Books to Look Forward to from Head of Zeus

January 2019

It was nothing more than a one-night stand. Juliana Brody, a judge in the Superior Court of Massachusetts, is rumoured to be in consideration for the federal circuit, maybe someday the highest court in the land. At a conference in a Chicago hotel, she meets a gentle, vulnerable man and in a moment of weakness has an unforgettable night with him. They part with an explicit understanding that this must never happen again.  But back home in Boston, it becomes clear that this was no random encounter. The man from Chicago proves to have an integral role in a case she's presiding over - a sex-discrimination case that's received national attention. Juliana discovers that she's been entrapped, her night of infidelity captured on video. Strings are being pulled in high places, a terrifying unfolding conspiracy that will turn her life upside down. But soon it becomes clear that personal humiliation, even the possible destruction of her career, are the least of her concerns, as her own life and the lives of her family are put in mortal jeopardy.  In the end, turning the tables on her adversaries will require her to be as ruthless as they are.  Judgment is by Joseph Finder.

Verses for the Dead is by Preston & Child.  After an overhaul of leadership at the FBI's New York field office, Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast is forced to accept an unthinkable condition of continued employment: the unorthodox lone wolf must now work with a partner.  Pendergast and his new cohort, Special Agent Coldmoon, are dispatched to Florida to investigate a rash of ritualistic murders. A killer is carving out the hearts of his victims, and depositing the stolen organs alongside the headstones of existing graves. Accompanying each heart is a cryptic letter, signed by a 'Mr Brokenhearts'. There is one more intriguing aspect to Mr Brokenhearts' macabre modus operandi: the chosen graves all belong to women who have committed suicide.  As he searches for the connection between the old suicides and the new murders, Pendergast realises the brutal new crimes may be just the tip of the iceberg: that he faces a conspiracy of death reaching back decades.

February 2019

Begging to Die is by Graham Masterton. A young girl is found wandering the city alone. Who is she?  Someone is killing beggars on the streets of Cork. But why?  DCI Katie Maguire, Ireland's most fearless detective, must find out. But while she fights for justice for the homeless, her fiance Conor has his own crusade: against illegal puppy farming. A hugely lucrative black market run by terrifying gangs, it is a huge scandal in Ireland.  Soon their freedom, their marriage, and even their lives are in danger...

March 2019

Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett encounters bad behavior on his own turf: a drone is killing wildlife - and the drone belongs to a mysterious and wealthy man whose grandson is dating Joe's own daughter, Lucy.  When Joe tries to lay down the rules for the drone operator, he is asked by the FBI and the DOJ to stand down - and with good reason: the man is in the witness relocation program and he's being hunted by four killers from the Sinaloa cartel. If Joe isn't careful, his actions will expose the witness to his pursuers.  Teaming up with a new partner - a female game warden - to confront these assassins, Joe finds himself their prey - along with Lucy and her boyfriend.  Wolf Pact is by CJ Box.

The Friend is by Joakim Zander.  Jacob Seger arrived in Lebanon with a head full of dreams. This is his first job in the world of international diplomacy, and he's determined to change the world for the better. When he meets the handsome, soulful Yassim at a glamorous party, his happiness is complete.  But three weeks later, Jacob recognises his own face in the newspaper. He is wanted on terrorism charges - apparently he is plotting attacks on Stockholm, London, Brussels, and Rome. Jacob is crushed. Has Yassim set him up? Is he now a pawn in a murderous plot? Jacob doesn't know who he can trust. But one thing's for certain: he needs to flee Beirut - and fast.  At once a moving love story and a gripping adventure, The Friend is an intelligent and urgent thriller that untangles the complexities of international politics and casts light on the dark threats facing the world today.

