Maya Barton

Can you always trust the evidence? Maya Barton has just embarked on her dream job as a scene of crime officer. When she attends her first death the post-mortem deems it to be non-suspicious and the case is closed. But despite the lack of evidence, she suspects a crime has been committed. Meanwhile, the police force focus on a mission to bring a criminal gang to justice. When Maya is called to another apparent sudden death her reservations resurface. She is convinced a killer is on the loose; a killer who has evaded suspicion until now, but Maya's series of mistakes alienate those around her. As she and her colleagues are drawn further into their investigations, they end up putting themselves in grave danger. Can Maya catch a killer and escape from her troubled past, or will the skeletons from her closet come back to haunt her? Who can Maya really trust? And who will make it out alive...

How do you catch a killer if you can't identify the victim? A scene of crime officer collects the evidence piece by piece in this gritty British mystery. SOCO Maya Barton is called to a canal where a heavily decomposed male body has been discovered. A bankcard belonging to Trevor Dawlish is found in the cadaver's pocket, and the name matches that of a missing person. All seems straightforward-until Trevor's wife phones the police to say that Trevor has returned home, leaving Maya and the team wondering, who the unknown male is. When it's revealed that the male was dead before he entered the water, Maya finds herself with a murder on her hands. But, when another body is discovered, the case becomes further complicated. The hope is that facial reconstruction of the first victim will help solve the mystery-but it may lead Maya and her team down an even darker path.

A crime scene investigator looks into the lingering mystery of her own traumatic history, in this suspenseful British police thriller. Maya Barton is an experienced SOCO now-but gathering evidence after the crime's been committed is one thing and being targeted for murder is another . . . As Maya examines the scene of a stabbing the team become overwhelmed with the volume of knife crime being committed. They're left questioning whether the teenage victims are as innocent as they seem. As a threatening figure from her past watches and waits, Maya struggles to assess her situation when she has little to no memory of the childhood trauma she experienced, aside from fleeting flashbacks. Hoping for a breakthrough, Maya begins treatment using a therapeutic technique. But can she unearth the truth in time to save her own life? Praise for the Maya Barton series "Bendelow proves her experience as a SOCO makes for a brilliant novel . . . stunning." -Lynda La Plante, Edgar Award–winning author of Prime Suspect

A collection of three gripping crime novels from a real-life CSI... “Definitely Dead” Maya Barton has just embarked on her dream job as a scene-of-crime officer, and she's already facing a tough challenge. When she attends her first dead-persons case, the post-mortem deems it to be non-suspicious and the case is closed. But despite the lack of evidence, she suspects a crime has been committed... “Shattered Bones” How do you catch a killer if you can't identify the victim? SOCO Maya Barton is called to a canal where a decomposed male body has been discovered. A bank card belonging to Trevor Dawlish is found in the corpses's pocket, and the name matches that of a missing person. All seems straightforward, until Trevor's wife phones the police to say that Trevor has returned home... “Flesh and Blood” Maya Barton is an experienced SOCO, but gathering evidence after the crime's been committed is one thing, and being targeted for murder is another. Now she must untangle her own dark past to solve her toughest case yet.