Robert Daws Books In Order

Publication Order of Sullivan and Broderick Murder Investigations Books

Robert Daws is a mystery author and a British theatre and television actor. He is known for his roles in long-casted TV series, including the award-winning Outside Edge, Roger, the Royal, Rock, and Chips, Jeeves and Woster, and Take a Girl Like You, among others.

Robert’s latest work on stage includes David Harrower’s Blackbird and Michael Frayn’s Alarms and Excursions. He acted as Dr. John Watson in the Secret of Sherlock Holmes, Jim Hacker in Yes, Geoffrey Hammond in Public property, and John Betjeman in Summoned by Betjeman

Robert’s Radio performances include Love John, and Arthur Lowe in Dear Arthur, among others. His first novel in the Sullivan and Broderick series, The Rock, has been optioned and is being adapted for a television film.

The Rock: Murders in The Sun

The Rock is the debut in the Sullivan and Broderick Murder Investigations Series. In 1966 in an abandoned colonial house facing the Straits of Gibraltar, a dead body of a woman lying in a pool of blood. A steel knife protrudes from her chest with the sharp end deep in her heart.

In the Present day, DS Tamara Sullivan is sent on a three months secondment to Gibraltar after disobeying the orders of the London Metropolitan Police. She is not happy being sent there but braces herself for tedious months in the sun.

At first, she sees this as a punishment but soon, the sun, sea, and friendly colleagues make her feel better. The author gives the reader a glimpse of what went wrong in London and how Sullivan was thrown into a deep end with compelling cases that appear to be suicides affecting those close to the police department.

After all, she knows that in small, sunny Gibraltar, murders are rare, and catching the killer is what Sullivan does best. Her current boss, Inspector Gus Broderick, has the same skill too. Broderick is an old cop who considers his colleague unworthy of the assignment.

Soon the Gibraltar that she thought would be boring has a series of crimes committed within the narrow streets. Jennifer and Martin Tavares take a walk from a charity gala night after the completion of over a year’s fundraising by Jennifer to help in creation of a New play garden for a child care center. Soon the two are caught up in the police motorbike chase where Jeniffer is knocked down and rushed to the emergency room where she is operated on. In the meantime, two motorcycle cops are chasing a thief and are later involved in a grisly accident in which a well-known and most loved resident dies.

Later one of the motorcycles, a young and vibrant police constable’s body, is found hanged on his apartment’s ceiling. Sullivan and Broderick start uncovering a dark secret that will have their skills put to the test pushing their relationship to the limit.

The secret appears to be related to the 1966 murder incident. Robert ensured a minimum of grisly description, which turned the story into a mystery than a thriller.

Robert created brilliant characters in his well-crafted story conveying them as likable and relatable characters. Broderick and Sullivan worked perfectly together.

Sullivan was single while Broderick was married but lived with his sister, who offered a hand in caring for his young daughter, who has down syndrome. The aspect which Robert handles so well without any sense of unpleasantness.

Broderick is a little bit grumpy on the outside, having found himself working with a cop with a bad reputation, but soon realizes that she is good a good cop and incorporates her fully into the team.
Robert Daws seems to know Gibraltar so well and brings the story setting to life. It’s an interesting place with a Britishness set off the coast of Spain, and the author did a great job by showing its culture and natural beauty.

The Rock is a quick and easy read with an intriguing storyline to keep the reader engaged. Roberts also throws in some sense of humor that those in the police department need each day to go through tougher sights that they witness.

Several threads are combined to create a solid police murder story in a well-paced and crafted plot. The characterization is an excellent backdrop for Gibraltar.

Tamara is a likable character able to have independent thinking and act on her thoughts.

The Poisoned Rock
The Poisoned Rock is the second installment in the Sullivan and Broderick Murder Investigations series. With only five weeks remaining before the end of Tamara’s secondment to the Royal Gibraltar Police force, She appears to be enjoying life at Rock.

After a successful murder investigation, Sullivan and chief Broderick start their normal police work. In London, The British Government has a number of classified top secret files which concern the British Military Intelligence Operations during the second world war.

One of the files connected to the espionage activities in Gibraltar has been stolen from Britain and taken to Spain. The file has intel that might draw Sullivan and Broderick to the path of the dark and dangerous world of wartime Gibraltar.

It’s a place where espionage plans and saboteurs existed. Gibraltar is also were triple and double Britain, Spain, and Germany agents fought in the treacherous and fatal game of undercover missions.
As the summer sun shines in Gibraltar Town, a film team arrives on the Rock to shoot a movie about one legendary spy who lived in the way for years named ‘The Queen of Diamonds.’ The movie will be starring Julia Novacs and produced by a local filmmaker, Gabriel Isolde.

Unfortunately, someone isn’t pleased about the legendary story resurfacing, and everything in their power to stop the film from being produced. Tamara Sullivan is thrilled, just like everyone else, after a Hollywood star has come to make a movie on the island.

No one is sure whether the spy is real and whether she existed during the war. The film has brought a lot of focus to the old story, and not all of it is positive. Soon, Sullivan and her colleague Broderick are caught up in the middle of murder investigations. For them to understand the motive and catch the culprit, they’ll have to get deep into the dark world of espionage in wartime Gibraltar and also the betrayals and disloyalty that are still looming as a dark shadow in the present

It’s only soon before the past collides with the present and dangerous war.

Although Sullivan and Broderick are great characters, each brings unique qualities to the table even though they are different. The novel is filled with mystery and suspense to keep the reader hooked from the beginning to the end.

The twists and turns will make the reader guess in the story because the author makes more revelations worth waiting for.