Bob and Carol Bridgestock

R.C. Bridgestock – Author Biography

R.C. Bridgestock is the pen name of writing partners Bob and Carol Bridgestock, whose compelling, authentic crime fiction is shaped by almost fifty years of combined experience with West Yorkshire Police, one of the largest police forces in the UK.

Bob Bridgestock was a career detective who rose to Detective Superintendent during a thirty-year policing career spent at the forefront of major crime investigations. A trained police negotiator, he was deployed in cases involving kidnap, extortion, terrorism and suicide intervention, and later delivered criminal law training to officers from across the UK and overseas. During the final years of his service, he led twenty-six murder investigations alongside numerous major incidents and suspicious death enquiries, earning more than twenty commendations during his career.

Carol Bridgestock spent seventeen years with West Yorkshire Police working across a range of operational and supervisory roles, including duties management, court file preparation and major incident administration. Her experience brings both procedural depth and emotional authenticity to their writing.

Together, they are the authors of the DI Jack Dylan and DI Charley Mann crime series, combining meticulous police procedure with character-driven storytelling and the distinctive landscapes of Yorkshire. They have also worked as storyline and police procedure consultants on major television dramas including the BAFTA-winning Happy Valley, Scott & Bailey, and The Beast Must Die.

Represented by David H Headley of DHH Literary Agency, they begin a new chapter in 2026 with Orenda Books and Split Second, the first in a gripping new series which, for the first time in thirteen books, sees DI Jack Dylan and DI Charley Mann working together as investigative partners, as part of a new three-book deal.

They were voted #8 in the WHSmith Readers’ Best Crime Authors of All Time.