Forthcoming Books from Little, Brown

 January 2024

Random in Death is by J D Robb. It's the best night of her life. It's the last night of her life. Sixteen-year-old Jenna Harbough's parents had finally given in, and there she was, at a New York club with her best friends, watching the legendary band Avenue A, carrying her demo in hopes of slipping it to the guitarist, Jake Kincade. Then, from the stage, Jake catches her eye, and smiles. It's the best night of her life. It's the last night of her life. Minutes later, Jake's in the alley getting some fresh air, and the girl from the dance floor comes stumbling out, sick and confused and deathly pale. He tries to help, but it's no use. It's time to call Lieutenant Eve Dallas. Who could want this level-headed teen, passionate about her music, dead? Was she targeted or could she have been the victim of a random attack? And if she was, who's next.....?

February 2024

A determined reporter and a reluctant FBI agent face off against fascist elements in this gripping historical thriller set in World War II-era Boston. Reporter Anne Lemire writes the Rumor Clinic, a newspaper column that disproves the many harmful rumors floating around town, some of them spread by Axis spies and others just gossip mixed with fear and ignorance. Tired of chasing silly rumors, she wants to write about something bigger. Special Agent Devon Mulvey, one of the few Catholics at the FBI, spends his weekdays preventing industrial sabotage and his Sundays spying on clerics with suspect loyalties - and he spends his evenings wooing the many lonely women whose husbands are off at war. When Anne's story about Nazi propaganda intersects with Devon's investigation into the death of a factory worker, the two are led down a dangerous trail of espionage, organized crime, and domestic fascism - one that implicates their own tangled pasts and threatens to engulf the city in violence. With vibrant historical atmosphere and a riveting mystery that illuminates still-timely issues about disinformation and power, The Rumour Game is by Thomas Mullen. 

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead is by Jenny Hollander. Nine years ago, Charlie Colbert's life changed for ever. On Christmas Eve, as the snow fell, her elite graduate school was the site of a chilling attack. Several of her classmates died. Charlie survived. Years later, Charlie has the life she always wanted at her fingertips: she's editor-in-chief of a major magazine and engaged to the golden child of the publishing industry. But when a film adaptation of that fateful night goes into production, Charlie's dark past threatens to crash into her shiny present. Charlie was named a 'witness' in the police reports. Yet she knows she was much more than that. The truth about that night will shatter everything she's worked for. Just how far will she go to protect it?

The Maze is by Hania Allen. When the body of a man is found in the countryside outside Dundee with a gun in his hand, DI Dania Gorska dismisses suicide in favour of murder. Italian voice coach, Luca Terranova, in the city to search for his missing twin brother Piero - a fashion designer whose clothes are on display at the V&A there - confirms that the dead man is indeed Piero. Searching for a motive for the murder, Dania's investigation leads her to Alderwood Manor Maze with its famous moving statues and hedges. Who was the person Piero was seen shouting at in the Maze? Could this be his killer? The McGarry family, who live at the manor harbour secrets of their own, and the more Dania delves into the case, the more she finds herself trapped in a maze of lies.But it is when Marek, Dania's investigative journalist brother, takes a trip to Italy and uncovers the history of the Terranova family that Dania learns the shocking truth - a truth that will put her in mortal danger . 

Too Many Cooks is by Rosemary Shrager. Prudence Bulstrode has fond memories of St Marianne's School for Girls, the beautiful Cornish school where she boarded as a girl. It was at St Marianne's that Prudence first learned the joy of cooking, from her dear old Home Economics teacher, Mrs Agatha Jubber. So when she's invited back to the school, to lead a summer holidays course in the fundamentals of cookery, Prudence couldn't be more delighted. What's more, it's a chance to show her grand-daughter Suki the way school used to be in the good old days. But no sooner has Prudence arrived at St Marianne's, a gruesome discovery is made. The builders excavating the old hockey pitch to construct the new dormitories have unearthed human bones - bones dating from Prudence's own time at St Marianne's. Soon, Prudence recollects the story of the vanishing schoolmaster, Mr Scott, and the rumours that spread like wildfire one summer about his illicit affair with Agatha Jubber. So begins Prudence's very first cold case . . 

All Sergeant Hamish Macbeth ever wants is a quiet life in the tranquil surroundings of Lochdubh, his home village in the Scottish Highlands. Although the area he polices is vast, he's happiest when he's working alone, yet the police authorities insist he has an assistant. In the past, they have supplied a variety of problematic misfits, but they surpass themselves with their latest effort - an American named James Bland. Having met Bland previously, when he was left in no doubt that the American led a life coloured by secrets and skulduggery, Hamish isn't surprised when he discovers the real motive behind Bland's police secondment involves him in helping track down a spy ring, some members of which have met grisly ends. That investigation tears Hamish away from Lochdubh at a time when the village is suffering a disturbing spate of increasingly violent burglaries. The identity of the burglar, however, is a perplexing mystery. All of that blows Hamish's quiet life out the window and puts a serious strain on his relationship with female paramedic, Claire. Can Hamish cope with the murky world of espionage, seek out the spies before anyone else is murdered, capture the Lochdubh burglar before his nocturnal rampage runs out of control and rescue his sadly neglected love life? Only time will tell... Hamish Macbeth: Death of a Spy is by M C Beaton with R W Green. 

March 2024

All Us Sinners is by Katy Massey. Leeds, 1977. A chill lies over the city: sex workers are being murdered by a serial killer they are calling the 'Ripper', the streets creeping with fear. Tough, sharp, but tender, Maureen runs Rio's, a clean, discreet brothel in the city. She's a good boss who takes great care of her workers - especially her best girls, Bev and Anette. The Ripper may be terrifying girls who work the street, but at Rio's the girls seem safer. But when Bev's sweet-natured son is found beaten to death, a figure from Maureen's past, DS Mick Hunniford, shows up at her door. Does his arrival herald danger or salvation? And who can Maureen really trust?

After a tense birthday celebration in Haddley, journalist Ben Harper watches his boss, Madeline, get into the car that has come to collect her. He walks home, never imagining that by the next morning, Madeline will be missing. To find Madeline, Ben will have to return to the now infamous murder case that made her journalism career over a decade ago. A case which, Ben quickly discovers, was never as simple as it seemed. But time is of the essence, and soon it's not just Madeline's life on the line. Ten Seconds is by Robert Gold.

