Inspector Patton Mystery Series (11 books) by Roger Ormerod - Kindle Edition / 8 more standalone books in the comments

Set in the UK...I don't tend to get on with USA based crime stories.

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A Death to Remember

Fifteen months ago Cliff Summers was brutally assaulted.

Recovered, although still suffering from memory loss, Cliff returns to his hometown with no job, no home and no prospects.

Also newly returned is Tony Clayton, a local garage owner who’s just been released from prison after serving time for the attack on Cliff.

Cliff’s plan to forget the assault and rebuild his life is scuppered when the two men meet.

Not only is Clayton adamant that he’s been wrongly accused – his wife has gone missing, and he wants Cliff’s help.

It soon becomes obvious that Cliff’s lost memory is the key to this and several other mysteries.

And with the help of pretty Nicola Waldon – who has replaced him in his role as Social Security Inspector – Cliff starts to investigate the events of that fateful day.

But Cliff’s memory is patchy, and as he isn’t even sure of who he really is he can’t be certain of his level of involvement in the crimes that emerge.

Faced with murders, disappearances, drug-dealing and blackmail, Cliff and Nicola soon find themselves out of their depth…

And very quickly 'A Death To Remember' becomes impossible to escape.


The Vital Minute

To Ken Beacham, Social Security Inspector, the question seemed quite simple: did Leonard Trent crash his car before or after contacting his Managing Director?

On this simple fact rests the entitlement of his widow Virginia Trent to an Industrial Death Pension.

But then the violent death of the Managing Director blurs the issue, and Ken Beacham finds himself investigating what could have been a murder.

Steadily and insidiously, the background to Trent’s death absorbs him — as does his passion for Kaye Trotter, the last person to have seen Trent alive.

Though his marriage is breaking down, and Kaye has introduced a new and unsettling version of the events leading to Leonard Trent’s death, Ken feels compelled to persist in his search for the truth.


Seeing Red

On a lonely road on the borders of Wales, Gledwyn Griffiths crashes his car and dies.

It seems like a simple road accident to everyone except the man's grieving daughter, Angie.

She becomes obsessed with the possibility of a conspiracy to murder her vulnerable, colour blind father.

Detective Sergeant Harry Kyle had promised a favour to a friend - Angie’s exasperated husband.

He persuades Harry to visit Angie and convince her that her suspicious are groundless, lest she becomes mad.

But the more that Harry probes into the circumstances surrounding Gledwyn Griffiths's death, the more suspicious he in turn becomes and the fonder he grows of Angie...

And the more credible a murder plot becomes. As the evidence leads Harry to the culprit, an attack will leave him ‘Seeing Red’.


Parting Shot

When fashion photographer and ex-cop Owen Tanner’s Scandinavian wife Karin vanishes from his apartment, he assumes that she has left him and their marriage is over.

But then his home is ransacked and he begins to wonder if he has jumped to the wrong conclusion.

And when he receives a distressed call from Karin in Sweden, his suspicions are confirmed.

Owen leaves immediately for Scandinavia, determined to find out the truth.

During the crossing, he meets beautiful Finlander Eija Karlsson who seems keen to help him in his quest.

But the couple are not alone.

When Own realises he is being tailed by an old colleague from the force, the Norwegian police and other more sinister figures, he finds himself somehow caught up in the middle of a hunt for international diamond thieves. (edited)

The Second Jeopardy

Four years ago, a young woman named Angela Reed was murdered.

The prime suspect at the time, Harry Hodnutt, had jumped into her car after Charlie Braine, his partner in crime, drove off with the jewels from a shop they had just robbed.

Charlie and his car were never found, while Harry insisted that he’d left Angela — alive — at the lay-by where her body was subsequently discovered.

Though he was cleared of Angela’s murder, Harry spent four years inside for his involvement with the robbery.

Now Harry is out, still haunted by Angela’s death, and a man who claims he was married to Angela is threatening Harry’s life.

When Virginia Brent, the daughter of the Assistant Chief Constable, offers to help Harry find the truth behind Angela’s murder, Harry is sceptical, but ultimately accepts her assistance and the two form an unlikely partnership.

Virginia claims a relationship with Angela Reed that drives her interest in the case; Harry is anxious to not only clear his name for good but to rid himself of the threat to his life.

Together, Harry and Virginia delve back into Angela’s murder, following leads, digging up dirt on Harry’s old partners in crime and Angela’s double life, and seeking answers.

What happened to Charlie Braine and his car?

What part does mysterious criminal Sean O’Loughlin play?

Who really killed Angela Reed?


Farewell Gesture

Paul Manson hadn’t meant to kill his father. He’d just lost control.

Now, back out in the world after four years in Gartree prison, Manson has information which could prevent a very different kind of crime – a cold-blooded, contract killing.

Tracking down the target, a young woman named Philomena Wise, he delays passing on his warning with fatal results: Philomena is found dead, strangled with her own scarf.

Dismayed by his failure, Manson catches the first train to the scene of the crime.

But what he finds only lands him in the middle of a tangled web of crossed wires, fake identities and mixed motives.

When another murder takes place a few days later, Manson realises he needs to find out what’s going on, and not just for his own curiosity’s sake: a convicted killer and a stranger in town, he’s now the prime suspect for both killings.


The Key to the Case ----> looks like a post-Patton series book

Richard Patton, an ex-Detective Inspector, has been around the block when it comes to seemingly unsolvable crimes.

So when a well-known crook, Ronnie Cope, asks him to help prove he is innocent of a burglary Richard sets aside his knowledge of Ronnie’s dubious reputation and agrees to look into it.

He wants the facts, and he isn’t afraid to dig them out. But the facts come almost too fast for Richard to keep up.

Ronnie’s alibi turns out to involve another burglary.

Meanwhile, Milo Dettinger, the surly proprietor of the local gaming club, also seeks out Richard’s expertise, believing his son’s alleged suicide was something more sinister.

Richard complies, but soon discovers that the only possible murder suspect is Milo himself.

And then there’s the recent rape and murder of a young woman, Ruby Carter.

Coincidences? Or are the three cases linked?

Richard thinks he is digging out facts, but that’s difficult to do when somebody’s lying… (edited)

Third Time Fatal

It was supposed to be a happy day.

But when Philipa Lowe arrives at the wedding of her childhood friend Heather she finds the wedding postponed, the bride in tears, the groom missing.

Philipa begins a desperate search to find the reluctant groom.

Arriving at his home, she draws back the covers of his bed to find a body. That of a naked, female corpse.

Meanwhile, the groom returns and the couple are wed in Philipa’s absence.

At the airport, Martin is arrested. But the charge is not murder...

Where was Martin on the night before his wedding, and who was the woman found in his bed?

In order to protect her close friend’s marriage, Philipa must get close to the suspect to uncover his past, and prove his innocence.

But how close?

And could this be third time fatal?