Tariq Ashkanani – författare

Winner of the The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize 2022In this explosive thriller of bad choices and dark crimes, Detective Levine knew his transfer was a punishment—but he had no idea just how bad it would get.Cooper, Nebraska, is forgettable and forgotten, a town you’d only stumble into if you’d taken a seriously wrong turn. Like Detective Thomas Levine’s career has. But when a young woman is found lying in the snow, choked to death, her eyes gouged out, the disgraced detective is Cooper’s only hope for restoring peace and justice.For Levine, still grieving and guilt-ridden over the death of his girlfriend, his so-called “transfer” from the big city to this grubby backwater has always felt like a punishment. And when his irascible new partner shoots their prime suspect using Levine’s gun, all hope of redemption is shattered. With the case in chaos, and both blackmail and a violent drug cartel to contend with, he finds himself in a world of trouble.It gets worse. The real killer is still out there, and he’s got plans for Detective Levine. And Cooper may just be the perfect place to get away with murder.

Rookie detective Joe Finch knows better than most what tragedy looks like. But trying to solve the brutal murder of an entire family? Just another day in Cooper.Even for the sleazy backwater of Cooper, Nebraska, the multiple murder of an entire family, brutally bludgeoned to death in their beds, is big news.Detective Joe Finch, raw with guilt over his partner’s traumatic shooting during a routine traffic stop, hopes the case will at least focus his mind. But then he discovers that the crime scene is the house he grew up in, and the ghosts of his own tragic childhood come rushing back to confront him.As Finch dredges the corrupt and criminal mires of Cooper in a desperate search for the truth, the only certainty is that everyone there is lying. Caught between greedy politicians, a violent cartel boss, an ambitious reporter and a sinister cult lurking in the cornfields on the outskirts of town, Finch is soon out of his depth.In a town where the law exists only to be bent or broken, can Finch steel himself against entrenched evil and the haunting spectre of his past—and live to serve justice in Cooper?

In this tense thriller from the winner of the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, PI Callie Munro is hunting a serial killer on the streets of Edinburgh. But he’s already found her…As private investigators go, Callie Munro is tougher than most. She’s had to be. Abandoned as a baby and raised by a succession of strangers, she knows a thing or two about surviving……but she never expected to find herself hunting a serial killer.After uncovering a string of missing women—women no one seems to care about—Callie refuses to look away. With police ignoring the evidence, her only ally is an organised crime boss with his own agenda.The deeper Callie digs, the more dangerous the hunt becomes. Every clue exposes another lie. Every step brings the killer closer.She’s fighting for the forgotten. But if she’s not careful, she’ll be next.Fast-paced and gripping from cover to cover, this first book in Tariq Ashkanani’s thrilling new series is perfect for fans of Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and Robert Galbraith.

A dead man’s secret. A government that kills to keep it. And a PI who won’t let go.When PI Callie Munro finds her tech specialist murdered inside his fortress-like Edinburgh flat, she knows the killing wasn’t random. He let his killer in.What he left behind is far more dangerous: surveillance footage of a hit-and-run that official records insist never happened. As Callie digs deeper, witnesses begin to vanish. She suspects that a covert government operation is monitoring civilians and silencing anyone who gets too close.With police stonewalled and a hunter closing in, Callie has no one to trust but herself. And as the conspiracy tightens around her, questions about her own past resurface—questions she has spent a lifetime trying to bury.It’s a simple equation. Expose the conspiracy…or disappear with it.© 2026 by Tariq Ashkanani, all rights reserved.

* WINNER OF THE MCILVANNEY PRIZE FOR SCOTTISH CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR ** SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER AWARD ** LONGLISTED FOR THE THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR *'Reminiscent of Mo Hayder at her darkest' - OBSERVER'A tour de force with superb dramamtic twists' - DAILY MAIL'The best book I've read all year' - SARAH PINBOROUGH'This is a work of fiction. This is not a confession.' Lucas Cole is a bestselling writer. He is also a father, a widower, and a beloved celebrity in his small town. He is an unassuming man ­- tall, thin and quietly friendly. Lucas Cole is also a serial killer.Nathan Cole has known the truth about his father since he was ten years old. Too terrified to go to the police, he ran away from home as soon as he was able, carrying the guilt of leaving his sister behind. But when Lucas is found dead in a dingy motel room, Nathan returns to his childhood home for the first time in seventeen years. It's there he finds The Midnight King, his father's final unpublished manuscript, a fictionalised account of his hideous crimes, hidden in a box of trinkets taken from his victims. Trinkets that include a ribbon belonging to a missing eight-year-old girl who disappeared only days before his father's death.Now, Nathan must deal with the consequences of keeping his father's secret. But it may not be as simple as finding a lost child. For The Midnight King holds Nathan's secrets as well as Lucas's, and he is not the only one searching for the truth...Full of unexpected twists and heartrending turns, The Midnight King is a gripping thriller perfect for fans of Chris Whitaker, S.A. Cosby and Ian Rankin.'If you're a fan of Thomas Harris you must read this' - PRIMA'Lean, taut, gripping and bloody' - CHRIS BROOKMYRE'The best book I've read about a serial killer since Red Dragon' - GARETH BROWN

