Books to Look Forward to from Head of Zeus

July 2018

What would you do for the perfect life? Would you LIE? Would you CHEAT? Would you KILL? Cecilia Wilborg has THE PERFECT LIFE. A handsome husband, two beautiful daughters and a luxurious house in the picture-postcard town of Sandefjord.  But Cecilia also has A DARK SECRET. A secret so damaging it can never be brought to light.  Then Tobias enters her life. He is a small, friendless eight-year-old boy who just wants to find a home. But he threatens to bring Cecilia's world crashing down. The Boy at The Door is by Alex Dahl.

The End of Days has been predicted for the last two thousand years, but now it is upon us.  A secret war was raged for millennia, a bitter conflict as old as time itself: the battle between Good and Evil. Brother and sister Emma and Bravo Shaw now stand at the epicentre of the confrontation, for they possess the only copy of The Book of Deathly Things - the fallen Archangel Lucifer's first and last Testament.  While Emma and Bravo struggle to decipher the book's dreadful secrets, Lucifer's advance guard, the Fallen, are awakening. Should they can reclaim the Testament, Humankind will be irrevocably enslaved by the forces of evil. Time is running out, leviathan is coming, the apocalypse is nigh.  Four Dominions is by Eric Van Lustbader.

September 1939. A new day dawns in Sackwater, not that this sleepy backwater is taking much notice...  Inspector Betty Church - one of the few female officers on the force - has arrived from London to fill a vacancy at Sackwater police station. But Betty isn't new here. This is the place she grew up. The place she thought she'd left behind for good.  Time ticks slowly in Sackwater, and crime is of a decidedly lighter shade. Having solved the case of the missing buttons, Betty's called to the train station to investigate a missing bench. But though there's no bench, there is a body. A smartly dressed man, murdered in broad daylight, with two distinctive puncture wounds in his throat. While the locals gossip about the Suffolk Vampire, Betty Church readies herself to hunt a dangerous killer. Betty Church and the Suffolk Vampire is by M R C Kasasian.

August 2018

In southeast London, a young mother has been accused of an unthinkable crime: poisoning her own child - and then leaving him to die.  The mother, Ellie, is secretive and challenging - she's had a troubled upbringing - but does that mean she's capable of murder?  Balancing the case with raising her disabled five-year-old son, criminal defence lawyer Sarah Kellerman sets out in desperate pursuit of the truth. But when her own child becomes unwell, Sarah realises she's been drawn into a dangerous game.  In The Blood is by Ruth Mancini.

You have to know when to say no. That's one of the first things they tell you. But from the first day I arrived in Los Angeles, I said yes. Jessica Harris is a struggling Hollywood reporter hungry for her big break. When her editor asks her to profile movie star Clark Conrad, Jessica is sure her luck is on the turn. Clark is an A-lister with access to everyone. If Jessica can impress him, she's made it.  When she arrives at Clark's mansion in the Hollywood Hills, he is just as she always imagined. Charming, handsome yet disarmingly vulnerable. But then things take a darker turn. Clark's world is not as straightforward as it seems and Jessica's puff piece soon becomes something much more delicate - and dangerous. As Jessica draws herself deeper into Clark's inner circle, events begin to spiral out of her control.  Transfixing, insightful and unsettling, Through His Eyes drops is by Emma Dibdin and drops you into the mind of a young woman with everything to play for - and everything to lose...

The Psychology of Time Travel is a time travel murder mystery by Kate Mascarenhas.  1967: Four female scientists invent a time travel machine. They are on the cusp of fame: the pioneers who opened the world to new possibilities. But then one of them suffers a breakdown and puts the whole project in peril...  2017: Ruby knows her beloved Granny Bee was a pioneer, but they never talk about the past. Though time travel is now big business, Bee has never been part of it. Then they receive a message from the future - a newspaper clipping reporting the mysterious death of an elderly lady... 2018: When Odette discovered the body she went into shock. Blood everywhere, bullet wounds, that strong reek of sulpher. But when the inquest fails to find any answers, she is frustrated. Who is this dead woman that haunts her dreams? And why is everyone determined to cover up her murder?

