Paula Gosling – författare

Winner of the CWA Golden Dagger for Best Crime NovelIntroducing Detective Lieutenant Jack Stryker. An obsessive, an oddball and – occasionally – a genius. Originally published in 1985, Monkey Puzzle is a vintage, suspenseful whodunit from Paula Gosling.Grantham University, Ohio. When a professor is viciously murdered, campus is set on edge. There are myriad potential suspects – one of whom happens to be connected to Stryker’s past.The murderous attacks continue. Now, in the blank-faced and mazed city, death has become vicious, secret and cold. Somewhere out there, an ego is coiled, waiting.The city and the campus panic. With his sidekick Toscarelli, Stryker is trapped in a maze of conflicting motives, emotions and clues. And at the center of the maze awaits a monster.''Scintillating entertainment'' – Sunday TimesWith witty dialogue and dark turns, Monkey Puzzle is the first entry in the Jack Stryker series. Continue the series with Backlash.

Four cops, from four precincts, all shot dead. Originally published in 1989, Backlash is the second compulsive whodunit in the Jack Stryker series. From Paula Gosling, winner of the CWA Golden Dagger.A wave of chaos is erupting through the American police force. With four officers dead, Detective Lieutenant Jack Stryker is called upon to investigate. Alongside his partner Agent Dana Marchant, he must track the killer. But are these homicides linked? Or is the perp choosing victims at random?When a federal investigator appears on the killer’s hit list, the simple answers seem to be disappearing way too fast. Their target is a marksman with an uncanny criminal mind and a ruthlessly persistent purpose – and time is running out . . .Backlash is the second entry in the Jack Stryker series. It is followed by Ricochet.

A professor and a student are dead – and nothing is as it seems. Originally published in 2002, Backlash is the third thrilling whodunit in the Jack Stryker series. From Paula Gosling, winner of the CWA Golden Dagger.When Professor Mayhew is found, shot dead in her own home, it looks like a domestic homicide. When her student is murdered at the hospital, it looks like a mugging gone wrong. Detective Lieutenant Jack Stryker has his doubts.Stryker’s instincts seem to be leading him awry – his relationship with Kate Trevorne has hit a rough patch, and his mind is distracted. Unbeknownst to Jack, Kate is receiving anonymous harassment – and investigating it herself. Is her secrecy keeping key information from Jack? Could these two barbarous murders truly be connected?An intense, thrilling puzzle, Ricochet is the third entry in the series, following Monkey Puzzle and Backlash. Jack Stryker returns in The Body in Blackwater Bay.

An ordinary career woman – with a target on her back. Originally published in 1978, A Running Duck is a compulsive, vintage thriller from Paula Gosling, winner of the CWA Golden Dagger.Clare is a copywriter, working at an advertising agency in San Francisco. On a crowded street, as she helps a passing stranger pick up some dropped papers, a sniper''s bullet pierces her arm.Scarred by his past, Lieutenant Malchek is a Vietnam veteran, a former sniper himself who now specialises in hunting down hitmen. He is assigned to Clare''s case, tasked with protecting her life. Someone wants Clare dead – and Malchek knows how to draw him out . . .Full of suspense and romantic tension, A Running Duck has been adapted for film as Cobra, starring Sylvester Stallone.

Meet Detective Inspector Luke Abbott. Set in the West Country, The Wychford Murders is the first in the series, from CWA Golden Dagger winner Paula Gosling.Wychford is a charming and quiet West Country village. Or rather, it was – until Mrs Tompkins was found with her throat slashed.Detective Chief Inspector Luke Abbott is sent to find the killer. He was born and brought up in Wychford – but he hardly recognizes it. The young girl he loved has become the local doctor. The boy who once bullied him is now a respected local Squire. And the people of Wychford are in hiding – fearful of who will next fall victim to the killer’s bloody knife.There are secrets behind these doors – love and hate, perversion, envy, greed and – eventually – a ruthless murderer . . .Continue the series with Death Penalties.

