Books to look forward to from Faber & Faber

 In the final part of Alan Glynn’s spectacular loose trilogy of conspiracy thrillers, someone is assassinating the most powerful players in the global financial markets.  A Wall Street investment banker is shot dead while jogging in Central Park.  Later that night, one of the savviest hedge-fund managers in the city is gunned down outside a fancy Upper West Side restaurant.  Are these killings part of a coordinated terrorist attack, or just coincidence?  Investigative journalist Ellen Dorsey has a hunch that it’s neither.  Days later, when an attempt is made on the life of another CEO, the story blows wide open . . . Racing to stay ahead of the curve, Ellen encounters Frank Bishop, a recession-hit architect, whose daughter has gone missing.  The search for Lizzie and her boyfriend takes Frank and Ellen from a quiet campus to the blazing spotlight of a national media storm – and into the devastating crucible of a personal and a public tragedy.  Meanwhile, lurking in the shadows once again is James Vaughn, legendary CEO of private equity firm the Oberon Capital Group.  Despite his failing health, Vaughan is refusing to give up control easily, and we soon see just how far-reaching and pervasive his influence really is.  Set deep in the place where corrupt global business and radical politics clash, Alan Glynn’s Graveland is an explosive and hugely topical thriller and is due to be published in June 2013.

Norwegian by Night   is the debut novel by Derek B Miller and is due to be published in February 2013.  He will not admit it to Rhea and Lars – never, of course not – but Sheldon can’t help but wonder what it is he’s doing here . . .Eighty-two years old, and recently widowed, Sheldon Horowitz has grudgingly moved to Oslo, with his grand-daughter and her Norwegian husband.  An ex-Marine, he talks often to the ghosts of his past – the friends he lost in the Pacific and the son who followed him into the US Army, and to his death in Vietnam.  When Sheldon witnesses the murder of a woman in his apartment complex, he rescues her six-year-old son and decides to run.  Pursued by both the Balkan gang responsible for the murder, and the Norwegian police, he has to rely on training from over half a century before to try and keep the boy safe.  Against a strange and foreign landscape, this unlikely couple, who can’t speak the same language; start to form a bond that may just save them both.  An extraordinary debut, featuring a memorable hero, Norwegian by Night is the last adventure of a man still trying to come to terms with the tragedies of his life.

A beautiful teenage girl, Simona Biondi, has gone missing from her home in the Italian capital.  Castagnetti, the private detective hired by her parents, trawls the streets of Rome, finding himself drawn into the dark, erotic world of a TV empire belonging to a media mogul turned politician called Mario Di Angelo.  He unearths a murky world in which nubile young women, desperate for stardom, are prepared to do anything to get a break; in which powerful men are happy to exploit that desperation in order to make money and make love.  Castagnetti discovers that Anna Sartori, a young woman on the fringes of the Di Angelo empire, went missing almost twenty years ago.  Anna Sartori’s best friend, he finds out, was Simona Biondi’s sister.  This is a world, Castagnetti realises, where secrets are like fireworks: you don’t see them until they explode.  Death of a Showgirl is by Tobias Jones and is due to be published in April 2013

Eleven Days is the second in his acclaimed Carrigan and Miller police procedural series and is due to be published in June 2013.  In Eleven Days Stav Sherez conjures up a terrifying mystery.  A fire rages through a sleepy West London square, engulfing a small convent hidden away among the residential houses.  When DI Jack Carrigan and DS Geneva Miller arrive at the scene they discover eleven bodies, yet there were only supposed to be ten nuns in residence.  It’s eleven days before Christmas, and despite their superiors wanting the case solved before the holidays, Carrigan and Miller start to suspect that the nuns were not who they were made out to be.  Why did they make no move to escape the fire?  Who is the eleventh victim, whose body was found separate to the others?  And where is the convent’s priest, the one man who can answer their questions?  Fighting both internal politics and the church hierarchy, Carrigan and Miller unravel the threads of a case, which reaches back to the early 1970s, and the upsurge of radical Liberation Theology in South America – with echoes of the Shining Path, and contemporary battles over oil, land and welfare.  Meanwhile, closer to home, there’s a new threat in the air, one the police are entirely unprepared for.  Spanning four decades and two continents, Eleven Days finds Carrigan and Miller up against time as they face a new kind of criminal future.