A Suspicion of Silver is by P F Chisholm.  Sir Robert Carey leaves the court of Scotland's King James VI in early January, 1593, on the hunt for Joachim Hochstetter - also known as Jonathan Hepburn.  Carey, the Queen's Deputy Warden in Carlisle, is carrying a warrant for Hochstetter's arrest for plotting with the King of Spain and Scottish earls to assassinate King James. Hochstetter, a skilled engineer, is a son of a family of Anabaptists from Augsburg and may have taken ship. Or he may have gone to ground at Vicar's Island, Derwentwater, where his widowed mother, Radegunda, rules the smelting business and her unruly brood. Is he a man driven by the religious politics of the period? Or is he just a stone-cold killer?  Meanwhile, what is the fate of Sir Robert's surly henchman Henry Dodd? Is his wife - the redoubtable Janet - now a childless widow?

April 2019

In Kossuth square, Lajos Kolompar, a local politican is found dead, face down in a pond in front of Parliament. With his blood alcohol nudging fatal levels, he's believed to have fallen and drowned.  Gypsy cop Balthazar Kovacs of the Budapest murder squad reads of

Kolompar's death in the news. It stays in the back of his mind until his old girlfriend, journalist Eniko Szalay, receives a tip-off from the coroner's office that Kolompar's autopsy results were tampered with.  And his body accidentally cremated.  Soon, Kovacs is drawn into the Budapest underworld of people smuggling, blackmail and violent political tensions - always caught between the two worlds of the Gypsy and the non-Gypsy, of the law and family loyalty.  Kossuth Square is by Adam Lebor.

The Playground Murders is by Lesley Thomson.  Wormwood scrubs playground, 1980.  The wind blows across the common, and the girl in her shorts shivers. The playground is isolated, timeless. Far from the prying eyes of grown-ups, she and her friends can play make-believe here. The looming slide is a mountain; the upturned log a pirate ship. But six-year-old Sarah Ferris does not know that in two days' time, she will be dead: a victim of jealousy, betrayal, and her own innocence. Hammersmith, 2019. Cleaner Stella Darnell loves rooting into shadowy places and restoring order. She'll clear your attic, polish your kitchen and scrub your bath - but she also investigates cold cases. Stella can spend hours sifting through forgotten evidence looking for shreds of evidence the police might have missed. So when a woman is found dead, and the killer is linked to the Sarah Ferris murder, Stella is the woman for the case. But dredging up the past can be dangerous. Especially if the playground killer is back...

May 2019

A wounded daughter.  Detective Fabian Risk's daughter is in a coma at Helsingborg hospital. It's Risk's fault for getting her involved in his last investigation - and the guilt is crippling.  A murdered boy.   A young Syrian refugee has been killed. It looks like a racist attack - but then more people die across Sweden and Denmark. There's no link between any of the victims. Is this a serial killer who strikes at random?  A desperate hunt.  In Denmark, Police Chief Astrid Tuvesson must abandon her AA program to lead the investigation. And in Sweden, Fabian Risk is called from his daughter's bedside and forced back into service. But even with a united team, tracking a random killer is next to impossible...  How do you catch a killer… Who never strikes the same way twice.  Motive X is by Stefan Ahnhem.

A Date With Death is by Mark Roberts.  All they wanted was to find their happy-ever-after... Instead, they met their deaths.  Three women have been killed in Liverpool. The MO points to a stranger, and now DCI Eve Clay is on the trail of a vicious man who preys on lonely women on dating sites. He signs off the same way with each message: "Kiss kiss, night night."  His crimes are escalating - and Eve has to stop him before another girl dies. But first she needs to find him. And that means going undercover online, and posing as his perfect victim...

June 2019

A Line of Forgotten Blood is by Malcolm Mackay.  Scotland has been a proudly independent country for centuries. But success has now turned sour. Malcolm Mackay's remarkable novel of crime and corruption is set in a brooding, rain-swept Scottish city that is compellingly different from the one we think we know.  The Scottish city of Challaid is corruption-riddled place where people frequently go off the radar. So when PC Vinny Reno discovers his ex-wife, Freya, has disappeared, he turns to private detectives Darian Ross and Sholto Douglas.  Their search will lead them to a collision between Freya and a wealthy banking family. But it also leads to more questions. What does Freya's disappearance have to do with a year-old murder case? What is the involvement of a young man who never leaves his house? As they dig deeper into the past, Darian and Sholto realise they must stand against the most powerful people in the city if they are to unearth the truth...