Cold Case Detective Mysteries by Ted Tayler
The Freeman Files is a long-running series of detective novels featuring retired Detective Inspector Gus Freeman. Persuaded out of retirement by his former boss, Freeman is asked to lead a small Crime Review Team reopening cold cases that were never solved.
Set mainly in Wiltshire and the surrounding counties, the series focuses on careful investigation rather than rapid action. Freeman and his team revisit old evidence, re-interview witnesses, and uncover details missed the first time around, allowing the truth to surface gradually.
With 24 books in the series, readers can enjoy self-contained mysteries while following a familiar cast of characters as they develop over time. Alongside the investigations, the books include village life, personal relationships, and quiet humour without distracting from the cases.
If you enjoy British detective fiction, cold case mysteries, and crime novels that reward attention and logic, The Freeman Files is an ideal place to begin.
Books
If you enjoy addictive detective mysteries, try The Freeman Files.
Case File #1
Date: June 2008
Victim: 68-year-old widow, Daphne Tolliver murdered while walking her dog in woodland close to her home.
Case File #2
Date: October 2003
Victim: Trudi Villiers, 26-year old barmaid, murdered as she walked home from the Ring O’Bells pub.
Case File #3
Date: June 2011
Victim: Laura Mallinder, 27-year old masseuse, discovered at ‘Gentle Touch’ by parlour owner, Maggie Monk. The team face a locked room mystery.
Case File #4
Date: January 2004
Victim: Dr Ian McGuire, research scientist shot dead in his kitchen.
Case File #5
Date: August 2010
Victim: Dennis Gates, a 49-year old car dealer died on the steps of his showroom. Gus and the team have a complex mystery to unravel.
Case File #6
Date: May 2015
Victim: Mark Malone, a Bath pet shop owner died after a high-speed pursuit. Was it road rage, a case of mistaken identity, or a motive nobody could have predicted?
Case File #7
Date: May 2014
Victim: The 65-year old patriarch of a criminal gang was shot by a sniper. As the team search for the red-haired assassin, they uncover the answers to several unrelated crimes.
Case File #8
Date: January 2013
Victim: Ursula Wakeley, a 78-year old retired librarian was murdered at a remote bungalow. Was it a robbery, or was a more sinister motive behind the attack?
Case File #9
Date: March 2014
Victim: Ivan Kendall died in a station toilet eighty miles from home. Why did the quiet family man travel to Westbury from South Wales so late at night?
Case File #10
Date: February 2015
Victim: Stacey Read was thirteen and a half when she disappeared. Police found Stacey’s body in the canal ten days later.
Case File #11
Date: May 2008
Victim: Alan Duncan met Maddy Mills at a party. They fell in love and moved in together. What led to Alan’s murder as he went on his weekly run, four years later?
Case File #12
Date: May 2012
Victim: Gerry Hogan was an honest, hard-working family man with no enemies. Yet someone shot him dead on his doorstep.
Case File #13
Date: March 2011
Victim: Marion Reeves died in a frenzied attack. Her past holds the answer, but Gus Freeman faces a group of wealthy people desperate to hide the truth.
Case File #14
Date: March 2015
Victim: Kendal Guthrie argued with five people in a country pub the night he died. How did the killer reach Guthrie’s farm ahead of him? It seemed impossible. Salisbury Plain is a dangerous place after dark.
Case File #15
Date: November 2016
Victim: Garage owner Richard Chaloner worked late. His two employees found his body in the workshop the following morning. Their boss had been shot, and cash and jewellery stolen.
Case File #16
Date: July 2014
Victim: Danute Zukas, 23yo nightclub worker. Danute had been missing for almost two years when her body was found beaten & burned on farmland near Bath.
Case File #17
Date: December 2015
Victim: Clive Palmer, 48yo ex-teacher, was murdered ten months after moving to a quiet country village. Police believed his past had caught up with him, but was it that straightforward?
Case File #18
Date: June 2008
Victim: Katherine Alford, mother of two. was found dead in her car at a local beauty spot. She had received an urgent phone call late in the evening, and asked a neighbour to babysit for ten minutes. She never returned.
Case File #19
Date: May 2005
Victim: Mark Fennell was shot dead in a quiet country village. Helen Roker, his partner, was found dead in her bath nine months later. Was it suicide, or murder?
Case File #20
Date: Jan 2015
Victim: Tammie Kenyon, 15yo schoolgirl was strangled on her way to school. Date: May 2016 Victim: Imogen Henderson, 17yo schoolgirl was strangled while on her regular Sunday morning run. Detectives couldn’t determine a motive for the attacks, and never identified a single suspect. A tangled web for Gus and the team to unravel, and a shocking conclusion to an unputdownable mystery.
Case File #21
Date: Aug 2013
Victim: Millie Clark, a 22yo single mother found beaten & stabbed in a churchyard. Five men were arrested, After a trial, and a retrial, nobody was found guilty of Millie’s murder. Five years later, Gus Freeman gets the case file. Who killed Millie, and why?
Case File #22a
The Elusive Scoop
Sid Selman, a retired journalist, exposes corruption in the county police force. Sometimes red herrings can cause you to look in the wrong direction.
Case File #22b
The Late-Night Takeaway
Matt Archer had a part-time job delivering takeaways for the Jade Garden restaurant. In February 2009 Matt was lured to Blades Farm and someone bludgeoned him to death. Who wanted Matt dead, and why?
Case File #23
John Crees and Mandy Howard met, fell in love, and wanted to live a quiet life in Salisbury. Why did these two popular bikers die in such a violent manner? John’s boss found them battered to death in their bed in October 2012. Gus Freeman tackles this baffling mystery without the support of several of his team. Gathering clouds suggest his run of cold case successes has angered those involved in the original investigations.
Case File #24
DS Mercer stumbles on a series of murders committed along the M4 corridor since 1998. He asks Gus to help investigate the murders in secret, because DS Mercer suspects the killer is a police officer. Life in the village continues with Christmas around the corner. What dangers lie ahead in the New Year? As the final curtain falls on the series, will there be one cruel twist to endure?
Lingering Doubts: A Freeman Files Novella
Every detective has one case that he can’t forget. This is his.
More Books by Ted Tayler
If you enjoy the Freeman Files cold case mysteries, you may also be interested in exploring other crime novels by Ted Tayler. A full overview of all series and standalone titles is available on the My Books page.
Other Crime Fiction by Ted Tayler
In addition to The Freeman Files, Ted Tayler has written The Phoenix Series & Early Books, a collection of earlier crime novels and stand-alone stories that explore different investigators, settings, and themes while retaining the same measured, character-driven approach to mystery.