The Ray Holder Series · Free prequel novella
Clean Hands
The case Birmingham wanted buried in the snow.
Birmingham, February 2009. A bank manager turns up dead in the Sidings — one stab wound, no witnesses. His bosses want it filed as a mugging gone wrong by Friday.
Free · Kindle, ePub or PDF · August 2026 · Koi House Press
The story
What it’s about
Birmingham, February 2009. A bank manager turns up dead in the Sidings — one stab wound, no witnesses. His bosses want it filed as a mugging gone wrong by Friday.
Detective Sergeant Ray Holder isn’t so sure a mugging goes wrong like this. No wallet taken. No struggle worth the name. Just a man who wasn’t meant to be there, and a department more interested in closing the file than opening the question.
The deeper Ray looks, the more “clean” starts to feel like the wrong word for anything in this case — clean money, clean hands, clean conscience.
Clean Hands is the free prequel to The Ray Holder Series — Birmingham noir crime fiction for readers of Ian Rankin and Denise Mina. Short chapters, no padding, finishable in an evening.
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.
How it works
Three steps, no catch
1. Put your email in the form above
That’s the only thing being asked for. Your address goes on the mailing list, which is how you’ll hear about new Ray Holder cases and the Silent Halls launch.
2. You’ll land on a download page
Straight away — no waiting for an email to arrive first. Pick Kindle, ePub or PDF, whichever suits your reader.
3. Read it in an evening
It’s a novella: short chapters, clipped dialogue, and a complete case. If it’s your kind of thing, Murder on the Stairs is where the novels start.
Do I have to stay on the list?
No. Unsubscribe whenever you like — the novella is yours either way.
After the novella
Where the novels go next
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Murder on the Stairs
Ray isn’t a detective any more — he’s a neighbour who happens to notice things.
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The Cut
A body under the ring-road underpass, and an estate that gets quieter the harder he looks.
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Hit and Run
Fiona Miles was building a case against the city’s future. Ray picks up where she left off.