Books to look forward to from Orion Publishing

Far From True is by Linwood Barclay and is due to be published in April 2016.  After the screen of a run-down drive-in movie theater collapses and kills four people, the daughter of one of the victims asks private investigator Cal Weaver to look into a recent break-in at her father's house. Cal discovers a hidden basement room where it's clear that salacious activities have taken place - as well as evidence of missing DVDs. But his investigation soon becomes more complicated when he realises the DVDs may contain something even more shocking. Meanwhile, Detective Barry Duckworth is still trying to solve two murders - one of which is three years old - he believes are connected, since each featured a similar distinctive wound. As the lies begin to unravel, Cal is headed straight into the heart of a dark secret as his search uncovers more startling truths about Promise Falls. And when yet another murder happens, Cal and Barry are both driven to pursue their investigations, no matter where they lead. Evil deeds long thought buried are about to haunt the residents of this town - as the sins of the past and present collide with terrifying results.

A Hero in France is by Alan Furst and is due to be published in June 2016. Spring 1941. Britain is losing the war. But the fighters of the French Resistance are determined not to give up. These courageous men and women - young and old, aristocrats and nightclub owners, teachers and military heroes - run an escape line for British airmen down to Spain. In Rouen and Orleans, in secret hotels, and on the streets, they prise open Europe's sealed doors to lead British fighters to freedom...Thrilling, seductive and heart-poundingly tense, A Hero in France is a story of courage against the odds, set during one of the most intriguing periods of recent history.

The calm of Giverny has been disrupted - and not only by the tourists. A murderer is on the loose, and has claimed the life of Jerome Morval, a man whose passion for art was matched only by his passion for women. At the heart of the mystery are three women: a painting prodigy, the seductive village schoolteacher and an old widow who lives in a tower. But what do they have to do with the discovery of Jerome Morval's corpse? And what is the connection to the mysterious Monet painting of black waterlilies?  Black Waterlilies is by Michel Bussi and is due to be published in June 2016.

From its opening scene in revolutionary Mexico to the Battle of the Marne in 1918, and on to the bordellos and saloons of San Antonio during the reign of the Hole in the Wall Gang, House of the Rising Sun is an epic tale of love, loss, betrayal, vengeance, and retribution that follows Texas Ranger Hackberry Holland on his journey to reunite with his estranged son, Ishmael, a captain in the United States Army. After a violent encounter that leaves four Mexican soldiers dead, Hackberry escapes the country in possession of a stolen artifact, earning the ire of a bloodthirsty Austrian arms dealer who then places Hack's son Ishmael squarely in the cross hairs of a plot to recapture his prize, believed to be the mythic cup of Christ. Along the way, we meet three extraordinary women: Ruby Dansen, the Danish immigrant who is Ishmael's mother and Hackberry's one true love; Beatrice DeMolay, a brothel madam descended from the crusader knight who brought the shroud of Turin back from the Holy Land; and Maggie Bassett, one-time lover of the Sundance Kid, whose wiles rival those of Lady Macbeth. In her own way, each woman will aid Hackberry in his quest to reconcile with Ishmael, to vanquish their enemies, and to return the Grail to its rightful place.  House of the Rising Sun is by James Lee Burke and is due to be published in January 2016.

Frankie James is a young man with a lot on his shoulders. His mother disappeared when he was fifteen; his father’s in jail for armed robbery; and he owes rent on his inherited SoHo snooker club to one of London’s toughest gangsters. Things, you’d think, can only get better. Actually, they’re about to get a whole lot worse.  Frankie always swore to his mum he’d keep his younger, wilder brother out of trouble.  However when Jack turns up at the club early in the morning, covered in someone  else’s blood, with no memory of the night before, it seems there’s no way Frankie can  make good on his promise. With Jack banged up, awaiting trial for the vicious murder of a bride-to-be – a murder that’s sparked an even more vicious gang war between London’s two foremost crime families – Frankie knows a conviction could quickly turn  into a death sentence if he doesn’t discover who framed Jack and why?  In the underworld of 1980s Soho, is he tough enough and smart enough to come out on top?  Framed is by Ronnie O’Sullivan and is due to be published in June 2016.

Detectives Kovac and Liska return in the latest psychological suspense novel from author

Tami Hoag. It was a shocking crime. A middle-aged couple - hacked to death in their own home - with a samurai sword. Normal people. Who were they? And why were they targeted? It was a shocking crime. But it wasn't the first. Twenty years ago a policeman was murdered in his own back garden and the killer was never caught. One woman might link these mysteries. But she is being watched. Can Detectives Nikki Liska and Sam Kovac find her before it is too late? Suspense fiction doesn't get smarter than this. The Bitter Season is due to be published in March 2016.

