ANDREW
WOODWARD
-CREATOR OF THE D.I. CHAMBERS' SERIES-
THE BOOKS
The Element's series features the intrepid DI John Chambers, one of west London's finest. With his experience in the Triad Unit in Westminster, Central London, he's the obvious man for the Met Police to send to Hong Kong to track down the killer. But things don't go to plan and the hunt for the killer will lead Chambers around the globe in pursuit of the murderous madman.
The Water Dragon
It's Hong Kong in August and DI John Chambers is feeling the heat ...
In The Water Dragon, Detective Inspector John Chambers heads to Hong Kong in hot pursuit of a suspect in a double murder in Central London.
Seconded to the Hong Kong police, Chambers teams up with beautiful local Detective Lucy Li, to investigate the whereabouts of the killer. In the process they inadvertently discovering links between a seemingly random spate of deaths. The victims include a young man bludgeoned to death in Kowloon Park’s aviary; a minor Triad found drowned in his bathtub in Mong Kok surrounded by dead rats; and the body of an ex-soldier discovered near a secluded beach on Lantau Island close to a herd of feral water buffalo. Can they solve the murders before the killer strikes again?
The Water Dragon is Woodward's stunning debut novel.
The Fire Walker
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A chance meeting with an old school pal in a pub in west London convinces DI John Chambers it's time to head north to Scotland – and it looks like the offer to leave the capital couldn’t come at a better time ...
Recently suspended from the Met police after the incident in Hong Kong. Chambers decides to take up the invitation of the pleasant distraction of a few rounds at St Andrews' hallowed Old Course.
A game of golf on the famous links courses of the east coast seems the best way to escape his career problems. But before he even gets his clubs out of the bag he has a small task to attend to. He's promised to help locate a relative who disappeared from his home near Glasgow.
Chambers trip north of the border soon turns sinister as his search takes him across the country to the normally peaceful villages of coastal Fife. But before long, the discovery of several naked, disfigured bodies are linked by the local police directly to him, meaning Chambers quickly goes from hunter to hunted.
His investigations uncover a secret history of smuggling, disturbing ancient witch executions and a hedonistic royal drinking club. But what do they have to do with the the mutilated corpses?
The Silverbird's Sign
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March 2012 – a body with multiple stab wounds is found; unceremoniously dumped in a derelict courtyard in a nondescript dusty town somewhere in the heart of Africa.
Meanwhile, a man wakes in an unfamiliar room, in an unrecognisable place and with no recollection of how he got there. He must figure out what’s happening and do it quickly; and why does he have the unshakeable feeling that someone is coming to get him? In his possession is one clue that might clarify his predicament – a scrap of paper with two unknown phone numbers.
Over 5,000 miles away in Hong Kong, Detective Li has made a breakthrough in figuring out the identity of the Triad killer in a double murder case. When her informant assures her that the killer is hiding out at a monastery on an outlying island, Li believes an arrest is finally imminent. But what is the connection between the Hong Kong killer and the dead man in Africa?
DI Chambers may have the answer to the conundrum, but he's on the run, the prime suspect in a murder case, and no one knows his whereabouts. With time running out he needs to solve the case, and prove his innocence.
But before Chambers gets a chance, he’s in for a very nasty surprise ...
The Charred Forest Murders
Between the summer of 1959 and early 1965, eight prostitutes working in west London were murdered. The case became known as the London Nude Murders.
Several of the women had links to some of the biggest names and scandals of the era – including the Kray Twins, the Profumo Affair and world boxing champion, Freddie Mills. Despite extensive and exhaustive police inquiries at the time – half a century later, the murders are still officially unsolved and the police records will remain sealed for another 50 years. At the time, the police linked the eight murders to the work of one man – a man they nicknamed Jack the Stripper, to pay homage to the world’s most infamous unidentified murderer, Jack the Ripper, who also targeted London prostitutes over eight decades earlier.
DI John Chambers, recently returned from Africa, is back in London only to find out he is surplus to requirements at his old nick in Westminster. Quietly moved on to the newly formed cold case unit, Operation Yetna, in west London, Chambers is given command of a small band of misfits tasked with the job of bringing closure to the unsolved murders in London over the past five decades. Facing an uphill struggle with a disparate team, things are looking far from promising. His is consumed by the disappearance and of Det. Li, his ex-partner in Hong Kong.
But what impact will the appearance of a dead body in Brentford and a mysterious message from China ultimately have on his decision? Chambers is about to face the toughest decision of his career.
The Stone Buddha
London’s D.I. John Chambers has recently quit the force after 20 years on the job. The reason? His ex-partner from Hong Kong has been abducted and Chambers is sure he knows who has kidnapped her. There’s just one small problem. He has no idea where she is. This case will prove to be the ex-policeman's toughest challenge yet. When Chambers lands in Thailand armed with only one possible clue in the search for his missing colleague, he figures things can’t get much more difficult. But how wrong can he be? An innocent offer of assistance to a distressed fellow traveller inadvertently causes his life to unravel at a frightening speed. Unwittingly caught up in a smuggling racket across the Laos border, Chambers soon understands that here, in the Golden Triangle It’s kill or be killed. There are no rules of engagement and to survive he will need every ounce of his experience, even if that means he has to make the ultimate life and death decision. But is Chambers really capable of murder? And what about the missing woman? How long can she survive in captivity? What horrors has she had to endure? Every minute that passes, could be her last. But can Chambers figure out where she is and get to her in time?
Chambers knows it’s now or never … Join him on a dramatic chase through the tropical jungles and idyllic beaches of Southeast Asia.
Buckle up – you’re in for the ride of your life!