Books to Look Forward to From Bloomsbury Books

 

July 2022

Don't be ordinary, Leo. Passion has its price.'1883. Leo Stanhope, transgender journalist and amateur detective, and his wife Rosie have come to Portsmouth - but this is no simple seaside retreat. While Rosie's sister expects them for dinner, two young people have been killed by the docks. Having learned from experience, Leo wants to leave this to the police. When detectives dismiss the victims as only 'molly-lads' and misfits, though, he knows he has to help. But what connects the two victims, a boy from the streets and a young woman with a strange tattoo? And why is Leo himself being watched? As he begins to uncover a web of theft and secrets surrounding the murders, Leo's investigation draws him deeper into Portsmouth's underground nightlife, the dangers of the Navy dockyard - and uncomfortably close to the in-laws he had just begun to get to know. Can he find the truth without losing his chosen family? Just how much will he risk to bring the right people to justice? The Blood Flower is by Alex Reeve.

All I Said Was True is by Imran Mahmood. When Amy Blahn was murdered on a London office rooftop, Layla Mahoney was there. She held Amy as she died. But all she can say when police arrest her is that 'It was Michael. Find Michael and you'll find out everything you need to know.' The problem is, the police can't find Michael - there is no evidence that he exists. And time is running out before they have to either charge Layla with Amy's murder, or let her go. As a lawyer, Layla knows that she has only forty-eight hours to convince police to investigate the man she knows only as 'Michael' instead of her. But the more she attempts to control her interviews with police, the more the truth leaks out - and how much of that truth can Layla risk being exposed?

September 2022

Turning Blue is by Benjamin Myers In the depths of winter in an isolated Yorkshire hamlet, a teenage girl, Melanie Muncy, is missing. The elite detective unit Cold Storage dispatches its best man to investigate. DI Jim Brindle may be obsessive, taciturn and solitary, but nobody on the force is more relentless in pursuing justice. Local journalist Roddy Mace has sacrificed a high-flying career as a reporter in London to take up a role with the local newspaper. For him the Muncy case offers the chance of redemption. Darker forces are at work than either man has realised. On a farm high above the hamlet, Steven Rutter, a destitute loner, harbours secrets that will shock even the hardened Brindle. Nobody knows the bleak moors and their hiding places better than him. As Brindle and Mace begin to prise the secrets of the case from the tight-lipped locals, their investigation leads first to the pillars of the community and finally to a local celebrity who has his own hiding places, and his own dark tastes.

As autumn draws in, a series of unexplained vicious attacks occur in a small northern town renowned for being a bohemian backwater. As the national media descends, local journalist Roddy Mace attempts to tell the story, but finds the very nature of truth brought into question. He turns to disgraced detective James Brindle for help. When further attacks occur the shattered community becomes the focus of an accelerating media that favours immediacy over truth. Murder and myth collide in a folk-crime story about place, identity and the tangled lives of those who never leave. These Darkening Days is by Benjamin Myers.

Countdown to the Daggers!!

Tickets are available from today (Thurs 15 Oct) for the virtual awards ceremony of the 2020 Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Daggers, which honour the very best in crime writing.

The oldest awards in the genre, the CWA Daggers have been synonymous with quality crime writing for over half a century. The awards take place live via Zoom webinar on Thursday 22 October from 7.30pm.

The night is compered by book reviewer, author and journalist Barry Forshaw, one of the UK’s leading experts on crime fiction. Guest speaker will be TV presenter and Pointless creator, Richard Osman, whose debut The Thursday Murder Club became a record-breaking Sunday Times number one bestseller.

Barry Forshaw said: “The Daggers are one of the annual highlights in the literary calendar. The crime writing and reading community is famed for its convivial events, and although virtual, we still promise an entertaining and engaging evening for these Oscars of the crime genre.”

Winners of the Daggers – including the Gold for best crime novel, the Ian Fleming Steel for best thriller, the ALCS Gold for Non-fiction, the John Creasey (New Blood) for first-time authors, and the Sapere Books Historical Dagger – will be announced on the night.

Shortlisted authors for the 10 coveted Daggers include Mick Herron, Eva Dolan, Abir Mukherjee, Casey Cep and Christopher Brookmyre. The awards also feature the Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year and the Dagger in the Library, voted exclusively by librarians, chosen for the author’s body of work and support of libraries. The winner of the Debut Dagger will also be announced – a competition for unpublished writers which can lead to them securing representation and a publishing contract.

One of the UK’s most prominent societies for the promotion and promulgation of crime writing, the CWA was founded in 1953 by John Creasy; the awards started in 1955 with its first award going to Winston Graham, best known for Poldark. They are regarded by the publishing world as the foremost British awards for crime-writing.