Joe Brody is just your average Dostoevsky-reading, Harvard-expelled strip club bouncer who has a highly classified military history and a best friend from Catholic school who happens to be head mafioso Gio Caprisi.  FBI agent Donna Zamora, the best shot in her class at Quantico, is a single mother stuck at a desk manning the hotline. Their storylines intersect over a tip from a cokehead that leads to a crackdown on Gio's strip joint in Queens and Joe's arrest.  Outside the jailhouse, the Fed and the bouncer lock eyes, as Gordon launches them both headlong into a non-stop plot that goes from back-road gun running to high-stakes perfume heist, and manages to touch everyone from the CIA to the Triads. Beneath it all lurks a sinister criminal mastermind whose manipulations could cause chaos on a massively violent scale. The Bouncer is by David Gordon.

September 2018

Gallows Court is by Martin Edwards.  LONDON, 1930.  Sooty, sulphurous, and malign: no woman should be out on a night like this. A spate of violent deaths - the details too foul to print - has horrified the capital and the smog-bound streets are deserted. But Rachel Savernake - the enigmatic daughter of a notorious hanging judge - is no ordinary woman. To Scotland Yard's embarrassment, she solved the Chorus Girl Murder, and now she's on the trail of another killer.  Jacob Flint, a young newspaperman temporarily manning The Clarion's crime desk, is looking for the scoop that will make his name. He's certain there is more to the Miss Savernake's amateur sleuthing than meets the eye. He's not the only one. His predecessor on the crime desk was of a similar mind - not that Mr Betts is ever expected to regain consciousness after that unfortunate accident...Flint's pursuit of Rachel Savernake will draw him ever-deeper into a labyrinth of deception and corruption. Murder-by-murder, he'll be swept ever-closer to its dark heart - to that ancient place of execution, where it all began and where it will finally end: Gallows Court.

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 Accusation is by Zosia Wand.  Eve and Neil live in the beautiful Cumbrian town of Tarnside. After years of trying for a baby, they are in the final stages of adopting four-year-old Milly.  They just have to pass the 'settling in' period - three months of living together as a family under watchful eyes - and then they can make it official.  For Eve, her heartbreak is nearly at an end. She now has this perfect little girl in her life, a little girl who calls her mummy.  But Eve's dream of a happy family is fragile. Any hint of trouble and the adoption could collapse. One misunderstanding, one rumour, one accusation, could smash Eve's family to pieces.

October 2018

She arrived into Heathrow after a difficult week at work. Her bag had been stolen. Her whole life was in there - passport, wallet, house key. When she tried to report the theft, she couldn't remember her own name. All she knew was her own address.  Now she is at the door of Tony and Laura, a young couple living in Wiltshire. She says she lives in their home. They say they have never met her before.  One of them is lying. But which one?  Forget my Name is by J S Munroe.

Christmas whodunits starring Poirot, Marple, Rebus, More, Rumpole, Sherlock, Cadfael and many many more. Festive felonies, unscrupulous santas, deadly puddings, and misdemeanors under the mistletoe...  From Victorian detective stories to modern mysteries, police procedurals to pulp fiction, comic gems to cozy crime, there's something for every festive mood in this must-read collection starring sixty of the world's favourite detectives.  Featuring an all-star cast of authors including Isaac Asimov, Mary Higgins Clark, Arthur Conan Doyle, G.K. Chesterton, Colin Dexter, Thomas Hardy, H.R.F. Keating, Ngaio Marsh, John Mortimer, Ellis Peters, Sara Paretsky, Robert Louis Stevenson and - of course - Agatha Christie, this is the biggest and best Christmas crime anthology in print today.  The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries is edited by Otto Penzler.

November 2018

Imagine inheriting two billion dollars. Then imagine the money is left to you by your mortal enemy...  Blind Special Ops agent Jenny Aaron has just survived the worst thirty-six hours of her life. She has a standing offer to re-join the Department, the secret elite unit she used to belong to before she lost her sight. But first she must rest, and think.  Then Aaron receives a message that changes everything. The man she hates most in the world has left her an enormous fortune. The money is life-changing - but why is it in her hands?  A Shadow Falls is by Andreas Pflüger.

After much tragedy and violence, Jack Taylor has at long last found contentment. Of course, he still knocks back too much Jameson and dabbles in uppers, but he has a new woman in his life, a freshly bought apartment, and little sign of trouble on the horizon.  But once again, trouble comes to him, this time in the form of a wealthy Frenchman who wants Jack to investigate the double-murder of his twin sons. Jack is meanwhile roped into looking  after his girlfriend's nine-year-old son, and is in for a shock with the appearance of a character from his past.The plot is a chess game and all of the pieces seem to be moving at the behest of one dangerously mysterious player: a vigilante called 'Silence', because he's the last thing his victims will ever hear.  In The Galway Silence is by Ken Bruen.

