Books to look forward to from Severn House

July 2019

Montreal, 1975. Detective Émile Cinq-Mars is transferring from the Night Patrol - the notoriously tough department of officers in charge of watching over the city as it sleeps - to the day shift. His old superior has seen to it that he's assigned to partner Yves Giroux, another ex-Night Patrol detective some say isn't on the 'up and up'. Getting in a house is easy for thief Quinn Tanner. The stress comes in getting out clean. On finding her getaway driver dead after her latest heist, she goes underground. For his first case on the day shift, Émile is sent to the property that Quinn has just visited, and their paths are set to cross. But has she stolen something more valuable than she realizes . . . and who is hunting for her now?  Ball Park is by John Farrow.

The Showstone is by Glenn Cooper.  Algosh, Iraq, 1989. During an archaeological excavation Hiram Donovan uncovers a piece of meticulously knapped obsidian. Instinct tells him to hide it from others on the dig, so he sends it back to his wife in America with a note: John Dee, British Museum/Scrying stone? Days later Hiram is murdered with it made to look like an accident. But there was a witness. Decades later, on his death bed, the witness confesses to what he saw. Shortly afterwards, Cal Donovan - Professor of Archaeology at Harvard and Hiram's son - is told his mother has been killed. Upon finding the parcel still unopened alongside his father's mysterious note referencing Queen Elizabeth's astrologer and alchemist, Cal sets out to discover the truth. What he finds are fanatics determined to obtain the mystical stone, but for what purpose...?

Kate Weller's boss, Nate Price, has some exciting news: Julian Frazier, a friend of one of the agency's wealthy clients, has invited the Nate Price Investigations team and their partners on a trip of a lifetime to his home on Elysian Island, an exclusive retreat off the Georgian coast. But there's a catch. Frazier has written his own murder mystery script, and the PIs must work out whodunnit. As they're about to discover, though, the murder Frazier wants them to solve is a real cold case, and there's a killer twist that isn't in the script . . . Unable to reach Elysian Island and her co-workers, Kate is sure that someone wants her to stay away. Can she stop a ruthless killer and uncover the truth behind a deadly game?  The Island of Last Resort is by Mary Ellis.

Dressed to Kill is by Kathleen Delaney.  Mary McGill and her cocker spaniel Millie get the fright of their lives on Halloween when they hear gunshots coming from the bank and the robber, dressed in a clown costume, points his gun at them before fleeing the scene. Mary is horrified when she discovers Police Chief Dan Dunham has been shot in the shoulder and a woman has been killed. Why would the clown shoot an ordinary citizen? Mary soon learns that the victim is Victoria Witherspoon, a local woman who owned a sewing shop and must have recognised the clown costume - because she made it herself. With Dan in hospital and unable to investigate, can Mary and Millie unmask the savage killer clown before he strikes again?

Sight Unseen is by Graham Hurley.  Malo is in trouble again. Enora Andressen's wayward son has received a ransom demand for the return of his girlfriend, the daughter of a wealthy Colombian business tycoon. But how far can a mother trust her son? And where does Clemmie's disappearance fit in the murderous world of cocaine dealing? With the help of Hayden Prentice, Malo's natural father and himself a one-time drug baron, Enora embarks on a hunt for the truth behind the kidnapping. The journey takes her deep into the exploding world of county lines, the new business model that delivers Class A drugs into every corner of the kingdom. Drug dealing is the new normal. The sums of money at stake are dizzying and a human life counts for nothing. As Enora Andressen is about to discover . . .

1930. Frances Black is worried - divorce proceedings are under way and her solicitor has learnt of a spiteful letter sent to the court claiming that there is more to her friendship with her sleuthing partner, Tom Dod, than meets the eye. Fran takes Tom's advice to get away, travelling down to Devon to help the Edgertons with their family mystery. After meeting the charismatic Eddie Edgerton and arriving at their residence, Sunnyside House, Fran soon learns that Eddie's grandfather, Frederick Edgerton, died in mysterious circumstances when his wheelchair went off a cliff. Was it really an accident? And what happened to Frederick's precious diamond which went missing at the time of his death? As Fran investigates, she uncovers family scandal, skulduggery and revenge, but can she solve the mystery of the missing diamond?  The Missing Diamond Murder is by Diane Janes.

