Forthcoming books from Duckworth Books

January 2026

Inspector Henry Tibbett is taking a much-needed holiday from his job at Scotland Yard with his wife Emmy. Headed for a spot of skiing in the Italian Dolomites and some first-class people-watching, Tibbett’s worries blissfully melt away. That is, until a fellow guest who boards the ski lift alive at the top of the mountain is found dead when the lift touches bottom. Another dead body turns up, and then another, and it becomes clear that murder has come to the mountain. Dead Men Don't Ski is by Patricia Moyes.

February 2026

I'll be the Monster is by Sean Gilbert. The college bars were shuttered. Parties banned. Suicide watch was the new normal. And yet, outside, the air was sweet. Trees exploded in white and pink. Birds sang through long, pastel dusks. When I think of that time, I think of pale skin and outrageous blossoms. I think of choices. A homicidal couple embarks on a luxury holiday to save their marriage. After years of secrets and self-restraint, they’ve reached breaking point. But three days into the trip, they run into Benny, an acquaintance from their Cambridge days. And Benny is desperate to reminisce about a time – and a person – they would rather forget.

The Sunken Sailor is by Patricia Moyes . Inspector Henry Tibbett and his wife, Emmy, are enjoying a holiday on a friend's yacht, lazily sailing from one little English sea-town to the next. It should all be delicious indolence... except that Tibbett can't stop thinking about death. Well, one death in particular. The death of a local sailor. And he really can't stop thinking about it when it starts looking as though the drowned sailor is somehow connected to the robbery at a nearby manor house.

March 2026

Vengeance is theirs and theirs alone.But who will deal the fatal blow? Young Nancy Ratcliffe is on the run. Her father had sought refuge for his family with the Brethren, led by the charismatic but dangerous Prophet. But now her father is gravely ill, and even the sooty streets of Victorian London hold less terror for Nancy than the brutality of Brethren Hall. Meanwhile, Spider is biding her time. Wrapped in dreams and visions, she paces the dark corridors and hidden staircases of the crumbling house she grew up in. The man who murdered a part of her disappeared many years ago, but still she hopes for revenge. Spider, Spider is by L.C. Winter

In the plush Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, law officers from many countries are assembled to discuss the control of drug smuggling. Among them is the intrepid Inspector Henry Tibbett, who is representing Britain and is using the occasion to combine business and a holiday with his wife, Emmy. It is a wonderful opportunity. That is until Tibbett finds himself unable to account for his whereabouts when an important official is found slumped across his desk, as cold and stiff as the dagger protruding from his back. Death on the Agenda is by Patricia Moyes.

April 2026

The staff of Style magazine in London are in the feverishly exciting period just before the latest Paris fashion news is to break. They have debated late into the night about which photographs to feature, but only one of them knows that the stakes are so high that an employee will be dead by morning… Inspector Henry Tibbett must act quickly to save the life of his niece, a beautiful Style model, who is in danger of becoming the next victim of a crime as ingenious as the creations of haute couture itself. Murder à la Mode is by Patricia Moyes .

May 2026

The Tabby in Black is by Mandy Morton. Chocks away! as our feline detectives investigate some sticky situations at the local chocolate factory in Catberry-on-the-Brink. Up at the Manor House, the family is at war as dark secrets are uncovered in The Tabby in Black chocolate selection box. Will Hettie and Tilly manage to reach the bottom layer before a murderer strikes? Did Horace Catberry really choke on a Mog Nob biscuit? And will the Goth Band Gums and Noses get to support The Travelling Whoopsies on their next tour? Join Hettie and Tilly as they unwrap the mysteries swirling around the Catberry family in this bitter-sweet assortment of truth and lies.

June 2026

Death and Deja vu by Ian Moore. Richard Ainsworth moved to rural France to escape the world, so being voted mayor of the small town of Saint-Sauver comes as a terrible shock. Fortunately bureaucracy has its benefits and he is shipped off to a health spa to recuperate. The Esprit de l’Air is a world famous venue on a deserted island fort off the west coast of France, and was chosen specifically by his business partner and bounty hunter of international repute, Valérie d’Orçay. Richard should have been prepared then. After a dramatic first night where a bizarre and unfriendly group of guests are pitched against each other to win ownership of the resort, Richard’s film historian mind wanders. Has he seen this all before? And when the first body turns up, he knows he has... 

