Philly Barker Mysteries

Meet Philly Barker...

When Philomena Barker spots a dusty nineteenth-century painting of Whitby tucked away in a box of odds and ends at a York auction house, her antique dealer’s instincts kick in. But Philly isn’t the only one with an eye on the artwork—and when her shop is broken into and one of her regular customers is brutally attacked, it becomes clear that this unassuming painting is hiding a dangerous secret.

With the reluctant Inspector Robbie Dawkins in tow, and Balthazar the cocker spaniel ever at her side, Philly finds herself drawn into a mystery that winds through art history, village gossip, and something far darker than she expected.

Can Philly uncover the truth before someone else gets hurt? Or will her first foray into sleuthing be her last?

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Book No. 1 in the Philly Barker Mysteries

This case could be Robbie’s last—and Philly’s too.

When antique dealer Philomena Barker is asked to help identify a haul of stolen heirlooms, she jumps at the chance to lend her expertise—and maybe poke her nose where it doesn’t belong. But what starts as a favour soon turns serious: someone is targeting elderly farmers across North Yorkshire, stealing their antiques and leaving chaos in their wake.

As Philly and Inspector Robbie Dawkins dig deeper, they uncover a disturbing pattern. And when their prime suspect turns up dead, it’s clear this case has taken a deadly turn.

With Robbie facing retirement and the killer still on the loose, time is running out. Can Philly piece the puzzle together before the murderer strikes again—perhaps a little too close to home?

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Book No. 2 in the Philly Barker Mysteries

A snowed-in manor. A centuries-old curse. And a murderer hiding in plain sight.

When antique dealer Philomena Barker receives an invitation to a remote sixteenth-century manor house in the Yorkshire Dales, she expects roaring fires and rare collectibles—not a corpse in the parlour. Trapped by a sudden snowstorm and cut off from the outside world, Philly and retired Detective Inspector Robbie Dawkins must unravel a mystery where everyone has a motive… and no one has an alibi.

The victim? Orlando Stark, a man with no shortage of enemies. The only clue? A strange card bearing a witch’s mark.

As tensions rise and secrets surface, Philly and Robbie uncover eerie links to a woman who vanished forty years ago—and a chilling local legend about a so-called witch who cursed the Deverell family centuries earlier.

The past and present are colliding at Deverell Hall—and if Philly can’t uncover the truth in time, someone else may not make it out alive.

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Book No. 3 in the Philly Barker Mysteries

A French buying trip. A bold theft. A body in the churchyard…

When antiques dealers Tamsin and Henry Proctor return to Chipwell after months in France, their stories of a picturesque village—and a notorious cat burglar—seem like little more than dinner party entertainment. Until their shop is broken into, and only their French purchases are stolen.

For Philly Barker, something doesn’t add up. Unusual auction bids. Valuable pieces quietly donated to a charity shop. A customer insisting the items were stolen abroad. Then, while walking her dog, Philly makes a chilling discovery: a dead man in the churchyard—and Henry Proctor lying unconscious beside him.

The victim? The very French antiques dealer who helped the Proctors.

As suspicion mounts and the trail leads back across the Channel, Philly and Robbie begin to unravel a sophisticated theft ring spanning France and England. But someone is watching—and they’ll do whatever it takes to keep the truth buried. Because the real threat isn’t overseas—it’s much closer to home.

With secrets, lies, and betrayal closing in, Philly must expose the truth before she becomes the next target… And this time, her heart may be just as much at risk as her life.

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Book No. 4 in the Philly Barker Mysteries