Back from the Dead is by Peter Leonard and is due to be published in January 2013.  Bahamas, 1971, and Ernst Hess, missing presumed dead, regains consciousness to find himself stuck in a hospital bed on a strange ward in a foreign country . . . The follow-up to the acclaimed Voices of the Dead, Back from the Dead pitches us and the gang – Harry, Cordell, Colette and Joyce – back into a desperate fight to the death, which moves from the Bahamas to Florida, and from Germany to the South of France, as their worst fear comes back to haunt them.  Whip-smart, action packed and darkly funny, the second part of Peter Leonard’s glorious two-hander packs some serious punch.

The summer of 1941.  Russia has been invaded.  As Hitler’s forces smash into Soviet territory, annihilating the Red Army divisions in its path, a lone German scout plane is forced down.  Contained within the briefcase of its passenger is a painting of a hyalophoria cecropia, otherwise known as a red moth.  Military Intelligence dismisses the picture as insignificant, but Stalin suspects a German plot.  He summons his old adversary, Inspector Pekkala – the elusive Finn who was once Tsar Nicholas II’s personal detective – to discover the real significance of the red moth.  As the storm gathers around him, Pekkala soon finds himself on the path of the most formidable art thieves in history, whose real target is a secret and prized possession of the Romanovs, once considered to be the eighth wonder of the world.  However, as the Soviet Union crumbles in the face of the advancing cataclysm, Pekkala realizes that to protect the Tsar’s treasure he must break through enemy lines in a desperate mission to outfox the German invaders, or face the wrath of Stalin himself.  The Red Moth is the fourth book in the series to feature Inspector Pekkala by Sam Eastland and is due to be published in February 2013.

‘It’s just to say that no-one has come to pick Nathan up from school, and we were wondering if there was a problem of some kind?’  As Mark Douglas photographs a pod of whales stranded in the waters off Edinburgh’s Portobello Beach, he is called by his son’s school: his wife, Lauren, hasn’t turned up to collect their son.  Calm at first, Mark collects Nathan and takes him home but as the hours slowly crawl by, he increasingly starts to worry.  With brilliantly controlled reveals, we learn some of the painful secrets of the couple’s shared past, not least that it isn’t the first time Lauren has disappeared.  And as Mark struggles to care for his son and shield him from the truth of what’s going on, the police seem dangerously short of leads.  That is, until a shocking discovery . . . Gone Again is by Doug Johnstone and is due to be published in March 2013.

Forthcoming books to look forward to from Faber & Faber

It's Detroit, 1971. Harry Levin, scrap metal dealer and holocaust survivor, learns that his daughter has been killed in a car accident. Travelling to Washington DC, he's told by Detective Taggart that the German diplomat,who was drunk, has been released and afforded immunity; he will never face charges. So Harry is left with only one option - to discover the identity of this man, follow him back to Munich and hunt him down. The first of a two-hander, Peter Leonard's new novel is a classic cat-and-mouse thriller. Told with swagger, brutal humour and not a little violence, it follows a good man who is forced to return to the horrors of his past. Voices of the Dead is due to be published in January 2012

Driving home from a party with his girlfriend and brother, all of them drunk and high on stolen pills, Billy Blackmore accidentally hits someone in the night. In a panic, they all decide to drive off. But the next day Billy wakes to find he has to cover the story for the local paper. It turns out the dead man was Edinburgh's biggest crime lord and, as Billy struggles with what he's done, he is sucked into a nightmare of guilt, retribution and violence. From the author of the acclaimed "Smokeheads", "Hit & Run" is another pitch-black psychological thriller. Hit & Run is by Doug Johnstone and is due to be published in March 2012.