Out of Darkness is by Alex Gray. DSI William Lorimer and his wife Maggie are taking their first extended holiday for the first time in years, and they're looking for an adventure. What better place than Zimbabwe, with its bustling cities and beautiful scenery? Back in Glasgow, PC Daniel Kohi, former inspector with the Zimbabwean police, finds himself uncomfortably close to a murder investigation. Why did the murdered man appear at Daniel's house just hours before he was killed? And how he is connected to the troubled family history of Netta Gordon, Daniel's dear friend and lodger? But it's not just Netta's history that's about to resurface. For in Zimbabwe, rumours are circulating about Daniel Kohi, and the couple from Scotland who appear to know him. Rumours which could place the Lorimers in unimaginable peril. 

Who is the other woman? That's for you to decide. Ann devoted years to her mother's care - and now she's gone, Ann feels lost. Justin is also grieving, but his wife is still alive. Deborah is in a coma and she doesn't have long left.  When the two meet, they are instantly drawn to one another and, before long, they've fallen deeply in love. Ann quickly moves in with Justin and his little girl, making them the perfect family. But just as Ann settles into her new life, Justin's is turned upside down. Unexpectedly, his wife has survived. Deborah is coming home. Neither knows what to do. But one thing is certain: Ann has earned the life Deborah left behind, and she plans to keep it . . . In Her Place is by Edel Coffey.

April 2024

Step Inside My Soul is by Nick Curran. He wants your life... Matt Langley used to be somebody. Back in the late '90s his star shone bright. Thanks to his debut novel, the shocking The Devil's Debt, he was at the forefront of the Bright Young Things. He was on chat shows and culture shows. He was the man of the moment. And then it all stopped, because there was no second book. Now, with his marriage to Naz on the rocks, they're trying to start over. They've sold the house that The Devil's Debt built and moved to a farmhouse deep in the wilds of Northumbria, where no one knows them, and for a while their new life is fragile but good. Furthermore, Matt's leading a writing group at the library and is even thinking about writing again. Marlin is part of that writing group. He's a quiet young man who has survived things no kid should ever have to. On meeting Matt he shows him his battered copy of The Devil's Debt. The book is filled with underlinings and notes and, he soon discovers, messages from the young man's dead mother.  That book serves as the basis for a bond between the two. Matt feels like they have a kinship, and wants to help the young writer. So, when he and Naz find him sleeping rough they invite him into their house for a week or so, until Marlin is back on his feet. But Marlin is a malevolent cuckoo they've brought into their home. And that was their first big mistake...

May 2024

The Wrong Hands is by Mark Billingham. This is one case Miller won't want to open . . . Unconventional Detective Declan Miller has a problem. Still desperate to solve the murder of his wife, a young man has just appeared on his doorstep with a briefcase . . . containing a pair of severed hands.n Miller knows this case is proof of a contract killing commissioned by local ne'er do well Wayne Cutler - a man he suspects might also be responsible for his wife's death. Now Miller has leverage, but unfortunately he also has something that both Cutler and a villainous fast-food kingpin are desperate to get hold of. Chuck in a Midsomer Murders - obsessed hitman, a psychotic welder and a woman driven over the edge by a wayward Crème Egg, and Miller is in a mess that even he might not be able to dance his way out of.

Death stalks the streets of Bangalore when the Circus comes to town . . . January 1922. The Bangalore Constabulary is on high alert as The Prince of Wales is scheduled to visit the city to redeem his reputation after disastrous visits marked by violent anti-British riots. Kaveri has none of these concerns on her mind, not when she has just been given VIP tickets to the famous Bangalore circus. But when a celebrity magician, shackled in an iron cage filled with deadly snakes, disappears into thin air, she is stunned to discover her friend and favourite policeman, Inspector Ismail, is telling her to leave the case well alone. After solving two murder cases, Kaveri Murthy thought she had cemented her reputation as Bangalore's favourite lady detective. But when death threats are left at her doorstep, former friends become foes, and the bodies start to pile up, Kaveri realises she has never been in this much danger . . . A Nest of Vipers is by Harini Nagendra. 

The Many of Lives of Veronica Hawkins is by Kristina Pérez. Cursed woman. Beautiful socialite. Tragic heiress. Just who was Veronica Hawkins? When Martina Torres arrives in the glamorous and vibrant metropolis of Hong Kong, newly married to her high school sweetheart, the world seems to be her oyster. But looks can be deceiving. Adrift in a foreign city, with no job and no friends, Martina chafes in her new role as Expat Wife. But her luck changes when she meets Veronica Hawkins. Beautiful, sophisticated, and very, very rich, Veronica is the epitome of Old Hong Kong--the last surviving member of a British mercantile dynasty that built the city during its colonial heyday. Martina can hardly believe her fortune when she's taken under Veronica's wing and into her confidence, with Veronica helping her to find a new apartment, a new career, and most importantly, a new self. Veronica transforms Martina's life and then, shockingly, she dies. She disappears over the side of a yacht during a party attended by Hong Kong's most influential people -- yet somehow there are no witnesses. Was it murder? Suicide? A terrible accident? What really happened to Veronica Hawkins? Somebody knows but nobody's telling.

Murder at the Allotment is by Julie Wassmer. Pearl's tiny garden of Eden is transformed into a battlefield when the out of towners come to Whitstable... Pearl Nolan's coastal allotment has always been a quiet haven - somewhere for her to relax and cultivate special ingredients for her restaurant, The Whitstable Pearl. But a sudden clamour for allotments by the DFLs - Down From Londoners - causes tension in the local community when the council decides to accommodate them by dividing existing plots into smaller parcels. The harmony that once existed between holders of land previously blighted only by slugs and caterpillars, soon transforms into a bitter turf war as a pushy DFL tries to take over by forming an Allotment Association - with herself as its chair. When anonymous complaints are submitted to the council about each of the local allotment holders -- apart from the DFLs --Pearl's services as private detective are called upon to discover the complainant but before she can do so, what began as a tiff among the turnips soon becomes a hunt for a killer when gardening tools are put to murderous use...

