tempered lawyer offers him employment as her enquiry agent on a missing person's case. Todd finds himself in the cut-throat world of commercial drug manufacturing, pitting himself against a powerful multi-national company and politicians with secrets to hide.

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First British Edition Constable (1996)

Paperback - Allison & Busby (1998)

Red Gutter
Second in the Phil 'Sweeney' todd series
'Is that a bomb or notl? You wanted the top job. the big time. This is what it means. Making life-or-death decisions.'
Phil 'Sweeney' Todd is forced to take over an investigation into a series of animal rights bombings as his boss has been killed - mysteriously. A good result could mean promotion and power. But has ambition got the better of him?
Are the animal rights terrorists responsible for all the bombings? Or is one to do with family fraud and Freemasonry? He must make a snap decision. Save himself and a livestock transporter - or expose his own panic-stricken incompetence…
'Terrific series of twists' The Times
'Excellent whodunnit' Philip Oakes, Literary Review
'Formidable action-crammed teaser ...style and know-how' John Coleman, The Sunday Times
'Not a clue or character is fudged and there's a consummate hoodwink somewhere in the maze' Christopher Wordsworth, The Observer

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First British Edition Constable (1994)

China Hand
'A swarm of bluebottles buzzed around his head ... He saw now where that smell, that post-mortem smell, the world's worst smell, came from. Blood in the bath.
Dr Death, the press had called the double killer, so surgically had he carried out his dismemberments. Dishevelled, deranged Simon Meakin, an abattoir assistant with raging religious mania, gives himself up. There is overwhelming evidence against him for the murder of a vice girl, not least her head on a plate in the freezer of his bedsit
His rambling confession makes no mention of the second victim - an unidentified oriental girl, a virgin. What possible connection could she have with a convicted local prostitute! Detective Inspector 'Jacko' Jackson wants to know.
Who would Meakin have turned to for help as he wandered in the wilderness while he was on the run! Someone, Jacko suspects, someone with an exotic but troublesome bit on the side who asked him to get rid of another body.
In Frank Palmer's latest police thriller in the 'Jacko' series, the hunt for clues to the Bad Samaritan goes from the Peaks of Derbyshire to the waterfront of Shanghai.
And, when a lonely, terrified Jacko is held by security police as a spy, will he refind faith in religion abandoned years ago? More to the point, will his prayers be answered?
Praise for Frank Palmer's crime novels
Testimony
'An unputdownable thriller.' Jane German, Daily Mirror 'Stunning debut.' Publishers Weekly (USA)
Unfit to Plead
'Tensions expertly orchestrated.' Philip Oakes, Literary Review
'A plot to keep you guessing to the end.' Derby Evening Telegraph
Bent Grasses
'A terrific series of twists.' Marcel Berlins, The Times
'Excellent dialogue and sharply observed characters. Susanna Yager, Sunday Telegraph
Blood Brother
'Excellent whodunit.' Philip Oakes, Literary Review
'Another fine entry in an outstanding series.' Mat Coward, Morning Star
Nightwatch
'Formidable, action-crammed teaser ... style and knowhow John Coleman, Sunday Times
'Action-packed and relentless.' Tony Donnelly, Nottingham Evening Post
Dead Man's Handle '. .. engrossing story' Susanna Yager, Sunday Telegraph

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