The Dead Don’t Wait is by Michael Jecks.  April, 1555. A priest has been stabbed to death in the village of St Botolph, to the east of the City of London, his body left to rot by the roadside - and Jack Blackjack stands accused of his murder. As well as clearing his name, Jack has his own reasons for wanting to find out who really killed the priest - but this is an investigation where nothing is as it seems. Was it a random attack by a desperate outlaw, or do the answers lie in the murdered priest's past? As he questions those who knew the dead man, Jack is faced with a number of conflicting accounts - and it's clear that not everyone can be telling him the whole truth. But Jack is about to be side-tracked from the investigation ... with disastrous consequences.

August 2019

August, 1582. The queen’s spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, has ordered Ursula to keep an eye on her new neighbour, Giles Frost, who is rumoured to be spying for King Philip of Spain. Arriving at Knoll House on the pretext of teaching his two daughters embroidery, Ursula’s secret mission is to feed false information to Frost to pass on to the Spanish.  Walsingham has assured Ursula that she’ll be in no danger. But events take a decidedly sinister turn when a body is found in the woods near Ursula’s home, a stained glass window is smashed and a bridal dowry is stolen.   What secrets are contained within the Knoll House … and is Ursula being lured into a lethal trap?  A Web of Spies is by Fiona Buckley.

An Artful Assassin in Amsterdam is by Michael Grant.  "It takes a thief to catch a thief . . ."  The last thing fugitive crime writer David Mitre expects as he's cruising along an Amsterdam canal is to be the focus of a bizarre murder attempt . . . But why is he being targeted? He hasn't even done anything wrong. Recently. After the would-be assassin tries again, David is rescued by Delia Delacorte, the FBI Special Agent he locked horns with in Cyprus. In return, Delia wants his help to prevent the theft of a priceless painting from the Rijksmuseum.  Meanwhile David is also attempting to find a friend's missing daughter, allay the suspicions of the local police and evade the assassin, all the while devising a plan to stop the theft.  His plan: he'll steal the painting himself . . .

City of Pearl is by Alys Clare.  October, 1093. At her mentor's urgent request, Lassair is accompanying Gurdyman across the sea to Spain. But why is he so insistent on embarking on this difficult and dangerous journey just as winter approaches? And why does he seem so afraid? Could there be any connection to the vagrant found lying dead outside his home, a single pearl clutched in his outstretched hand? As the pair reach the remote mountainous regions of northern Spain, Lassair will be tested as never before. Hot on her trail is Jack Chevestrier, the young lawman who loves her. But who is it who's trying to kill him ... and why?

Professor Emily Cavanaugh has left Windy Corner behind and is back at Reed College on her sabbatical, determined to finish writing her book on Dostoevsky. She is soon reunited with one of her promising students, Daniel Razumov, as well as familiar faces on the teaching staff - her friend, Marguerite Grenier, her half-brother, Oscar Lansing, the abrasive division chair, Richard McClintock, and the predatory Taylor Curzon. Known for her relentless pursuit of young male students, Taylor now has Daniel firmly in her sights.  Emily knows Taylor must be stopped, but as she starts gathering evidence of Daniel's harassment, she has a disturbing flashback, and then makes a gruesome discovery . . . Can Emily catch a dangerous campus killer while also confronting events from her own past?  Death with Dostoevsky is by Katherine Bolger Hyde. 

Impolitic Corpse is by Paul Johnston.  November, 2038. Scotland has been reunified and Edinburgh's thirty-year experiment with supposedly benevolent totalitarianism is over. But there's still plenty of work for ex-investigator Quint Dalrymple, who's looking into an attempted strangling in Leith. A young man has been attacked by an assailant wearing a bizarre tree-fish costume. Before Quint can make headway, he is asked by the head of government to look into the strange disappearance of the Lord of the Isles. How could Angus Macdonald, leader of the opposition, have vanished from inside his locked bedroom while his valet was sitting outside? And why has a severed finger been hidden in the room? When a body is discovered, arranged in a disturbingly macabre pose, it becomes clear the two cases are linked. As Quint delves further, he is drawn into a complex web of deception whose threads lead far back into his past ...

