The catalogue
Books by Joe Gaston
Three published Ray Holder novels, one free prequel novella, and a new series arriving in November. Every buy link on this site points at a book page first — so you can see the blurb, the format and the details before you decide.
The Ray Holder Series
Birmingham noir. A disgraced ex-detective, a city that would rather not know, and cases that close quietly unless somebody refuses. Each book stands alone.
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Clean Hands
Birmingham, February 2009. A bank manager dead in the Sidings, and a department that wants it filed by Friday. Ray is still a serving officer — just.
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Murder on the Stairs
Yasmin Khan is found dead on the stairwell. Burglary gone wrong, say the brass. Her notebook says a charity man with a smile that never reached his eyes.
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The Cut
A missing button. Tyre marks that don’t match. A cigarette stub that shouldn’t be there. And an estate that gets quieter the further Ray digs.
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Hit and Run
Fiona Miles wasn’t just protesting the city’s future. She was documenting it — building a record meant to be found by whoever came after her.
Clair Harlow
A separate series, and a deliberately different world: dark-academia psychological thriller set inside elite institutions. Not crime fiction with a body in an alley — suspense built out of class, exclusion and quiet dread.
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Silent Halls
The first book Joe Gaston ever wanted to write, and the last one he felt ready for. Coming in November 2026.
Free prequel novella
Start with Clean Hands
Birmingham, February 2009. A bank manager is found dead in the Sidings — one stab wound, no witnesses, and a department that wants it filed as a mugging by Friday. Detective Sergeant Ray Holder isn't so sure a mugging goes wrong like this.
Short chapters, no padding, finishable in an evening. Yours free — Kindle, ePub or PDF.