London, 1811. Bounded by the Ratcliffe Highway to the north and the modern wonders of the Dock to the south, the twisting streets of riverside Wapping conceal many an untold sin. But two families have fallen victim to foul murder, and a terrified populace calls for justice. John Harriott, magistrate of the new Thames River Police Office, must deliver it, and his only hope of doing so is his senior officer Charles Horton. Harriott only recently came up with a word to describe what Horton does: detection.
Plymouth, 1564. Young Billy Ablass arrives from Oxford armed only with a Letter of Introduction to Captain John Hawkyns, and the burning desire of all young men: the getting and keeping of money. For Hawkyns is about to set sail, and Billy sees the promise of a better life with a crew intent on gain and glory. The kidnap and sale of hundreds of human beings is not the only cursed event to occur on England's first officially-sanctioned slaving voyage; out in the Florida Cays, Billy too is to be enslaved for the rest of his days.
Based on the real-life story of the gruesome Ratcliffe Highway murders, The English Monster takes us on a voyage across centuries, through the Age of Discovery to the streets of Regency Wapping, policed only by Officer Horton.

• The Poisoned Island
• Savage Magic
• The Convictions of John Delahunt
• The Silent Boy
• The Devil in the Marshalsea