Alex Walters / Michael Walters Books In Order

Publication Order of DCI Kenny Murrain Books

Publication Order of Detective Annie Delamere Books

Publication Order of DI McKay Books

Publication Order of Inspector Nergui Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Michael Walters is an English author of mystery and thriller books best for his Inspector Nergui Mystery series. He also writes under the pseudonym Alex Walter and has written DCI McKay and DCI Kenny Murrain series. Alex Walters has worked in the broadcasting, banking and oil industry and in the last decade, he worked as a management consultant across the globe from prisons to parliament’s environments.

The Shadow Walker

The first book in Nergui Mystery series is set in Mongolia where the citizens scuffle to find a place to live in the post-global world. The author has written the story with ease, and the characters are well created to fit the role in the story perfectly. The story features plenty of hardcore descriptions for every brutal crime committed.

The story kicks off with the first of the many killings to occur and the city cop, Chief Dorlpalam feels that he needs someone experienced to handle the murder case because the evidence available shows that there might be a serial killer in the making.
They phone a retired Crimes Chief Nergui to take care and Inspector Drew McLeish to help in finding the serial before the body count increases. The two work as a team in finding the killer and besides their professional interactions they also become two best friends. But before they can solve one murder case, another body surface- in the same mutilation state as the first body and this reveals their initial statement about a serial killer on the loose. Their investigations lead the two investigators through the capital city and drive them into the Gobi desert where they finally discover the connections between the serial killings.

Michael Walters did a fantastic job in his series debut novel. The setting is beautifully described, and the main characters are worth associating with and each of them providing an important glimpse to the murder world to the readers. For example, Nergui helps give the insight into the city, the Gobi desert, and the suburbs while McLeish helps in updating the readers with profiling details as the body count rises. One of the killed is a cop, and while in the desert are they make a stop at a tourist camp and during their investigations there, they gather more background information related to the police killing. As the story progresses business and political motivations are introduced, and soon McLeish goes missing.

The author did a fantastic job in capturing some of the “unknown” details of the Mongolian culture, especially how things are fast changing with the introduction of capitalism and western influence. This is proof that the author has traveled to different parts of the world and interacted with different cultures and Mongolian is no exception. It’s also an indicator that he did extensive research before drafting this novel. He has crafted a novel with a sense of place in a country suffering from growing pains, still struggling to escape from the shadows with Russia and other past governments. The capital city Ulan Baatar is explained with its unsightly built Russian government buildings and rental buildings intermixed with native Gur communities. The Mongolian government wants their country to be prosperous probably to the deterrence of their thousand years old traditions.

Candle and Roses

Candles and Roses is the first book in Detective Inspector Alec McKay series by Michael Walters under the pen name Alex Walters.
It is an intriguing detective story set in Black Island in the Scottish Highlands. We are introduced to DI Alec McKay a man yearning to maintain his appearance as a force to be reckoned with from Glasgow than from Dundee he is. Ginny Horton is his DS. When two young couple decides to satisfy their sexual needs in the woods, they come across a naked body of a young girl laid in the midst of candles and roses. Detective McKay, with an open case of a girl gone missing a summer before decides to investigate.

Kelly, the woman who found the body in the forest strongly believed that something also happened to Lizzie, the girl who vanished the summer before. She decides to investigate and first starts by taking a job as a waitress Caledonian, where Lizzie was last seen. In the meantime, McKay has a problem getting the identity of the lady in the woods. When he finally gets a name, it leads him nowhere as he finds out the woman was a runaway, escaping from a docile and controlling and aggressive father. When the body of another woman is discovered in a cave nearby, with roses and candles around her body, the detectives fear that a serial killer is on the loose.
The two murdered women are runaways, they have estranged parents, and while they are not connected in any means, they are lost souls drifting through life.

Will the serial killer on the lost be found? Can the detective McKay get rid of his personal emotions about the death of his daughter Lizzie the summer before? Is Kelly (the woman who found the body) endangering herself by being close to the owner of Caledonian? Does working for the man she suspects to be involved in the murders help in finding the whereabouts of the missing girl?
With McKay second in command, his partner fears that McKay is putting emotions in the case and might take things too far. Horton understands that McKay needs some closure and will do anything to ensure that he amends whatever happened to his daughter. But find the serial killer may prove a little bit difficult and time isn’t on the side because if given a chance, the serial killer would strike again.

With every new lead that surfaces, McKay only gets more stuck to the murder case and can’t help thinking of the loss of his own daughter. The big question being will he investigate or let his feelings in the way? Alex’s debut novel is a brilliant read. What makes the story so intriguing is the perfect mix of personal events and police work. As the reader, you will be involved with the police investigations right from the start to the last page.