July 2017
A shocking mass murder occurs at a wedding
in a small Dales church and a huge manhunt follows. Eventually, the
shooter is run to ground and things take their inevitable course. But Banks is
plagued with doubts as to exactly what happened outside the church that day,
and why. Struggling with the death of his first serious girlfriend and the
return of profiler Jenny Fuller into his life, Banks feels the need to dig
deeper into the murders, and as he does so, he uncovers forensic and psychological
puzzles that lead him to the past secrets that might just provide the answers
he is looking for. When the surprising truth becomes clear, it is almost
too late. Sleeping in the Ground is by
Peter Robinson
Scotland, 1934. Aristocratic private
detective Dandy Gilver arrives at Castle Bewer, at midsummer, to solve the
tangled mystery of a missing man, a lost ruby and a family curse. The Bewer
family's latest wheeze to keep the wolf from the door is turning the castle
keep into a theatre. While a motley band of players rehearse Macbeth, the
Bewers themselves prepare lectures, their faithful servants set up a tearoom,
and the guest wings fill with rich American ladies seeking. Meanwhile, Dandy
and her sidekick Alec Osborne begin to unravel the many secrets of the Bewers
and find that, despite the witches, murders and ghosts onstage, it's behind the
scenes where the darkest deeds are done.
Dandy Gilver and a Spot of Toil and Trouble is by Catriona McPherson.
The Smack is by Richard Lange. Rowan Petty
is a conman down on his luck. Tinafey is a hooker who's tired of the streets.
Their paths cross one snowy night in Reno, and they hit it off. An old friend
of Petty's turns up with a rumour about a crew of American soldiers who
smuggled two million dollars out of Afghanistan and stashed the money in an
apartment in Los Angeles. He thinks Petty's just the guy to steal the cash.
Petty thinks he hasn't got much to lose. He decides to drive down to L.A. to
investigate. Tinafey decides to go with him.
These might be the last decisions they will ever make.
August 2017
Did You See Melody is by Sophie Hannah. Pushed to breaking point, Cara Burrows
abandons her home and family and escapes to a five-star spa resort she can't
afford. Late at night, exhausted and desperate, she lets herself into her hotel
room and is shocked to find it already occupied - by a man and a teenage girl. A simple mistake on the part of the hotel
receptionist - but Cara's fear intensifies when she works out that the girl she
saw alive and well in the hotel room is someone she can't possibly have seen:
the most famous murder victim in the country, Melody Chapa, whose parents are
serving life sentences for her murder. Cara doesn't know what to trust:
everything she's read and heard about the case, or the evidence of her own
eyes. Did she really see Melody? And is she prepared to ask herself that
question and answer it honestly if it means risking her own life?
They say blood is thicker than water. That's
not going to stop it being spilled. Life hasn't been easy for the Miller
family. Finally, mum Babs has had one bit of luck. She plans to share the
profits with her daughters. She thought they'd be pleased... But money always
causes trouble, especially when it's desperately needed. Jen wants to make a
better life for her kids. Tiff owes a lot of bad men a lot of money. And Dee is
worried that her husband is getting back into the criminal life. As the sisters
fall out, a gold bullion heist brings more opportunities - and many more
dangers. None of them are giving up without a fight... Blood Money is by Dreda Say Mitchell
The Zealots Bones is by D M Mark. From Hell,
Hull and Halifax, may the Good Lord deliver us. In 1849, Hull is a city
forgotten and abandoned; in the grip of a cholera outbreak that sees its poorest
citizens cut down by the cartload. Into this world of flame and grief comes
Mesach Stone, a former soldier, lost upon his way. He's been hired as bodyguard
by a Canadian academic hunting for the bones of the apostle Simon the Zealot,
rumoured to lie somewhere in Lincolnshire. Stone can't see why ancient bones
are of interest in a world full of them...but then a woman he briefly loved is
killed. As he investigates he realises that she is just one of many... and that
some deaths cry out for vengeance.
September 2017
The Svalbard archipelago, 1977, Norwegian
territory, yet closer to the north pole. Russian engineer Yuri arrives on the
last boat to the Soviet mining outpost of Pyramiden, as the Arctic sun
disappears for the winter. Yuri still plays by Stalin-era rules: Don't trust
anyone; Keep your head down; Look after number one. Yet when a co-worker is
found dead deep in the mine, the circumstances appear strange. Against his
better judgement, Yuri breaks his own rules, and decides to investigate. At the
same time, he begins a stormy love affair with the volatile, brooding Anya. She
has come to Pyramiden to meet someone who has not shown himself in three
months, if he exists at all. While the whole island is frozen in
twenty-four-hour darkness, Yuri enters a dangerous world of secrets and
conflicting agendas, where even the people closest to you are not always what
they seem. The Reluctant Contact is by
Stephen Burke.
November 2017
Ghosts of the Past is by Marco Vichi. A family cloaked in secrets. A beguiling
woman. A unique setting. Inspector Bordelli is back to solve one of the most
difficult cases of his entire career in the sixth book in this atmospheric
crime noir series - perfect for fans of Andrea Camilleri.Florence, 1967. It is
winter, and one year has passed since the historic and devastating flood of the
Arno, though the memories of that day still linger with the stains on the city
walls.The anniversary of the flood brings with it a new case for Inspector
Bordelli. A local wealthy industrialist - fiercely loved and respected by
everyone he knew - has been found murdered in his grand villa in the Fiesole
hills, and the killer has left no trace. With no obvious leads to follow,
Bordelli is patiently retracing the victim's last days when he encounters an
old friend from the war. Inviting the frail man into his home, Bordelli doesn't
realise that it is this very friend will lead him ever closer to the secrets at
the heart of the mystery . . .
The hunt is on for a serial killer in a
thrilling festive crime novel. It looks
like a regular advent calendar. Until DC Becky Greene starts opening
doors...and discovers a crime scene behind almost every one. The police hope
it's a prank. Because if it isn't, a murderer has just surfaced - someone who's
been killing for twenty years. But why now? And why has he sent it to this
police station? As the country relaxes into festive cheer, Greene and DS Eddie
Carmine must race against time to catch the killer. Because there are four
doors left, and four murders will fill them...It's shaping up to be a deadly
little Christmas. The Deaths of December
is by Susi Holliday.
