Books to Look Forward to from Simon and Schuster

July

Television journalist Delaney Wright is on the brink of stardom after she begins covering a sensational murder trial for the news. She should be thrilled, yet her growing desire to locate her birth mother consumes her thoughts. On trial for murder is Betsy Grant, widow of a wealthy doctor who has been an Alzheimer's victim for eight years. When her once-upon-a-time celebrity lawyer urges her to accept a plea bargain, Betsy refuses: she will go to trial to prove her innocence. Betsy's stepson, Alan Grant, bides his time nervously as the trial begins. His substantial inheritance hangs in the balance-his only means of making good on payments he owes his ex-wife, his children, and increasingly angry creditors. As the trial unfolds, and the damning evidence against Betsy piles up, Delaney is convinced that Betsy is not guilty and frantically tries to prove her innocence, before time runs out... As Time Goes By is by Mary Higgins Clark

The Lost Swimmer is by Ann Turner. Rebecca Wilding, an archaeology professor, traces the past for a living. But suddenly, truth and certainty are turning against her. Rebecca is accused of serious fraud, and worse, she suspects - she knows - that her husband, Stephen, is having an affair. Desperate to find answers, Rebecca leaves with Stephen for Greece, Italy and Paris, where she can uncover the conspiracy against her, and hopefully win Stephen back to her side, where he belongs. There's too much at stake - her love, her work, her family. But on the idyllic Amalfi Coast, Stephen goes swimming and doesn't come back. In a swirling daze of panic and fear, Rebecca is dealt with fresh allegations. And with time against her, she must uncover the dark secrets that stand between her and Stephen, and the deceit that has chased her halfway around the world.

Twenty-year-old Finley Montgomery has always been different. She's never been able to control the things that happen to her - not even the pain of a new tattoo or the roar of her motorcycle can drown out the chaos. When she moves to her grandmother's house in the small town of The Hollows in upstate New York, Finley is hoping to a fresh start. Then a detective shows up. He knows about Finley's unusual gifts and he wants her help. There's a little girl missing and the police investigation has gone cold. Now, time is running out. Only Finley can uncover the truth - but can she find the answers before it's too late? Ink and Bone is by Lisa Unger.

Tim Johnson took his baby daughter out for a walk and she never made it home. Johnson claims he was assaulted and the girl was snatched. The police see a different crime, with Johnson their only suspect. A year later, Sam Bryne is on course to be elected as one of the youngest MPs in Westminster. He's tipped for the very top ...until he vanishes. Detectives Murphy and Rossi are tasked with discovering what has happened to the popular politician - and in doing so, they unearth a trail that stretches into the past, and crimes that someone is hell-bent on avenging.  Then She Was Gone is by Luca Vesta

August

Clyde Barr has been on the run for sixteen years. Now he's back in the Colorado wilderness, hoping for some peace and quiet. Then Clyde receives a frantic phone call for help from his sister Jen. But the line goes dead. She's been taken. Clyde doesn't know where Jen is. He doesn't know who has her. He doesn't know how much time he has. All he knows is that nothing short of dying will stop him from saving her... Nothing Short of Dying is the debut novel by Erik Storey.

This is about three deaths. Actually more, if you go back far enough. I say deaths but perhaps all of them were murders. It's a grey area. Murder, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. So let's just call them deaths and say I was involved. This story could be told a hundred different ways.  For Penelope Sheppard, university offers an escape from her trouble past.  Running from a life weighed down with scandal and tragedy, Pen sees this as the ideal place to reinvent herself among perfect strangers.  Life in her new halls of residence feels like a wonderland of sex, drugs, and maybe even love.  But all too soon Pen realises flawed narration and tantalising diary entries, secrets, truths and lies come to light and a dangerous dilemma unfolds, twisting and turning until the very last page.  All These Perfect Strangers is by Aoife Clifford.

Cold Killers is by Lee Weeks. Eddie Butcher, one of four brothers from a notorious East

End family, is tortured and brutally murdered while visiting London from his home in Marbella. SIO Carter and DI Willis monitor his extravagant funeral in case Eddie's violent brother Terry, under house arrest in Spain, tries to make an appearance. Terry is wanted for robbery, drug trafficking and murder - and the police strongly suspect he is even prepared to kill his own family to maintain his power. What Carter hasn't told all of his colleagues is that this family's history is personal to him. More than ten years earlier, he was part of an operation that tried to trap Terry as he made his first big drugs deal. Carter was an undercover agent then, along with a female operative, Della. She and Carter were an item until she fell for Eddie Butcher and the case collapsed. She became Della Butcher - and now, a widow at the mercy of the remaining Butcher brothers, her life is in danger. When Della offers Carter a chance to finally catch Terry, he knows he cannot refuse. But his reunion with Della comes at a heavy personal, and professional, cost - and Willis must protect them all as the Butcher family's enemies close in, wanting money and revenge.

