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

January 2021

The Oxford Brotherhood is by Guillermo Martinez. Mathematics student G is trying to resurrect his studies, which is proving difficult as he finds himself - and not for the first time - drawn into investigating a series of mysterious crimes. When Kristen, a researcher hired by the Lewis Carroll Brotherhood, makes a startling new discovery concerning pages torn from Caroll's diary, she hesitates to reveal to her employers a hitherto unknown chapter in his life. Oxford would be rocked to its core if the truth about Lewis Carroll's relationship with Alice Liddell - the real Alice - were brought to light.  After Kristen is involved in a surreal accident and members of the Brotherhood are anonymously sent salacious photographs of Alice, G joins forces with Kristen as they begin to realise that dark powers are at work. More pictures are received, and it becomes clear that a murderer is stalking anyone who shows too much interest in Carroll's life. G must stretch his mathematical mind to its limits to solve the mystery and understand the cryptic workings of the Brotherhood. Until then, nobody, not even G, is safe.

Kieran Elliott's life changed forever on a single day when a reckless mistake led to devastating consequences. The guilt that haunts him still resurfaces during a visit with his young family to the small coastal town he once called home. Kieran's parents are struggling in a community which is bound, for better or worse, to the sea that is both a lifeline and a threat. Between them all is his absent brother Finn. When a body is discovered on the beach, long-held secrets threaten to emerge in the murder investigation that follows. A sunken wreck, a missing girl, and questions that have never washed away... The Survivors is by Jane Harper.

Under a Dark Angel's Eye: The Selected Stories of Patricia Highsmith. Patricia Highsmith was one of the great twentieth-century fiction writers, celebrated for classics. The Talented Mr Ripley, Carol, and Strangers on a Train, but she was also a masterful and prolific short-story writer. This definitive new collection, featuring two stories that have never been published before, reveals Highsmith as a genius of the genre. Peerlessly disturbing, exhilarating and savagely funny, Highsmith's stories still have the power to startle, presenting a world that is frighteningly familiar and as relevant today as when they were written.

One Night, New York by Lara Thompson is a debut novel of corruption and murder, set in the nightclubs, tenements and skyscrapers of 1930s New York. For the hundredth time since they'd made their promise, she wondered if she and Agnes were really going to go through with it, if she was brave and terrible enough. At the top of the Empire State Building, on a freezing December night, two women hold their breath. Frances and Agnes are waiting for the man who has wronged them. They plan to seek the ultimate revenge. Set over the course of a single night, One Night, New York 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 amid the heat of the Great Depression.

None of them came to book club with a plot to murder . . . So when the discussion unexpectedly turns to the appropriate revenge for a philandering husband, nobody takes it seriously. It's all hypothetical and anyway, what woman hasn't dreamed about killing the man she loves occasionally? That doesn't mean she'd actually do it. But the very next day a man is dead. And now three women have some explaining to do . .. Three Single Wives is by Gina Lamanna.

The Perfect Guests is an enthralling time-slip mystery about two women, one house and a lifetime of secrets, by Emma Rous. You are cordially invited to play a game at Raven Hall . When Beth was fourteen, she was invited into Raven Hall, a rambling, isolated manor house in the English countryside. The family who lived there were warm and welcoming, and Beth soon became firm friends with their daughter, Nina. At times, Beth even felt like she was truly part of the family . . . But then they asked her to play a very strange game - and nothing was the same again. Now, after years of abandonment, Raven Hall has been restored to its former glory and is playing host to an evening of murder mystery . . . But why does the tragic past of this imposing house seem to have such a hold on everyone? Is this really just a game, or a murder mystery for real? The guests are about to find out - with devastating consequences....

If I Disappear is by Eliza Jane Brazier. Sera loves true crime podcasts. The mysteries becomes an unlikely comfort for her, and then an obsession. So when Rachel, her favourite podcast host, goes missing from a small town in Northern California, Sera decides to act. She heads to the isolated ranch where Rachel disappeared, determined to discover what's happened to her. But the more Sera digs into this unfamiliar world, the more off things start to feel. Because Rachel is not the first woman to vanish from the ranch, and she won't be the last Rachel did try to warn her.

February 2021

London, Burning is by Anthony Quinn. Vicky Tress is a young policewoman on the rise who becomes involved in a corruption imbroglio with CID. Hannah Strode is an ambitious young reporter with a speciality for skewering the rich and powerful. Callum Conlan is a struggling Irish academic and writer who falls in with the wrong people. While Freddie Selves is a hugely successful theatre impresario stuck deep in a personal and political mire of his own making. These four characters, strangers at the start, happen to meet and affect the course of each other's lives profoundly.

What looked like a lover’s quarrel turned fatal has larger—and more terrifying—motives behind it…The scene in the West Village studio appears to be classic crime-of-passion: two wineglasses by the bed, music playing, and a young sculptor named Ariel Byrd with the back of her head bashed in. But when Dallas tracks down the wealthy Upper East Side woman who called 911, the details don’t add up. Gwen Huffman is wealthy, elegant, comforted by her handsome fiancé as she sheds tears over the trauma of finding the body—but why did it take an hour to report it? And why is she lying about little things?  As Eve and her team look into Gwen, her past, and the people around her, they find that the lies are about more than murder. As with sculpture, they need to chip away at the layers of deception to find the shape within—and soon they’re getting the FBI involved in a case that involves a sinister, fanatical group and a stunning criminal conspiracy Faithless in Death is by J D Robb.

