Kempston Hardwick

Series · 5 books · 2011-2019

By Adam Croft

Books in series

Exit Stage Left

2011

Stand-up comedy should be fun. But murder tends to sour the mood. Charlie Sparks’s comedy isn’t Kempston Hardwick’s cup of tea. Not many things are. But when the comedian drops dead during his set, Kempston thinks someone’s taking things a bit far. Kempston wanted a quiet night out. Ellis Flint wanted an autograph. But Charlie Sparks’s inconvenient death drives them both towards justice—and Fettlesham. But who would want to murder a washed-up has-been? Why did he propose marriage to a stripper who’s young enough to be his granddaughter? And why does Ellis have so much sugar in his tea? "Quirky and different. Make sure your sense of humour is firing on all cylinders!" - Lesley Cookman, author of the Libby Sergeant Mysteries

The Westerlea House Mystery

2013

When TV psychic Oscar Whitehouse is found murdered inside a locked room, private detective Kempston Hardwick and his friend Ellis Flint are called in to investigate. Within a matter of days, a second murder takes place in the small village of Tollinghill and a local resident claims she saw the already-dead Oscar Whitehouse at the scene, apparently alive and well. Hardwick and Flint realise they have more than just a conventional mystery on their hands. Can they uncover the secret of the Tollinghill murders, before it’s too late?

Death Under the Sun

2014

After solving two particularly tricky murder cases, Kempston Hardwick needs a holiday. At least that's what his friend, Ellis Flint, in his infinite wisdom, believes. When the pair arrive on the twenty-four-hour Greek party island of Friktos, Hardwick is in his idea of hell. Eventually, he decides to make the most of his holiday and to try to relax. That is until one of their fellow holidaymakers is found dead in their apartment...

The Thirteenth Room

2015

Over two weeks, three guests enter Room 13 at the Manor Hotel, but none comes out alive... When a married man seemingly kills himself at a local hotel, Kempston Hardwick is not so sure the death was suicide. As he tries to convince the police to investigate, Kempston yet again throws himself into an investigation where all is not as it seems, but not before the Manor Hotel is home to more suspicious deaths...

The Wrong Man

2019

Book launches are rarely exciting. The odd murder tends to spice things up a bit, though. When famous novelist Rupert Pearson's PA doesn't turn up for his book launch at the Freemason's Arms, he's more annoyed than upset. He certainly didn't expect someone to find her face-down in a ditch. For Kempston Hardwick, dead PAs are business as usual. Unfortunately. At least there are lots of excuses to visit the pub. But why had she made so many enemies? Why are the police so keen to fit up an innocent man? And where did Doug's pickled onions go?

Author

Adam Croft

Author · 35 books

With more than half a million books sold to date, Adam Croft is one of the most successful independently published authors in the world, and one of the biggest selling authors of the past year. Following his 2015 worldwide bestseller Her Last Tomorrow, his psychological thrillers were bought by Thomas & Mercer, an imprint of Amazon Publishing. Prior to the Amazon deal, Her Last Tomorrow sold more than 150,000 copies across all platforms and became one of the bestselling books of the year, reaching the top 10 in the overall Amazon Kindle chart and peaking at number 12 in the combined paperback fiction and non-fiction chart. His Knight & Culverhouse crime thriller series has sold more than 250,000 copies worldwide, with his Kempston Hardwick mystery books being adapted as audio plays starring some of the biggest names in British TV. In 2016, the Knight & Culverhouse Box Set reached number 1 in Canada, knocking J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child off the top spot only weeks after Her Last Tomorrow was also number 1 in Canada. During the summer of 2016, two of Adam’s books hit the USA Today bestseller list only weeks apart, making them two of the most-purchased books in the United States over the summer. Before writing full time, Adam had previously worked as an internet marketing consultant, delivery driver and professional actor. Adam has been featured on BBC Radio, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, The Bookseller and a number of other news and media outl