Malcolm Hollingdrake Books In Order

Publication Order of DCI Cyril Bennett / Harrogate Crime Books

Publication Order of Merseyside Crime Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Stars Will Shine: Helping Our Heroes One Page at A Time Books

Despite the fact that Malcolm Hollingdrake was born in a family of avid readers, to become an author, Hollingdrake had to travel a circuitous route. Before he became an author, Hollingdrake worked in the field of education for so many years, as a teacher. However, several years later, Hollingdrake felt the challenge that education provided was not challenging enough; thus he began looking for other avenues and challenges as well. As one of the most successful writers, Malcolm Hollingdrake has penned down numerous successful short stories and currently has more than six books in the market. Born and raised in Bradford, Malcolm Hollingdrake spent several years in Bradford before eventually relocating to Ripon. Despite the fact that Hollingdrake relocated from England, he has never lost the love he has for his home country.

Apart from collecting the works by Northern artists, Malcolm Hollingdrake has enjoyed several hobbies. The art auction continues to offer Hollingdrake plenty of excitement when selling and buying as well. This is a hobby that he has unquestionably bestowed on one Cyril Bennet, the protagonist in one of Malcolm Hollingdrake’s best performing novels. Currently, Malcolm Hollingdrake is a series of crime books that are set in the town of Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

Malcolm Hollingdrake Best Books

Only the Dead is the first book in the DCI Cyril Bennet book by Malcolm Hollingdrake. In this book, the author cleverly infuses some entirely fascinating and well researched historical references with well represented contemporary policing procedures. In the process, the author has been successful in producing a considered and well-plotted read. Only the Dead is a highly engaging story that manages to avoid the common clichés in character and plot as well, t, hat are exceedingly common in a majority of the crime novels. DCI Bennet is allowed by the author to become a real person, instead of a box-ticking mannequin who displays all the normal detective characteristics. He not only has his flaws but his foibles, his ethics, and prejudices as well. Another great addition to the series is Lawrence, the antagonist, whom just like the protagonist is interesting as well.

With excellent methods and convincing techniques, Lawrence makes Only the Dead an excellent read. The author, Malcolm Hollingdrake’s makes use of the third person and past tense narrative throughout the book. However, the author still possesses the talent to ensure that all his characters differs in voice and possess a unique sound, irrespective of the fact that the book is being written in the same point of view and tense as well. The Flesh of Evidence is the third book in the DCI Cyril Bennet book series. As the third book in the series, Flesh of Evidence has been set in Harrogate, a small town, where a small boy has just been kidnapped. However, it does not take long before body parts begin to resurface in jars of honey. It is at this point that the kidnapper understands that he has an exceedingly unique killer and kidnapper in his hands. The honey jars contain cryptic notes which have Latin and biblical terminologies as well.

The main purpose of the notes is to confuse and lead the police onto the other disappearances. The narrative leads the reader, through the lives of the suspects, however as expected nothing is obvious or straightforward. Throughout the story, several red herrings have been scattered all over, thereby ensuring that the police are not only pushed beyond their limits but are also kept on their toes. The extra pressure of trying to locate the next victim, unravel all the leads and also identify the kidnapper ensures that the police are frustrated all the time. The story moves at a great pace and contains several red herrings and lots of twists as well. As the story progresses, the reader will keep on guessing and second-guessing as well. This is also an exceedingly gripping, emotional and chilling read. Because there are children who are involved in the book, the story will undoubtedly appeal to every parent.

Game Point is the fourth book in the DCI Bennet book series by Malcolm Hollingdrake. In Game point, it is evidently clear that Malcolm Hollingdrake knows how to pen down an exceedingly tense and gripping story. The reader is going to be hooked from the very first page to the last. The story begins in the year 2017; then the author takes the readers back to the year 2016. In this book, DCI Bennet finds himself in the midst of one of the most harrowing cases that he has ever worked on. A twisted psychopath is on the loose, and one of his team members has been kidnapped. A body has just been found, and the strange thing is that its fingers have all been amputated. It does not take long before a photographer, who was way into deep in the pornography industry is found, murderer. Bennet and his team of detectives are faced with some exceedingly baffling evidence.

In this book, the protagonist, DCI Bennet is more than certain that the bicycle spoke that was shoved through Valerie’s home was definitely from the bicycle that belonged to the first male victim and thus there is a connection between the first two murders. When Liz and Owen finally lay their hands on Valerie’s metal box that was carefully hidden, the contents of the box indicate a double life that was not only full of sex but also full of drugs, orgies, and alcohol, which were all captured on tape. How could all these lead to Valerie’s death? According to her boss, Valerie had tried to make a career out of investigative journalism. Most of her time, Valerie used to make some exceedingly controversial documentaries. The series of investigations that follows include dark criminals, sex tapes, DCI Benett’s love for arts and antique hatpins as well. As new pieces of evidence are discovered, the case ends up becoming more and more discouraging.

With that said, Game Point is an exceedingly impressive and dazzlingly construed thriller, which definitely makes a great impact. Just as it is the case with the previous installments, Game Point can be read as a standalone novel.