Brian Price
Author and crime science advisor
Welcome
Welcome to my website. Here you will find out more about me, the books I have written and forthcoming titles. If you would like to be kept up-to-date via my newsletter, please complete the Subscribe form at the bottom of the page. Thank you.
My fourth DC Mel Cotton thriller is out on 17th October and begins with a deadly explosion at the police station. The OCG, first seen in Fatal Dose, is flexing its muscles again and no-one is safe. Meanwhile, Mel has to work out why the bones of a musician, last reported in Australia, turned up in her and Tom's garden.
Leigh Russell said "Literally starts with a bang...and the excitement doesn't let up for a moment." Graham Bartlett described it as a "masterpiece" and David Mark described me as "A true must-read writer."
Fatal Blow can be pre-ordered from amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fatal-Blow-fourth-gripping-thriller- ebook/dp/B0CBHNZPTC and Waterstones https://www.waterstones.com/book/fatal-blow/brian-price/9781915817242
Publications
FATAL TRADE
I'm really excited to have been awarded a Premier Readers' award from Chill With Book for Fatal Trade, my first crime thriller featuring DC Mel Cotton.
Glasgow, 1999
Reaching the point of no return, Martina is ready to make her move. After years of being the victim, it’s now time to turn the tables.
Mexton, 2019
The small grey-haired woman grimaced as she entered the police station, dragging a tartan shopping trolley containing her husband’s head.
‘What are you useless buggers going to do about this?’
DC Melanie Cotton’s fledgling career is about to take an interesting turn. Recently transferred to CID, Mel is excited by this disturbing case – her first murder investigation as a detective.
She’s determined to make her mark.
But, as she discovers, there’s far more to this case than a gruesome killing and Mel’s skills and courage are about to tested to the limit.
Fatal Trade was published on 14th September 2021 by Hobeck Books as an ebook and paperback. The ebook is available at amazon. The paperback ISBN is 978-1-913793-39-5
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT FATAL TRADE
"I was hooked by the second page"
"...a dark, spine-chilling thriller"
"Brutally compelling with brave, hard-hitting realism realism"
"A great debut novel"
"One of the best police procedurals I've read this year"
"A fast-paced book with plenty of action. A clear 5* from me"
Comments from the Hobeck Advanced Readers Team
CRIME WRITING: HOW TO WRITE THE SCIENCE
An essential guide for crime writers on the scientific aspects of crime, including poisons, firearms, body disposal, fires & explosions and DNA. Crime readers find it fascinating, too. Published by Studymates, it's available, as a paperback, from all bookshops, Waterstones online and at amazon
FATAL BEGINNINGS
A free e-book novella introducing some of the characters in Fatal Trade. Sign up at www.hobeck.net for your copy
CUCKOO
Some of my short stories appear in this anthology from the Weston-super-Mare writers' group Writers in Stone. Available at amazon
THE DARK SIDE OF CHRISTMAS
This charity anthology, produced by Hobeck Books in aid of Streetreads, includes a story of mine called Payback - plotting, revenge and a spectacular interruption to a Christmas meal!
Available from amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Side-Christmas-Anthology-Twisted-ebook/dp/B09KY1G8K3/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+dark+side+of+Christmas&qid=1636664692&sr=8-1
MUSIC OF THE NIGHT
I have an intriguing locked room mystery in this anthology of short stories, on the theme of music, produced by the Crime Writers Association and published by Flame Tree Press https://www.amazon.co.uk/Music-Night-Crime-Writers-Association-ebook/dp/B098VYBC3S
Fatal Hate
My second novel, Fatal Hate, was published in April 2022.
DC Mel Cotton is back with a brand new case, the murder of Duncan Bennett. But who would want an unassuming warehouse worker dead?
The case soon becomes far more complex and dangerous, with terrorists, a paedophile network and a hitman in town. And against a background of rising hatred and violence, one woman pursues her deadly revenge.
Mel and her colleagues face their greatest challenge yet. Mel’s own courage will be tested to the limits. No-one is safe.
M.W. Craven described it as "High quality crime writing" Graham Bartlett wrote "A turbocharged, complex and intelligent thriller with a stunning cast told with the authority and authenticity we have grown to expect from Brian Price. I defy you to put it down".
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fatal-Hate-gripping-detective-thriller-ebook/dp/B09V67NNTS
https://www.waterstones.com/book/fatal-hate/brian-price/9781913793623
Fatal Dose
Fatal Dose was published in January 2023. A serial poisoner is stalking Mexton and an Organised Crime Group is building up its power base in the town.
An upstanding member of society is feeling threatened, with lethal results. Can Mel Cotton and her colleagues cope? How many more people will die before the poisoner is caught and the OCG is defeated?
On reading it, Peter James said "Brian Price is a very clever and promising crime writer. Paul Finch described it as "Another highly intelligent cop thriller from Price."
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=fatal+dose+brian+price&crid=26YUT7TR4N1BA
https://www.waterstones.com/book/fatal-dose/brian-price/9781915817006
About me
I am a chemist and biologist. I worked for many years in the environmental field and as an Open University tutor. I am also an avid crime reader.
I turned from science to crime when I attended Crimefest in Bristol, in 2016. I found the crime writing community open and friendly so I resolved to use my knowledge of science to help authors get scientific details correct. I have advised a number of leading crime writers on scientific topics. In 2019 my website www.crimewriterscience.co.uk metamorphosed into the book Crime Writing: How to Write the Science.
In the same year, I won a competition, run by the Facebook group Crime Fiction Coach, to find the best opening line for a crime novel. I then had no option but to write the book to go with that line! The result was Fatal Trade, published on 14th September 2021 by Hobeck Books. Fatal Beginnings, a free novella introducing some of the characters, is available at www.hobeck.net
Fatal Hate followed in April 2022 and Fatal Dose in January 2023.
Several of my short stories are published in the Writers in Stone anthologies Cuckoo, Lock and Key and Seventy Three. One of my stories appears in The Dark Side of Christmas, a charity anthology produced by Hobeck Books, and another in the Crime Writers Association anthology Music of the Night. I also contributed a recipe and short story to the Hobeck 2022 charity collection Cooking the Books