<p>British crime fiction where characters become people and place is part of the story.</p><p><!--StartFragment--><strong>Some people are just rotten to the core.</strong><br />
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Acting DCI Beatrice Stubbs is representing Scotland Yard at a police conference in Portugal. Her task is to investigate a rumour &ndash; a ghostwritten expos&eacute; of European intelligence agencies &ndash; and discover who is behind such a book.</p><p>Hardly a dangerous assignment, so she invites family and friends for a holiday. Days at the conference and evenings at the villa should be the perfect work-life balance.<br />
Until one of her colleagues is murdered.<br />
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An eclectic alliance of international detectives forms to find the assassin. But are they really on the same side?<br />
Meanwhile, tensions rise at the holiday villa. A clash of egos sours the atmosphere and when a five-year-old child disappears, their idyll turns hellish.<br />
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From Lisbon streets to the quays of Porto, Parisian caf&eacute;s to the green mountains of Ger&ecirc;s, Beatrice realises trust can be a fatal mistake.<!--EndFragment--></p><p>Each book works as a stand-alone novel.</p><p>If you enjoy Donna Leon, Patricia Wentworth and Ann Cleeves, you&#39;ll love Bad Apples.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>'<em>Murder at a crime conference, family fireworks and all the ingredients for a rollercoaster adventure</em>' - Francis Guenette, author of The Crater Lake Series</p>