* WINNER OF THE MCILVANNEY PRIZE FOR SCOTTISH CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR ** SHORTLISTED FOR THE FINGERPRINT AWARDS CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR ** SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER AWARD ** LONGLISTED FOR THE THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR *'A tour de force with superb dramatic twists' - DAILY MAIL'If you're a fan of Thomas Harris you must read this' - PRIMA'The best book I've read all year' - SARAH PINBOROUGH'This is a work of fiction. This is not a confession.'Lucas Cole is a bestselling writer. A quiet and unassuming man, he's a beloved celebrity in his small town. Lucas Cole is also a serial killer.Nathan Cole has always known the truth about his father. But it isn't until Lucas is found dead that Nathan discovers The Midnight King, his father's fictionalised account of his hideous crimes, hidden in a box of trinkets taken from his victims. Trinkets that include a ribbon belonging to a missing girl who disappeared only days before Lucas's death.Now, Nathan must deal with the consequences of keeping his father's secret. But The Midnight King holds Nathan's secrets as well as Lucas's, and he is not the only one searching for the truth...Full of unexpected twists and heartrending turns, The Midnight King is a gripping thriller perfect for fans of Chris Whitaker, S.A. Cosby and Ian Rankin.'This dark, twisted thriller will keep you gripped. Breathtakingly good' - DAILY EXPRESS'A clever and powerfully plotted, terror-inducing, propulsive read' - SUNDAY POST'Lean, taut, gripping and bloody' - CHRIS BROOKMYRE'Everything you want in a thriller' - NADINE MATHESON

* THE NEW NOVEL FROM THE PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE MIDNIGHT KING ** LONGLISTED FOR THE MCILVANNEY PRIZE FOR SCOTTISH CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR *'A masterpiece of small-town horror' - GUARDIAN'A page-turning, unsettling read' - iPAPER'Will leave you reeling' - DAILY EXPRESSTwo children lost. The wrong one found.The town of Aurora is waiting to die. A few miles away a deep seam of coal burns underground, the fire creeping closer ever year. Businesses close. Families leave. Hope dwindles.And then one day, nine-year-old Danny Yates comes back from the dead. He walks into town half-starved and silent, ten months after he and his best friend Will Keefe were presumed drowned. But when Danny does finally speak, he swears that he's not Danny anymore. He's Will.Danny's mother is convinced that her boy has come back wrong, and that the town itself is now at risk from whatever dark force returned her son. Chief of Police John Deacon is more interested in how the sinister disappearance of two boys could have been written off as a tragic accident, and who was responsible. What happened to Danny to make him take on his friend's name, his personality? And does Danny's return mean there's a chance that Will is still alive?'A brilliantly unsettling piece of purest American Gothic' - JAMES OSWALD'The master of the small-town thriller at the top of his game' - JANICE HALLETT'An atmospheric thriller. I loved this book' - SARAH PINBOROUGH

* THE NEW NOVEL FROM THE PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE MIDNIGHT KING ** LONGLISTED FOR THE MCILVANNEY PRIZE FOR SCOTTISH CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR *'A masterpiece of small-town horror' - GUARDIAN'A page-turning, unsettling read' - iPAPER'Will leave you reeling' - DAILY EXPRESSTwo children lost. The wrong one found.The town of Aurora is waiting to die. A few miles away a deep seam of coal burns underground, the fire creeping closer ever year. Businesses close. Families leave. Hope dwindles.And then one day, nine-year-old Danny Yates comes back from the dead. He walks into town half-starved and silent, ten months after he and his best friend Will Keefe were presumed drowned. But when Danny does finally speak, he swears that he's not Danny anymore. He's Will.Danny's mother is convinced that her boy has come back wrong, and that the town itself is now at risk from whatever dark force returned her son. Chief of Police John Deacon is more interested in how the sinister disappearance of two boys could have been written off as a tragic accident, and who was responsible. What happened to Danny to make him take on his friend's name, his personality? And does Danny's return mean there's a chance that Will is still alive?'A brilliantly unsettling piece of purest American Gothic' - JAMES OSWALD'The master of the small-town thriller at the top of his game' - JANICE HALLETT'An atmospheric thriller. I loved this book' - SARAH PINBOROUGH

* THE NEW NOVEL FROM THE PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE MIDNIGHT KING *'A brilliantly unsettling piece of purest American Gothic' - JAMES OSWALD'An atmospheric thriller. I loved this book' - SARAH PINBOROUGHTwo children lost. The wrong one found.The town of Aurora is waiting to die. A few miles away a deep seam of coal burns underground, the fire creeping closer ever year. Businesses close. Families leave. Hope dwindles.And then one day, nine-year-old Danny Yates comes back from the dead. He walks into town half-starved and silent, ten months after he and his best friend Will Keefe were presumed drowned. But when Danny does finally speak, he swears that he's not Danny anymore. He's Will.Danny's mother is convinced that her boy has come back wrong, and that the town itself is now at risk from whatever dark force returned her son. Chief of Police John Deacon is more interested in how the sinister disappearance of two boys could have been written off as a tragic accident, and who was responsible. What happened to Danny to make him take on his friend's name, his personality? And does Danny's return mean there's a chance that Will is still alive?