Ellie's husband Thomas, a retired minister, is suspicious when he receives not one but five letters advising him that he has been bequeathed money by five different people in their wills. He barely knew three of his benefactors, and what could possibly connect him to the other two strangers?  Sensing something isn't right, and with Thomas's reputation at stake, Ellie investigates but is soon distracted, not only by the problem of trying to ease Hetty, a difficult woman who's recently taken refuge with them, out of their house, but also by her daughter, Diana, who's in trouble again. As Ellie finally starts to make progress with her enquiries, she is about to uncover some disturbing truths - and in doing so, find herself in great danger . . .  Murder for Good is by Veronica Heley.

Music Macabre is by Sarah Rayne.  Music researcher Phineas Fox has been enjoying his latest commission, gathering background material for a biography of Franz Liszt. But although he has - as anticipated - uncovered plenty of scandal in the 19th century composer's past, matters take a decidedly unexpected turn when his investigations lead to Linklighters, a newly-opened Soho restaurant built on the site of an old Victorian music hall, and unearth evidence of a possible murder involving the notorious music hall performer known as Scaramel.  Just what was Liszt's connection to Scaramel ... and, through her, to the infamous Victorian serial killer Jack the Ripper? As he delves further, Phin's enquiries uncover clues to a fascinating and extraordinary story - and plunge his own life into jeopardy.

Although the culinary fare at Magdalena Yoder's new restaurant, Asian Sensations - a unique combination of Asian and Amish cuisine - is not to everyone's taste, the good citizens of Hernia are unanimously agreed that the desserts concocted by the restaurant chef, Barbara Hostetler, are to die for. Not literally however. When a guest at the PennDutch Inn drops dead shortly after consuming a slice of Barbara's delicious Blitz torte, Magdalena finds herself arrested for murder. Did someone deliberately set her up? In order to clear her name and protect her nearest and dearest, Magdalena must identify a ruthless killer - before they strike again. Puddin' on the Blitz is by Tamar Myers

Sidewalk Saint is by Phillip Depoy. Florida, 1976. Foggy Moscowitz knows he's having a bad night when he wakes to find a gun pressed to his face. Nelson Roan has busted out of his prison cell and broken into Foggy's house, demanding Foggy finds his eleven-year-old daughter, Etta. But as Foggy searches for Etta, it seems her father is not the only person who wants her found: Canadian mobsters, crazy New York Irishmen, the FBI and even the Seminole elite are all on her trail. But why? Etta has a special gift - and she knows something that certain people would go to any lengths to make sure stays buried in her memory. As Foggy helps Etta to reveal what she knows, he uncovers a sinister plot with tentacles that stretch further and higher than he could ever have imagined . . .

The Bells of Hell is by Michael Kurland.  March, 1938. Otto Lehman arrives in New York on the S.S. Osthafen to be immediately confronted by two men with FBI badges . . . only, that isn't his real name and the men aren't with the FBI. The next day Lehman is found tied to a chair, beaten to death and naked, in an abandoned Brooklyn warehouse. The sole witness to the crime, Andrew Blake, a homeless man struggling through the Great Depression, claims those responsible were speaking German. With the threat of the perpetrators being Nazis, President Roosevelt's own covert counter-intelligence agent Jacob Welker is brought in to investigate. Welker recruits Blake along with Lord Geoffrey Saboy, a British 'cultural attache', and his wife Lady Patricia, to help him to thwart a Nazi terrorist attack. But who exactly are the Nazis, what is their target and when will they strike?

September 2019

"You want me to represent the most hated man in Houston?" Disbarred Texas lawyer Edward Hall returns to the courtroom after accepting an offer from the District Attorney to represent the most obviously guilty defendant in town. It's a poisoned chalice. Not only is his client charged with kidnapping the DA's sister, he is already well-known for the previous kidnapping of a celebrity's son. But if Edward handles this well, he has a chance to regain his law licence. And Edward understand that by 'handling the case well', the DA means he needs to lose. Labouring under this impossible conflict of interest, Edward prepares for the trial with the help of his resourceful girlfriend Linda. But as the trial approaches, Edward finds himself having to solve and prove a completely different case: one of cold-blooded murder.  From the Grave is by Jay Brandon.

