The Avison Fluke series

Avison Fluke is a brilliant but stubborn man. Luckily for the people of Cumbria he is also in charge of the Force Major Incident Team (FMIT). Frequently in trouble with his superiors (or inferiors as he calls them), he has a tendency to speak his mind and ignore direct orders, focussing on what’s right, not what’s easy. He’s a cancer survivor and tires easily. Sometimes he gets in over his head. Luckily for him he has friends: the psychotic ex-Para/current detective sergeant, Matt Towler; the geeky Jiao-long; the moral compass of the team, Jo Skelton and the team weirdo, Alan Vaughn. They are supported by a range of fascinating characters: Bridie Harper-Tarr, Fluke’s long-suffering girlfriend; Nathaniel Diamond, Cumbria’s crime boss; Henry Sowerby, a pathologist born a century too late; Steeleye Stan, the one-eyed bouncer-turned-villain . . .

The first novel in the series, Born In A Burial Gown, was shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger.

Praise for the DI Avison Fluke series.

“British author Craven’s exceptional first novel, a police procedural set in Cumbria, introduces compulsive Det. Insp. Avison Fluke, who never feels more alive than when he’s hot on a killer’s trail. Deft atmospherics and local color, meticulous cop-shop and medical details, and an intriguing cast of realistic secondary characters keep the pages turning. Among the many fictional police detectives beset by grave personal and professional stresses within this genre, Fluke and his team stand out for their compassion, despite a job that so often confronts the worst in human nature.”
Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Craven provides everything you want in a British procedural: a dark world, a tangled case, a clear and logical solution, and a deeply flawed hero who’s still well worth rooting for.”
Kirkus Reviews