Yorkshire, 1969. Nell Lewis is four months into her new role as governor of HMP Brackerley when the prison takes on a catering contract for Brackerley village's wedding of the year. Almost all the female inmates are delighted to be involved in the celebrations, though Linda is desperate to avoid the event in case she is spotted, photographed, and once more appears on the front pages of the gutter press. During the wedding reception, one of the inmates discovers the father of the bride, Mr Chapin, stabbed to death behind the marquee. The murder shocks the close-knit village and police enlist Nell's help to solve the mystery. There are multiple suspects at the wedding, all with strong motives for wanting Mr Chapin dead, but the prison workforce was closest to the scene of the crime . . . Six Motives For Murder is by Frances Brody. 

Thea Fox is just twelve years old when her parents are brutally slain. With Thea's help the police put their murderer - a psychotic serial killer called Ray Riggs - behind bars for life and Thea and her family try to move on. But Ray isn't willing to let Thea go quite so easily... Mind Games is by Nora Roberts.

The Unravelling is by V I Keeland. After experiencing a terrible loss, New York City psychiatrist Meredith McCall feels painfully adrift. When she crosses paths with a man with whom she has a tragic connection, she follows him, sparking an unhealthy obsession with Gabriel Wright. How is he doing so well while her life is in shambles? But when Gabriel walks into her office as a patient, seemingly unaware of who she is, she knows it crosses all ethical and moral bounds to treat him. Yet, Meredith can't bring herself to turn him away and becomes further entangled. With her life and career continuing to unravel, it appears that things could not get any worse . . . until they do.

June 2024

The Shame Archive is by Oliver Harris. How does a secret service confront its past, when its secrets must never be revealed? Buried deep in MI6's digital archives is the most classified directory of all. It doesn't contain war plans or agent profiles, but shame: the misdeeds of politicians, royalty, business leaders and the service's own personnel. There are seven decades' worth of images and recordings, usually acquired for the sake of assessing risk, sometimes as a guard against betrayal, often engineered by MI6 for their own purposes. They are the most sensitive two thousand terabytes of data in the Service's possession. When material from the archive begins appearing online, panic spreads through the Establishment like wildfire.  At first, the security breach only manifests itself in apparently random events: a suicide, a disappearance, a breakdown. But when it's discovered that the individuals concerned were all contacted by the same anonymous person, a connection comes into focus. The archive has been leaked. The hunt is now of unprecedented urgency before the entire political and business systems are fatally weakened. That's when they call for Elliot Kane...

She saw it all. But she can never tell. A young black man is arrested for murder. The case against him is strong - a mum and a teacher saw him standing over a body in a park, a knife still in hand. But his up-and-coming barrister Rosa knows how people prejudge, but most of all, she suspects something is amiss. This boy comes from her neighbourhood. From a good family. So she begins to dig... As Rosa discovers secret upon terrible secret, she moves closer to finding a testimony that could win the case - or bring the whole establishment down on her. The Witness is by Alexandra Wilson and is a frightening thriller about how we judge guilt, about the strength of a young woman, and is the start of a groundbreaking new series.

Storm Child is by Michael Robotham. Some memories are buried for a reason... The most painful of Evie Cormac's memories have been locked away, ever since she was held prisoner as a child - a child whose rescue captured hearts and headlines. Forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven's mission is to guide her to something near normality. But today, on a Lincolnshire beach, seventeen bodies wash up in front of them. There is only one survivor, with two women still missing. And Evie's nightmares come roaring back... Whatever happened all those years ago lies at the core of this new tragedy. Because these deaths are no accident. The same dark forces are reaching out, dragging her back into the storm. Evie must now call upon Cyrus's unique skills, and her own, in their search for the missing pieces of this complex and haunting puzzle. But will that be enough to save them? And who will pay for the past?

The Mercy Chair is by M W Craven. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin . . . Washington Poe has a story to tell. And he needs you to listen. You'll hear how it started with the robber birds. Crows. Dozens of them. Enough for a murder . . . He'll tell you about a man who was tied to a tree and stoned to death, a man who had tattooed himself with a code so obscure, even the gifted analyst Tilly Bradshaw struggled to break it. He'll tell you how the man's murder was connected to a tragedy that happened fifteen years earlier when a young girl massacred her entire family.  And finally, he'll tell you about the mercy chair. And why people would rather kill themselves than talk about it . . .  Poe hopes you've been paying attention. Because in this story, nothing is as it seems . . .

Books to Look Forward to From Little Brown (Incl Constable)

 

January 2022

Breaking Point is by Edel Coffey. An innocent mistake. A lifetime of guilt. Susannah has two beautiful daughters, a high-flying medical career, a successful husband and an enviable life. Her hair is glossy, her clothes are expensive; she truly has it all. But when - on the hottest day of the year - her strict morning routine is disrupted, Susannah finds herself running on autopilot. It is hours before she realises she has made a devastating mistake. Her baby, Louise, is still in the backseat of the car and it is too late to save her. As the press close in around her, Susannah is put on trial for negligence. It is plain to see that this is not a trial, it's a witch hunt. But what will the court say?

Blotto Twinks and the Suspicious Guests is by Simon Brett. 'What? You mean the earl does it for money? That's way beyond the barbed wire!' This explosion of disgust from Blotto is provoked when Twinks informs him of the activities of the Earl of Woking. The gentleman in question is owner of Clusters, a stately home not far from Tawcester Towers, and he has been renting out parts of Clusters for private functions - and charging his guests! The discovery of this appalling lapse in aristocratic behaviour sets Blotto and Twinks off on their latest adventure. Determined to find out more about the Earl of Woking's activities, they discover the existence of a sinister group called Aristotours - brokers between impoverished owners of stately homes and the common people, offering 'a taste of the high life' to characters such as stockbrokers, surgeons and solicitors. And if this were not bad enough, the siblings discover Aristotours trying to infiltrate their evil practises into Tawcester Towers itself! So Blotto and Twinks set off on a quest to identify - and stop - the evil genius behind Aristotours.

