Monika Paniatowski Books
The first in a new series featuring Charlie Woodend's protege, DCI Monika Paniatowski It will be no easy task to fill DCI Charlie Woodend's shoes, the newly-promoted Monika Paniatowski tells herself, but, given a little time, she thinks she can grow into them. Yet, with the discovery of a severed hand, time is the one thing she does not have. When her colleagues prove untrustworthy, the urge to call Woodend for help becomes almost irresistible . . .
The second in a new series featuring DCI Monika Paniatowski Nothing could have prepared DCI Monika Paniatowski for this. It’s not that the man’s throat has been cut, or that he is naked, that shocks her – it’s the way his corpse has been so carefully posed. Is the killer sending a message? If so, to who? Saddled with a colleague she doesn’t trust, and watched by an old enemy, Monika realises that whatever the murderer’s message is, he will not stop killing until she understands.
'A plot full of unusual twists, a flawed but likable and competent heroine, and a very satisfying conclusion make this a must-read for Spencer fans' - Booklist Starred Review The third book in the new series featuring DCI Monika Paniatowski When a recently released prisoner claims in a deathbed confession that he is innocent of the rape and murder of a young girl for which he was convicted twenty-two years earlier, DCI Monika Paniatowski is tasked to lead an unofficial investigation into his claims. At first she is reluctant, but when she learns that her old mentor Charlie Woodend was the lead detective in the case, she knows she must do everything she can to protect his reputation . . .
"Spencer's deft writing and skilled plotting combine with an intriguing mix of all-too-human characters and a shocker ending to make for another outstanding entry in this excellent series" - Booklist Starred Review The fourth book in the acclaimed new series featuring DCI Monika Paniatowski DCI Monika Paniatowski has a bitter personal history with Chief Superintendent Kershaw, but that is not the only reason she doesn't want the investigation into the sudden disappearance of his wife, Elaine, landing on her desk. A young prostitute, Grace Meade, has also disappeared, and yet all resources are being channelled into Elaine's case alone. Monika determines to spend time finding Grace, but when a heavily mutilated body is discovered on the moors, it begins to look as if she has made the wrong decision.
A small mining village is rocked by a shocking murder in the latest Monika Paniatowski mystery . . . Tensions are running high in the small mining village of Bellingsworth. There has been a call for further strikes, and retired miner Len Hopkins, who was known to be against a new strike, is murdered. Detective Inspector Monika Paniatowski learns that Len had been threatened the night before he died by another old miner. Was he killed due to the stand he took against further strikes? Or are there more sinister forces at work? Paniatowski investigates, but finds that she has problems much closer to home . . .
A killer who can't be classified - a killer who can't be profiled . . . When a young girl, Jill Harris, is murdered, the case soon becomes personal for Monika Paniatowski. She saw the victim looking distressed only hours before she was killed, and Jill was the same age as her own daughter, Louisa. Driven by guilt and pity, Monika throws herself into the investigation, but both the chief constable, who is away, and Colin Beresford – her right-hand man – think she is too emotionally involved to handle it. What none of them know is that the killer is planning to strike again . . .
"A final bombshell will leave readers shocked in this brutal, dark, gripping, and sometimes touching tale that is Spencer at her very best. A must-read" - Booklist Starred Review A nameless victim. An unknown killer. An impossible case for Monika Paniatowski. Before she can even begin to track down the killer of the old woman dumped by the lonely canal, Monika Paniatowski needs to find out who she is - and no one seems to know. Even when her daughter Louisa provides the vital clue, it only makes life more difficult, because the Chief Constable - intent on making Paniatowski's life difficult - refused to let her follow the obvious trail. And it is not until there is a second, even more brutal, murder, that Paniatowski realises she will have to call on the help of her old mentor, ex-DCI Charlie Woodend.
Monika Paniatowski’s boss is trying to destroy her career, but the dead end case he assigns her turns out to be something else entirely . . . DCI Monika Paniatowski recognises her latest assignment as advisor to the Earl of Ridley’s rock festival for what it really is – an attempt by the chief constable to destroy her career. Yet it soon becomes apparent that matters are not as simple as they appear. Why, for instance, did the earl choose to employ the notorious Devil’s Disciples motorcycle gang to provide the security for the festival? And to what lengths will his mother, the dowager countess, go to destroy it? But it is when the half-naked body of a tabloid journalist is discovered in the middle of Whitebridge that things really start to hot up.
Old grudges resurface with deadly consequences in this gripping, twisty mystery featuring DCI Monika Paniatowski. On the night the Whitebridge Players staged their last ever performance, the idealistic young actors in the company resolved that twenty years on they would return to the same theatre and stage the same play. But two decades later, old resentments have grown and new jealousies have germinated, and it is a very different company that returns to re-enact the Spanish Tragedy . The cast members all have their axes to grind – and some have clear targets for those axes . . . It is in this world – where normal rules and standards have no meaning – that DCI Monika Paniatowski finds herself, once a tragedy within the Tragedy has occurred. But how can she uncover the killer’s motive when everyone seemed to want the victim dead? And how can she decide who is telling the truth – when all these people lie for a living?