Tickets are free, but limited. To book a place, visit:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cwa-dagger-awards-2020-tickets-123647704613

The Shortlists in Full:

GOLD DAGGER

What You Pay For by Claire Askew (Hodder & Stoughton)

November Road by Lou Berney (Harper Fiction)

Forced Confessions by John Fairfax (Little, Brown)

Joe Country by Mick Herron (John Murray)

Death in the East by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker)

Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michael Robotham (Sphere)

IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER

November Road by Lou Berney (Harper Fiction)

This is Gomorrah by Tom Chatfield (Hodder & Stoughton)

One Way Out by AA Dhand (Bantam Press)

Between Two Evils by Eva Dolan(Raven Books)

Cold Storage by David Koepp (HQ)

The Whisper Man by Alex North (Michael Joseph)

JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER

Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha (Faber & Faber)

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing (Michael Joseph)

Little White Lies by Philippa East (HQ)

The Wreckage by Robin Morgan-Bentley (Trapeze)

The Man on the Street by Trevor Wood (Quercus Fiction)

SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER

In Two Minds by Alis Hawkins(The Dome Press)

Metropolis by Philip Kerr (Quercus Fiction)

The Bear Pit by SG MacLean (Quercus Fiction)

Death in the East by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker)

The Anarchists’ Club by Alex Reeve (Raven Books)

The Paper Bark Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu (Constable)

CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER

Summer of Reckoning by Marion Brunet, translated by Katherine Gregor (Bitter Lemon Press)

The Godmother by Hannelore Cayre, translated by Stephanie Smee (Old Street Publishing)

Like Flies from Afar by K Ferrari, translated by Adrian Nathan West (Canongate Books)

November by Jorge Galán, translated by Jason Wilson (Constable)

The Fragility of Bodies by Sergio Olguín, translated by Miranda France (Bitter Lemon Press)

Little Siberia by Antti Tuomainen, translated by David Hackston (Orenda Books)

SHORT STORY DAGGER

The Bully by Jeffery Deaver, in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)

The New Lad by Paul Finch, in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)

The Washing by Christopher Fowler, in Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski (Titan Books)

#Me Too by Lauren Henderson, in Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski (Titan Books)

The Recipe by Louise Jensen, in Exit Wounds, edited by Paul B Kane and Marie O’Regan (Titan Books)

Easily Made by Syd Moore, in 12 Strange Days of Christmas (Point Blank Press)

ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

Furious Hours by Casey Cep (William Heinemann)

Corrupt Bodies by Peter Everett (Icon Books)

Honour: Achieving Justice for Banaz Mahmod by Caroline Goode (Oneworld Publications)

The Fatal Passion of Alma Rattenbury by Sean O’Connor (Simon & Schuster)

The Professor and the Parson: A Story of Desire, Deceit and Defrocking by Adam Sisman (Profile Books)

The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective by Susannah Stapleton (Picador)

DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY

Christopher Brookmyre

Jane Casey

Alex Gray

Quintin Jardine

DEBUT DAGGER

The Spae-Wife by Anna Caig

Whipstick by Leanne Fry

Pesticide by Kim Hays

Emergency Drill by Nicholas Morrish

Revolution Never Lies by Josephine Moulds

Bitter Lake by Michael Munro

PUBLISHERS’ DAGGER

Bitter Lemon Press

Harvill Secker

Head of Zeus

HQ

Michael Joseph

Orenda

Raven Books

Severn House

Books to Look Forward to from Bloomsbury Publishing

July 2020

Murder by Milk Bottle is by Lynne Truss.  The August bank holiday is approaching and after two extremely high-profile murder cases, Constable Twitten is eagerly anticipating a quiet spell at work. But then they find the bodies - and the milk bottles.  Three seemingly unconnected victims - a hard-working AA patrolman, a would-be Beauty Queen, a catty BBC radio personality - have all been killed with the same, highly unusual murder weapon. Constable Twitten, Sergeant Brunswick and Inspector Steine are initially baffled, the town is alarmed, and the local newspaper is delighted: after all, what sells papers better than a killer on the loose?   Can our redoubtable trio solve the case and catch this most curious of killers before they strike again?

October 2020

The Devil and The Dark Water is by Stuart Turton.  A murder on the high seas. A detective

duo. A demon who may or may not exist.  It's 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world's greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Travelling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent. But no sooner are they out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage.  A twice-dead leper stalks the decks. Strange symbols appear on the sails. Livestock is slaughtered. And then three passengers are marked for death, including Samuel. Could a demon be responsible for their misfortunes? With Pipps imprisoned, only Arent can solve a mystery that connects every passenger on-board.  A mystery that stretches back into their past and now threatens to sink the ship, killing everybody on board... 

