New books to look forward to from Transworld

In the cathedral tower lives a strange boy with a limp who talks about bells. In a luxury penthouse lives a high class prostitute who is in mortal danger. And in a low-rent hotel lives a private investigator who has no idea how she got there. Jay Harper finds himself in Switzerland on the trail of a missing Olympic athlete. A hard drinker he is unsure why he accepted the job. But when he meets the stunning Katherine a high-class hooker he realises that he is not the only one for hire. In the meantime Marc Rochat spends his time in the belfry talking to the statutes, his cat and the occasional ghost. When he sees Katherine as he watches over Lausanne at night he believes that she is the angel that his mother told him that one day he will save, but not in a good way. The Watchers is by Jon Steele and is due to be published in June 2011.

Seven days. Three killings. And one woman who knows too much. Crime reporter Annika Bengtzon is woken by a phonecall in the early hours of a wintry morning. An explosion has ripped apart the Olympic Stadium. And a victim has been blown to pieces. As Annika delves into the details of the bombing and the background of the victim, there is a second explosion. These chilling crimes could be her biggest news story yet. When her police source reveals they are hot on the heels of the bomber, Annika is guaranteed an exclusive with her name on it. But she is uncovering too much, and soon finds herself the target of a deranged serial killer. The Bomber is by Liza Marklund and is due to be published in June 2011.

2010 CWA International Dagger Award winner Johan Theorin returns with his latest novel A Place of Blood. 81 year old Gerlof Davidsson has moved back to his summer cottage at the old quarry but his peace is soon disturbed when he discovers his wife's diaries and discovers secrets from the past that have never been told before. Per Morner also lives at the old quarry with his ill daughter but when his estranged father turns up suddenly asking for help Per is determined to find out who would want to kill his father. Along the way he makes some rather disturbing discoveries. A Place of Blood is due to be published in May 2011.

In Now You See Me Lacey Flint is a London Policewoman with a secret past and an unusual social life. She also has a morbid fascination about serial killers. One evening she finds a woman fatally stabbed beside her car and finds herself taken in for questioning. But when a letter is hand delivered it appears the killer's focus is in fact Lacey. She soon finds herself in the middle of a rather dangerous murder hunt with a smart but damaged Detective Inspector Tulloch and DI Mark Joesbury whose interest in her she is wary of. Will Lacey be able to cope with the limelight and will the team be able to track down a nasty serial killer. Now You See Me is by S J Bolton and is due to be published in May 2011.

It is AD65 and Sebastos Pantera spy to the Emperor Nero has undertaken his most dangerous mission. He must find Saulos who is considered to be the most dangerous person in the Roman Empire and bring him to justice. Saulos has only one thought in mind and that is to bring about the destruction of the Roman Empire. He is not bothered about the devastation and death that it will bring along the way. Standing between them is the huntress Ikshara who must decide which of the two men she will support if she is to avenge her father's death. Rome: The Coming of the King is by M C Scott and is due to be published in May 2011.

Detective Jo Birmingham returns in Between the Lies the second novel by Niamh O'Connor. Thinking that she is attending a routine domestic murder in an upscale part of Dublin Detective Jo Birminghamgets a shock when she recognises the murder victim. A sex tape had recently been delivered to Birmingham with the victim on the tape. However, there is also an anonymous note with the tape implicating her boss the Justice Minister as the unidentified male also on the tape. As she investigates the matter results point to the victim's husband but she can't ignore the letter and it looks as if the cover-up goes right to the top. Between the Lies is due for publication in April 2011.

Before I go to Sleep is the debut novel by S J Watson and it is due to be published in April 2011.

'As I sleep, my mind will erase everything that I did today. I will wake up tomorrow as I did this morning. Thinking I'm still a

child. Thinking I have a whole lifetime of choices ahead of me..' Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep and the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story? Welcome to Christine's life. Before I go to Sleep has also been acquired for film by Ridley Scott's production company with filming scheduled to start in 2011.

Summertime is the fifth book in the series by Mari Jungstedt to feature Inspector Anders Knutas. The murder of a young jogger on the beach at Faro - executed with a single bullet to the back of the head is an opportunity for Anders Knuta's newly appointed deputy Jacobsson to prove her worth whilst her boss is away on holiday. But when a second body is discovered, murdered in the same way, Jacobsson's investigation point to a horrifying conclusion. Summertime is due to be published in April 2011.

Cal, married to a successful businessman has always been a bit of a dreamer and has never had to worry about anything until her teenage daughter gets into difficulty and she needs to get her hands on some cash fast. Zoe (the sister) on the other hand is a detective inspector with a good career but a secret that goes back twenty years and if revealed could destroy everything that she has built up. Two sisters bent on survival until one of them does something terrifying that there is no way back. Hanging Hill is by Mo Hayder and is due to be published in April 2011.

Thirteen years ago surgeon Edward Hammond performed a life saving operation on Serbian gangster Dragan Gazi. Gazi is now standing trial for

war crimes and his family want Hammond's help in exchange for keeping his secret. They want Hammond to find the man who

has the mone

y that has been salted away. But Marco Piravani does not want to be found by anyone especially not Hammond. Tracking him takes

Gazi to the Hague, Milan and on to Belgrade where

everything started. It is there were where he must confront his decisions he once took so easily. Blood Count is by Robert Goddard and is due to be published in March 2011.