September

Murderabilia is by Craig Robertson. The first commuter train of the morning slowly rumbles away from platform seven of Queen St station. Everyone on board is sleepy, avoiding eye contact, reluctant to admit the day has begun. And then, as the train emerges from a tunnel, the screaming starts. Hanging from the bridge ahead of them is a body. Placed neatly on the ground below him are the victim's clothes. Why? Detective Narey is assigned the case and then just as quickly taken off it again. Winter, now a journalist, must pursue the case for her. The line of questioning centres around the victim's clothes - why leave them in full view? And what did the killer not leave, and where might it appear again? Everyone has a hobby. Some people collect death. To find this evil, Narey must go on to the dark web, and into immense danger …

In New York, in the late 1880s, the miracle of electric light is still in its infancy and untold riches and glory await the man who can power the nation with this new technology. Thomas Edison has won the race to the patent office for his electric light bulb and is now suing his one remaining rival, George Westinghouse, for infringement for the unheard-of sum of a billion dollars. To defend himself, Westinghouse makes a surprising choice in his attorney: he hires untested 26-year-old Paul Cravath who is fresh out of law school. The task facing Cravath is truly daunting - win. And the stakes are immense: the winner of the case will illuminate America. 'If Paul could not break the patent claim, Thomas Edison would have a monopoly on light itself...'  The Last Days of Night is by Graham Moore

Jefferson Hinkley, undercover investigator, is off to America to embark on his most dangerous case yet.   Triple Crown is by Felix Francis.

October

Jane Tennison, a young, inexperienced WPC, learns the hard way never to take anyone, or anything, at face value, whether in her dealings with her police colleagues or when confronted by seemingly innocent suspects. Hidden Killers sees Jane acting as a 'decoy' prostitute, with the hope of capturing a suspect wanted for numerous sexual assaults. The attacker is drawn in and put under arrest. Commended for bravery in the case, Jane is given CID status and moves from Hackney to Bow Street Station as Detective. Her first call-out is to a non-suspicious death. The victim is a young mother, drowned tragically in her bath, leaving a bereft and doting husband and a young child. The two storylines interweave as Jane begins to doubt the evidence against her assailant in East London, and becomes certain that the young woman in the bath did not drown in tragic circumstances. Two entirely different cases but one common thread - the lingering doubt in Jane's mind around the evidence, and around her colleagues... Hidden Killers is by Lynda La Plante.

Mercy Killings is by Lisa Cutts. The death of a local sex offender places the police officers at East Rise incident room under immense pressure - they must treat this case like any other murder, but they know what Albie Woodville did and can feel little sympathy. Except, as the investigation progresses, it becomes clear this isn't just a one-off killing - someone is out for revenge...

  

November

Casey Carter was convicted of murdering her fiancé – famed philanthropist Hunter Raleigh III – fifteen years ago. And Casey claims – has always claimed – she’s innocent.  Although she was charged and served out her sentence in prison, she is still living ‘under suspicion’.  She hears whispers at the grocery store.  She can’t get a job.  Even her own mother treats her likes she’s guilty.  Her story attracts the attention of Laurie Moran and the Under Suspicion news team – it’s Casey’s last chance to finally clear her name, and Laurie pledges to exonerate her.  With Alex Buckley taking a break from the show – cooling his potential romance with Laurie – Under Suspicion introduces a new on-air host named Ryan Nichols, a young legal whiz with a Harvard Law degree, Supreme Court clerkship, experience as a federal prosecutor, and regular stints on the cable news circuit.  He’s got a big reputation and the attitude to match it. Ryan has no problems with steering – and stealing – the show, and even tries to stop Laurie from taking on Casey’s case because he’s so certain she’s guilty. An egomaniacal new co-host, a relentless gossip columnist who seems to have all the dirt (and a surprising informant), and Casey’s longstanding bad reputation: Laurie must face this and more to do what she believes is right, to one and for all prove Casey’s innocence – that is, if she’s innocent….. The Sleeping Beauty Killer is by Alafair Burke and Mary Higgins Clark