A fatal crash. A corpse that shouldn’t be there. A trail no one wants followed.

When a motorway collision leaves three dead, DCI Brendan Moran is called in to assist. But one of the victims was already dead before the crash—and the lorry involved raises more questions than answers.

As Moran digs deeper, connections surface: a stolen van, a missing driver, and a string of similar deaths from Scotland to the South Coast. Then comes a troubling lead—the name of an undercover agent who vanished without a trace. Samantha Grant isn’t just a missing colleague. She’s part of Moran’s past.

When traces of Semtex are found in the wreckage, the investigation stretches to Rotterdam and a smuggling network that crosses borders and buries secrets. This time, the threat is closer than Moran realizes.

When Stars Grow Dark is the seventh novel in The Irish Detective: DCI Brendan Moran series—a gritty British detective mystery perfect for fans of Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, and the Shetland TV series.

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Praise for The Irish Detective: DCI Brendan Moran series:

★★★★★Ranks up there with the masters and must be destined for a TV series.

★★★★★So many twists and turns that I could hardly put it down.

★★★★★Gripped by the grizzled Irish detective!

★★★★★Well-written, tight plotting and pacing, snappy dialogue, well-developed, likeable characters, and a cracking good mystery.

★★★★★Great British Mystery!

★★★★★He’s honest and upstanding…He has a line he won’t cross, even though he comes close from time to time.

★★★★★A really great read in a genre I love—the atmospheric British murder mystery!

★★★★★Moran’s mind is as sharp as ever…leading us through the crime while exposing us to his inner turmoil and self-doubt.

★★★★★Tautly-woven story, making you want to do something violent to the bad guys while yelling at the good guys to do something.

Author Biography

Scott Hunter was born in Romford, Essex. His writing career was kick-started after he won first prize in the Sunday Express Short Story Competition. He divides his time between writing and drumming. He has recorded with internationally renowned rock band ‘Jethro Tull’ and appeared in concert with 70’s popsters ‘Mungo Jerry’.

He is currently working on his fifteenth novel and has recently published ‘In the Key of Death’, number ten in the popular DCI Brendan Moran crime series. The first five books in the series have also been released in audiobook format.

He was long listed for the Times/Chicken House Children’s Novel Competition for ‘The Ley Lines of Lushbury’ and won the Sunday Express Short Story Competition a few years back for his historical entry set in the English Civil War. His second novel, ‘The Trespass’ is a top 20 Amazon Bestseller. He was shortlisted for the 2016 Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Margery Allingham short story competition, and was selected as the winner of the 2022 Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Margery Allingham short story competition. His winning entry, ‘Locked In’ can be read via the CWA Website’s Margery Allingham page.

Scott Hunter lives in Berkshire with his wife Katherine and his two youngest children