Charles Webster i

s an improverished photographer working for the famed actor-manager Henry Irving at the Lyceum Theatre. He finds himself sucked into a shadowy demi-monde which exists beneath the surface of civilised society. It is a world of pornographers and prostitutes where Webster is unwittingly being manipulated by the sinister Marlow. The knowledge of this enterprise comes to the attention of Lyceum's upright theatre manager Bram Stoker who suspects Webster's involvement. As the net tightens around Marlow and his cohorts, a member of the aristocracy is accused of killing a child prostitute and public outrage sweeps the capital. It is not the best time for Webster's wife to become a professional medium. The London Satyr is due to be published in March 2011 and is by Robert Edric.

John Tanner is the wheelman, an undercover cop with an awesome driving ability. He earned his stripes racing stock cars through city streets and now he is the best in the business. But his legendary skills are about to be put to the ultimate test. Tanner must infiltrate the criminal under world of The Indian, the most feared gang leader in New Orleans - a man so terrifying that people claimed he has voodoo powers. But when a figure from his past appears, Tanner must face an even more deadly enemy. Driver is by Alex Sharp and is due to be published in February 2011.

In Safe Hands is by Abbie Taylor and is due to be published in February 2011. Nursing is everything to Dawn. Having lost her beloved grandmother to cancer, it breaks her heart to see a terminally ill patient suffering in the same way. So when an old lady begs Dawn to end her life, Dawns knows it is the kindest thing to do. What she does not realise is that someone in the

hospital is watching her. Someone who is intent on making her pay for what she has done. Wracked with guilt, dawn struggles to meet her tormentor's demands. But she is already way out of her depth. Things are about to take a very sinister turn.

Payback sees the return of Dennis Milne. A former cop, he's earned his living killing the bad guys - those who in his opinion deserve to die. For the last two days he has been in Manila waiting for his next target: a young woman who's made some bad life choices and enemies. DI Boyd is a woman on a mission. She is looking for the man she holds responsible for the death of her lover. She knows he is dangerous and he is in Manila. She is determined to find him and kill him before he kills her. These are two cops with pasts that haunt them and a present that could see them both dead. They are about to meet. Payback is by Simon Kernick and is due to be published in February 2011.

The Calling of the Grave is the latest book in the series to feature forensic anthropologist Dr David Hunter. Eight years ago a body was found buried on the moor. At the time it was certain that this was one of the victims of psychotic rapist and multiple murderer Jerome Monk. But that left two bodies to be found. The search ended badly with them gradually being forgotten and Monk is behind bars. However, Monk has managed to escape and seems to be targeting all those involved in the original investigation. Persuaded to go back to the moors, Hunter soon realises that neither the current events taking place nor the events that took place eight years ago are what they seem. The past is not really dead and buried. The Calling of the Grave is by Simon Beckett and is due to be published in February 2011.

The death of an unknown American in Stockholm, though tragic, should be an open-and-shut case, a simple. But when Superintendent Lars Martin Johansson begins to delve beneath the layers of corruption, incompetence and violence currently strangling the Stockholm police department, he

uncovers a complex web of treachery, politics and espionage. Johansson quickly realises that there is nothing routine about this little death as it quickly catapults him from mere domestic drama straight to the rotten heart of Sweden's government. Between Summer's Longing and Winter's End is by Leif G W Persson and is due to be published in February 2011.

First Frost is a prequel to the bestselling police procedural series by the late RD Wingfield. It is 1981 in Denton and Britain is in a recession, the IRA are becoming increasingly active and the country is on alert for an outbreak of rabies. Detective Sergeant Jack Frost is working under his mentor and inspiration DI Bert Williams whilst just about coping with his strained marriage. But when DI Williams cannot be found and DI Allen fails to return from his walking holiday, Superintendent Mullett whois trying to cope with depleted ranks finds himself putting DS Frost in charge when a 12 year-old girl goes missing. First Frost is by James Henry and will be published in January 2011.

Darkside is the second novel by CWA Gold Dagger winner by Belinda Bauer. Shipcott in bleak mid-winter: a close knit community where no stranger goes unnoticed. So when an elderly

woman is murdered in her bed, village policeman Jonas Holly is doubly shocked. How could someone have killed and left no trace. Jonas finds himself sidelined by an abrasive senior detective. But this is not the end for Jonas. Someone in the village is taunting him, blaming him for the tragedy, and watching every move that he makes. But when the killer claims another victim, the taunts turn into sinister threats. Darkside will be published in January 2011.

America in 1963 is a country at a crossroads: Vietnam, the civil rights movement, the Cuban missile crisis, the sexual revolution, FBI, CIA, LSD - and a promise of a change offered by a new president, John F Kennedy. Some people believe in the future. Other conspire to control it. Chandler Forrestal is a man whose life is changed for ever when he is unwittingly dragged into a CIA mind-control experiment. After being given a massive dose of LSD, Chandler develops a frightening array of mental powers. With his heightened perception he uncovers a plot to assassinate President Kennedy. Chased by the dark powers of world government, will Chandler be able to harness his 'shift' and rewrite history? Shift is by Tim Kring and Dale Peck and is due to be published in January 2011.