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Cold Summer
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30 June 2026

A British crime thriller featuring a Manchester detective, a prison escape, and a deadly race through the criminal underworld during Europe’s migration crisis.
Two fugitives. One city. Only one will survive.
Manchester is on edge. On the site of a disused supermarket, a hidden compartment in an articulated lorry is being unloaded under cover of darkness.
At the same time, a prisoner escapes from Strangeways.
DI Rick Castle, recently demoted but still impossible to ignore, begins to ask questions. The two events may be connected, and if they are, the consequences could be deadly.
As Castle follows the trail through Manchester’s criminal networks, he realises he is chasing two dangerous suspects. If he cannot reach them first, they will find each other.
And when they do, someone will die.
Cold Summer is Book 3 in the DCI Castle series. Perfect for readers who love British crime fiction in the style of J.D. Kirk, Ian Rankin, and Peter James.
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Praise for the DCI Castle Series:
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ A tense game of cat and mouse.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ The authenticity lends to how believable the tension is throughout.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Ellson’s strong command of place… I felt like I was there.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ A stellar introduction.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Superb police realism and a great story.
James Ellson was a police officer in the UK for 15 years, starting in London and finishing as a Detective Inspector at Moss Side in Manchester. When he left the police he started writing, and has been writing ever since. James’s debut novel The Trail was published in 2020, and the sequel Cold Dawn in 2022. Cold Summer will be published in November 2023. He also writes short stories, and was runner up in the 2021 Bay Tales Christmas short story competition with Roisin's Christmas Party. His story The Translator was published in a 2022 anthology (To Serve, Protect, and Write) of former police officers, now writers. James is a keen climber and mountaineer, and has visited Nepal many times. In 2004 he climbed 6,812 metre Ama Dablam, and in 2008 soloed the Matterhorn. He lives in the Peak District with his wife, and manages their smallholding, which includes bees and an orchard. James can be followed on Twitter @jamesellson3 And on Facebook: james.ellson.98