Books to look forward to from Severn House 2016

January 2016

The Night Wanderer is by Alys Clare.  The latest title in the Aelf Fen series sees Lassair investigating a series of brutal murders after rumours that the legendary demon, The Night Wanderer, has returned. Can she discover his identity before she, too, becomes a victim?

Crime blogger and radio host Kit Doyle goes undercover as a teenage runaway to discover why young people are going missing. On the streets, she enters an unpredictable world and wanders into the clutches of a dangerous psychopath. Goodbye Forever is by Bonnie Hearn Hill.

When Eden Radley is told her mother has killed herself and her severely disabled half-brother, Eden sets out to discover why. The more she learns, the more she becomes convinced that her mother’s death was no suicide. How much did she really know about her mother or her troubled step-father, Flynn Darby? Don’t Believe a Word is a psychological stand-alone thriller from Patricia MacDonald.

Quick and the Dead is an exciting new series from Susan Moody, introducing candid female sleuth Alex Quick. Alex’s business partner, acclaimed art historian and university professor Helena, disappears and Alex is consumed by guilt. Helena had complained of a stalker, and Alex had dismissed her worries. Now she must figure out what happened to her friend. But is Helena a victim . . . or is she a killer?  

The latest addition to the long-running Pennsylvania-Dutch series sees Magdalena Yoder welcome some aristocratic British guests to the inn. But they are by no means the easiest of guests, and then one of the guests disappears over the edge of Lover’s Leap. Did he fall? And where is the body? Tea with Jam and Dread is another hilariously quirky mystery from Tamar Myers.

An astonishing new order has usurped power in Rome and Libertus’ wealthy patron is endangered. He must take Marcus’s young family to safety in order to protect him from an anonymous and vindictive enemy. But his task brings problems as he uncovers a grisly secret and an ancient crime – with ramifications stretching to the present day. The Ides of June is by Rosemary Rowe is set against the backdrop of the Roman Empire.

Intrepid nineteenth-century private investigators Grand and Batchelor return in their second mystery. The pair are commissioned with looking into the mysterious death of Lafayette Baker, head of the US National Detective Police. Even in death, Baker remains one of the most hated men in the country – it seems almost everyone wanted him gone. Can the investigators survive long enough to uncover the truth? The Circle is by M J Trow

February 2016

To The Last Drop is the ninth in Sandra Balzo’s coffeehouse cozy mystery series sees a dead body discovered outside Maggy Thorsen’s ex-husband’s dental practice, and Maggy tries to piece together the clues. But her beau, Jake, has just dropped a bombshell on her – can she keep her emotions in check long enough to find out the truth about this possible murder?

Crime writer sleuth Donald Langham is invited to a remote Scottish castle where an attempt is being made to raise the wreck of a German fighter plane from the loch. But progress is halted when one of the guests is brutally murdered. Murder at the Loch is by Eric Loch and is a traditional murder mystery set in the 1950’s.

Melody of Murder by Stella Cameron is the third instalment of the Alex Duggins mystery series introduces a new family to the idyllic Cotswold village of Folly-on-Weir. Unfortunately, their arrival has also attracted the attentions of a sly, clever and perverted killer. Once again, pub owner Alex Duggins and her veterinarian friend Tony must use their wits to prevent further carnage.

Shortly before Christmas, Professor James Lowell is found brutally attacked in the university where Anna works. She soon discovers that her fellow dogwalker, Isadora, knew the deceased in the Sixties when she was a member of the ‘Oxford Six’. It turns out that Isadora has been keeping a surprising secret all these years. Could the attack on the Professor have its roots in a fifty-year-old murder? Written in Red is by Annie Dalton.

Dangerous Minds is by Priscilla Masters.  Can a psychiatrist prevent a crime when it

exists only in a patient’s mind? After receiving a wedding invitation from a former patient, Claire is alarmed. Jerome is a highly dangerous man and he appears to have intimate details of her other patients. Can Claire prevent a tragedy in this tense psychological thriller? 

Computer hacker Nicole Jones, now living as Susan McQueen on a remote island in Quebec, is startled when her computer is hacked, showing a ‘shadow’ inside her laptop which watches her every move. Afraid she’ll be tracked down, she goes on the run again. Can she escape her past a second time? Shadowed is by Karen E. Olson.

Black Hammock is by Michael Wiley.  Homicide detective Daniel Turner revisits an eighteen-year-old unsolved case in the third of this intriguing and atmospheric crime noir series. Oren returns to the family home he last saw when he was eight, bent on an elaborate scheme of revenge against his mother and her husband. Is this Daniel’s chance to find out what really happened to Oren’s father all those years ago?

 

March 2016

High Jinks is by Shannon Esposito.  Doggie-yoga instructor Elle Pressley is back for the latest ‘Paws & Pose’ mystery series, where she discovers a body hanging from the kitchen rafters at a Halloween party. Elle turns to her new boyfriend, a local P.I. called Devon, to help her. But Devon is distracted by new evidence in his parents’ murder case. Is fate about to deliver them both into the hands of a determined killer?

Think Wolf is Michael Gregorio’s second Mafia thriller, set against the glorious landscape of Italy’s Umbria region. When the headless body of a fellow ranger is found in the woods, Sebastiano is convinced that he himself was the target. He is convinced his friend’s death heralds the return of the ‘ndrangheta, the most formidable criminal organization in Italy. Sebastiano must now draw on his finely-honed survival skills and think wolf if he is to discover what happened to his companion.