February 2022

Sierra Six ix by Mark Greaney. Before he was the Gray Man, Court Gentry was Sierra Six, the junior member of a CIA action team. In their first mission they took out a terrorist leader, but at a terrible price - the life of a woman Court cared for. Years have passed and now The Gray Man is on a simple mission when he sees a ghost: the long-dead terrorist, but he's remarkably energetic for a dead man. A decade may have gone by but the Gray Man hasn't changed. He isn't one to leave a job unfinished or a blood debt unpaid.

Say goodnight, baby darling. Three young women have gone missing. They're all pretty, mid-twenties - someone clearly has a type. But no one links their disappearances until the first - Lauren Elder - is found lying peacefully on a bench in a children's playground. She is neatly dressed with a wide black velvet ribbon covering where her neck has been precisely slit. Her hands are folded over a childish sign on which is written in black crayon - BAD MOMMY. Lt Eve Dallas and her team are brought in to investigate Lauren's murder and uncover the links to the other two women. Can they find out enough about the missing women and unmask their captor before they kill again....? Abandoned In Death is by J D Robb.

Reader, I Buried Him is by Peter Lovesey. A twisty collection of short stories from the master of classic crime fiction, Peter Lovesey, one of which stars his most popular creation, Peter Diamond. More than fifty years ago, Peter Lovesey published a short story in an anthology. That short story caught the eye of the great Ruth Rendell, whose praise ignited Lovesey's life-long passion for short form crime fiction. More than a hundred stories later, Peter Lovesey has assembled this devilishly clever collection, fifteen yarns of mystery, melancholy, and mischief, inhabiting such deadly settings as a theatre, a monastery, and the book publishing industry. The collection includes that first story that launched his story-writing career as well as three new stories exclusive to this volume. In addition, Lovesey fans will delight in a personal essay by the author about the historical inspirations for his creation - and in an appearance by the irascible Bath detective Peter Diamond, who has, in the author's words, 'bulldozed his way' into this collection.

The Murder Stones is by Hania Allen. Polish-born DS Dania Gorska is called upon to investigate a seemingly straightforward case of an RTA - a car has crashed into a tree, having first hit a deer on an icy road. But a witness has come forward to say he saw someone fleeing the scene and then the autopsy reveals vicious marks on the head of the dead man. Suddenly Dania is looking at murder. The dead man, Eddie Sangster, has had an intriguing past - the youngest of three brothers, he inherited the family estate after the oldest committed suicide and the other simply disappeared. But decades on it would seem someone is out for vengeance as murder stones - carved headstones attesting to the brutal murders of both brothers - start to appear on the grounds of the estate. Clearly the key to the puzzle of the murder stones lies at Sangster Hall, where a calamitous incident in the past is now shaping the present, and it is up to Dania to discover the murderous secret of the Sangster family.

The Taste of Blood is by James Craig. Victim or assassin - the lines are blurred... A badly beaten woman walks into A&E and is promptly arrested by the Home Office on suspicion of being an illegal alien. However, she is neither illegal, nor a victim. After she escapes detention, the bodies of her attackers start to pile up. Commander Carlyle faces a race against time to find out who she really is - and to stop her from killing again.

March 2022

The Empty Room is by Brian McGilloway. What do you do when your child disappears? Pandora - Dora - Conlon wakes one morning to discover her 17-year old daughter Ellie, has not come home after a party. The day Ellie disappears, Dora is alone as her husband Eamon has already left for the day in his job as a long-distance lorry driver. So Dora does the usual things: rings around Ellie's friends... but no one knows where she is. Her panic growing, Dora tries the local hospitals and art college where Ellie is a student - but then the police arrive on her doorstep with the news her daughter's handbag has been discovered dumped in a layby. So begins Dora's ordeal of waiting and not knowing what has become of her girl. Eamon's lack of empathy and concern, Dora realises, is indicative of the state of their marriage, and left on her own, Dora begins to reassess everything she thought she knew about her family and her life. Increasingly isolated and disillusioned with the police investigation, Dora feels her grip on reality slipping as she takes it upon herself to find her daughter - even if it means tearing apart everything and everybody she had ever loved, and taking justice into her own hands.

Death of A Green Eyed Monster is by M C Beaton & R W Green. Hamish's new constable, Dorothy McIver, may be the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. Completely bewitched by her sparkling blue eyes, Hamish spends the summer traveling with her up and down Sutherland until finally, he can take it no longer. He gets down on one knee beside the Land Rover and begs her to marry him—and to his amazement and delight, she says yes.
But just as the town of Lochdubh gets ready to celebrate, Hamish finds himself with a new murder on his hands. If he doesn't find the killer fast, Hamish's dream wedding could become a nightmare.

Twelve Secrets is by Robert Gold. Ben Harper's life changed for ever the day his older brother Nick was murdered by two classmates. It was a crime that shocked the nation and catapulted Ben's family and their idyllic hometown, Haddley, into the spotlight. Twenty years on, Ben is one of the best true crime journalists in the country and happily settled back in Haddley, thanks to the support of its close-knit community. But when a fresh murder case shines new light on his brother's death and throws suspicion on those closest to him, Ben's world is turned upside down once more. He's about to discover that Haddley is a town full of secrets. No one is as they seem. Everyone has something to hide.  And someone will go to any length to keep the truth buried...

After a stressful winter, DSI William Lorimer is enjoying some time away from Glasgow. He and his new friend, Daniel Kohi, have retreated to the wilds of the Scottish Highlands to unwind. But what awaits them is far from a holiday. Despite its troubled history, the mountain village of Glencoe is now a popular resort, famed for its close-knit community, its breath-taking scenery and the warm welcome it offers weary travellers. So it's particularly shocking when two bodies are discovered in quick succession on the nearby peaks . . . With a potential serial killer on the loose, Lorimer's Major Incidents Team are drafted in from Glasgow. It's clear that a dark secret lurks beneath the wild beauty of this place. But will Lorimer manage to root it out before the killer strikes again? Echo of the Dead is by Alex Gray.

