Gallows Road (Inspector Yarrow Book 4)

A Haunting Historical Crime Thriller of Murder, War and Lasting Trauma

Yorkshire, 1950. Newly married Detective Inspector Christopher Yarrow returns from his honeymoon expecting to resume ordinary police work. Instead, three seemingly unconnected murders draw him into cases shaped by violence, prejudice and difficult questions of justice.

At the same time, nineteen-year-old Billy Earnshaw is called up for National Service and sent to fight in the Korean War. After surviving the Battle of the Imjin River, capture and brutal imprisonment, he returns home carrying wounds his family cannot see—and refuses to understand.

As the years pass, the paths of the detective and the young soldier move inexorably towards one another, culminating in a devastating tragedy.

Set across post-war Yorkshire and war-torn Korea, Gallows Road by Giles Ekins is an emotionally powerful blend of historical crime fiction, psychological suspense and wartime drama. The fourth novel in the DI Yarrow series, it can also be read as a compelling standalone thriller.

Discover Gallows Road today.

Excerpt from the book

St Timothy’s Church - West Garside. West Riding of Yorkshire.

Circa mid-1950s

Detective Inspector Christopher Yarrow led his new bride out of the church. Together, Christopher and Alison Yarrow briefly stood at the head of the steps before walking down between the ranks of assembled police officers, their truncheons drawn to form an arch. Confetti showered, and cheers rang in their ears.

Then they stood for photographs, the bright sun shining on them as if in blessing. Photographs of the bride and groom together, the groom kissing the bride, bride and groom with the bridesmaids, bride and groom with their respective parents, in the case of Yarrow, only his father, George, now retired after many years serving as a missionary in the border town of Peshawar, North-West India, now part of Pakistan.

India, where Yarrow had been born, where he had spent his early years, was now a distant memory, a memory of a country he had deeply loved and missed.

His mother, Lucinda, who had returned to England with him when he had obtained a scholarship to Brookfield, a boarding school for the sons of the clergy, had passed away some years ago.

‘Mr Yarrow,’ shouted the photographer, ‘this way, please, sir, look this way,’ and reluctantly Yarrow turned as requested. He detested having his photograph taken, his face a burnt, scarred gargoyle after he had been doused in petrol and set alight by a deranged, vengeful girl.

Alison Yarrow was now photographed with her bridesmaids, her sister Annabel and three of the nurses from the West Garside General Hospital where she worked, although Alison was determined to give up the job as soon as they started a family, something they intended to set about achieving as soon as possible.

At last, the photographic formalities were over for the moment. Alison threw her bridal bouquet over her shoulder for it to be caught by Geraldine Bell, one of her bridesmaids, who squealed and jumped up and down in excitement. Yarrow and Alison then made their way to the white 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II wedding car to be driven to their reception at the ‘Golden Falcon’ hotel on Sheffield Road.

They settled into the back seat of the Rolls as Alison’s bridesmaids gently pushed the voluminous white silk train of her dress into the car, making sure it would not be trapped when the door was closed. Slowly, sedately, the Rolls-Royce eased away from the kerbside, the restrained power of the V12 engine purring like a contented panther. White ribbons streamed away from the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot on top of the radiator to the top of the front door windows, fluttering gently with the movement of the car.

Alison Yarrow picked up Christopher’s hand, a burnt, purpled nightmare of burns and skin grafts, and held it to her face, tenderly kissing the twisted, outraged skin.