Books to Look Forward to from Bloomsbury

January 2020

Arthur Conan Doyle was not just the creator of the world's greatest detective, he was also an intrepid global traveler - and travel writer. His descriptions of the journeys he made and the adventures he embarked upon - from the Arctic to the Alps, West Africa to Egypt and across every ocean in between - are brought to life with insight, humour and exceptional evocations of place. Conan Doyle’s Wide World: Sherlock Holmes and Beyond is by Andrew Lycett.

February 2020

Between the To Evils is by Eva Dolan.  As the country bakes under the relentless summer sun, a young doctor is found brutally murdered at his home in a picturesque Cambridgeshire village. Is his death connected to his private life - or his professional one? Dr Joshua Ainsworth worked at an all-female detention centre, one still recovering from a major scandal a few years before. Was he the whistle-blower - or an instigator? As Detective Sergeant Ferreira and Detective Inspector Zigic begin to painstakingly reconstruct Dr Ainsworth's last days, they uncover yet more secrets and more suspects. But this isn't the only case that's demanding their attention - a violent criminal has been released on a technicality and the police force know he will strike again: the only question is who will be his first victim.

The Cambridge Spies continue to fascinate - but one of them, John Cairncross, has always been more of an enigma than the others. He worked alone and was driven by his hostility to Fascism rather than to the promotion of Communism. During his war-time work at Bletchley Park, he passed documents to the Soviets which went on to influence the Battle of Kursk. Now, Geoff Andrews has access to the Cairncross papers and secrets, and has spoken to friends, relatives and former colleagues. A complex individual emerges - a scholar as well as a spy - whose motivations have often been misunderstood. After his resignation from the Civil Service, Cairncross moved to Italy and here he rebuilt his life as a foreign correspondent, editor and university professor. This gave him new circles and friendships - which included the writer Graham Greene - while he always lived with the fear that his earlier espionage would come to light. Agent Moliere: The Life of John Cairncross, the Fifth Man of the Cambridge Spy Circle is by Geoff Andrews.

March 2020

It's the winter of 1948. The four great railway companies have just been nationalised and Jack Wenlock – the last of a fabled cadre of railway detectives – is thrown out onto the street.  Penniless, with new bride Jenny to support, and hiding from a murderous organisation called Room 42, Jack's prospects look bleak.  But then a letter arrives from a mysterious Cornish Countess revealing that Jack's mother – long believed to be dead – may have survived a shipwreck off the coast of Java. Seizing the opportunity to track down his only remaining family member, Jack and Jenny board a boat heading East.   The trail takes them to a run-down Siamese hotel where a motley assortment of drifters has washed up. Here a spy, an assassin, a deserter, an old soldier and a fading Hollywood movie star all await the arrival of a missing part for a flying boat and a journey that will take them into the realm of myth.  But if Jack is ever to see his mother again, he has to stop them…  The Corpse in the Garden of Perfect Brightness is by Malcolm Pryce

April 2020

A Bangladeshi camp. A British ambassador. A Harley Street doctor. Investigative journalist Casey Benedict is used to working on stories that will take her from the bottom to the top of society - stories with a huge human cost. And her latest case is no different. A frantic message is found hidden in clothes manufactured for the British high street. They take the girls... Casey and her team at the Post know they are on the brink of a major expose but identifying the factories in which the clothes have been made is one challenge, following the trail of those taken is another. Their attempts to find the girls will take Casey from her London newsroom across the world and into the very heart of families who will be destroyed if what she uncovers is ever revealed.  The Dead Line is by Holly Watt

June 2020

Post Mortem is by Gary Bell QC.  Once a petty criminal  now a highly respected QC Elliott Rook has years of legal experience  - and he will need everyone of them if he is to see his latest client acquitted.  A batch of tainted drugs has killed thirteen inmates at a London prison and a vulnerable young officer, Charli Meadows has been charged with smuggling them into prison.  Charli insists that she is innocent but as Rook begins to investigate the charges that first saw the prisoners incarcerated a threatening note arrives at Rook’s flat, warning him off the case.