And one night he is almost caught by the police.

But they weren't looking for him - someone else has been committing crimes in the local area.

With his night-time hobby at imminent risk, Dan decides to try and catch the offender himself.

He uses methods that are by turn ingenious, crooked, and sensationally successful, but as he gets closer to solving the mystery, it seems the police could be about to pin the crimes on him...

Will Dan catch the perpetrator before the police catch up with him...?

Fire in the Barley

is the first cosy village mystery in the Dan Mallett Investigation series: private investigation murder mysteries set in rural England.

'I loved it. I haven't read a novel that's given me so much pleasure for a long time. It's exciting and it's funny from beginning to end. The whole of it is permeated with an authentic knowledge of the English countryside' - Roald Dahl

'Here is a find. On the crime scene steps a fully fledged, all-of-a-piece original character in a well-conceived, excitingly paced story... I have a notion you will read this first book of the series at a gulp' - The Times

'A remarkable and brilliant first novel... The bluff and double bluff, the magnificent understanding of countryside, the complex skill of the detective, are all entrancing ' - The Spectator

'Mr Parrish did for poaching what Dick Francis did for horse racing' - Oxford Mail

THE DAN MALLETT INVESTIGATIONS SERIES:
Book One: Fire in the Barley
Book Two: Sting of the Honeybee
Book Three: Snare in the Dark
Book Four: Bait on the Hook
Book Five: Face at the Window
Book Six: Fly in the Cobweb
Book Seven: Caught in the Birdlime
Book Eight: Voices From the Dark