Taut and gripping, Death Penalties is the second and final book in the DCI Luke Abbott series. From CWA Golden Dagger winner and author of Monkey Puzzle, Paula Gosling.A charming, ordinary village in the West Country. After her husband''s tragic death, Tess is finally able to restart life with her son, Max. But someone is determined to tear it apart.A break in. A burglary. Threatening phone calls from unknown sources and vicious practical jokes. A sinister campaign of harassment is against her – all anonymous.With his boss, DCI Luke Abbott, Sergeant Tim Nightingale is tasked with uncovering the culprit. Could it be the person responsible for her husband''s death?Death Penalties is the second and final book in the series, following The Wychford Murders.

An isolated paradise. A dead body. A killer on the loose. The Body in Blackwater Bay is the first thrilling mystery in the series from Paula Gosling, author of Monkey Puzzle and winner of the CWA Golden Dagger.It was the Great Lakes’ most exclusive residential hideaway. A tiny haven, made up of a handful of cottages, free of crime and trouble. Until the morning a dead body is discovered, littering someone’s perfectly manicured lawn – bringing murder to paradise.Detective Jack Stryker is recovering from a gunshot wound at his girlfriend’s island cottage. But he’s forced to abandon his vacation when he is persuaded to join up with the local sheriff.A sinister tangle of events surround this unexpected killing – and it will take all of Stryker''s skills to uncover the truth . . .The series continues with A Few Dying Words.

The second compelling whodunit in the Blackwater Bay series from Paula Gosling, author of Monkey Puzzle and winner of the CWA Golden Dagger.Every year, the normally peaceful, ordinary citizens of Blackwater Bay celebrate Halloween with a carnival of madness, laughter – and practical jokes. They call it the Howl – and each town in the county competes for the wildest ''Howler'' of all. For one person, however, the Howl means one thing: murder.Thirty years ago, a killer struck. Now, under the cover of the carnival, the killer has returned. Or, at least, that''s what Sheriff Matt Gabriel thinks. Everyone else thinks he''s crazy. Suspicion and resentment surround him, as he searches urgently for the one who killed once, twice – and may kill again . . .''This is a writer who always entertains'' – Sunday TelegraphA Few Dying Words is the second book in the Blackwater Bay series. The series continues with The Dead of Winter.

The third compulsive mystery in the Blackwater Bay series from Paula Gosling, author of Monkey Puzzle and winner of the CWA Golden Dagger.Blackwater Bay has frozen over for the season, now a place for the idle reverie of the town''s sporting fishermen – and local teacher Jess Gibbons is stuck, gloomy about the sorry state of her life. So when a corpse floats up into an ice hole one morning, the intense shock is enough to shake her out of it.Soon, Sheriff Matt Gabriel’s team confirm the body to be a mob-connected New York ex-con, who could have been in the area to carry out a hit – and Blackwater’s quiet streets threaten to be submerged by a ravenous media circus.Then, as a girl from the local high school goes missing, the puzzle deepens. She was one of Jess''s pupils, and her disappearance is inexplicable. Though – she was recently cautioned for drug use. Could this be a factor?As the community prepares for its annual Ice Festival, Matt and Jess work to unravel these mysterious events. Could the two cases be connected? Who did the ex-con want to kill? And will Jess sort her life out in time for the wife-sliding competition?Weaving diverse strands together with great wit and ingenuity, this is another hugely entertaining slice of murder and mystery in the Great Lakes.The Dead of Winter is the third book in the Blackwater Bay series. The series continues with Death and Shadows.

The fourth murder mystery in the Blackwater Bay series from Paula Gosling, author of Monkey Puzzle and winner of the CWA Golden Dagger.A murdered nurse, disappearing drug supplies, diminishing funds and the sudden death of two apparently healthy patients are just some of the problems confronting Blackwater Bay’s leading private clinic.Laura Brandon, recently arrived physiotherapist and self-appointed sleuth, realises that a lot of people have something to hide. Confronted by tight-lipped colleagues, inter-staff feuds, and strange tales about a shadowy evil that lurks in the woods, Laura begins to believe the theory of a psychotic killer on the loose. Then another, eerily similar, murder occurs – and she knows the solution cannot be impersonal.Fast-paced, entertaining and expertly plotted, this is a masterful murder mystery set in the Great Lakes.Death and Shadows is the fourth book in the Blackwater Bay series. The series concludes with Underneath Every Stone.