Death in the Sun is by Adam Creed and is due to be published in June 2012. In Almagen, a small village in the Andalucian mountains, Staffe nurses himself back from the brink of death. His idyllic new life in Spain appeals and Staffe is becoming a part of the community. One day his friend, Manolo, takes Staffe to visit Almeria and tells him about a body that has been found buried in an old greenhouse by the Mediterranean. Staffe becomes inexorably drawn to the case and befriends a journalist, Raul, who presents the killing as a simple case of drug-trafficking gone wrong, but it soon emerges that this murder mirrors the methods of torture used during Spain's brutal civil war. When Raul plunges to his death in a drunken car crash, Almagen’s own secret past slowly rises to the surface, bringing with it family feuds and an expatriate ménage of a famous British artist, a Vietnam war vet, and a beautiful German heiress. Between the sierra and the sea, everyone seems to want to bury the past – except Staffe, who's new life is threatened as he refuses to abandon his investigation. Once unearthed, the past refuses to go away and the closer the unseen enemy gets, the more Staffe’s own past haunts him – torn and trapped by two so different worlds, and closer than ever to the man who murdered his parents.

"A Dark Redemption" introduces DI Jack Carrigan and DS Geneva Miller as they investigate the brutal rape and murder of a young Ugandan student. Plunged into an underworld of illegal immigrant communities, they discover that the murdered girl's studies at a London College may have threatened to reveal things that some people will go to any lengths to keep secret...Unflinching, inventive and intelligent, "A Dark Redemption" explores a sinister case that will force DI Carrigan to face up to his past and DS Miller to confront what path she wants her future to follow. A Dark Redemption is by Stav Sherez and is due to be published in February 2012.

Siberian Red is the third book in the Inspector Pekkala series by Sam Eastland and is due to be published in February 2012 It's September 1939. The Second World War has begun. Even as the fighting rages in, Stalin's long time obsession with the missing treasure of Tsar Nicholas II is rekindled. An informant claims to have information about the whereabouts of the man entrusted by the Tsar with hiding his gold. As the news of the informant reaches Stalin, however, the man is knifed to death. Stalin summons Pekkala to the Kremlin and orders him to solve the murder. To accomplish his mission, he must return to Borodok, the notorious Gulag where he himself spent many years as a prisoner. There, he must pose as a inmate in order to unravel the mystery ...As he returns to the nightmares of his past, is this a mission too far for the great Pekkala?

It's summer, 1936. The writer, Josephine Tey, joins her friends in the holiday village of Portmeirion to celebrate her fortieth birthday. Alfred Hitchcock and his wife, Alma Reville, are there to sign a deal to film Josephine's novel, "A Shilling for Candles", and Hitchcock has one or two tricks up his sleeve to keep the holiday party entertained - and expose their deepest fears. But things get out of hand when one of Hollywood's leading actresses is brutally slashed to death in a cemetery near the village. The following day, as fear and suspicion take over in a setting where nothing - and no one - is quite what it seems, Chief Inspector Archie Penrose becomes increasingly unsatisfied with the way the investigation is ultimately resolved. Several years later, another horrific murder, again linked to a Hitchcock movie, drives Penrose back to the scene of the original crime to uncover the shocking truth. "Fear in the Sunlight" is the fourth detective novel following the life and work of Golden Age writer, Josephine Tey by Nicola Upson and is due to be published in April 2012

Baghdad 1917. Captain Jim Stringer, invalided from the Western Front, has been dispatched to investigate what looks like a nasty case of treason. He arrives to find a city on the point of insurrection, his cover apparently blown - and his only contact lying dead with flies in his eyes. As Baghdad swelters in a particularly torrid summer, the heat alone threatens the lives of the British soldiers who occupy the city. The recently ejected Turks are still a danger - and many of the local Arabs are none too friendly either. For Jim, who is not particularly good in warm weather, the situation grows pricklier by the day. Aside from his investigation, he is working on the railways around the city. His boss is the charming, enigmatic Lieutenant-Colonel Shepherd, who presides over the gracious dining society called The Baghdad Railway Club - and who may or may not be a Turkish agent. Jim's search for the truth brings him up against murderous violence in a heat-dazed, labyrinthine city where an enemy awaits around every corner. The Baghdad Railway Club is by Andrew Martin whose novels have been short-listed for the Ellis Peters Historical Award and the CWA Dagger in the Library. The Baghdad Railway Club is due to be published in June 2012