Hyde is by Craig Russell. Edward Hyde has a strange gift-or a curse-he keeps secret from all but his physician. He experiences two realities, one real, the other a dreamworld state brought on by a neurological condition. When murders in Victorian Edinburgh echo the ancient Celtic threefold death ritual, Captain Edward Hyde hunts for those responsible. In the process he becomes entangled in a web of Celticist occultism and dark scheming by powerful figures. The answers are there to be found, not just in the real world but in the sinister symbolism of Edward Hyde's otherworld. He must find the killer, or lose his mind. A dark tale. One that inspires Hyde's friend . . . Robert Louis Stevenson.

The Murder List is by T F Muir. St. Andrews, Scotland: When an elderly woman's naked body is found in her home, crucified to the floor, DCI Andy Gilchrist and his associate, DS Jessie Janes, find themselves in a hunt for a brutal serial killer. As the body count rises, suspicion falls on Tap 'Dancer' McCrear, a career criminal recently released from prison after serving fifteen years for a murder he swore he never committed. As Gilchrist begins to uncover the terrifying truth behind each of the killings, his worst fears are realised when he learns that McCrear is killing everyone involved in his murder trial... for it was Gilchrist who arrested McCrear all those years ago. High-flying Detective Superintendent Rommie Frazier, who leads the multi-constabulary task force searching for McCrear, clashes with Gilchrist over the detail of the investigation, and demands his removal. But Gilchrist won't leave without a fight, for he knows it is up to him to find Tap McCrear... before his own name is struck off the murder list.

March 2021

Millie Spark can kill anyone. A special effects make-up artist, her talent is to create realistic scenes of bloody violence. Then, one day, she wakes to find her lover dead in her bed. Twenty-five years later, her sentence for murder served, Millicent is ready to give up on her broken life - until she meets troubled film student and reluctant petty thief Jerry.  Together, they begin to discover that all was not what it seemed on that fateful night . . . and someone doesn't want them to find out why. The Cut is by Chris Brookmyre.

Inspector Daniel Kohi of the Zimbabwean police force returns home one night to find his worst nightmare has been realised. His family dead, his house destroyed, and in fear for his life, he is forced to flee the country he loves. Far away in Glasgow, DSI William Lorimer has his hands full. Christmas is approaching, the city is bustling, and whilst the homicide rate has been relatively low, something much darker is brewing. Counter-Terrorism have got wind of a plot, here in Lorimer's native city, to carry out an unspeakable atrocity on Christmas Eve. They need someone with local knowledge to help them root it out and who better than the head of the Scottish Major Incidents Team. But the investigation is complicated by a spate of local murders, and by the rumours that someone is passing information to criminal organisations from inside the police force. Soon Lorimer finds himself in desperate need of assistance. Then he meets an extraordinary man - a refugee from Zimbabwe whose investigative skills are a match for Lorimer's own . . . Before The Storm is by Alex Gray.

April 2021

Poison for Teacher by Nancy Spain. A nasty attack of murder has broken out at Radcliff Hall, a Sussex girls' boarding school. Enter, in the unlikely guise of schoolteachers, two unorthodox detectives: revue-star Miriam Birdseye and the Russian ballerina, Natasha Nevkorina. (A re-issue).

Bangalore. Three high-profile women murdered, their bodies draped in identical red saris. When the killer targets the British Foreign Minister's ex-wife, Scotland Yard sends the troubled, brilliant DI Vijay Patel to lend his expertise to the Indian police investigation.  Stranger in a strange land, ex-professional cricketer Patel must battle local resentment and his own ignorance of his ancestral country, while trying to save his failing relationship back home. Soon, the killer's eyes will turn to Patel. And also to Chandra Subramanium, the fierce female detective he is working with in Bangalore. Cold Sun is by Anita Sivakumaran. 

The Venentian Legacy is by Philip Gwynne Jones. No happy ever after for Nathan and Federica? Newlyweds Nathan Sutherland and Federica Ravagnan are looking forward to weeks of sunshine and relaxation on the island of Pellestrina, in a cottage belonging to Federica's late father, Elio. The weather is idyllic, the views across the lagoon are spectacular and the seafood is the best in Venice. But when the body of an eminent Venetian lawyer is dredged up by a fishing boat, members of the close-knit island community start to take an unhealthy interest in the two honeymooners, and whispers and rumours begin to circulate about Elio's association with a recently-deceased gang boss. As Federica struggles to comes to terms with her father's troubled legacy, Nathan finds himself dragged into the search for the missing proceeds of an unsolved jewellery heist, and the unwanted centre of attention of the Mala del Brenta- the Venetian Mafia. Clearly Pellestrina is going to be no honeymoon...

