Detective Inspector Ruth Hunter lives with the pain of her partner’s mysterious and unsolved disappearance.

Now Laura Hart is back for the follow-up, In Too Deep, investigating the discovery of a skeleton in a “crumbling castle ruin near the seaside town of Beaumaris". They have experienced editors and publishers, well-oiled and financed marketing machines and big cheque books (or should that be PayPal accounts, these days? Following a parents evening, when nearly everyone else has gone home, she meets her killer in the school carpark and it’s lights out. Now pushing fifty, the veteran police officer trades in the crime-ridden streets of London for a more peaceful post in rural North Wales. There are secrets galore, and often the characters have attitudes and issues that complicate matters for Ruth.The Snowdonia Killings is the first book in the DI Ruth Hunter Crime Thriller series and set against the majestic backdrop of Snowdonia, a timeless land of Arthurian legend, folklore and myth. Perhaps Simon McCleave wanted to tie up as many loose ends as possible, but he could easily have left some of them hanging. Lies After Death is a crime debut for KJ Dando, someone who has had various jobs and has served in the British Army in the Balkans and Iraq.

Legends of drowned princes, Owain Glyndwr’s war of independence, jokes about English incomers drinking sheep urine – plenty of Welsh flavour here.As well as hate crimes, mental health problems, suicide and autism play a role – affecting the characters, the investigation and how it’s handled.

His Killings series, featuring DI Ruth Hunter, has sold over a million copies, and a major new TV show based on the books is due to begin shooting in Snowdonia in late 2023. Throughout The Snowdonia Killings, the Welsh countryside, culture and heritage are brought out through a peppering of references.The biggest worry is winning over a team of mainly local coppers who live in tight-knit communities that have been circumspect about English incursion for about 750 years. The Snowdonia Killings is a thrilling and pacy read, perfect for anyone looking for a unique piece of Welsh crime fiction. Now the body count is set to soar still further in one corner of our region - but fortunately it is all in the name of fiction as a master storyteller releases his latest crime book. She’s a lesbian detective who has faced sexism, dealt with a failed marriage and coming out, and has a daughter she doesn’t know very well over in Liverpool. The police procedural aspect is strong, but using a huge variety of characters the author manages to drive the story in various directions.