The Expats is the debut novel by Chris Pavone. When her husband accepts a new job in Luxembourg Kate Morrow thinks she is leaving her top-secret life in the CIA behind. It’s the perfect opportunity for her family to start again as expatriates in a genteel, European city with a new home, new friends and a new life. But when Kate and her husband, Dexter, are befriended by another American couple, Julia and Bill, Kate can’t help but sense that they may not be who they say they are. Charming and sociable, they are also vague about their past in ways that Kate, as ex-CIA, knows intelligence operatives have to be. With Dexter immersed in work – where he is developing a top secret banking security system – Kate is left to try and unravel the deception for herself.

New books to look forward to from Faber and Faber

Andrew Martin whose “Jim Stringer” Railway Detective series has been shortlisted twice for the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger returns with the seventh book in the series – The Somme Stations. Jim Stringer finds that death is still close to hand when a member of his unit has been found dead even before they have left the country to go to France as part of the Railway Pals. Clearly there is someone within the ranks at the bottom of this. However, Jim soon finds himself under suspicion when all the evidence points in his direction. The Somme Station is due to be published in March 2011.

The Red Coffin sees the return of Inspector Pekkala originally introduced to readers in the debut novel Eye of the Tsar. Pekkala is asked to investigate the murder of a secretive and eccentric architect who was designing “the Red Coffin”. The Red Coffin by Sam Eastland is due to be published in February 2011.

Adam Creed’s third book in the D.I. Staffe series Pain of Death is due to be published in April 2011. D.I. Will Waggstaffe finds himself amidst Whitehall’s clubland and Soho when burlesque singer Kerry Degg is found after being held captive whilst giving birth to a baby.

Sara Gran’s novel City of the Dead introduces readers to Claire DeWitt an unusual private investigator when she is asked to investigate the disappearance of New Orleans Assistant District Attorney who has been missing since Hurricane Katrina. City of the Dead is due for publication in June 2011.

Smokeheads by Doug Johnstone is a story of four friends, one weekend and gallons of whisky. Four friends find their weekend spiralling out of control when they become involved with a young divorcee and her young sister along with the ex-husband who is not only a control freak but also the local police. Smokeheads is due for release in March 2011

Tobias Jones returns with his bee-keeping private investigator Castagnetti who is asked by a client to find out who set fire to his car. His investigation takes him into the murky and seedy world of the construction industry in northern Italy. White Death the second book in the series featuring Castagnetti is due for publication in May 2011.

All He Saw Was the Girl by Peter Leonard is actually two narratives which come together in the backstreets of Italy’s oldest city. Firstly in Rome where two American exchange students become involved in a violent street gang and in Detroit where a secret service agent’s wife has an affair with a Mafia enforcer. All He Saw Was the Girl is due for publication in January 2011.

The St Petersburg novels by R N Morris featuring Magistrate Porfiry Petrovich returns with The Cleansing Flame, which sees the Magistrate looking into an investigation featuring radicals who are seeking to fan the flames of revolution. Furthermore a junior Magistrate finds his loyalties divided when he agrees to infiltrate a terrorist cell. The Cleansing Flame will be published in May 2011.

Christopher Wakling’s The Devil’s Mask is an historical crime novel set just after the abolition of the slave trade in Bristol. Inigo Bright a lawyer whilst dealing with a request from his boss to reconcile years of port fees and import duties finds himself caught up in a secret that will have a devastating effect not only on his family but also his work as well. The Devil’s Mask is published in June 2011.