Youths disappearing from the streets. Smashed bodies ejected into the River Aire. And CSI Eddie Collins is about to find out how they died.

Abandoned by a malicious wife and tormented by a hateful boss, the only thing keeping CSI Eddie Collins sane is his job. When a dead youth is found on a Leeds street, the trail leads him to a killer adept at disposing of those who don't deserve anything better. And sometimes that includes unfortunate police officers who get too close.
Eddie finds himself on the killer's wrong side, forced to watch a colleague slowly dying in a vicious trap. The only way to save him is to make a deal - deliver the killer's real target.

The most dangerous deal is the one you can't refuse.
The Pain of Strangers is the first in a series of gripping crime thrillers featuring everyone's favourite CSI, Eddie Collins, and one that will keep you captive to the very last page. Get it now and enjoy the chase.

What people say about The Pain of Strangers

• Fiendishly good, absolutely gory, gruesome and darker than you can imagine but with sharp gallows style humour.

• The style of writing is brilliant, short, snappy chapters, with funny titles and the fake realism travels all the way through to the unmissable epilogue.

• One of the finest crime series out there.

• Barrett feeds the reader with the nitty gritty of the dark corners, nasty alleys, and tenements of Leeds.

• I totally loved this book.

• The Pain of Strangers is brutal and thought-provoking.

• Barrett's writing style is full of sarcastic humour and pulls no punches.

• The whole series is truly compulsive reading.

• The best book I've read so far this year.

• The drama, psychological drama, suspense, timing, and original plot make this one of the best books I've read in a while.

• The Pain of Strangers is well written by a master craftsman who knows his subject inside out.

• I was caught completely off guard by this whole book. This is my first book from Barrett and it was... disturbingly good! This complex story was a constant punch in the gut with grit and criminal angst.

Also available by Andrew Barrett:

• The Pain of Strangers - CSI Eddie Collins 1

• Black by Rose - CSI Eddie Collins 2

• Sword of Damocles - CSI Eddie Collins 3

• Ledston Luck - CSI Eddie Collins 4

• The Death of Jessica Ripley - CSI Eddie Collins 5

• This Side of Death - CSI Eddie Collins 6

• Death Warning - CSI Eddie Collins 7

• The Lift - a CSI Eddie Collins Short Story

• The Note - a CSI Eddie Collins Novella

• The Lock - a CSI Eddie Collins Novella

• The Crew - a CSI Eddie Collins Novella

• A Random Kill - DS Regan Carter 1

• The Dark Arches - DS Regan Carter 2

• Cutting Ties - DS Regan Carter 3

• The Colour of Fury - DS Regan Carter 4

• A Long Time Dead - SOCO Roger Conniston 1

• Stealing Elgar - SOCO Roger Conniston 2

• No More Tears - SOCO Roger Conniston 3

• The CSI Eddie Collins boxset - Books 1 - 3

• The CSI Eddie Collins boxset - Books 4 - 6

• Short and Curlies - The CSI Eddie Collins Novellas (including a bonus short, Eye Contact)

• The Third Rule - CSI Jack Riley, stand-alone crime thriller

• The End of Lies - featuring Becky Rose, a stand-alone psychological thriller

• We started tracking this book on February 8, 2022.
• This book was $0.00 when we started tracking it.
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• The current price of this book is FREE last checked 15 minutes ago.
• The lowest price to date was FREE last reached on December 24, 2025.
• This book has been FREE 6 times since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $2.99 last reached on December 5, 2025.
• This book has been $2.99 9 times since we started tracking it.
• This book is currently at its lowest price since we started tracking it.

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• Print Length: 324 Pages
• File Size: 30 KB