April 2022

Beat The Devils is by Josh Weiss. USA, 1958. President Joseph McCarthy sits in the White House, elected on a wave of populist xenophobia and barely-concealed anti-Semitism. The country is in the firm grip of McCarthy's Hueys, a secret police force evolved from the House Un-American Activities Committee. Hollywood's sparkling vision of the American dream has been suppressed; its remaining talents forced to turn out endless anti-communist propaganda. LAPD detective Morris Baker-a Holocaust survivor who drowns his fractured memories of the unspeakable in schnapps and work-is called to the scene of a horrific double-homicide. The victims are John Huston, a once-promising but now forgotten film director, and an up-and-coming young journalist named Walter Cronkite. Clutched in the hand of one of the dead men is a cryptic note containing the phrase "beat the devils" followed by a single name: Baker. Did the two men die in an attack fueled by better-dead-than-red sentiment, as the Hueys are quick to conclude, or were they murdered in a cover-up designed to protect-or even set in motion-a secret plot connected to Baker's past? In a country where terror grows stronger by the day, and paranoia rises unchecked, Baker is determined to find justice for two men who raised their voices in a time when free speech comes at the ultimate cost. In the course of his investigation, Baker stumbles into a conspiracy that reaches deep into the halls of power and uncovers a secret that could destroy the City of Angels-and the American ideal itself.

One wrong step and you're in deep water. Sukie has had enough of not putting herself out there. She has had enough of her mother thinking so very little of her timid daughter. On a whim, she accepts an offer to go to a Greek island for the weekend with Jake, a man she has barely begun dating. If that isn't putting herself out here, she doesn't know what is. Heather is at the airport when she sees a young woman with an older man - and immediately she understands that the woman is in danger. Because in fifteen years, Heather hasn't been able to forget what Jake did to her. And the next thing she knows, she's buying a plane ticket and following them. What should have been a perfectly pleasant weekend away quickly descends into something much darker. As these two women come ever closer to each other - and to Jake - it becomes increasingly unclear who will walk away from the weekend with their life. In Deep Water is by Christobel Kent. 

May 2022

Murder at Mount Ephraim is by Julie Wassmer. Pearl Nolan receives a wedding invitation from an old school friend. Journalist Amy has chosen somewhere very special for the wedding ceremony - the historic Kent manor house of Mount Ephraim - and the invite includes a pre-nuptial stay for Pearl and other guests at this venue. Nestled in an 800-acre estate, and surrounded by beautiful gardens and a lake, Pearl sees this break as a chance to leave crime behind, along with her own detective agency and her restaurant, The Whitstable Pearl. Accepting the invitation, Pearl looks forward to meeting the happy couple's friends and family, as well as Amy's fiance, Guy, a handsome and successful adventurer who appears to be Mr Perfect. She also has time to reflect on her own engagement to Canterbury CID detective, DCI Mike McGuire... But before any wedding bells sound, murder strikes - and Pearl and McGuire are thrust together again - as partners in crime.

The Night They Vanished is by Vanessa Savage. A family with a secret. A past about to catch up with them. At thirty, Hanna has finally decided she's better off without her family. They hold her responsible for the incident that ruined their lives fourteen years ago and they've barely spoken since. But then, whilst browsing a true crime website, she sees her family home listed as the site of a brutal murder. Number of victims: three. Date of crime: today. When the police investigate, they find no bodies, but the house is abandoned. Hanna's family have disappeared. To find them, Hanna will have to confront what happened all those years ago. And the person determined to make her pay for it . . .

June 2022

'I swear I'm one bad mood away from calling it black magic and going home . . .' Detective Sergeant Washington Poe can count on one hand the number of friends he has. And he'd still have his thumb left. There's the insanely brilliant, guilelessly innocent civilian analyst, Tilly Bradshaw of course. He's known his beleaguered boss, Detective Inspector Stephanie Flynn for years as he has his nearest neighbour, full-time shepherd/part-time dog sitter, Victoria. And then there's Estelle Doyle. It's true the caustic pathologist has never walked down the sunny side of the street but this time has she gone too far? Shot twice in the head, her father's murder appears to be an open and shut case. Estelle has firearms discharge residue on her hands, and, in a house surrounded by fresh snow, hers are the only footprints going in. Since her arrest she's only said three words: 'Tell Washington Poe.' Meanwhile, a poisoner the press have dubbed the Botanist is sending high profile celebrities poems and pressed flowers. The killer seems to be able to walk through walls and, despite the advance notice he gives his victims, and regardless of the security measures the police take, he seems to be able to kill with impunity. For a man who hates locked room mysteries, this is going to be the longest week of Washington Poe's life . . . The Botanist is by M W Craven.

She Knows is by Chris Brookmyre. One hen weekend, seven secrets... but only one worth killing for. Jen's hen party is going to be out of control... She's rented a luxury getaway on its own private island. The helicopter won't be back for seventy-two hours. They are alone. They think. As well as Jen, there's the pop diva and the estranged ex-bandmate, the tennis pro and the fashion guru, the embittered ex-sister-in-law and the mouthy future sister-in-law. It's a combustible cocktail, one that takes little time to ignite, and in the midst of the drunken chaos, one of them disappears. Then a message tells them that unless someone confesses her terrible secret to the others, their missing friend will be killed. Problem is, everybody has a secret. And nobody wants to tell.

The Murder Book is by Mark Billingham. Tom Thorne has it all. In Nicola Tanner and Phil Hendricks, Thorne has good friends by his side. He finally has a love life worth a damn and is happy in the job to which he has devoted his life... Tom Thorne has it all.... to lose. Hunting the woman responsible for a series of grisly murders, Thorne has no way of knowing that he will be plunged into a nightmare from which he may never wake. A nightmare that has a name. Finally, Thorne's past has caught up with him and a ruinous secret is about to be revealed. If he wants to save himself and his friends, he must do the unthinkable.

Lying Beside You is by Michael Robotham. When a man is murdered and his daughter disappears, forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven must decide if Maya Kirk is running, hiding, or a hostage. Cyrus understands how killers think better than anyone; after all, he's a survivor. Evie is a troubled teenager with an incredible gift: she knows when someone is lying. She is working at a Nottingham bar when a second woman goes missing, a nurse with links to Maya Kirk. Both women have a secret they have tried to hide, but the past is never history. Evie witnesses the second abduction, glimpsing the driver, but only two people believe her. One is Cyrus. The other is the killer.

