The Hard Detective (Harriet Martens #1)

When a police officer is found stabbed to death in a dark alley, DCI Harriet Martens must confront a killer—and her own force.

The a young constable with a reputation for skiving. The a filthy passageway in Greater Birchester. The a brutal knife to the neck. It should be a straightforward murder case—but in Harriet’s world, nothing ever is.
With her controversial "Stop the Rot" campaign targeting even the pettiest criminals, Harriet has made enemies. Plenty of them. And when a second officer is killed—this time under a city bus—it becomes someone is declaring war on the police.

Driven, uncompromising, and fiercely principled, Harriet Martens won’t back down. Not even when the investigation is ripped from her hands and handed to a self-serving male superior. Not even when she’s next on the hit list.
This is the beginning of one of crime fiction’s most formidable female detectives.

For fans of Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Peter Robinson, Jane Casey, P.D. James, and Judith Cutler.

About Detective Chief Inspector Harriet Martens
DCI Harriet Martens is a straight-talking, no-nonsense police officer who believes in meeting toughness with toughness. While known professionally as DCI Martens, she's privately married to John Piddock, keeping her personal life separate from her demanding career.

Hard but fair, Harriet runs the controversial "Stop the Rot" campaign, cracking down on even minor lawbreakers to restore order in her division. This has earned her respect, resentment, and anonymous "presents" through her letterbox from those she's targeted.

Though some colleagues like Phillip Barstow's description of her as a "hard damn bitch" bothers her, Harriet stands firm in her belief that hardness is necessary in the face of crime. Unlike her macho colleagues who cultivate hardness for image's sake, Harriet sees it as a requirement of effective policing - less a choice than a duty.
Methodical and relentless, she faces each challenge with determination and a keen analytical mind, even as the bodies pile up and the pressure mounts to catch a killer who seems to know the police's every move.