The Promise is by Robert Crais and is due to be published in January 2016.  Elvis Cole and Joe Pike are joined by Suspect heroes Scott James and his K-9 partner, Maggie. Loyalty, commitment, the fight against injustice - these are the things that have always driven Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. If they make a promise, they keep it. Even if it could get them killed. When Elvis Cole is hired to locate a woman who may have disappeared with a stranger she met online, it seems like an ordinary case - until Elvis learns the missing woman worked for a defence contractor and was being blackmailed to

supply explosives components for a person or persons unknown. Meanwhile, in another part of the city, LAPD officer Scott James and his patrol dog, Maggie, enter an abandoned building to locate an armed and dangerous thief, only to discover far more than they expected. The fugitive is dead, the building is filled with explosives, and Scott and Maggie are assaulted by a hidden man who escapes in the chaos, all as a bloodied Joe Pike watches from the shadows. Soon, Scott and Maggie find themselves targeted by that man and, as their case intertwines with Elvis and Joe's, join forces to follow the trail of the missing woman as well. From inner-city drug traffickers to a shadowy group of Afghan war veterans with ties to a terrorist cell, the people they encounter on that trail add up to ever-increasing odds, and soon the four of them are fighting to find the woman not only before she is killed ...but before the same fate happens to one of them.

Eminent scientist Dr Ralph Padley is dying - and he knows it's time to finally tell the truth. Padley has a dark secret, which, if it got out, would have deadly consequences. But there are powerful men who will stop at nothing to silence him. FBI Special Agent Reilly has an agenda of his own. For months he has sought the man who kidnapped and brainwashed his five-year-old son. But that man is a ghost - a highly protected CIA official with no name and no identity, and who may have links to Reilly's own father. Watched, manipulated, and framed for crimes he didn't commit, Reilly becomes a fugitive, making it next to impossible for him to uncover the truth about his past while protecting the family he loves. He's left with no choice but to risk everything to unearth secrets that would shake the country to its core - if he's ever allowed to get that far.  The End Game is by Raymond Khoury and is due to be published in March 2016.

It's been five years since Carter Blake parted ways with top-secret government operation Winterlong. They brokered a deal at the time: he'd keep quiet about what they were doing, and in return he'd be left alone. But news that one of Blake's old allies, a man who agreed the same deal, is dead means only one thing - something has changed and Winterlong is coming for him. Emma Faraday, newly appointed head of the secret unit, is determined to tie up loose ends. And Blake is a very loose end. He's been evading them for years, but finally they've picked up his trace. Blake may be the best there is at tracking down people who don't want to be found, but Winterlong taught him everything he knows. If there's anyone who can find him - and kill him - it's them. It's time for Carter Blake to up his game.   Winterlong is by Mason Cross and is due to be published in May 2016.

Everything seems to be going right for brilliant young jockey Duncan Claymore. A career on the up, a beautiful wife, and all the trappings of wealth. But Duncan is haunted by the death of one of his arch-rivals. He may not have pulled the trigger, but he still has blood on his hands. As Duncan struggles to keep his focus on the job, Michelle O'Brien - a friend and talented fellow jockey - is killed and Duncan knows this was far from a tragic accident. He's never liked William Osborne, but now he will stop at nothing to avenge Michelle's death. With Duncan's seemingly perfect world starting to come apart at the seams, can he balance his desire for victory on the field with his desire to see justice served?  Narrowing the Field is by A P McCoy and is due to be published in January 2016. 

In Becky Masterman’s currently untitled novel Brigid Quinn faces a different kind of challenge.  Marcus Creighton is on Death Row, convicted of murdering his wife and three children, and with time running out for a reprieve.  But did he do it? Or is the truth even darker and more shocking? Her currently  untitled novel is due to be published in April 2016.

Burning Angels is by Bear Grylls and is due to be published in June 2016.  Having uncovered a terrifying secret dating back to the dark days of Nazi Germany, ex-SAS soldier Will Jaeger must face his toughest challenge yet as he attempts to unravel the mysteries of the past and discover what really happened to his long-lost wife and son

The Turning Tide is by Brooke Magnanti and is due to be published in February 2016.  Erykah Macdonald has a nice life - the kind of life you're meant to want. But on her twentieth wedding anniversary, she's about to cross a line. Several hundred miles away in the shallow waters of a Hebridean island, a body is found. It's been in the water long enough to make identification tricky but it's clear this is no accidental death. Erykah knows she's about to make a choice you can't reverse - but she's lived with secrets most of her life - she thinks she's ready. The trouble is, there are far worse secrets than her own about to emerge. From the gurney of a morgue in the Highlands, to the media circus of the national press, and from the seemingly calm suburbs of London to the powerplays in Westminster, a net is tightening. And those that find themselves caught in are willing to kill to get out with reputations intact. Erykah must work out what she's capable of if she's going to keep her head above water - she must leave behind her comfortable life and start breaking rules. She knows she should be scared...but sometimes, stepping over the line is the first step to freedom..