Bottom line, if a man is known by his enemies, I'm one helluva guy.' Former anti-terrorist cop John Corey is NYU - New York Unemployed - and watching his back, ever more convinced his past will soon catch up with him. Then a new opportunity comes calling, and with it, plenty of trouble . . . A series of bodies has been found along a beach close to his home and he can no longer deny that a serial killer is on the loose, and no one seems able to find the culprit. Is the failure to find the perpetrator a result of the department's oversight? Is it due to the fact the victims are prostitutes? Or is it something darker? Could the killer be someone on the inside? The Maze is by Nelson DeMille.

The Missing Wife and the Stone Fen Siamese is by Kate High. Driving home from a ceramics evening class, Clarice Beech reflects on the absence of one of her students, Colin Compton-Smythe. Later, Emily, Colin's daughter, telephones to say her father has died during routine surgery. Distraught, Emily opens up to Clarice about his wretched childhood and the day five-year-old Colin returned home to discover Avril, his mother, gone. Colin never believed she would have left without him and had been trying to find out more about Avril's disappearance all those years ago. Clarice readily agrees to accompany Emily to Colin's funeral. On arriving at the stunning Victorian Gothic manor house, with Bellatrix, the majestic stone Siamese cat reposing at its entrance, Clarice soon becomes drawn into the fractious world of the Compton-Smythe family: Colin's argumentative father Ralph and his equally combative partner Tessa, their daughter, Dawn, being stalked by an ex-lover and, most unsettling of all, Ernestine, Ralph's emotionally unpredictable sister. And then there's Johnson, Ralph's menacing manservant. Clarice discovers the nearer she gets to the truth, the greater she is in danger as somebody is intent that the mystery of the missing wife should never be resolved.

Books to Look Forward to from Little, Brown, Constable, Robinson and Piatkus

July 2020

Midnight Atlanta is the new novel in Darktown series by Thomas Mullen, and sees a newspaper editor murdered against the backdrop of Rosa Parks' protest and Martin Luther King Jnr's emergence.  Atlanta, 1956.  When Arthur Bishop, editor of Atlanta's leading black newspaper, is killed in his office, cop-turned-journalist Tommy Smith finds himself in the crosshairs of the racist cops he's been trying to avoid. To clear his name, he needs to learn more about the dangerous story Bishop had been working on.  Meanwhile, Smith's ex-partner Lucius Boggs and white sergeant Joe McInnis - the only white cop in the black precinct - find themselves caught between meddling federal agents, racist detectives, and Communist activists as they try to solve the murder.  With a young Rev. Martin Luther King Jnr making headlines of his own, and tensions in the city growing, Boggs and Smith find themselves back on the same side in a hunt for the truth that will put them both at risk.

This is an indispensable guide for fans of true crime and crime fiction, whether in books, film or on TV, who want to look behind the crime, to understand the mechanics of an investigation, to walk in their favourite detectives' shoes and, most importantly, to solve the clues.   To do that, one needs to be fluent in the language of the world of crime. We need to know what that world-weary DI is talking about when she refers to another MISPER. We have to immediately grasp the significance of the presence of paraquat, and precisely why it is still a poison of choice.   If you want to know how many murders it takes for a killer to be defined as a serial killer, what Philip Marlowe means when he talks about being 'on a confidential lay' and why the 'fruit of a poisonous tree' is a legal term rather than something you should avoid on a country walk, this is the reference book you've been waiting for. It covers police and procedural terms and jargon of many different countries; acronyms; murder methods; criminal definitions, including different types of killers; infamous killers and famous detectives; notorious cases often referred to in crime fiction and true crime; gangster slang, including that of the Eastern European mafia; definitions of illegal drugs; weapons; forensic terminology; types of poisons; words and phrases used in major crime genres, including detective fiction, legal thrillers, courtroom dramas, hardboiled crime, Scandi and Tartan Noir, cosy crime and psychological thrillers; criminology terms; and the language of the courts and the legal systems of British, American, French, Nordic and other countries.   From Aconite to the Zodiac Killer is by Amanda Lees and is an essential, go-to resource for readers and even for writers of crime fiction. More than simply a glossary, this is a guide that provides a doorway into a super genre, and one that is not just for readers, but also for the many fans of film and TV dramas, of podcasts, and crime blogs. It is also an indispensable resource for writers or would-be writers of crime fiction.

Has the woman killed her child? Is she at risk to herself? Someone in the neighbourhood of old terraced streets has the answers. But detectives Donna Bell and Jade Bradshaw find lies and obstruction at every turn, in a community living on the edge, ground down by austerity and no hope. A place of broken dreams. Of desperation. And murder.  When a stranger crashes into Jade's life, her past comes hurtling back, threatening to destroy her and the world she has carved out for herself. Donna struggles to juggle everything: work, marriage, kids. It's a precarious balancing act, and the rug is about to be pulled from under her.  Acts of Violence is by Cath Staincliffe. 

It's 1996. Detective Sergeant Tom Thorne is a haunted man. Haunted by the moment he ignored his instinct about a suspect, by the horrific crime that followed and by the memories that come day and night, in sunshine and shadow.  So when seven-year-old Kieron Coyne goes missing while playing in the woods with his best friend, Thorne vows he will not make the same mistake again. Cannot.  The solitary witness. The strange neighbour. The friendly teacher. All are in Thorne's sights.   This case will be the making of him . . . or the breaking.  Cry Baby is by Mark Billingham. 

They ask for your husband.  They just want to talk.  They’re lying.  Your husband isn’t who says he is, say the people at your door.  Come with us.  Don’t trust them, says a voice on the phone.  Run.  Who would you believe? A Knock at The Door is by T W Ellis.