Dark Truths is by A J Cross. When a headless body is discovered on a popular jogging trail, Detective Inspector Bernard Watts and his team are plunged headlong into a baffling murder investigation. Why would someone stab to death a young woman on her daily run - and take her head? When a close examination of the crime scene results in a shocking discovery linking the present murder to a past crime, criminologist Will Traynor is brought in to assist the police. Aware of Traynor's troubled past and already having to deal with inexperienced rookie PC Chloe Judd on his team, Watts is sceptical that Traynor will bring anything useful to the investigation. He's about to be proved very wrong ...

Winter of Despair is by Cora Harrison.  November, 1853. Inspector Field has summoned his friends Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins to examine a body found in an attic studio, its throat cut. Around the body lie the lacerated fragments of canvas of a painting titled A Winter of Despair. On closer examination, Wilkie realizes he recognizes the victim, for he had been due to dine with him that very evening. The dead man is Edwin Milton-Hayes, one of Wilkie's brother Charley's artist friends. But what is the significance of the strange series of faceless paintings Milton-Hayes had been worked on when he died? And why is Charley acting so strangely? With his own brother under suspicion of murder, Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens set out to uncover the truth. What secrets lie among the close-knit group of Pre-Raphaelite painters who were the dead man's friends? And who is the killer in their midst?

When her friend Meda fails to turn up for dance class one evening, 10-year-old Hilda is convinced that something bad has happened to her, despite Meda's family's reassurances. Unable to shake off her concerns, Hilda turns to her mother, Molly, for help. Molly runs the Jolly Bonnet, a pub with links to the Whitechapel murders of a century before and a meeting place for an assortment of eccentrics drawn to its warm embrace. Among them is Lottie. Pathologist by day, vlogger by night, Lottie enlists the help of her army of online fans - and uncovers evidence that Meda isn't the first young girl to go missing. But Molly and Lottie's investigations attract unwelcome attention. Two worlds are about to collide in a terrifying game of cat and mouse played out on the rain-lashed streets of London's East End, a historic neighbourhood that has run red with the blood of innocents for centuries. A Rush of Blood is by David Mark.

The Hocus Girl is by Chris Nickson.  Leeds, May 1822. Thief-taker Simon Westow owes Davey and Emily Ashton everything - the siblings gave him sanctuary when he needed it most. So when Davey is arrested for sedition and Emily begs Simon for help, he starts asking questions, determined to clear his friend. Are the answers linked to rumours of a mysterious government spy in town? Davey's not the only one who needs Simon's help. Timber merchant George Ericsson has been 'hocussed' by a young woman who spiked his drink and stole his valuable ring and watch. Who is she, and how does she know one of Simon's assistant Jane's deepest secrets? The path to the truth is twisted and dangerous. Simon and Jane encounter murder, lies, betrayal and a government terrified of its own people as they attempt to save Davey and find the hocus girl.

Script for Scandal is by Renee Patrick.  1939, Los Angeles. Lillian Frost is shocked when her friend, glamorous costume designer Edith Head, hands her the script to a new film that's about to start shooting. Streetlight Story is based on a true crime: the California Republic bank robbery of 1936. Lillian's beau, LAPD detective Gene Morrow, was one of the officers on the case; his partner, Teddy, was tragically shot dead. It seems the scriptwriter has put Gene at the centre of a scandal, twisting fact with fiction - or has he? With Gene reluctant to talk about the case, the movie quickly becoming the hottest ticket in town, a suspicious death on the Paramount studio lot and the police reopening the investigation into Teddy's death, Lillian is determined to find answers. Can Lillian and Edith uncover the truth of what happened that fateful day and clear Gene's name?

October 2019

Dark Queen Waiting is by Paul Doherty. October, 1471. Margaret Beaufort secretly plots for the day her young son, Henry Tudor, can be crowned the rightful king. When one of her most loyal henchmen is murdered, Margaret orders her sharp-witted clerk, Christopher Urswicke, to find out who has betrayed her - and solve a baffling mystery where nothing is as it first appears.

Dorothy Martin and her husband Alan head to the Canadian city of Victoria to investigate a series of petty crimes. But when a woman goes missing and a body is discovered, it would appear that the petty crimes have turned deadly - and Dorothy and Alan have embarked on a trip that will become far more dangerous than they ever envisaged...  Death in the Garden City is by Jeanne M Dams.