In the fifth instalment of the Kate O’Donnell mystery series, Detective Sergeant Harry Barnard is ordered to track down a missing Soho club owner, Ray. But the case takes on greater urgency when a body is discovered outside a gym owned by Ray. Meanwhile, Kate O’Donnell is working on a project about the devastating East Coast floods of 1953. As Kate and Harry are about to discover, the floods and the murder are connected in more ways than one. Deep Waters is by Patricia Hall.

Sleuthing monk Brother Athelstan returns in his latest medieval mystery, when he is summoned to the monastery at Blackfriars and tasked with solving the murder of a fellow priest. But past crimes have risen their heads, and he finds himself investigating a royal murder that took place fifty-four years earlier, while rebel leaders plot the present king's destruction.  The Great Revolt is by Paul Doherty.

Benjamin January is called up to Vicksburg, deep in cotton-plantation country, to help a wounded ‘conductor’ of the Underground railroad – a secret network of safe houses that guide escaping slaves to freedom. When the chief conductor is found dead, January must find the killer before their secret is uncovered in this latest historical mystery.  Drinking Gourd is Barbara Hambly.

The third tense and compelling thriller to feature The Watchman – deep cover specialist Marc Portman. Portman is in Russia providing covert back-up to a former KGB officer with close links to Vladimir Putin, who hopes to use his influence with the president to improve relations between Russia, the USA and Europe. When the assignment takes an unexpected turn, Portman has no choice but to provide hard cover for his client. Hard Cover is by Adrian Magson.

Classic at Bay is by Amy Myers.  The once-notorious cabaret singer Adora Ferne guards a private treasure trove of twelve classic Jaguar cars, but hankers over the one that is missing. Jack Colby, car detective, has been commissioned to buy the thirteenth car from the Earl of Storrington. But when a murder follows the earl’s rejection of an offer, Jack starts to investigate. Does this murder link to the secrets of Adora’s past?

Lorna Myers thinks she knows where her husband is – until two men come looking for him. Luckily ex-police dog handler Daniel Whelan is on hand to take control of the situation, but for Lorna it’s the start of a nightmare. Daniel finds himself drawn into the complex affairs of the family, with potentially fatal consequences. No Second Chances is the latest British police dog-handler mystery from Lyndon Stacey.

April 2016

In the latest Gillard and Langley mystery, the murder of a senior official of the National Crime Agency sends shockwaves through MI5, MI6 and the Met. Patrick Gillard, the deceased’s protégé and adviser to the NCA, and his wife and working partner Ingrid Langley, vow to find his killer. Dust to Dust is by Margaret Duffy.

Playing with Fire is by Gerald Elias.  When an anxious phone call disturbs Daniel Jacobus from his Christmas festivities, it is up to Jacobus and his team to find out how and why Borlotti, a seemingly humble violinmaker, became a captive of his past indiscretions. The latest Daniel Jacobus mystery holds a mirror to the glittering façade of the concert world, delving into the multimillion-dollar sleight-of-hand of violin dealing.

Treason in the Secret City is by Diane Fanning.  Libby is woken in the middle of the night by a distressed colleague – Marvin’s cousin Frannie has been charged with treason. Libby, a chemist at a secret facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, agrees to help, but her investigations soon uncover a web of indoctrinated spies, greedy opportunists and unscrupulous collaborators. Second in the exciting new World War II mystery series featuring intrepid research chemist-sleuth Libby Clark.

Introducing Elizabethan cutpurse and adventurer Jack Blackjack in the first of a brand-new historical mystery series. Light-fingered Jack knows he’s not going to have a good day when he wakes with a sore head next to a dead body in a tavern’s yard. But with the rebel army marching on London, Jack cannot escape the city. Instead he must try to work out who killed the man, a troublesome task as the rebel army comes closer and the death toll mounts. Rebellion’s Message is by Michael Jecks.

Death at the Boston Tea Party is by Deryn Lake.  A new business opportunity in America leads to a case of cold-blooded murder for Apothecary John Rawlings. When he arrives in Boston in 1773, John finds a place riven with tension and unrest, and the resentment erupts into outright rebellion during the notorious Boston Tea Party. But has someone taken advantage of the chaos to commit murder?

The kidnapping of an innocent schoolgirl throws a glaring light on the tensions and injustices of pre-War Egyptian society in this absorbing historical mystery. Mamur Zapt, Head of the Secret Police, takes charge of the negotiations for her safe return, where he learns that there is more to the girl’s kidnapping than meets the eye and the outcome with shine a glaring light on tensions running through Egyptian society. The Women of the Souk by Michael Pearce.

Rat Run is by Caro Ramsay.  In August 1992, a young mother and her two small sons were brutally murdered in the woods behind their home. Her neighbour Andrew Gyle was convicted of the crime and sentenced to life imprisonment. Now, twenty-three years later, a macabre discovery throws new light on the case. Could there have been a shocking miscarriage of justice? The latest tense and twisting Anderson and Costello mystery.

DCI Monika Paniatowski returns to investigate the killing of an American guest at the Royal Victoria Hotel. Who is this lady and what was she doing in a small town like Whitebridge? The investigation takes an intriguing twist when Monika learns of a possible link to a fifty-year-old murder, but the only person who can tell her why it’s relevant is lying in a coma. Death in Disguise by Sally Spencer.

A Maiden Weeping is by Jeri Westerson.  Crispin Guest awakens in a strange bed after a night of passion and finds his lover dead. Drunk, Crispin scarcely remembers the night before. Did he kill her? With Crispin shackled and imprisoned, and other bodies turning up, his apprentice Jack must hit the ground running to solve the crime.