The Revelators is by Ace Atkins.  Shot up and left for dead, Sheriff Quinn Colson has revenge on his mind. With the help of his new wife Maggie, rehabilitation, and sheer force of will, he's walking again, eager to resume his work as a southern lawman and track down those responsible for his attempted murder. But someone is standing in his way: an interim sheriff, appointed by the newly elected Governor Vardaman, the man who Quinn knows ordered his murder. Vardaman sits at the top of the state's power structure - both legal and criminal - and little does he know Quinn is still alive. And coming for him.  Quinn will enlist the help of his most trusted friends, including federal agent Jon Holliday, U.S. Marshal Lillie Virgil, and Donnie Varner, a childhood buddy now working for the Feds as an informant. Since Quinn's been gone, the criminal element in north Mississippi has flourished, with queen-pin Fannie Hathcock enjoying unbridled freedom. As an ice storm bears down on north Mississippi and Memphis, and Tibbehah County is isolated from the outside world, the killers will return to finish the job.  But this time, Quinn Colson and company will be waiting, ready to bust apart a criminal empire running on a rigged system for far too long. This is the battle of Jericho, the epic showdown that's been years in the making. In the end, the war will end - for better or worse.

She has secrets.  Evie Cormac's whole life is a lie. She has spent years hiding her true identity, making sure nobody ever discovers what happened to her and who she really is. Because the people who find out always end up dead.  He needs answers.  But Cyrus Haven, a gifted forensic psychologist and Evie's closest friend, is determined to know the truth. When the body of a retired Detective is found in his car it's clear that someone wanted it to look like suicide. But as Cyrus digs deeper, he uncovers an insidious web of lies reaching further than he could have ever imagined, with Evie is at its heart.  Powerful people have spent years hunting her, the only living witness to their crimes. Who is Evie running from, and is Cyrus inadvertently leading her straight to them?  When She was Good is by Michael Robotham.

August 2020

Still Life is by Val McDermid.  When lobster fishermen pull a body out of the sea, local police quickly discover the murdered man was the prime suspect in a mysterious disappearance ten years before. Cold case detective Karen Pirie's name is on the file as the last person to review the case. As she starts to unpick the threads of the past, Karen finds herself at the heart of a tangled web of dark and troubling secrets . . .

The Wicked Sister is by Karen Dionne.  You have been cut off from society for fifteen years, shut away in a mental hospital in self-imposed exile as punishment for the terrible thing you did when you were a child.  But what if nothing about your past is as it seems?  And if you didn't accidentally shoot and kill your mother, then whoever did is still out there. Waiting for you.  For a decade and a half, Rachel Cunningham has chosen to lock herself away in a psychiatric facility, tortured by gaps in her memory and the certainty that she is responsible for her parents' deaths. But when she learns new details about their murders, Rachel returns, in a quest for answers, to the place where she once felt safest: her family's sprawling log cabin in the remote forests of Michigan.  As Rachel begins to uncover what really happened on the day her parents were murdered, she learns - as her mother did years earlier - that home can be a place of unspeakable evil, and that the bond she shares with her sister might be the most poisonous of all.

September 2020

How to Raise an Elephant is by Alexander McCall Smith.  Unusual requests are commonplace at the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, but so are very ordinary ones, such as a plea for money: when a distant cousin calls on Mma Ramotswe to ask for help with another relative's hip operation, tricky questions arise in regard to family responsibility. Mma Makutsi and Mr J. L. B Matekoni are far from convinced of the merits of the request, but it is hard for Mma Ramotswe, with a heart her size, to turn people away. Meanwhile, Charlie has become involved in a mysterious transaction that involves an attractive but rather large animal. If it takes a village to raise a child, what does it take to raise a baby elephant?

Private detective Foster Gates is a father is in search of his missing daughter, and sound engineer Mitzi harbors a secret that may help him solve the case. It's Mitzi's job to create the dubbed screams used in horror films and action movies. She's the best at what she does.  But what no one in Hollywood knows is the screams Mitzi produces are harvested from the real, horror-filled, blood-chilling screams of people in their death throes--a technique first employed by Mitzi's father and one she continues on in his memory--a deeply conflicted serial killer compelled beyond her understanding to honor her father's chilling legacy.  Soon Foster finds himself on Mitzi's trail. And in pursuit of her dark art, Mitzi realizes she's created the perfect scream, one that compels anyone who hears it to mirror the sound as long as they listen to it--a highly contagious seismic event with the potential to bring the country to its knees.  The Invention of Sound is by Chuck Palahniuk.

Stone Cold Trouble is by Amer Anwar.  Trying - and failing - to keep his head down and to stay out of trouble, ex-con Zaq Khan agrees to help his best friend, Jags, recover a family heirloom, currently in the possession of a wealthy businessman. But when Zaq's brother is

viciously assaulted, Zaq is left wondering whether someone from his own past is out to get revenge. Wanting answers and retribution, Zaq and Jags set out to track down those responsible. Meanwhile, their dealings with the businessman take a turn for the worse and Zaq and Jags find themselves suspected of murder.   It'll take both brains and brawn to get themselves out of trouble and, no matter what happens, the results will likely be deadly. The only question is, whether it will prove deadly for them, or for someone else . . . ? 

The Mitford Trial is by Jessica Fellowes.  It's lady's maid Louisa Cannon's wedding day, but the fantasy is shattered shortly after when she is approached by a secretive man asking her to spy on Diana Mitford - who is having an affair with the infamous Oswald Mosley - and her similarly fascist sister Unity.  Thus as summer 1933 dawns, Louisa finds herself accompanying the Mitford’s on a glitzy cruise, full of the starriest members of Society. But the waters run red when a man is found attacked, with suspects everywhere.  Back in London, the case is taken by lawyer Tom Mitford, and Louisa finds herself caught between worlds: of a love lost to blood, a family divided, and a country caught in conflict.

Detective Inspector Jabulani Sibanda is back! With his sharp instincts and relentless hunger for justice, he returns to the bush territory he became so familiar with in Sibanda and the Rainbird. In this second installment, he is once again accompanied by his trusty sidekicks, Sergeant Ncube and the infamous Miss Daisy. In Sibanda and the Death’s Head Moth by CM Elliott Sibanda is short on clues, but, with his uncanny intuition, a fragment of material found in the brain of one victim, a puncture wound in the thigh of another and a diary full of coded names, he starts to build a case. Sibanda is still haunted by Berry, the unattainable love of his life. She is missing under mysterious circumstances. Ncube, on the other hand, is still haunted by myths, folklore, frightening figments and a stomach that requires constant attention. Are the murders connected? Will Berry be found? Will Miss Daisy finally splutter and die?