'It's good to have Monika back, doing what she does best' - Kirkus Starred Review DCI Monika Paniatowski investigates a case that could be the making – or, more likely, breaking – of her career DCI Monika Paniatowski has only been back from maternity leave for three days when she is called in to investigate a nightmare of a case. Not only is the murder victim a mother of three small children, but her husband is a wealthy politician. Monika knows that if she can’t make a quick arrest her career is on the line. It’s lucky, then, that within minutes of meeting Councillor Danbury, she has a bruised face – and a prime suspect. But then the case takes a nasty twist, and suddenly the investigation is national news. Monika’s sure she has the right man – but how to prove it? Particularly when she’s under pressure from her superiors to arrest anyone other than Councillor Danbury, president of the golf club and friend of her chief constable . . .
DCI Monika Paniatowski investigates the killing of an American guest – and uncovers a link to a 50-year-old murder. When the body of an American woman is found in the Prince Alfred suite at the Royal Victoria Hotel, DCI Monika Paniatowski is faced with one of the most baffling cases of her career. The woman who called herself Mary Edwards had been a guest at the hotel for the past two weeks, having paid cash in advance. But who was she really – and what was she doing in a small town like Whitebridge? If Monika could discover why the dead woman had come to Lancashire, she would be one step closer to catching her killer. The investigation takes an intriguing twist when Monika learns of a possible link to a fifty-year-old murder – but the only person who could tell her why it’s relevant is lying in a coma.
"Spencer’s skillful writing, clever plotting, and colorful characters, combined with her insights into what makes humans―and especially cops―tick, make this a crime novel to savor" - Booklist Starred Review Monika Paniatowski knows exactly who the killer is – but there’s no way she can tell anyone else! DCI Paniatowski’s team are increasingly convinced that the girl found dead in the woods is the victim of a ritual killing, carried out by a secret society which has been established in the very heart of Whitebridge. Their problem is that without Paniatowski there to back them up, they find it impossible to persuade the ambitious DCI ‘Rhino’ Dixon that treating it as a mere domestic murder will get them nowhere. And so Meadows, Crane and Beresford find themselves out on a limb - cutting corners, ignoring procedure, and running the very real risk that their careers could be brought to an abrupt and dramatic end. Meanwhile, Monika herself knows not only who the killer is, but also that he is stalking Louisa, her beloved daughter. But as she is one of the killer’s victims too, and is lying in a coma – hearing everything, but unable to move or speak – there is nothing she can do about it!
"Brings a creepy new note to Spencer’s long-running series" Kirkus Reviews The discovery of a body on a local allotment site re-opens an unresolved cold case for Monika Paniatowski and her team. He was going to have to terminate Monika, he decided. It was a pity, but there it was. The body has lain buried for years, and has no face and no fingertips. Monika Paniatowski’s team have no real leads, but when they discuss the case at her hospital bedside – where she lies paralysed – Monika begins to see possible links with a case she closed four years earlier. Are the two cases connected? Did the first murder make the second almost inevitable? She doesn’t know, but she does know that she is being watched by an old enemy who will kill her if he decides there is ever any chance of her sharing her thoughts and information with her team.
DCI Monika Paniatowski faces an old enemy - and makes a fatal mistake with the potential to poison her whole career. Jordan Gough is an important man. He's the town's biggest benefactor. He is the proprietor of the Whitebridge Evening Telegraph . He owns the local football team. He is also, DCI Monika Paniatowski thinks, as bent as a corkscrew - and if she had any evidence, she'd put him away like a shot. A single encounter with him as a young detective sergeant left an impression she's never forgotten. And neither, she is certain, has he. So when Jordan calls and demands to speak to Monika - and only Monika - she is on immediate high alert. He claims someone's trying to kill him, but why has he destroyed the evidence? Why turn for help to an officer he hates? Certain she's the target of a twisted practical joke, Monika makes a terrible mistake - one that could destroy everything she holds dear. The fourteenth DCI Monika Paniatowski mystery is a powerful and dark tale of revenge, secrets and lies, which grips you tight as it reveals twist after stunning twist.
DCI Monika Paniatowski is forced to think the unthinkable: could a good friend and long-standing colleague be guilty of murder? "Spencer gives Monika Paniatowski the send-off she richly deserves" - Kirkus Reviews Starred Review On the day of her official retirement from the Force, DCI Monika Paniatowski looks at the two men and one woman who are no longer her team and thinks: Whatever the future holds, I will always be proud of you . She raises a toast. And just like that, her career as a homicide detective is over. Then, fifteen years later, Monika's former sergeant, Kate Meadows, makes a terrible mistake. Monika doesn't hesitate when Kate turns to her for help. She owes her, and she can hardly let her old friend go down for a crime she didn't commit. But as Monika gets deeper into the investigation, she's forced to ask herself the unthinkable: is Kate really innocent, or is she helping her old friend get away with murder? Packed with twists that will make you gasp out loud, the fifteenth - and final - DCI Monika Paniatowski mystery is a stunning conclusion to the long-running series. If you haven't met Monika yet, you're in for a treat.