The Plea is by Steve Cavanagh and is due to be published in March 2016.  For years, respected New York law firm Harland & Sinton has been running a fraud of gargantuan proportions. The FBI are on to them, but they need witnesses to secure their case. When a major client of the firm, David Child, is arrested for murder, the FBI ask con-artist-turned-lawyer Eddie Flynn to secure Child as his client and force him to testify against the firm in exchange for a lesser sentence. Eddie's not a man to be forced into representing a guilty client, but the FBI have incriminating files on Eddie's wife, Christine, and if Eddie won't play ball, she'll pay the price. Eddie agrees, but when he meets David Child he knows this is going to be harder than it sounds. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Eddie is convinced that Child didn't kill his girlfriend and he refuses to send an innocent man to prison. With the FBI putting pressure on him to secure the plea and the formidable Gerry Sinton breathing down his neck, Eddie must find a way to prove Child's innocence while keeping his wife out of danger - not just from the FBI, but from the firm itself. But it's not long before Eddie realises he's part of a dangerous game, with each player willing to kill to get what they want.

Saul Black’s currently untitled novel is due to be published in April 2016.  Troubled San Francisco homicide detective Valerie Hart is planning a rare weekend away from the job when she gets the call. A body has been found. A woman, brutally murdered. And the cryptic note left by the body is addressed to Valerie.  The victim is unknown to her, but as Valerie analyses the scene, the clues begin to point in a deeply disturbing direction: to a maximum security prison where a woman called Katherine Glass is awaiting execution for a series of gruesome killings. And Valerie was the cop who put her there.  The last thing Valerie wants to do is re-enter Katherine's twisted world, but when a second body is discovered, with another puzzling clue, she realises she has no choice. Katherine Glass holds the key to the killings, and Valerie needs to find out what she knows before the murders come even closer to home.  Even if it means playing a deadly game where once again, the psychopathic killer holds all the cards.

The Hanging Tree was the Tyburn gallows which stood where Marble Arch stands today. Oxford Street was the last trip of the condemned. Somethings don't change. The place has a bloody and haunted legacy and now blood has returned to the empty Mayfair mansions of the world's super-rich. And blood mixed with magic is a job for Peter Grant. Peter Grant is back as are Nightingale et al at the Folly and the various river gods, ghosts and spirits who attach themselves to England's last wizard and the Met's reluctant investigator of all things supernatural.  The Hanging Tree is by Ben Aaronovitch and is due to be published in June 2016.

Having fled to New York following his involvement in a terrible crime, Irish-born Danny McCabe throws in his lot with Nicolas and Lucia Mariani, Italian siblings who have come to America to make their fortune. In New York the trio get by, earning money from fighting and - on Nicolas Mariani's part - increasingly illicit activity. Lucia has ambitions of becoming an actress and, following a fight that goes horribly wrong, the three of them head to Los Angeles, the city of dreams. Beneath the glitzy facade of 1940s Hollywood lies a world of corruption and organised crime, and it isn't long before Nicholas become entangled in it. As Lucia and McCabe's feelings for each other grow, McCabe is desperate to bury the dark secret of his past, while Lucia is torn between her loyalty to her brother and her loyalty to the man she loves. R J Ellory’s new novel Kings of American is due to be published in May 2015 and will span the Gold Age of Hollywood, from the 1930s to the 1960s, and will include appearances from Raymond Chandler, William Faulkner, Micky Cohen and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

I was dead for 13 minutes. I don't remember how I ended up in the icy water but I do know this - it wasn't an accident and I wasn't suicidal. They say you should keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but when you're a teenage girl, it's hard to tell them apart. My friends love me, I'm sure of it. But that doesn't mean they didn't try to kill me. Does it?  13 Minutes is by Sarah Pinborough and is due to be published in February 2016.

Haunted by fears of recurring mental breakdown, obsessed with discovering her parentage and curiously comfortable with corpses, she makes an unusual and intuitive detective. Faced with a bizarre series of crimes that link the kidnapping of an oligarch’s daughter with the medieval practices of a remote monastery, Fiona Griffiths is plunged into a conspiracy that feeds into her darkest fears.  This currently untitled book by Harry Bingham is due to be published in June 2016.