This image is the cover for the book Day of Fear, The Patrick Dawlish Mysteries

Day of Fear, The Patrick Dawlish Mysteries

The wife of British sleuth Patrick Dawlish is plunged into a nightmare in this home-invasion thriller from the Edgar Award–winning author.

Patrick Dawlish is well-known among London law enforcement, though he’s always worked outside of the system. Now an odd blend of private eye and farmer, he has no reason to change the way things are, which is why he plans to turn down the job that’s being offered to him: Scotland Yard Commissioner.

But while he’s in the city, his wife, Felicity, is home alone in their rural cottage—at least for a while. When an injured boy collapses on their land, Felicity has no idea he’s not alone. While she tries to help, their house is taken over by a gang of armed criminals, who think Felicity knows more than she does.

Luckily, an earlier call she made to Dawlish aroused his suspicion that something is wrong. He jumps in his car to make the two-hour drive home, not knowing what horror awaits him . . .

It’s a good thing Dawlish had just declined that job offer, as he’s always been more dangerous when he can go it alone. And when someone he loves is threatened, there’s no law he wouldn’t break . . .

John Creasey

John Creasey, born in 1908, was a paramount English crime and science fiction writer who used myriad pseudonyms for more than six hundred novels. He founded the UK Crime Writers’ Association in 1953. In 1962, his book Gideon’s Fire received the Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America. Many of the characters featured in Creasey’s titles became popular, including George Gideon of Scotland Yard, who was the basis for a subsequent television series and film. Creasey died in Salisbury, UK, in 1973.