Swords in the East is by P F Chisholm.  1592. Courtier Sir Robert Carey and Carey's surly, larcenous, and loyal henchman Henry Dodd, Land Sergeant of Gilsland, are back in Carlisle and the Debateable Lands.  As Carey struggles to solve the murder of a local minister, he battles with his deep adoration for Lady Elizabeth Widdrington, while despising her elderly, abusive husband - will the man never die?  Plunging readers straight into the raucous world of late-sixteenth century border reivers and unfettered Elizabethan intrigue, Swords in the East, the third chronicle of Sir Robert Carey's adventures, collects the novels A Chorus of Innocents and A Clash of Spheres under one volume.

Books to Look Forward to from Head of Zeus

July 2017

Everybody knows about Sherlock Holmes, the unique literary character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who has remained popular over the decades and is more appreciated than ever today. But what made this fictional character, dreamed up by a small-town English doctor back in the 1880s, into such a great success? This is the fascinating and exciting tale of the man and people who created the Holmes legend. It is also the tragic story of an author who tried to escape from his own invention and the inheritance that ruined a family dynasty. The book also charts the unexpected fortune and success of the actors, writers and readers who, over the decades, have recreated and renewed the idea of this most-famous of all detectives: from the gentleman amateur of the 1890s to the odd genius of Sherlock today. The Life and Death of Sherlock Holmes: Master Detective, Myth and Media Star is by Mattias Boström.

Paradise Valley is by C J Box.  For three years, Investigator Cassie Dewell has been hunting the serial killer known as The Lizard King. Twice she has come close to taking him, but now, working for the Bakken County, North Dakota sheriff's department, Cassie has set what she believes is the perfect trap. But the plan goes horribly wrong, and the blame falls on Cassie. Disgraced, she loses her job and, worse, is put under investigation. At the same time, Kyle Westergaard, a troubled kid whom Cassie has taken under her wing, has disappeared, telling everyone he is going on a long-planned adventure. Kyle's grandmother begs Cassie to find him and with nothing else to do, she agrees. But in the same way that two streams converge into a river, Kyle's disappearance may be more sinister than anyone suspects. Cassie's a lone wolf now - with no allies, no support, and only her own wits to rely on - and she will face a killer who is as ruthless as he is cunning. Can she do it alone?

Michael Tanner is heading home from a business trip when he accidentally picks up the wrong laptop from security. What he doesn't know is that the owner is US senator Susan Robbins, and her laptop contains top secret files that should never have been on there in the first place. And Senator Robbins is not the only one who wants the laptop back...Suddenly, Tanner is a hunted man. On the run, terrified for the safety of his family - he is in desperate need of a plan - but who can he trust?  The Switch is by Joseph Finder

August 2017

The Room by The Lake is by Emma Dibdin.  When Caitlin moved from London to New York, she thought she had left her problems behind: her alcoholic father, her dead mother, the pressure to succeed. But now, down to her last dollar in a foreign city, she is desperately lonely. Then she meets Jake. Handsome, smart, slightly damaged Jake. He lives off-grid, in a lakeside commune whose members practise regular exercise and frequent group therapy. Before long, Caitlin has settled into her idyllic new home. It looks like she has found the fresh start she longed for. But, as the commune tightens its grip on her freedom and her sanity, Caitlin realizes too late that she might become lost forever...

Madrid, 1982: The dictator is dead and Guzman is finally back in the capital. Years of bitter exile in the provinces doing the dirty work for the sinister Head of Military Intelligence have left their mark on the Comandante. He wants out. But he needs money first...and what better way to get it than blackmail? After all, he knows better than anyone where all the bodies are buried. Madrid, 2010: Forensic Investigator Ana Maria Galindez has been tracking Comandante Guzman by the trail of dead he left behind him: 15 tangled corpses in a disused mine, three skeletons in a sealed cellar in the Basque country. Guzman is the key to unlocking some of Spain's darkest secrets. But are there are those who will do anything keep the past buried. By threatening to disturb the dead, both Guzman and Galindez have placed themselves on the same lethal trajectory.  The Dead by Mark Oldfield.

