Bales & Co : A Financial Crime Thriller Series

by Lee Timms, Hugh Barker (editor)

Peter ‘Bales’ Bailey uncovers financial crime for a living. He’s very good at it.

Saying no to Katie, a feisty personal trainer with a tax problem? Less so.

Katie’s brother is involved in something far nastier than late tax returns. Something people are willing to kill for. And now- through a mix of bad luck and worse judgement - so is Bales.

Dragged from Cambridge’s quiet boardrooms into corners of the city he never knew existed, Bales is about to learn a hard truth. Being brilliant with numbers offers very little protection when people want you dead.

Bales & Co is a sharp financial thriller set in Cambridge, England - perfect for fans of LEE CHILD, JOHN GRISHAM, MICHAEL CONNELLY, HARLAN COBEN and JOHN SANDFORD.

Book 3 - “No Reconciliation" Coming May 2026.

315 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 4, 2024

About the author

Lee Timms writes thrillers about money, murder, and the occasional missing biscuit tin. His Bales & Co series introduces Peter “Bales” Bailey, a forensic accountant with a Jaguar and too much curiosity, and Katie Taylor, his dynamic partner who knows how to land a punch when audits don’t cut it.
Lee lives near Cambridge with his partner Vanessa and dog Luna, and insists his own accounts are mostly reconciled.

Reviews

[Mr Mark Hawksford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bales & Co

I saw this book in an email sent to me and with it being set in Cambridge, which is close to where I live, and reading the synopsis made me download it. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and characters. It had quite a lot of action and humour within it. I did think at one point that the ending was a little weak, but the final pages changed my view. I will be looking to download the next in the series. 4.75 out of 5. A good read.

[Mary Blackhurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable

A good plot and good writing. I am engaged enough with Bales to worry about his drinking, and Katie is a delight (I'll buying the next one just to see how she solves her tax affairs - or rather, how Bales solves them.) Just one thing - did Josh and Will have passports? It seems unlikely, but they couldn't get to Tenerife without them.

[K S Hawkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read

I very much enjoyed the story and found that the chapter endings made me want to keep reading.

The characters were also good but I would have liked a little more of their back stories as I think they would have been more rounded.

That said, I hope there is another one in the series!

[David Glover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the pace and the characters. I think it's a cross between Dick Francis and Lee Childs. Nice to have Cambridgeshire references. I think they would probably have both been arrested on suspicion of murder but that would spoil the story!!!!!

[Mrs J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

For a first novel it's a great read.
Good plot laughs a plenty and keeps you hooked can't wait to read for more adventures

[Jeff P · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy and fun read featuring a forensic accountant as its hero. Not entirely sure how realistic the whole Bales and Katie set-up is, and I’m a bit surprised that Bales encourages a pro bono client to commit tax fraud (though perhaps I’ve just had a sheltered upbringing). But I really liked the dry humour that pervades the book, whether it is the Mini-hating Bales sitting with his back to the sun so as not to emphasise his receding hairline, or weighing up the odds of getting his leg over with a new female, or optimistically asking a lesbian (with whom he is forced to share a room) if she fancies pushing their two beds closer together. You get the idea. Oh, and some might find the use of the F word excessive, even if in practice Bales is probably the sort of guy to use it, um, excessively.

[Elspeth Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining