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A British psychological crime thriller set in a luxury spa built on the ruins of a Victorian asylum, where a lockdown traps two private investigators with a killer. Locked-room suspense, medical menace and a setting with its own terrible history.
The Spa Promises Silence. The Asylum Beneath It Was Never Quiet.
Some places never forget. Some places never forgive.
The Bylands Spa Retreat sells serenity: five-star suites, scented pools and the promise of silence. Beneath its manicured grounds lie the ruins of an asylum where nightmares were routine and mercy was forbidden.
Private investigator Sean Tallis came for a weekend escape. His colleague Saskia Denman arrived uninvited and walked straight into a murder scene.
When a biohazard scare seals the retreat, Denman and Tallis realise the murder is only the beginning. The lockdown isn't containment. It's cover. Behind the sealed doors, someone is reviving the asylum’s darkest experiments.
And they're not finished.
The Devil Comes to Bylands is an instalment in the Denman & Tallis Cotswold Crime Thrillers series, for readers who love locked-room mysteries, private investigator duos and settings that hide their own crimes. Perfect for fans of Tana French, Elly Griffiths and L.J. Ross.
Jacqueline Beard is a writer and genealogist living in Gloucestershire, with an East Anglian ancestry going back to the 1500s. She writes Victorian murder mysteries and is currently working on books in the Lawrence Harpham and the Constance Maxwell mystery series. Jacqueline’s books are a rare mix of true crime and fiction inspired by old newspaper reports. When Jacqueline is not writing or researching “dead people,” as her husband so charmingly puts it, she is walking in the glorious Cotswolds with her dog. Jacqueline enjoys technology and spends far too much time on her computer. She dislikes flying, dentists and balloons – especially red ones. Find out more on her website https://jacquelinebeardwriter.com/ or cringe at her embarrassing efforts on Tiktok @jacquib333