May 2021

The Widower is by Christobel Kent. He promised, until death do us part. When bossy, loving, sensible Kate dies suddenly, her little sister Rose dutifully returns from a carefree life abroad to help Kate's widower and the two children Rose has never met. But she is unsettled to see no trace of her warm-hearted sister in the remote, dilapidated house, nor in Kate's cold, distant partner, Evan. After stumbling across a message that only her sister could have left for her, Rose's unease around the circumstances of Kate's death turns to open suspicion, but she knows better than to ask the grieving widower for answers. Determined to discover the truth of her sister's terrible last days, Rose has no choice but to keep looking. Eventually, she senses, the dark house will give up its secrets. But she is not prepared to admit that whoever threatened Kate's life might now be coming after her...

Their new 'smart home' is Joe's dream. A remote cottage where everything - from the lighting to the locks - is controlled through an app. It's the perfect blend of old-world charm and modern convenience. What better place for them to escape after all Lauren's trauma? Lauren desperately wants Joe to be happy after all she's put him through, so she doesn't tell him how much she hates being so dependent on technology. How vulnerable it makes them. Then 'the incidents' begin. Joe thinks Lauren is the victim of her own fevered imagination. But Lauren can't be sure. She doesn't believe in ghosts, but she also knows the past rarely stays buried. And she is haunted by one question: is their past finally catching up with them? Leave The Lights On is by Egan Hughes.

One day a man arrives in town. Unassuming. Quiet. The assassin known as Victor is hiding out in a small motel in Canada after a job across the border. A few days laying low and he'll be gone and leave no trace behind... He doesn't count on getting to know a mother and her boy who reminds him of his own troubled childhood. When both vanish, only Victor seems to notice. Once he starts looking for them, he finds himself at odds with the criminals who own the town. They want him gone. Only Victor's going nowhere until he discovers the truth and to them he's just a quiet man asking the wrong questions. But that quiet man is a dangerous man. A Quiet Man is by Tom Wood.

Summer in the Lincolnshire Wolds and Clarice is rung by her friend Louise, asking whether she can look after Susie, her son's lively Boxer, as 41-year-old Guy has gone missing from the family home. His mother thinks he has been suffering from depression but more worryingly, in his professional life, he had been working on a high-profile case, defending a known criminal. His home life was beset with problems too, which is why his mother has asked Clarice to look after the dog; Charlotte, Guy's wife, just can't cope with her as well as their three daughters.. Getting drawn into the puzzle of Guy's disappearance, Clarice wonders how Susie received a nasty cut to her back leg, and who is the mysterious Charles? Guy apparently did not trust him enough to let him into his home, and he had not been seen since he was driven away in Charles car. Guy's friends all say that he was a good, honest man, but as Clarice looks further into the murky criminal world he inhabits, she questions if Guy has been pulled in out of his depth. And - why does Susie keep returning to the private woods, where she had spent so much time with her beloved master....The Man Who Vanished and the Dog Who Waited is by Kate High.

Strictly Murder is by Julie Wassmer. It really is murder on the dance floor. A new dance school opens in Whitstable run by celebrity tango champions - Tony and Tanya Ballard..Pearl Nolan knows herself to be an ace cook and a sharp private eye but has always left the dancing to her mother, Dolly, a former member of the town's infamous Fish Slappers dance troupe. But Pearl becomes intrigued by the Ballards when they visit The Whitstable Pearl restaurant, and she realises that dance classes could provide the perfect cover for her clandestine relationship with DCI Mike McGuire... McGuire is the only man Pearl has ever considered partnering - and not just for tango - but the pair soon find themselves with more than steps to master when death joins them on the dance floor and a brutal killer stalks the school.

Also published is Solstice of Death by Laurence Anholt

June 2021

Philomena 'Phil' McCarthy is a promising young officer in the London Metropolitan police. But everything changes when she is called to the scene of a domestic assault. Unbeknownst to her, the abuser is a decorated detective and Phil's efforts to protect his girlfriend - Tempe Brown - from violence result in Phil being unjustly struck from the force. In the fallout, Phil begins to teach Tempe self-defence and they strike up a tentative friendship. Tempe is thoughtful and sweet, and within a matter of weeks the two women are inseparable - talking, socialising and confiding their deepest secrets in one another. But something isn't right. Sinister things keep happening and, when a body is discovered, Phil realises that Tempe is hiding deadly secrets of her own. Secrets she is willing to kill for . When You Are Mine is by Michael Robotham.

The Maze is by Nelson DeMille. '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?

Dead Ground is by M W Craven. Detective Sergeant Washington Poe is in court, fighting eviction from his beloved and isolated croft, when he is summoned to a backstreet brothel in Carlisle where a man has been beaten to death with a baseball bat. Poe is confused - he hunts serial killers and this appears to be a straightforward murder-by-pimp - but his attendance was requested personally, by the kind of people who prefer to remain in the shadows. As Poe and the socially awkward programmer Tilly Bradshaw delve deeper into the case, they are faced with seemingly unanswerable questions: despite being heavily vetted for a high-profile job, why does nothing in the victim's background check out? Why was a small ornament left at the murder scene - and why did someone on the investigation team steal it? And what is the connection to a flawlessly executed bank heist three years earlier, a heist where nothing was taken . . .