 

Books to look Forward to from Duckworth Press (Incl Farrago)

 January 2022

In Mermaid Confidential by Tim Dorsey, Serge Storms and his permanently baked sidekick, Coleman, decide to pump the brakes and live on island time. After years of manic road tripping across their beloved Sunshine State, the irrepressible anti-heroes drop anchor in the Florida Keys. They settle down in Pelican Bay, a thriving condo complex with scenic views and friendly neighbours. But the community is at war with investors who are buying up units and leasing them to young vacationers who party at all hours. With their little slice of heaven on the line, Serge takes it upon himself to convince the tourists to move on and quickly becomes a local favourite. Meanwhile, the island chain's long and rich smuggling heritage is causing mayhem - a gang war erupts when a local drug lord passes the family business to his young, enterprising son, and the sun-loving residents are suddenly dodging bullets. Luckily, Florida's most lovable serial killer is there to help!

April 2022

Richard is a middle-aged Englishman who runs a B&B in the fictional Val de Follet in the Loire Valley. Nothing ever happens to Richard, and really that's the way he likes it. One day, however, one of his older guests disappears, leaving behind a bloody handprint on the wallpaper. Another guest, the enigmatic Valerie, persuades a reluctant Richard to join her in investigating the disappearance. Richard remains a dazed passenger in the case until things become really serious and someone murders Ava Gardner, one of his beloved hens ... and you don't mess with a fellow's hens! Death and Croissants is by Ian Moore.

May 2022

Dolly and the Bird of Paradise is by Dorothy Dunnett. Rita, a small, tough Scottish make-up artist is on Madeira trying to find out who killed Kim-Jim, an American make-up supremo. Also anchored off the island is Dolly, the yacht of Johnson Johnson with whom Rita teams up to get to the bottom of this foul deed. Rita's fighting spirits are aroused despite her danger. She is not one for quitting, even when she learns she is caught up in an international drug-smuggling ring.nnBut she also discovers that dealing with the maddeningly enigmatic Johnson Johnson is, by no stretch of the imagination, plain sailing.

The Cat and the Pendulum is by Mandy Morton. When the celebrated crime writer Agatha Crispy engages Hettie and Tilly in the search for a stolen manuscript, our feline detective duo is plunged into a world of Dickensian thieves and murderers. Does the ghost of Jake the Nipper prowl the London Streets of Kitzrovia? Will Madame Two Paws's exhibition wax or wane? And will the secrets in the crypt of the church of St Mavis and Cucumber finally be revealed? Join Hettie and Tilly as they attempt to unravel yet another darkly humorous case for The No. 2 Feline Detective Agency.

June 2022

When Sarah Cassells, a British girl who has just completed her training as a chef, hears of her father's violent death on Ibiza, she refuses to believe it is suicide. She goes to Ibiza to investigate and becomes involved with an art dealer; with two beautiful jetsetters; with her brother's strange predicament; with a remarkable American woman who is not all what she seems - and with Johnson Johnson, the mysterious portrait painter who shows up on his yacht, Dolly. As Ibiza prepares to celebrate Holy Week with the traditional processions, events become more and more macabre... Dolly and the Cookie Bird is by Dorothy Dunnett.

Dolly and the Doctor Bird is by Dorothy Dunnett. Dr B. McRannoch is in the Bahamas with her father who has moved there from Scotland because of asthma. She is a savvy and tough young woman who shows much independence of mind and spirit. However, when Sir Bart Edgecome, a British agent who has been positioned with arsenic falls ill on his way back from New York, she becomes involved in a series of events beyond her wildest imagination. Drawn into an espionage plot with multiple suspects, it is only the presence of enigmatic portrait painter Johnson Johnson on his yacht, Dolly, that saves the day. But nothing is quite as straightforward as it at first seems.