DARK CRIMES a gripping detective thriller full of suspense (25 page)

Glossary of English terms for US readers

ACC:
assistant chief constable

Asian:
someone who (or whose ancestors) originates from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh

Beaker:
glass or cup for holding liquids

Bladdered:
drunk

Bob:
money

Bod:
person

Boffin:
smart person, scientist

Boot:
trunk, as in car trunk

Bother:
as in bother, means in trouble

Charity Shop:
thrift store

Caravan:
camper or small motorhome

Carrier bag:
plastic bag from supermarket

Care Home:
an institution where old people are cared for

Chat-up:
flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments

Chinwag:
conversation

Ciggy:
cigarette

Comprehensive School (Comp.):
High school

Copper:
police officer (slang)

Cotton wool:
raw cotton

Childminder:
someone who looks after children for money
CID:
Criminal Investigation Department

Coach:
a bus, often used for travel, holidays or trips

Cos:
because

CPS:
Crown Prosecution Service, body which decides whether cases go to criminal court

Council
: local government

Deck:
one of the landings on a floor of a tower block

Diary:
appointment book

Div:
idiot (offensive)

Dodgy:
not to be trusted, illegal

Dosh:
money

Double glazing:
insulated windows with two layers of glass

DC:
detective constable

DI:
detective inspector

DS:
detective sergeant

ED:
accident and emergency department of hospital

Estate:
/files/19/35/44/f193544/public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)

Estate agent:
realtor (US)

Fag:
cigarette

Fancy:
find attractive

FE:
further education college

Freshers:
Students in their first term/year at university

Garden Centre:
a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold

Gas people:
company selling consumers gas for heating and hot water

Gobsmacked:
surprised

Get off:
make out

GP:
general practitioner, a doctor based in the community

Gran:
grandmother

Guest house:
a private house offering rooms to paying guests (in the days before Airbnb!)

Hard nut:
tough guy

Hatchback:
a car with an upwards-opening door across full width of back

Home:
care home for elderly or sick people

Home Office:
UK government department in charge of domestic affairs

Inne:
isn’t he

Into care:
a child taken away from their family by the social services

Jobcentre:
unemployment office

Jumper:
sweater

Kosher:
genuine or legal

Lad:
young man

Lamped:
hit

Lay-by:
an area off a road where cars can pull in and stop

Lift:
as in give a lift, drive someone somewhere

Loo:
toilet

Lounge:
living room

Lorry:
a truck

Mobile phone:
cell phone

Net curtains:
a type of semi-transparent curtain

Newsagents:
shop selling newspapers, confectionery, cigarettes etc.

NHS:
National Health Service, public health service of UK

Nick:
police station (as verb: to arrest)

Nowt:
nothing

Nutter:
insane person

Nursery:
a place which grows plants, shrubs and trees for sale (often wholesale)

OCD:
Obsessive-compulsive disorder

OS:
Ordnance Survey, detailed map

Overalls:
dungarees

Paki:
(racist) short for Pakistani, may be applied to any Asian

Pants:
underwear

PC:
police constable

PM
: post-mortem

Petrol
: gasoline

Petrol station:
gas station

Piss off:
as exclamation, go away (rude). Also can mean annoy.

Planning Department
: the local authority department which issues licences to build and develop property

Plod:
policeman

Posh:
upper class

Punter:
client of prostitute / can also mean gambler

Randy:
horny

Ready meal:
prepared food which only needs to be reheated

Rock:
a sugary candy often on sale at the seaside

Semi:
semi-detached house, house with another house joined to it on one side only

Skinful:
enough alcohol to make you drunk

Skip:
a large container for building rubbish

Services:
Shops and gas station by highway

Sixth-former:
student in the final two years of high school (16-18 years old)

Sod:
an annoying person

Sod it:
expression meaning you’ve decided not to give a damn

Solicitor:
lawyer

Squaddies
: soldiers

Tea:
dinner (Northern English)

Till:
cash register

Tipsy
: a bit drunk

Toerag:
loser
(insulting)

Ton:
a hundred pounds

Torch:
flashlight

Tutor:
university teacher

Tower block:
tall building containing apartments (usually social housing)

Two-up two-down:
house with two bedrooms upstairs, and two rooms downstairs

Uni:
university/college

Uniform:
a police officer wearing a uniform, usually a police constable

Van:
a vehicle for carrying goods

Warrant card:
police ID in the UK

Young offender:
criminal between 14-17 years of age

CHARACTER LIST

Detective Chief Inspector Sophie Allen
is Dorset’s acknowledged expert on murder and violent crime, newly appointed to run the county’s Serious and Violent Crime Unit. She is 42 years old as the series starts, and lives with her family in Wareham. Sophie has a law degree and a masters in criminal psychology. Sophie may appear at first to be somewhat of a ‘cold fish,’ over-intellectual and too clever by half. This is the persona created in
Dark Crimes
but is far from the truth. The reasons for this ‘ice-queen’ facade lie deep in her own past, in events that she has half-forgotten herself. These events are hinted at in the first novel but surface with shattering effect in the second story.

Detective Sergeant Barry Marsh
is in his early thirties and in
Dark Crimes
, the first novel, is based at Swanage police station. He’s quiet, methodical and dedicated, the perfect foil for Sophie’s hidden fragility.

Detective Constable Jimmy Melsom is also based in Swanage. He has only recently joined the CID, and is a little gung-ho in his attitude to crime investigation.

Detective Constable Lydia Pillay
is a talented young officer based with DCI Allen at Dorset County police HQ.

Detective Inspector Kevin McGreedie
is attached to the Bournemouth and Poole division of Dorset police. His assistant is DS Bob Thomson.

Detective Superintendent
Matt Silver is Sophie’s immediate boss. He helped to appoint her to lead the Violent Crime Unit but, to his regret, has a largely administrative role in the county police hierarchy.

Detective Chief Superintendent Neil Dunnett
is the overall commander. He clashes with Sophie several times in
Dark Crimes
. The source of the antagonism is not clear.

Martin Allen
is Sophie’s husband. He is Head of the Mathematics Department at a large secondary school in Dorchester. Martin has a minor, but very supportive, role in the novels. He and Sophie met while at university. He has a more prominent role in later novels in the series.

Sophie and Martin have two daughters.
Jade
is fifteen in the first novel, and appears in all the subsequent stories. She has a lively and very quirky personality, as you will soon spot.
Hannah
, the elder daughter, is a drama student in London. She is quieter in her approach to life. She appears as a minor character in the first novel, but has a more important role in later books.

Thank you for reading this book
. If you enjoyed it please leave feedback on Amazon, and if there is anything we missed or you have a question about then please get in touch. The author and publishing team appreciate your feedback and time reading this book.

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for news on Michael Hambling’s next book arriving in 2016.

More about Michael Hambling

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