Cullen Year One(2014)

Ed James

CULLEN YEAR ONE collects the first season, comprising the first four novels, of the DC SCOTT CULLEN series of Edinburgh-based police procedurals which has been compared favourably with Ian Rankin, Mark Billingham, Christopher Brookmyre, Ed McBain, Elmore Leonard.

GHOST IN THE MACHINE
Detective Constable Scott Cullen of Lothian & Borders CID has only been a full detective for three months. Struggling with his burning ambition, Cullen is assigned a Missing Persons case. Caroline Adamson, a young, recently-divorced Edinburgh mother, has disappeared while on a date.



But when Caroline's body turns up, Cullen digs into her past and her private life starts to unravel. Who was she on a date with? What happened during her divorce? What was she doing on Schoolbook?



Now, as Cullen investigates, his own private life gets messier and the relationship with his DI deteriorates. As other bodies turn up, Cullen soon finds himself hunting for a ghost in the machine.



GHOST IN THE MACHINE is an intense police procedural novel about privacy, loss and social networks that builds to a shocking climax.





DEVIL IN THE DETAIL
Detective Constable Scott Cullen of Lothian & Borders CID, still reeling from the events of a case the previous summer, is caught between antagonism with his superiors and the pressures of a new relationship.



But when the body of Mandy Gibson, disabled daughter of a pillar of the community, is discovered one January morning, Cullen is pushed out to Garleton, a typical East Lothian town - affluent, historic and with a good school.



Now, as the investigation becomes obstructed by a families broken by the tragedy, Cullen finds himself stuck between his DI and Bill Lamb, the local Sergeant. Is Mandy's religious group connected to her death? Where is the town's bad boy, Jamie Cook? As the community closes ranks, Cullen has to hunt for the devil in the detail.



DEVIL IN THE DETAIL is a taut police procedural novel about faith and trust.





FIRE IN THE BLOOD
Detective Constable Scott Cullen, bemused by the managerial positioning surrounding the impending merger of Lothian & Borders into Police Scotland, is torn by his personal and professional ambitions.



But when a male human body, battered and unrecognisable, is found in a barrel for Dunpender Distillery's special centenary edition, Cullen is sent out east again.



Now, Cullen finds himself trudging through a case with two likely victims who both went missing when the whisky was distilled. Could it be the owner's son, Iain Crombie? Is it Paddy Kavanagh, an employee with a fiery past? As he delves into the ancient history of the Crombie family, Cullen is soon contending with too many plausible suspects and his DI's desire for a quick collar, and finds himself hunting for a killer with fire in the blood.



FIRE IN THE BLOOD is a deep police procedural about family, friendship and alcohol.





DYED IN THE WOOL
Detective Constable Scott Cullen finds his professional and private lives at opposite ends of the spectrum. While his career is stagnating - impacted by the jockeying for position ahead of the Police Scotland restructure as much as by his own inability to push for promotion - his love life goes from strength to stren