DEAD & BURIED a gripping crime thriller full of twists (20 page)

DI GRECO BOOK 2: DARK HOUSES

http://www.amazon.co.uk/HOUSES-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01CGR9KEQ

http://www.amazon.com/HOUSES-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B01CGR9KEQ

A
young woman is found brutally murdered in an empty house

Detective Stephen Greco and his team must piece together her life as quickly as possible. Within twenty-four hours there is another killing using the same method. The detectives realise that the victims are random but the locations are not. The killer is more concerned with finding the right house – somewhere he won’t be disturbed.

Glossary of English Slang for US readers

A & E:
Accident and emergency department in a hospital

Aggro:
Violent behaviour, aggression

A Level:
exams taken between 16 and 18

Barm:
bread roll

Beaker:
glass or cup for holding liquids

Benefits:
social security

Bent:
corrupt

Bin:
wastebasket (noun), or throw in rubbish (verb)

Bloke:
guy

Blow:
cocaine

Bob:
money

Burger bar:
hamburger fast-food restaurant

Buy-to-let:
Buying a house/apartment to rent it out for profit

Charity Shop:
thrift store

Carrier bag:
plastic bag from supermarket

Care Home:
an institution where old people are cared for

Car park:
parking lot

Chat-up:
flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments

Chemist:
pharmacy

Chinwag:
conversation

CID:
Criminal Investigation Department

Clock:
punch

Cock up:
mess up, make a mistake

Common:
an area of park land/ or lower class

Comprehensive School (Comp.):
High school

Cop hold of:
grab

Copper:
police officer

Coverall:
coveralls, or boiler suit

CPS:
Crown Prosecution Service, decide whether police cases go forward

Childminder:
someone who looks after children for money

Council
: local government

Crown Jewels:
the Queen’s jewels and crown worn on state occasions (can also be an expression for anything valuable)

DCI:
Detective Chief Inspector

Deck:
one of the landings on a floor of a tower block

DI:
Detective Inspector

DS:
Detective Sergeant

Do a bunk:
disappear

Do a runner:
disappear

Do one:
go away

Doc Martens:
Heavy boots with an air-cushioned sole

DS:
detective sergeant

ED:
accident and emergency department of hospital

Early dart:
to leave work early

Estate:
/files/14/40/43/f144043/public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)

Estate agent:
realtor (US)

Fag:
cigarette

Garden Centre:
a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold

GP:
general practitioner, a doctor based in the community

Graft:
hard work

Hard nut:
tough person

HOLMES:
UK police computer system used during investigation of major incidents

Home:
care home for elderly or sick people

Inne:
isn’t he

Into care:
a child taken away from their family by the social services

Kark:
die

Kneecapping:
punish by shooting in the kneecap

Lad:
young man

Lass:
young woman

Lecky:
electricity

Lift:
elevator

Lorry:
a truck

Mare:
derogatory term for woman, or can mean having a bad day (nightmare)

MIT:
Major Investigation Team

Mobile phone:
cell phone

MP:
Member of Parliament, politician representing an area

Naff:
lame, not good

Narky:
bad-tempered

Net curtains:
a type of semi-transparent curtain

NHS:
National Health Service, public health service of UK

Nick:
police station (as verb: to arrest)

Nowt:
nothing

Nutter:
insane person

Nursery:
a place which grows plants, shrubs and trees for sale (often wholesale)

Owt:
anything

Pay-as-you-go:
a cell phone you pay for calls in advance

PC:
police constable

Pear-shaped
: go wrong

Petrol
: gasoline

Piss off:
as exclamation, go away (rude). Also can mean annoy.

Pissing down:
raining

Pleb:
ordinary person (often insulting)

Portakabin:
portable building used as temporary office etc.

Planning Department
: the local authority department which issues licences to build and develop property

Premier League:
top English soccer division

Querent:
person for whom the tarot card reading is done

Rag
: newspaper

Ram-raiding:
robbery where a vehicle is rammed through a shop window

Randy:
horny

Right state:
messy

Ring:
telephone (verb)

Roadworks:
repairs done to roads

Scally:
scallywag

Scroat:
low life

Semi:
Semi-detached house, house with another house joined to it on one side only

Shedload:
a large amount

Shout the odds:
talk in a loud bossy way

Sixth-form college:
school for high school students in final two years.

SIO:
senior investigating officer

Skip:
a large open container used for building waste

Slapper:
slag

Sod:
an annoying person

Sort:
to do or make

Solicitor:
lawyer

Stunner:
beautiful woman

Super:
superintendent (police rank)

Sweeting:
endearment, like sweetheart

Tabloid:
newspaper

Tea:
Dinner (Northern English)

Till:
cash register

Tipsy
: a bit drunk

Toerag:
a bad person

Torch:
flashlight

Tutor:
university teacher

Tower block:
tall building containing apartments (usually social housing)

Undertaker
: mortician

Upmarket:
affluent or fancy

Wash:
the washing machine

Water board:
company supplying water to an area
White van man:
typical working-class man who drives a small truck

CHARACTER LIST

Detective Inspector Tom Calladine

He is single, just past fifty. He is tall, but he is putting on weight. His hair used to be dark but is now greying and is cut close to his head. His daughter is called Zoe, she resulted from his short-lived marriage and he only found out about her recently.

Detective Sergeant Ruth Bayliss

She is single in
Dead Wrong
but meets someone — teacher Jake Ireson, in
Dead Silent
. She’s in her mid-thirties, likes birdwatching. Works with Calladine at Leesdon police station. She is on maternity leave, having given birth to her first child.

Detective Constable Simon Rockliffe — Rocco

A solid team member. He works hard and gets results. He is tipped to go far. He was attacked on the Hobfield in
Dead Wrong
. He has hinted that he might have a girlfriend but is giving nothing away.

Detective Constable Imogen Goode

She is the IT expert of the team. She is intense — very keen on her work — a bit of a nerd. She is going steady with Julian Batho — the forensics expert.

Detective Chief Inspector Rhona Birch

Rhona has the reputation of being a ‘hatchet queen.’ It is rumoured that she hasn’t spent above two years at any station.

Detective Inspector Stephen Greco

Detective at nearby Oldston police station. Ambitious.

Doctor Sebastian Hoyle

Pathologist – now retired but working as a locum at Leesdon Health Centre. Often referred to as the doc.

Forensic scientist — Doctor Julian Batho.

Unmarried, hard-working. Not particularly good-looking but nonetheless going steady with Imogen. He is now working at the Duggan Centre and has been elevated to Professor Batho.

Monika Smith

Care-home manager and former girlfriend of Calladine.

Freda Calladine

Tom’s late mother — was resident in the care home run by Monika.

Eve Buckley – nee Walker

Eve is Calladine’s biological mother. They met for the first time in
Dead List
. He learned the truth about his birth from a letter his mother left for him to open after her death. Eve wants to try and put things right, bring Calladine into her family.

Samantha Hurst

Eve’s daughter and therefore Calladine’s half-sister. She is a doctor at a hospital in Manchester. They met during
Dead List
but though he knew who she was, Samantha had no idea about him.

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