The DCI Isaac Cook Thriller Series: Books 1 - 6: The DCI Isaac Cook Crime Thriller Series Boxset

DCI Isaac Cook #1-6

by Phillip Strang

Detective Chief Inspector Isaac Cook should have been made a superintendent by now. Tall, urbane, and one of London's finest detectives, he's been held back by office politics—not his results. Alongside DI Larry Hill and veteran Sergeant Wendy Gladstone, Cook investigates the murders that others can't solve.

Perfect for fans of Peter James, Ian Rankin, and Lynda La Plante.

Murder is a Tricky Business (Book 1) – A soap opera actress has vanished, and everyone assumes she's been murdered. But it's not the first time she's gone missing. Why has DCI Cook been pulled from serious crimes to search for her?

Murder House (Book 2) – A corpse in the fireplace of an old house—it's been there for thirty years. The main suspects are elderly, dying, or already dead. The family believes dirty laundry shouldn't be aired in public, even if it means a murderer walks free.

Murder is Only a Number (Book 3) – Before she left, she carved a number in blood on his the number 2. But if this is her first murder, why start at two? The woman prowls London, killing men who have wronged her—or have they?

Murder in Little Venice (Book 4) – A dismembered corpse floats in a London canal. Isaac Cook is baffled—is it gang-related or something more? Whatever the reason, it's clearly a warning, and it won't be the last body.

Murder is the Only Option (Book 5) – A man thought long dead returns to exact revenge on those who destroyed his life. His only concern is protecting his wife and daughter. He will stop at nothing, and the bodies are piling up.

Murder in Notting Hill (Book 6) – Two women murdered within an hour of each other, miles apart, with nothing in common. One is young, wealthy, the daughter of a famous man; the other is poor, hardworking, and unknown. What connects them?

Six mysteries. One relentless detective. London's darkest secrets.

1730 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 31, 2017

About the author

Phillip Strang is a crime fiction writer with over 150 novels published across multiple series. Born in Sydney, Australia, he has spent much of his life travelling extensively — installing telecommunication networks across remote regions of Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. That experience of working in difficult, culturally complex environments shapes his writing: his books are grounded in real places, real tensions, and believable characters under pressure.

His main series are DI Keith Tremayne (Salisbury and rural Wiltshire), DCI Isaac Cook (London), DI Sarah Lynch (Scottish Highlands), Natalie Campbell, Alex Harlan, and Maya Thorne. Between them, they span village murders, urban homicide, remote Highland crime, and beyond — all with the same focus on detectives who don't give up, whatever the politics thrown at them.

He is married and lives in Australia.

Find him on Facebook: facebook.com/PhillipStrangWriter and Instagram: instagram.com/phillipstrangauthor

Reviews

[Tommy McQuillan · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are good, they're well written and the stories are interesting but there's a lot of repetitiveness in them, i.e the boss rebuking them every 5 mins for not having solved complex murder cases as if cases were solved in a day or two.

The thing that really annoyed me though was the author tried to be clever with some of the endings of the books, without giving anything away not the way I'd have ended some of these books.

They're still entertaing enough to keep your interest and the characters are well rounded with their own back stories and you're really pulling for them to solve the murders but I feel these books could have been so much better.

They're a good way to wile away the hours not my favourites but they're ok as a collective.

[Karen J Shields · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my kind of book.

I purchased the complete series DCI Isaac Cook books by Phillip Strang. I liked the first book Murder is Tricky, then ,Murder House. I really loved the second book and decided to write a review now, because some of the reviews seemed lackluster and I wanted readers to know that I found the books to be wonderful examples of police procedurals. I liked the characters, the stories are complex, and I love the English setting. Having given my opinion as to their worth to fellow readers, I will now go back to reading the rest of them myself.

[Gillian Perkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This set was supposed to be 1-6, except instead of book 6 it was book 12. I disliked the first few books but they improved slightly. Judging by book 12 the storyline improved. Initially Cook seemed to spend most of his time bedding suspects which should have had him disciplined considering his rank.

I’m uncertain whether to read books 6-11 but as I had downloaded the Tremayne series I will try them first.

[Graham Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficult at times

I enjoyed the relationship between the characters. I thought that Isaac was going to be a great investigator. Unfortunately there was too much padding in each storyline. It became quite tedious at times. Quick fire investigative policing it certainly wasn't. Davies and Caddick were an unbelievable duo,both being totally incompetent. Having said all that I would love to know what the next installment brings!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting but

The story lines are good but the endings seem abrupt and unsatisfying. Like he reached the end, done and dusted, move on. I could almost see him clap his hands and get up for a break. Characters to me were 2 dimensional. A pity because as I said, the plots were good, they just never thickened

[Candice Garretson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guess I don't want to believe all cops are promiscuous cheaters..

The story was an interesting mystery but way to much was focused on the principals hopping into bed with random suspects. The CMs did not appear to have an ethical or moral compass at all. I'll pass on this author. Thank heavens I got it on Kindle Unlimited. Back it goes

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compulsive, exciting and compulsive reading

It’s difficult to write a short review to cover 6 books. So no storyline giveaways but a recommendation to settle in and read these books. Full of twists and turns, murder, mayhem, love, hate, frustration and success. I love the trials and tribulations of DCI Cook professionally and personally.

[Tony Sommer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome Story

I loved this book. It was full of action and suspense throughout the stories. The situations seemed realistic in that people who often don't know what to do are in charge of organizations.

[Nick Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series

Really enjoyed the six books, thought they got stronger as the series progressed and the author got used to the characters

[Ian Lord · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read

Intriguing plots, great development of characters and storylines keeps the reader interested and eagerly awaiting the next page. Thoroughly enjoyable.

[Deborah Mellor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't bother

DO not waste your time on this badly written series, repeat use of characters with endings that just stop with very little conclusion

[Mr B TAPLEY · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good thrillers despite procedural errors

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stories

Entertaining stories. As with most books these days, the proofreading and editing are sloppy, but if you can ignore that, they are not a waste of time. The first five books ended rather abruptly, but the sixth was better in that regard.

[larry teague]

i thought the book was very exciting and hard to find a place to stop reading. the characters are a
very good fit . the plot is on going as to is guessing as to who or whom are the guilty party