Detective Inspector Bill Slider

I discovered a new detective series last summer on my library's recommended reading shelf. The Detective Inspector Bill Slider series (www.billslider.com) is authored by Englishwoman, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, who writes with humor and well developed characters.

Her hero, London's Detective Inspector Bill Slider, has a very interesting life outside his profession of solving crimes. I always look forward to reading the next book in the series not only to solve a murder but to see what's happening in Slider's personal life so I highly recommend reading them in order.

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles has a way of writing that brings her characters to life. My biggest challenge is sometimes figuring out her English humor. That's when I resort to contacting my daughter in England and/or her British husband for help translating from English to American. We may share a common language but what a world of difference at times!

The first book in the series is "Orchestrated Death" where investigating the murder of a beautiful violinist leads Slider and his partner, Atherton,as far afield as Birmingham and disrupts Slider's home life.

The second book, "Death Watch," has Slider and Atherton investigating the death of a man in a fire that may have links to a 20-year-old homicide.

The third book, "Necrochip" (also known as "Death to Go"), provides additional challenges for Slider. While he investigates a murder that takes him to Hammersmith and Notting Hill, he has to deal with a change in supervision back at the station.

The fourth book, "Dead End" (also known as "Grave Music"), takes Slider back to the world of music when he and Atherton investigate a death at the Royal London Philharmonic.

The fifth book, "Blood Lines," keeps Slider in the music world when he investigates the death of a music critic and tries to prevent another murder.

The sixth book, "Killing Time," finds Slider solving the murder of an erotic dancer without Atherton's help because Atherton is in the hospital recovering from an injury sustained while working their last case.

The seventh book, "Shallow Grave," gives us a glimpse into Slider's interest in old homes when he investigates the death of a woman at a famous historian's home.

The eighth book, "Blood Sinister," is the investigation of the death of a journalist who championed the underdog and attacked the police whenever she could. She had enemies in high places who don't want Slider digging too deep.

In the ninth book, "Gone Tomorrow," Slider investigates a death on a children's playground in Shepherd's Bush and becomes involved with all kinds of unsavory and very scary characters as he attempts to solve this murder and the subsequent murders it spawns. At the point of exhaustion due to lack of sleep, Slider has even less time to deal with his increasingly complicated personal life.

The tenth book, "Dear Departed," has Slider investigating the death of a young woman found murdered in a park in broad daylight while the park was full of people. While trying to find out more about the victim, he discovers she led a complicated life - both in terms of her work, her private life, and her family. Was her death that of a notorious serial killer or something else?

The eleventh book, "Game Over," has Slider in the middle of solving a high profile murder that, for once, the major case squad does not want to take off his hands to solve themselves, Slider has his hands full. With his boss and his whole department behind him, he sets out to solve the case while trying to thwart the attempts of a crazed escaped convict threatening violence against him and his family. This English whodunit gets my vote!

The twelfth book is "Fell Purpose."

These books are also available in "Omnibus" versions.

"Bill Slider Omnibus" contains the first three books; "The Second Bill Slider Omnibus" contains the next three books; "The Third Bill Slider Omnibus" has books 7 and 8 while "The Fourth Bill Slider Omnibus" has books 9 and 10.