Inspector Dillon and the Case of the Serial Killer

Fiction

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It’s 1950, and Harry Dillon, an Irish, Oxford-educated young detective inspector at Scotland Yard, finds himself drawn into a chilling new case. The investigation begins with the murder of a young woman in Whitechapel, her body left with an unusual clue: a black knight chess piece. Soon after, a second murder occurs, leaving behind another chess piece – a black bishop. As the killings continue, Fleet Street seizes on the macabre story, branding the culprit a ‘chess-crazed serial killer’ and drawing chilling parallels to Jack the Ripper.

Harry Dillon is no stranger to complex cases. With the help of his close friend and future brother-in-law, DI Jim Wilson-Smythe, Harry previously solved the case of the Missing Girl, which began with a murder in a remote Cornish cemetery. Jim is now engaged to Harry’s younger sister, Milly, while Harry himself shares a budding romance with Jim’s sister, Katherine. Adding to the mix is Sarah, Harry’s confidante and neighbour in London, who also played a vital role in his earlier investigation.

As the chess-themed killings escalate, Harry faces a web of suspects, red herrings, and cryptic motivations. Determined to uncover the truth, he unravels the bizarre trail of clues in a case that grows increasingly difficult and complex. But can Harry catch the killer before more lives are lost?

Roger A Beamish is new to crime fiction, stemming from the author’s decades-long interest in detectives and crime, especially gothic and film noir themes, together with film and television detective and crime mystery productions from the 1940s to the present. His career background is as an academic in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He received his doctorate at Sydney University and undertook research fellowships at Tufts Medical School, Boston, and the Australian National University. He is presently an Associate Professor in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Technology, Sydney.