Lesley Horton Books In Order

Publication Order of DI Handford Books

Lesley Horton was a well respected published British author of fiction.

Horton was born in 1939 and unfortunately passed way in November of 2018 after a long illness. This British novelist was often referred to as Britain’s ‘queen’ when it comes to crime writing. She was well versed in the genre and particularly known for her crime novels that revolved around the character of John Handford, a Detective Inspector based in Bradford.

Horton used to work as a school teacher but chose to retire early from the field. This was so that she could jump start her career working as a writer. She was previously a chair of the writing association known as the Crime Writers’ Association.

Lesley Horton is the creator and the author of the Detective Inspector Handford series. This series of fictional novels was first made available for readers to check out in 2002. This is when the debut first fictional novel in the series came out, which is titled Snares of Guilt. Horton would quickly follow that up with a gripping sequel in 2003, which is titled On Dangerous Ground. The third book would come out in 2005 and is titled Devils in the Mirror. The fourth book was The Hollow Core and the fifth and final book to round out the series came out in 2008 and is titled Twisted Tracks.

The series revolves around John Handford, a devoted detective inspector who is quite good at what he does. However, there’s always another strange case popping up for him to solve. He’s more than able to handle what comes along with the job, but is constantly finding himself in dangerous positions as a result of it. Still, he takes on every case and does his best to solve it, no matter what types of risks come along with the territory.

Snares of Guilt is the first novel in the Detective Inspector Handford series by author Lesley Horton. If you have been looking for a great and engrossing new crime novel to check out, then this is the one for you! It is the first of five thrilling novels in this series by an epic author.

The story opens up with a murder, and it should be no surprise that the case goes straight to John Handford. The victim is a young woman named Rukhsana Mahmood, a nice woman that has been killed with her head totally battered. The crime and the way the body is suggest that someone did this in a state of intense rage.

It seems odd that she should be killed, as she was well known and liked. Her health visitor career was one where she was respected and many people had a fondness for her. Everyone except apparently one person, but was this killing personal or simply the side effect of someone that has an innate desire to kill?

Detective Inspector John is determined to do what he can to handle this case, which is more sensitive than ever. This is thanks to the year before this one, which Handford was also assigned to. The Asian community did not handle the way that it turned out well. Even though he was able to track down the man that did it, it caused very large racial divides.

Handford has concerns that this case will be similar and the nature of the victim means that all of that divisiveness and tension that came along with the previous case is about to rise again. It’s a possibility, but the inspector has no choice but to dive into this case head first and try to make some progress. He’ll also be working with his Detective Sergeant partner on this one, Khalid Ali.

Khalid Ali knows what it’s like to face hostility for being different, but is good at the job. Handford sets out to try and pin down some different motives that someone would have for wanting this young woman dead. He’s surprised when he finds out that she was part of a marriage that was mixed and that the family of her husband Amajit did not mind that she was killed. In fact, they are happy that she died.

That does not mean that they killed her themselves, but it’s not a good sign and not something that a family would typically admit. There’s a low likelihood that this would have been a killing in retribution or punishment, but it’s out there. Rukhsana was known for having a pleasant personality and being very agreeable and quiet.

However, looks cannot always be trusted. Could the victim have been doing more behind the scenes and betraying people? Was she partaking in things that would have driven someone to the point of wanting to see her dead? There’s a thin line between feeling intense hate for someone and feeling love. When it comes to this case, was this a passion killing? Or was it simply a random murder? It’s up to this detective inspector to find out. You too can discover what happens in the end by getting a copy of this book and finding out for yourself!

On Dangerous Ground is the second novel in the Detective Inspector Handford series by author Lesley Horton. This sequel sees the return of John Handford and Khalid Ali.

The official story is that in Bradford, there isn’t child prostitution going on. But Handford and his Sergeant partner are about to discover that the truth may be slightly different than that. Two young kids, a boy and a girl, are found horribly murdered. The cases are discovered within days of each other.

Just like that, the two are about to enter into an investigation like none other. The results may be shocking. The two will find that there’s a criminal underworld in Bradford where children are involved. Not only that, but the respectable front of their community is blown away by the revelation of corruption of both actions and souls of community members.

It’s now up to Ali and Handford to set their differences aside and work together with their team to try and crack this case. Can they stop a serial killer before they strike again? Find out by picking up this book!