Scatter her Ashes is by Heine Bakkied.  Thorkild Aske returns in the second in this brilliant, darkly funny crime series from a fresh voice in Nordic Noir Disgraced, damaged former police officer Thorkild Aske has stopped taking his painkillers after his last experience searching for the missing in northern Norway. Wracked by withdrawal and desperate for work, he reluctantly agrees to investigate the disappearance of two schoolgirls for crime fiction superstar Milla Lind - but Lind clearly has more invested in the case than fiction. When Thorkild discovers that her previous investigator was murdered on the job, no-one will explain why - all he has to go on are files about unrelated cases from all across Norway. Oh, and his ex-wife wants to talk. What could possibly go wrong?

November 2020

The headlines scream warnings about the 'Butcher of Berner Street!' and the journalist behind them - Leo Stanhope - is secretly thrilled to see the effect his words are having. Leo's previous work has largely been concentrated on more mundane issues but when an anonymous letter summons him to a club in East London, only for the owner of the club to be found murdered shortly afterwards, Leo sees a story worth pursuing. Not to mention an opportunity to make a name for himself. Yet the more Leo digs, the stranger the story becomes, taking him from the club to a nearby convent, and into the past of a very unusual woman. But he is not the only one hunting for a killer. And it seems Leo's initial newspaper reports may have put someone else in grave danger…  The Butcher of Berner Street is by Alex Reeve. 

My favourite reads of 2018

My favourite reads of 2018 have been a mixture of historical, true crime, debut novels, non-fiction and continuing series.  It has been rather difficult to narrow them down.  They all made me realise why I enjoy reading this genre so much and also why it is in such robust health. In alphabetical order my favourite reads are as follows –

Jonathan Abrams’s All The Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire (Oldcastle Books) is in my opinion a love affair to The Wire. Since its final episode aired in 2008, the acclaimed crime drama The Wire has only become more popular and influential. The issues it tackled, from the failures of the drug war and criminal justice system to systemic bias in law enforcement and other social institutions have become more urgent and topical. It is arguably without doubt one of the great works of art America has produced in the 21st century.  But while there has been a great deal of critical analysis of the show and its themes, until now there has never been a definitive, behind-the-scenes take on how it came to be made. With unparalleled access to all the key actors and writers involved in its creation, Jonathan Abrams tells the astonishing, compelling, and complete account of The Wire, from its inception and creation through to its end and powerful legacy.  It may be over ten years ago since the last episode of The Wire was shown but its impact has certainly not been dimmed and All The Pieces Matter just re-enforces why The Wire is such a seminal piece of writing.  If you are wishing for another season of The Wire then hopefully All The Pieces Matter will suffice.

Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly (Orion Publishing) picks up the story of detective Harry Bosch in the first novel in a new series, pairing Bosch’s talents with that of Renee Ballard, who made her entrance in the Ballard series-opener The Late Show.  At the end of a long, dark night Detectives Renee Ballard and Harry Bosch cross paths for the very first time.  Detective Renee Ballard is working the graveyard shift again, and returns to Hollywood Station in the early hours only to find that an older man has snuck in and is rifling through old file cabinets. The intruder is none other than legendary LAPD detective Hieronymus ‘Harry’ Bosch, working a cold case that has crept under his skin.  Unimpressed, Ballard kicks him out, but eventually Bosch persuades her to help and she reluctantly relents. Because Bosch is on the trail of a cold case which refuses to stay buried; investigating the death of fifteen-year-old Daisy Clayton, a runaway who was brutally murdered. It’s a case that haunts Bosch - who crossed paths with Daisy’s devastated mother on a previous case. As Bosch and Ballard are drawn deeper into the mystery of her murder, they find there are more surprises awaiting them in the darkness.  Michael Connelly is in top form with Dark Sacred Night and it is interesting to see him team up with another detective to solve a cold case.  Furthermore it is good to see Bosch realising that he can no longer do some of the things he used to be able to and has to rely on someone else. As usual impeccable writing, compelling storyline and incredibly descriptive. Michael Connelly never lets the reader down and in his case he has brought another brilliant partnership to our attention.

The Woman in the Woods by John Connolly (Hodder and Stoughton) features of course that eponymous private detective Charlie Parker who first came to our attention in the debut novel Every Dead Thing.  Since then John Connolly and Charlie Parker have consistently been amongst my favourite reads.  The Woman in the Woods is no exception. It is spring, and the semi-preserved body of a young Jewish woman is discovered buried in the Maine woods. It is clear that she gave birth shortly before her death. But there is no sign of a baby.  Private detective Charlie Parker is engaged by the lawyer Moxie Castin to shadow the police investigation and find the infant, but Parker is not the only searcher. Someone else is following the trail left by the woman, someone with an interest in more than a missing child, someone prepared to leave bodies in his wake...  Charlie Parker is a brilliant, sympathetic anti-hero that finds himself fighting a progressively sinister and complex world.  As a recurring series Charlie Parker is amongst the best.

