Little White Lies

Little White Lies is the first book in the Carmichael series of Murder Mystery novels. When Inspector Steve Carmichael and his family move from London to the village of Moulton Bank in rural Lancashire they all expect a quieter existence, both domestically and professionally. After a career in the Met, Steve doubts that his new post will present much of a challenge, but is pleased to escape the intrigues of his old force, and knows that the move will delight his wife Penny, who spent her childhood in Moulton Bank. However, in a matter of days a woman is murdered in the village, and Steve finds himself in charge of an investigation that casts dark shadows into the village's past. When a second murder is committed, Steve finds himself under increasing pressure for a quick result, but is frustratingly hampered by the complex and divided loyalties of the villagers, all of whom, he begins to realise, have secrets to keep and white lies to tell. As the case becomes increasingly complex and the Met begins to look like the quiet life, Steve finds himself drawn into intrigue, as his investigations begin to overlap with his family life in more ways than one. Like many English villages, the veneer of calm tranquillity presented by Moulton Bank disguises a labyrinth of secrets, lies, intrigue and petty jealousies that stretch far back into the past and are soon to cast a tragic pall over the future. It falls to Chief Inspector Steve Carmichael to feel his way through the maze in search of a murderer, who has so far killed five times and is likely to do so again. What he does not know is that the next victim could be his own wife.