As it often did since he'd married a cop, murder interrupted more pleasant activities. The again, Roarke supposed, the woman lying in a pool of her own blood a few steps inside the arch in Washington Square Park had a heftier complaint.  When a night out at the theatre is interrupted by the murder of a young woman in Washington Square Park, it seems like an ordinary case for Detective Eve Dallas and her team. But when her husband Roarke spots a shadow from his past in the crowd, Eve realises that this case is far from business as usual. Eve has two complex cases on her hands - the shocking murder of this wealthy young mother and tracking down the shadow before he can strike again, this time much closer to home. Eve is well used to being the hunter, but how will she cope when the tables are turned? As Eve and the team follow leads to Roarke's hometown in Ireland, the race is on to stop the shadow making his next move . . . Shadows in Death is by J D Robb.

Also published in September is Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith, The House by Tom Watson and Imogen Robertson and All the Devils Are Here is by Louise Penny. 

October 2020

While other children were devouring the works of Enid Blyton and Beatrix Potter, Carla Valentine was poring through the pages of Agatha Christie novels - and that early fascination lead to her job as a pathology technician working in mortuaries and trained in forensics.  Nearly every Agatha Christie story involves one - or more commonly several - dead bodies, and for a young Carla, a curious child already fascinated with biology, these stories and these bodies were perfect puzzles.   Of course Agatha herself didn't talk of 'forensics' which, in the way we use it now, but each tale she tells twists and turns with her expert weave of human observation, ingenuity and genuine science of the era. Through the medium of the 'whodunit', Agatha Christie was a pioneer of forensic science, and in Murder Isn't Easy by Carla Valentine illuminates all of the knowledge of one of our most beloved authors.

The Reacher Guy by Heather Martin is an explosive and riveting biography of a much loved and mythologised author.  In it Heather Martin looks closely at where Child really sprang from.  Based on disarmingly frank personal conversations and years of correspondence with the author, as well as privileged access to archival materials, it is the nearest thing the world is ever likely to get to the autobiography Lee Child does not intend to write. 

Private Detective Agatha Raisin immerses herself in the glittering lifestyle of the fabulously wealthy when Sir Charles Fraith is accused of murder - and Agatha is named as his accomplice! A high-society wedding, a glitzy masked ball, and an introduction to the world of international show-jumping where the riders are glamorous, the horses are beautiful, and intrigue runs deep, leave Agatha with a list of suspects as long as a stallion's tail.   Sinister evidence then emerges that appears to seal Sir Charles's fate and Agatha must uncover the truth before a net of skulduggery closes around him and he loses his ancestral home, his entire estate, and his freedom. And if events weren't complicated enough... Agatha's ex-husband James Lacey is back in Carsely and back in Agatha's heart... Agatha Raisin: Hot to Trot is by M C Beaton.

Four months have passed since the shocking death of Frankie Greenwood, but Liberty Greenwood has managed to keep the rest of her family safe and expand their criminal empire. But when Liberty and Jay set out to teach a protection racketeer a lesson things get out of hand and the Greenwoods soon find themselves under attack: the Black Cherry is fire bombed and Crystal is arrested.  Liberty must hold her nerve, make alliances with old enemies and discover exactly who is trying to destroy her. But that's easier said than done with Sol back on the scene, Crystal's baby to care for and DI Angel holding enough information on Liberty to put her away for good. Is Liberty Greenwood hard enough?  Hard as Nails is by Helen Black.

Everyone is keeping a secret. One of them is murder. The book club was her idea, of course.  It was her way into our group. A chance to get close.  I knew from the day she arrived that she couldn't be trusted.  And I was right.  Alice didn't come to the village for peace and quiet.  She came for revenge.  The Book Club is by C J Cooper.

November 2020

One winter night in 1932, at the top of the Empire State Building, Frances and Agnes, possible lovers and co-conspirators, are waiting for a man who has done something terrible to both of them. They plan to seek the ultimate revenge.   Set over the course of a single night, with flashbacks to the weeks leading up to the potential murder, One Night, New York by Lara Thompson is a detective story, a romance and a coming-of-age tale. It is also a story of old New York, of bohemian Greenwich Village between the wars, of floozies and artists and addicts, of a city that sucked in creatives and immigrants alike, lighting up the world, while all around America burned amidst the heat of the Great Depression.

The House of the Hanged Woman is by Kate Ellis.  1921, Derbyshire. When a Member of Parliament goes missing in a small Derbyshire village, Scotland Yard detective Albert Lincoln is sent up North to investigate. He finds that a grim discovery has been made in a cave next to an ancient stone circle called the Devil's Dancers: the naked body of a middle-aged man mutilated beyond recognition. The local police assume it is the missing politician but when Albert arrives in Wenfield he begins to have doubts. Two years earlier he conducted another traumatic murder investigation in the same village and he finds reminders of a particularly personal tragedy all around him as he tries to help a vicar's widow who claims her husband was murdered. Then there is another murder in Wenfield when an unfaithful young wife with a passion for books is accused of killing her husband. Could there be a link between all of Albert's cases? And can the detective, damaged by war and love, find peace at last?

Spring is in the air ... and so, too, is the sound of music as the residents of Honeychurch Hall are stunned to learn that the Dowager Countess Lady Edith Honeychurch has agreed to the staging of a production of The Merry Widow in the dilapidated grand ballroom.  Fears that the fiercely private octogenarian must be going senile are soon dismissed when our heroine, Kat Stanford, learns that the favour is a result of a desperate request from Countess Olga Golodkin. As one of Edith's oldest friends Olga is the director of the amateur Devon Operatic Dramatic Organization.   Just a week before, D.O.D.O's original venue was destroyed in a mysterious fire but since tickets have been sold, costumes made and lucrative local sponsorships secured, Olga is determined that the show must go on. After decades at the helm of D.O.D.O., The Merry Widow will be Olga's swansong and she wants to go out with a bang . . . Death of a Diva at Honeychurch Hall is by Hannah Dennison.