Showing results by author "Brian L. Porter" in All Categories

Liverpool, 1961. A group of young men come together seeking fame and fortune as the fledgling sounds of the Swinging '60s take root in the city. Soon, Liverpool becomes synonymous with the groups and music that shape a generation. Liverpool, 1999. Skeletal remains found in the docklands lead Detective Inspector Andy Ross and Sergeant Izzie Drake into a journey through time as the investigation takes them back to early days of the Mersey Beat. Whose bones laid beneath the mud of the River Mersey for over thirty years, and what links them to a young woman missing for the entire time?

When a monk is found poisoned at the St. Emma’s Priory, the Chief Constable—a friend of the Prior—insists that Andy Ross and his team handle the investigation. The case turns out to be more complex than they first thought. After a second victim is found with a pitchfork thrust through his body, Ross discovers that to solve the case, they must reopen a cold case from years ago. When connections to the old East German Secret Police—the Stasi—are revealed, Ross realizes that nothing is as it seems in The Mersey Monastery Murders.

On the table of psychiatrist Robert Cavendish lay a strange set of papers, claimed to be the journal of the infamous Whitechapel murderer whose crimes instilled terror on the streets of Victorian London. Delving deeper into the journal, Robert is convinced of its authenticity, and finds that the words of the Ripper have a strange and compelling effect on him. Unable to cast the pages aside, he is drawn into the dark, sinister world of Jack the Ripper. Robert is about to find out just how thin the line between sanity and madness really is. But can he distinguish fact from fantasy?

After being thrown out from a moving car on a motorway and rescued from the dog pound by Brian Porter and his wife, Dexter had a happy life in their family of rescue dogs. On the June 8th, 2019, Dexter - a Labrador-Staffy Crossbreed - passed away after a year-long fight against illness. Part funny, part serious, and part tragic, this is the story of Dexter’s life.

Sasha is the story of a very remarkable dog: a Staffordshire Bull Terrier abandoned close to death at the age of six weeks old. Rescued from a street gutter, she had the good fortune to be adopted by author Brian L. Porter and his family. Despite suffering from a catalogue of injuries, including two broken legs and skin allergies, and eventually being diagnosed as a serious epileptic at just two years old, Sasha's story is one of triumph over adversity; of love, happiness, and inspiration.

Cassie has bounced back from operations, managed to get lost and found in one afternoon, chased away Rottweilers and Dobermans that have had the nerve to try and steal her tennis ball, and found herself being injured by interfering in larger dogs’ squabbles. People just can’t help falling in love with this tiny bundle of joy.

After the discovery of a body in the graveyard of St. Matthew's Church, another corpse surfaces in St. Mark's churchyard. Detective Inspector Andy Ross and Detective Sergeant Izzie Drake must lead their team in a race against time to prevent further atrocities. But what links the dead men with an old mental hospital, now an orphanage, and the scarcely reported suicide of a teenage girl? Somehow, all clues point towards the enigmatic priest, Father Gerald Byrne, who recently returned to the city of his birth.

Philadelphia, 1791. James and Maria Reynolds are flat broke. Well aware of the attraction between his wife and treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton, James hatches a plan to blackmail Alexander and get rich and sends Maria to seduce him. Meanwhile, the mysterious Dr. Severus Black befriends the Hamiltons and becomes a close confidant of Alexander’s wife Eliza. While Mrs. Hamilton grows fond of the handsome doctor, she also senses something different about the debonair young man.

A peaceful cricket match on a warm summer's day turns to murder and mystery, as the star player, Aaron Decker, lies dead in his bed, his girlfriend sleeping soundly beside him. The case takes on a new twist with links to the disappearance of a German U-boat and a British warship in 1945. With the mysterious Aegis Institute hovering in the background of the investigation, DI Andy Ross and his team find themselves in their most complex case to date.

Penny's story is the fourth in Brian L. Porter's award-winning Family of Rescue Dogs series. It features a tiny terrier, abandoned in a particularly cruel manner and her subsequent adoption and life with the author and his family. From being attacked and needing emergency surgery to days out at the coast chasing seagulls and living in stately homes, Penny's life in Brian's pack of rescue dogs has never been anything but interesting and eventful.

English countryside, 1958. The idyllic village of Olney has stood in its peaceful location for over 900 years. Until one day, when two teenage boys are struck by a mysterious illness. The newly arrived Doctor Hilary Newton suspects a common flu to be the cause of their malady. Before long, the doctor and residents of Olney are plunged into a nightmare, as the disease ravages the local population. Despite the doctors employing the latest medicine available, the death toll keeps rising.

Sheba is the sequel to Brian L. Porter's award-winning best seller, Sasha, and tells the story of rescue dog Sheba, Sasha's best friend, starved, beaten, and used as bait for the training of fighting dogs and then thrown on a rubbish tip and left to die, a barely living skeleton.

As the late night train from Manchester to Liverpool approaches the city, it hits the body of a man. After the police look into the case, they learn that the man was a well-known movie director—of the adult variety.

1966. England wins the soccer World Cup. Same night, a barmaid's body is discovered near an abandoned lighthouse. Two more murders follow; all remain unsolved. 2005. DI Andy Ross is called in when a disturbingly similar series of murders begins in the same location. If their estimates are correct, Ross and his team have one week to solve the case before the next lighthouse murder takes place.

After millionaire Malcolm Capshaw hires Joe Cutler and his team to search for a fabled artifact, they enter a maze of lies, murder, and betrayal. The real purpose of their search is soon exposed, as an old London crime family displays an unusual interest in an ancient town where Christianity laid its roots in England.

Autumn, 1888. While the city is horrified by Jack the Ripper's murder spree another, less publicized killer is at large. Each murder takes place right after the Ripper killings, as the murderer appears to be taking advantage of the lack of police resources to tackle two major investigations at the same time. Inspector Albert Norris is charged with bringing the railway killer to justice, but clues are few and the killer's motive unclear.

Whipped, beaten, and abused for the first year of his life, Dylan was eventually left tied to the gates of a dog sanctuary with a note telling of his treatment. The fates were smiling on the little Bedlington terrier. The author and his family adopted him the very same day. Dylan began his life as part of the author’s family of rescue dogs and has been with them longer than any of their other dogs.

As Liverpool's Specialist Murder Investigation Squad prepares for Christmas, Detective Inspector Andy Ross receives a phone call. Someone has murdered Santa Claus (well, a department store Santa). As the officer on call for the night, Ross attends to it along with Sergeant Izzie Drake, and thus begins one of the strangest investigations of his career.

Soon after the cargo liner Alexandra Rose steams into the Mersey Estuary, one of the ship’s passengers is found dead, leading to Detective Inspector Andy Ross’s most baffling case to date. Another death soon follows, and Ross discovers that the case has its roots in the depths of the Amazon Rainforest. A billionaire entrepreneur, mysterious passengers, a team of researchers, and a band of vicious mercenaries all have their part to play.

A series of murders leads Detective Inspector Sean Connor and his team into a labyrinthine investigation. The victims are dispatched using a poison previously associated with the notorious Borgia family. As the murders multiply at an alarming rate, Connor finds clues hard to come by, and every lead takes him down yet another blind alley. The killer seems to be one step ahead of him at every turn. Together with Sergeant Lucy Clay, they must piece together the shreds of evidence and find the mastermind behind the murders that become known as Purple Death.