Dead On Arrival
The Burntisland carnival pulses with life as people of all ages revel in the festivities, unaware of the predator lurking among them. In the crowd are two teenage girls, innocently enjoying the fairgrounds, oblivious to the danger stalking them.
The next day, a grim discovery shatters the town's peace. One of the girls is found brutally murdered in a cemetery, a sinister symbol carved into her forehead.
DCI James Craig and his team are called to the scene, where Craig is confronted with a chilling realisation. The symbol is hauntingly familiar—it's a chilling echo from his past, reminiscent of a case he worked on two decades ago, chasing a killer known as Starman, who was never caught.
As the investigation unfolds, another victim is found, bearing the hallmark of a different notorious killer from Craig's past. Someone is meticulously recreating unsolved murders, dredging up ghosts from Craig's career.
The elusive killer remains shrouded in mystery, leaving Craig chasing ghosts from his past, ghosts who were always out of his reach.
Determined to put an end to the macabre mimicry, Craig vows to apprehend the killer, drawing on unlikely alliances and confronting his own demons along the way.
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John Carson
John started writing in the early 1990’s, starting with 3 horror novels. In 1997, he then decided to switch to writing crime novels. He started a series with a detective called DCI Justice. He attended a weekend writing course in Edinburgh, with Ian Rankin as the tutor, at the end of 1997. Early in 1998 when the first Justice novel was finished, Ian read the book and gave John a written report on it, encouraging him to write more. After 2 more Justice books, John created DI Frank Miller, and decided to self-publish those books in 2014.
In 2019, John Created and published DCI Harry McNeil. After that success, John found the original notes for his DCI Justice series, and decided to rewrite them, tweaking the original storylines, and changing the character’s name. DCI Justice became DCI Sean Bracken. There are five books in that series.
As well as the detective novels, John published several thrillers. The Max Doyle series, set in New York, and a novel featuring Scott Marshall, also set in New York.
John moved from Edinburgh, Scotland to the Hudson Valley in New York State back in 2006, where he lives with his wife and family. And two dogs. And four cats. Where there’s never a dull moment…
DCI James Craig
DCI James Craig consists of eight books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.