When a young woman comes forward saying she's the reincarnation of Riya Kaur, a wife and mother who vanished during the bloody 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Puri is dismissive. He's busy enough dealing with an irate matrimonial client whose daughter is complaining about her groom's thunderous snoring. Puri's indomitable Mummy-ji however is adamant the client is genuine. How else could she so accurately describe under hypnosis Riya Kaur's life and final hours?  Driven by a sense of duty - the original case was his late father's - Puri manages to acquire the police file only to find that someone powerful has orchestrated a cover-up. Forced into an alliance with his mother that tests his beliefs and high blood pressure as never before, it's only by delving into the past the help of his reincarnated client that Puri can hope to unlock the truth.  The Case of the Reincaranted Client is by Tarquin Hall.

Dreams of Fear is by Hilary Bonner.  Jane Ferguson suffers from horrific nightmares which she claims not to be able to explain. And when her traumatised 6-year-old daughter finds Jane dead, hanging by the neck in the hallway of the family's seaside home, it is assumed she took her own life.  But routine police enquiries reveal evidence indicating that Jane has been murdered, and her businessman husband Felix, commodore of the local yacht club, becomes the chief suspect.  Called in to launch a major inquiry, Detective Inspector David Vogel discovers that nothing connected with Jane Ferguson's death is as it seems. Gradually, he uncovers a deeply disturbing story involving a succession of shocking family secrets stretching back over three decades. 

Divorced single mom Mandy Meadows scrapes by working as a barista and receiving payments from her cousin, Ryan, who rents her basement apartment. At night, she and her teenage daughter Vellum run a successful home business as journaling bloggers on their popular YouTube channel.  But Mandy's carefully organized world is about to come crashing down. While filming their latest journaling tutorial, Mandy and Vellum hear a loud noise on the basement stairs, and Mandy is horrified to find Ryan dead on the landing. The police quickly start to treat the death as a murder - with Mandy and Vellum as chief suspects. Why would someone murder Ryan? Determined to clear their names and find Ryan's killer, Mandy soon discovers he wasn't the man she thought he was. How well did she really know her cousin?  Journaled to Death is by Heather Redmond.

Terminal Black is by Adrian Magson.  Harry Tate has one rule: you don't abandon your friends. When he learns that former colleague Rik Ferris has had a breakdown and disappeared, allegedly in possession of highly sensitive secrets from MI6's archives, he agrees to look for him and, if possible, bring him back in. But where to begin? Rik could be anywhere in the world. All Harry knows is, if he doesn't find Rik, others will be sent out instead. And they won't play by the same rules. What Harry doesn't know is that Rik is being held prisoner and tortured for information relating to a high-level mole in the British establishment. If he doesn't tell his captors what he knows, it will result in a devastating cyber attack designed to bring the UK to its knees.

The Black Cage is by Jack Frederickson.  Exposing the botched murder investigation of three young boys has left Milo Rigg's reputation and career as a crime-reporting journalist in tatters. But when the naked, frozen bodies of two young sisters, Priscilla and Beatrice Graves, are found down a ravine in Chicago months later, there are disturbing similarities. Are the two cases linked, and could this be Milo's chance to right the wrongs of the past?  Restored to his former reporter role, Milo is back - and he's asking uncomfortable questions again. Confronted with deception and corruption at every turn, can Milo uncover the identity of a ruthless serial killer and finally rid himself of the black cage that threatens to consume him?

Newly appointed as land agent to the youthful Lord Croft, Matthew Rowsley finds plenty to keep him busy as he attends to his lordship's neglected country estate. But he's distracted from his tasks by the disappearance of a young housemaid. Has Maggie really eloped with a young man, as her mother attests - or is the truth rather more sinister? What's been going on behind the scenes at the grand country estate ... and where has his lordship disappeared to?  Teaming up with housekeeper Mrs Faulkner to get to the bottom of the matter, Matthew uncovers a number of disturbing secrets, scandals and simmering tensions within the household. Something rotten is going on at Thorncroft - and it's up to Matthew and Mrs Faulkner to unearth the truth. The Wages of Sin is by Judith Cutler