Robert Crouch
I’m Robert Crouch, author of the Downland Murder Mystery series, which offers a modern twist to the classic whodunit. My sleuth, Kent Fisher, is an environmental health officer, which gives him a different, some say unique, approach to solving murders and pursuing justice.
Whether you’re a reader, a writer, or simply someone who loves to escape into an intriguing murder mystery novel, please become part of Murder, Rob Wrote. Ask questions, leave comments, share your favourite mystery novels, TV detectives, or true crime curiosities.
So, relax in your armchair with a cup of tea and make yourself at home. There’s always another mystery to unravel — and secrets to uncover.
To find out more, take a look at my website https://robertcrouch.co.uk
Downland Murder Mystery Series
No Accident #1
How far would you go to uncover the truth?
When environmental health officer Kent Fisher investigates a workplace accident, the details begin to raise awkward questions.
Kent’s determined inquiries uncover small but troubling inconsistencies that hint at past indiscretions better left unexplored.
As resistance grows and old loyalties come under strain, Kent discovers a web of long-standing secrets and corruption.
How far is he willing to go to expose them?
No Bodies #2
How do you catch a killer who leaves no clues?
An old family friend asks environmental health officer Kent Fisher to look into the disappearance of his wife, who went missing more than a year ago.
With few leads and no evidence of a crime, Kent makes little progress until he uncovers unsettling similarities that suggest her case may not be unique.
As Kent pursues connections others have overlooked, pressure mounts on several fronts.
A crisis at his animal sanctuary threatens everything he has worked to build. His investigation begins to draw unwelcome attention from those who would prefer the past to remain buried.
No Remorse #3
When silence hides the truth, who will speak out?
At a luxury retirement home, where appearances matter more than honesty, resident Anthony Trimble unsettles those around him by predicting his own murder.
Environmental health officer Kent Fisher finds no reason to take the claim seriously until Trimble dies. The sequence of numbers he leaves for Kent only deepen the mystery.
Asmart_button Button re they a clue that points towards past crimes — or the confused ramblings of a failing mind?
As Kent works hard to unravel their meaning, further deaths complicate his enquiries and make the danger impossible to ignore.
No More Lies #4
Who do you trust when everyone has something to hide?
When the police discover the body of a murder victim, killed ten years earlier, on land once owned by Miles Birchill, Downland’s wealthiest and most divisive resident, Detective Inspector Ashley Goodman is determined to make an arrest.
Unfortunately, Birchill is Kent Fisher’s father.
Asked to assist with the reopened investigation, environmental health officer Kent Fisher finds himself caught between loyalty and duty.
His enquiries reveal secrets that raise doubts about the past and those involved. No longer sure who he can trust, Kent continues alone, determined to uncover the truth, whatever the cost.
No Mercy #5
How far would you go to correct a past injustice?
Three apparently unconnected deaths have nothing in common — or so it seems.
Did highways inspector Derek Forster take his own life after the death of his wife? If so, why had he booked his dog for grooming the following week?
Was restaurateur Samson Capote, brutally attacked and left to die in his deep freezer, the victim of too many grudges — or was he connected to Forster’s secret lover?
And when millionaire entrepreneur Clive Chesterton falls into Sovereign Harbour and drowns during a party aboard his yacht, why are Forster’s missing journals found in his cabin?
These unanswered questions draw environmental health officer Kent Fisher into an investigation that grows more troubling by the day. But when Kent himself becomes a murder suspect, it is clear he is facing a killer who shows no mercy.
Unless he can uncover the link between the deaths and identify the truth behind them, Kent risks becoming the fourth victim.
No Love Lost #6
Are family secrets best left unspoken?
One Friday afternoon, twenty years ago, Helen Cassidy left her office and never returned. Did she escape an abusive husband — or was she abducted and murdered?
Now Mandy Paige wants environmental health officer Kent Fisher to find the mother who abandoned her as a baby. With only a photograph of a woman he once knew, Kent agrees, unaware of the secrets he might disturb.
As his enquiries dig deeper into Helen’s disappearance, people connected to her are found dead in suspicious circumstances.
When his main suspect dies, Kent realises he’s not the one pursuing the killer.
The killer’s pursuing him.
No Going Back #7
When the truth puts everything at risk, who can you trust?
When journalist Harry Lawson is pulled from a private swimming pool, his death appears to be a tragic accident — except for one troubling detail: Harry knew someone was going to kill him.
The three text messages he sent to an old flame the night before suggest a disturbed state of mind. But environmental health officer Kent Fisher, once Harry’s close friend, believes they point to an investigation that may have cost Harry his life.
When a second reporter dies, it becomes clear there is a killer with unfinished business.
As Kent edges closer to the truth, Detective Inspector Ashley Goodman orders him to step back, fearing the investigation is placing him in danger.
But Kent knows there is no going back — even if uncovering the truth costs him a friendship, or his own life.
No Escape #8
How can one reckless moment cost so many lives?
As her honeymoon comes to an end, Gemma Dean goes missing one chilly October morning, leaving behind her phone. Texts hint at secrets darker than Kent Fisher could imagine.
When a body is found in a burned-out car more than a hundred miles away, murder brings the past crashing into the present — the first in a chain of distressing discoveries.
Struggling to make sense of a past that threatens to devastate his future, Kent faces his most personal and challenging investigation so far.
But can he live with the fallout from a single reckless moment that cost so many lives?
No Easy Answers #9
Would you confront a past that could be deadly?
As Christmas approaches, murder is the last thing on Kent Fisher’s mind.
When contractors uncover the remains of a woman on the site of Kent’s original animal sanctuary, long-buried family secrets begin to surface — secrets that threaten those closest to him.
Local entrepreneur Stephen Fox believes the remains are those of his missing wife. Despite mounting pressure and the promise of a lucrative fee, Kent refuses to become involved, determined to honour his decision to step away from investigations.
But when the police open a murder inquiry, the choice is no longer so simple.
If Kent intervenes, he risks interfering with a criminal investigation — and losing the woman he loves. If he doesn’t, an innocent person may pay the price.
No Time for Doubt #10
Can the wounds left by the past ever heal?
The decomposed remains of a murdered woman are discovered in a bedsit. Forced to confront a past he has tried to forget, Kent Fisher uncovers crimes that were brushed aside and concealed almost thirty years ago — crimes that could destroy what remains of his family.
When further murders silence those who know the truth, there’s only one person left who can reveal what really happened all those years ago.
Can Kent find her before the killer makes one final strike?
Or will she die, taking the truth with her?