September 2017

When I Wake Up is by Jessica Jarlvi.  'Why won't Mummy wake up?' When Anna, a much-loved teacher and mother of two, is left savagely beaten and in a coma, a police investigation is launched. News of the attack sends shock waves through her family and their small Swedish community. Anna seems to have had no enemies, so who wanted her dead? As loved-ones wait anxiously by her bedside, her husband Erik is determined to get to the bottom of the attack, and soon begins uncovering his wife's secret life, and a small town riven with desire, betrayal and jealousy. As the list of suspects grows longer, it soon becomes clear that only one person can reveal the truth, and she's lying silent in a hospital bed...

October 2017

Deadlier is 100 of the best crime stories written by women, selected and introduced by

Sophie Hannah. From Agatha Christie and Daphne du Maurier, to Val McDermid and Margaret Atwood, women writers have a long been tempted to criminal acts. Here, award-winning author Sophie Hannah brings together 100 of her favourite examples. Deadlier includes prize-winners, bestsellers and rising stars, so whether you take your crime cosy or hard-boiled, this big, beautiful anthology will keep you reading long into the night.

They say the girls were witches, but Beatrice Scarlet, the apothecary's daughter, knows they were victims...London, 1758: Beatrice Scarlet has returned to London and found work at St Mary Magdalene's Refuge for fallen women. Beatrice enjoys the work and her apothecary skills are much needed. The home cooperates with a network of wealthy factory owners across London, finding their charges steady work and hopes of rehabilitation. But when twelve girls sent to a factory in Clerkenwell disappear, Beatrice is uneasy. Their would-be benefactor claims they were witches, sacrificed by Satan for his demonic misdeeds. But Beatrice is sure something much darker than witchcraft is at play...  The Coven is by Graham Masterton.

Trust Me is by Zosia Wand.  Lizzie is twenty-seven, and she has a great relationship with her seventeen-year-old stepson, Sam, even though they could pass for brother and sister. When Sam becomes sullen and withdrawn, Lizzie starts to suspect that something sinister is going on at school. She thinks an older woman is grooming him, trying to turn him against his family. But nobody believes her - and then suspicion falls on Lizzie herself.

The Downside is by Mike Cooper.  In an age of cyber-crime, Finn is an old school thief: he's never stolen anything weighing less than five tons. Now, fresh out of prison and flat broke, he's got a line on his biggest job ever. Cracking the most heavily guarded private vault in North America? No problem. Hauling $50 million of precious metal out past guards, dozens of policemen and an armored SWAT battalion? Even easier. But navigating the betrayals of double-crossing partners, the machinations of a hedge-fund billionaire gone bad, and the ambiguous proposals of a woman with her own agenda? Finn has only begun to figure out the downside.

November 2017

Jenny Aaron was a government assassin, part of an elite unit tracking Germany's most dangerous criminals. She was one of the best, until a disastrous mission ended with her abandoning a wounded colleague and then going blind from her injuries. Now, five years later, she has learnt to navigate a darkened world, but is haunted by betraying her colleague. When she is called back to the force to trace a ruthless serial killer, she seizes the opportunity to solve the case and restore her honour. Strong-willed and fearless - but vulnerable too. In The Dark is by Andreas Pflüger.

Life's tough for a Gypsy cop in Budapest. The cops don't trust you because you're a Gypsy. Your fellow Gypsies, even your own family, shun you because you're a cop. The dead, however, don't care. So when Balthazar Kovacs, a detective in the city's murder squad, gets a mysterious message on his phone from a blocked number he gulps down the rest of his morning coffee, grabs his police ID and goes to work. The message has two parts: a photograph and an address. The photograph shows a man, in his early thirties, lying on his back with his eyes open, half-covered by a blue plastic sheet. The address is 26, Republic Square, the former Communist Party headquarters and once the most feared building in the country. But when Kovacs arrives at Republic Square, the body has gone...  District VIII is by Adam Lebor.

Undertow is by Anthony J Quinn.  The body of a dead police detective drifts ashore at Lough Neagh. What appears to be a simple case of suicide, takes on a more sinister tone when Detective Celcius Daly travels across the Irish border to the desolate village of Dreesh, a place where law and order have ground to a halt, and whose residents, ruined by a chain of bankruptcies, have fallen under the spell of a malevolent crime boss with powerful political connections to the IRA. Out of his jurisdiction, out of his claustrophobic cottage and out of his comfort zone, Daly is plunged into a shadowy border world of desperate informers, drunken ex-cops, freelance intelligence agents and violent smugglers. Doomed to be kept in the dark by two separate police forces working in parallel to each other along a border bracing itself for Brexit, Daly's dogged search for the truth soon sparks an outbreak of murderous violence.