Author of the Clara Pascal, Rickman & Foster, and Rowan & Palmer series
Margaret Murphy
Hello! I write psychological novels and thrillers, most of which have been published worldwide, and some have been translated into a total of nine European languages. I have been shortlisted for the ‘First Blood’ critics award and CWA Dagger in the Library, and I am a CWA Short Story Dagger and Red Herring award winner. Joffe Books re-released several of my backlist during 2020, and I’m thrilled that Dying Embers will be relaunched very soon. Right now, the book I’m most excited about is Don’t Scream . It’s book 3 in the Detective Jeff Rickman series – a brand new novel – set in Liverpool. Books 1 & 2 have already been re-launched as See Her Burn and See Her Die, respectively, and I’m thrilled that both reached the bestseller lists. I’ve waited 15 long years to finally see Don’t Scream published, so it means a huge amount to me that it is finally available, and has been so well-received. Several storylines in the series are resolved in this novel, and we also learn more about Sergeant Foster’s background.
Don’t Scream is available to buy NOW at just 99p in kindle
Do have a good rummage – you can keep in touch with me via the contacts page, or social media – I love to hear from readers!

My books
The Darkest Hours
The Darkest Hours In the darkest hours, he will come for you. Two women are missing, snatched by a prowler in the night. Brilliant psychologist Christine Radcliffe fears she may be next. Or at least that’s what she tells Detective Alan Jameson. But Jameson already has the prime suspect in his...
READ MORE >Dying Embers
Dying Embers SHE’LL STOP AT NOTHING TO SAVE HER STUDENTS. BUT WHO WILL PROTECT HER? In the heart of the city, a burnt-out house hides a grim secret. A smouldering corpse . . . A golden boy gone wrong . . . —surrounded by the drug paraphernalia that killed him....
READ MORE >Don’t Scream
Don’t Scream Don’t Scream – a brand new novel. The third in the Detective Jeff Rickman series, set in Liverpool. A drugs war rages in Liverpool and beatings and reprisal attacks escalate to murder when a young mother is found dead in her home and her baby is missing. Tasked...
READ MORE >Her Husband’s Killer
Her Husband’s Killer DID SHE OR DIDN’T SHE? She’d planned the perfect murder of her husband so many times. And now he’s dead. But did she really kill him? Dr Helen Wilkinson stands over the body of her husband, Edward. It’s just as she’d imagined it so many times before. He...
READ MORE >Dear Mum
Dear Mum Shortlisted for the First Blood Award. A Sunday Times ‘Christmas Cracker’ “A story of searing suspense and terror . . . thoroughly engrossing and one of the best books of the year. Read it.” Tangled Web A MOTHER’S WORST NIGHTMARE — JUST GOT WORSE It’s been six months since...
READ MORE >See Her Die
See Her Die (Detective Jeff Rickman book 2) A WOMAN VANISHES BUT DID SHE EVER EXIST? Megan Ward goes missing and suspicion falls on the stalker seen outside her house. Detective Jeff Rickman is brought in to investigate – it should be a simple missing person case. Megan Ward is a...
READ MORE >Before He Kills Again
Before He Kills Again (Detective Cassie Rowan book 1) “Pace, taut plotting and great characterisation from the first page. Add humour and some wonderful one liners and you have a popular novel with depth.” —Sunday Times bestseller Ann Cleeves CAN CASSIE STOP A SERIAL PREDATOR BEFORE HE KILLS AGAIN? A serial predator stalks the...
READ MORE >See Her Burn
See Her Burn (Detective Jeff Rickman Book 1) A woman’s body is found stuffed inside a wheelie bin. Naked. Drained of blood. Thrown out like trash. Detective Jeff Rickman is on the case. Within hours, the police have their prime suspect. And it’s Rickman himself. Elsewhere, a cruel prank ends with four...
READ MORE >Darkness Falls
Darkness Falls CLARA PASCAL HAS IT ALL She’s beautiful, successful and a devoted mother. People want to be her. THEN IT’S SNATCHED AWAY Now, robbed of everything that gives her life meaning, she lies chained to the stone wall of a dark cellar – without food, warmth, or sleep, without even the...
READ MORE >Weaving Shadows
Weaving Shadows Amy Dennis is beaten to death with a hammer in her own home. Her baby is asleep upstairs. A custody battle now rages between Amy’s family and the baby’s father, a married man. A CASE CLARA CAN’T REFUSE Clara Pascal is struggling to put her life back together after...
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Darkness Falls
Clara Pascal had everything; a high-flying barrister and devoted mother, she was envied and admired by her peers…
Weaving Shadows
A woman beaten to death while her young child sleeps upstairs. A man shot in cold blood. A crooked cop taking backhanders…
See Her Burn
A woman’s body is found stuffed inside a wheelie bin. Naked. Drained of blood. Thrown out like trash…
Before He Kills Again
A serial predator stalks the streets of Liverpool. Seven victims so far. And he’s already chosen his next one.
See Her Die
Megan Ward goes missing and suspicion falls on the stalker seen outside her house. Detective Jeff Rickman is brought in to investigate – it should be a simple missing person case. Megan Ward is a complete anomaly. No photos, no passport, no family or friends.
Dear Mum
It’s been six months since Kate’s twelve-year-old daughter Melanie disappeared. Six harrowing months since Kate identified her little girl’s body…
Her Husband’s Killer
She’d planned the perfect murder of her husband so many times. And now he’s dead. But did she really kill him?
Don't Scream
A drugs war rages in Liverpool and beatings and reprisal attacks escalate to murder when a young mother is found dead in her home and her baby is missing…
Dying Embers
She’ll stop at nothing to save her students. But who will protect her?
In the heart of the city, a burnt-out house hides a grim secret.
The Darkest Hours
Two women are missing, snatched by a prowler in the night. Brilliant psychologist Christine Radcliffe fears she may be next.