I am always sceptical when authors are asked to continue long running series after the original author has passed away and tend to view and read them with a large dose of salt.  Some get it right, some don’t.  In the case of Money in the Morgue (Harper Collins), Stella Duffy got it spot on. It's business as usual for Mr Glossop as he does his regular round delivering wages to government buildings scattered across New Zealand's lonely Canterbury plains. But when his car breaks down he is stranded for the night at the isolated Mount Seager Hospital, with the telephone lines down, a storm on its way and the nearby river about to burst its banks.  Trapped with him at Mount Seager are a group of quarantined soldiers with a serious case of cabin fever, three young employees embroiled in a tense love triangle, a dying elderly man, an elusive patient whose origins remain a mystery ... and a potential killer.  When the payroll disappears from a locked safe and the hospital's death toll starts to rise faster than normal, can the appearance of an English detective working in counterespionage be just a lucky coincidence - or is something more sinister afoot? Roderick Alleyn is back in this unique crime novel begun by Ngaio Marsh during the Second World War and completed by Stella Duffy in a way that has delighted reviewers and critics alike.  Murder in the Morgue is so superbly written that as a reader one is in the unique position of reading a seamless book.  Fans of Ngaio Marsh also get to renew their acquaintance with an author who is considered to be one of the Queen’s of crime!  A wonderful book to read and savour.

The Poison Bed is by E C Fremantle (Penguin Books) and is a chilling, noirish thriller ripped straight from the headlines.  A king, his lover and his lover's wife. One is a killer.  In the autumn of 1615 scandal rocks the Jacobean court when a celebrated couple are imprisoned on suspicion of murder. She is young, captivating and from a notorious family. He is one of the richest and most powerful men in the kingdom. Some believe she is innocent; others think her wicked or insane. He claims no knowledge of the murder. The king suspects them both, though it is his secret at stake. Who is telling the truth? Who has the most to lose? And who is willing to commit murder?  The Poison Bed is a fascinating tale of intrigue and ambition and full of period detail.   It is dark, riveting and murderous and with its immaculate detail overwhelmingly atmospheric. This is a Jacobean mystery that does not pull any punches.

Mick Herron’s The Drop (Hodder and Stoughton) is a Slough House series novella.  Old spooks carry the memory of tradecraft in their bones, and when Solomon Dortmund sees an envelope being passed from one pair of hands to another in a Marylebone cafe, he knows he's witnessed more than an innocent encounter. But in relaying his suspicions to John Bachelor, who babysits retired spies like Solly, he sets in train events, which will alter lives. Bachelor himself, a hair's breadth away from sleeping in his car, is clawing his way back to stability; Hannah Weiss, the double agent whose recruitment was his only success, is starting to enjoy the secrets and lies her role demands; and Lech Wicinski, an Intelligence Service analyst, finds that a simple favour for an old acquaintance might derail his career. Meanwhile, Lady Di Taverner is trying to keep the Service on an even keel, and if that means throwing the odd crewmember overboard, well: collateral damage is her speciality.  A drop, in spook parlance, is the passing on of secret information.  It's also what happens just before you hit the ground.  Elegantly written, wry with a subtle wit The Drop is a welcome addition to the Slough House series.  Mick Herron’s redundant spies are a joy to be around and surely this must be the best series around featuring a wonderful team of inept and frustrating spies.  Unlike the novels, The Drop is much more of a classic spy novel with a traditional setting along with agents in the field.  However, this is novella is worth reading for the outrageous jokes alone. Sublime.

If you have never read Gregg Hurwitz Orphan X series then I suggest that you do so pretty quickly. It is one of those series that keeps on getting better and is full of intense action and emotional rollercoasters.  In Hellbent (Penguin Books) to some he is Orphan X. Others know him as the Nowhere Man. But to veteran spymaster Jack Johns he will always be a boy named Evan Smoak.  Taken from an orphanage, Evan was raised inside a top-secret programme designed turn him into a deadly weapon. Jack became his instructor, mentor, teacher and guardian. Because for all the dangerous skills he instilled in his young charge, he also cared for Evan like a son. And now Jack needs Evan's help.  The Orphan programme hid dark secrets. Now those with blood on their hands want every trace of it gone. And they will stop at nothing to make sure that Jack and Evan go with it.  With little time remaining, Jack gives Evan his last assignment: to find and protect the programme's last recruit. And to stay alive long enough to uncover the shocking truth ...  Hellbent is a brilliant twisty page turning thriller that will leave you gasping. This is the type of novel that in my opinion reiterates how well thrillers are doing and why they continue to be amongst the widest read.

Laura Lippman is one of the few authors whose books make me wish that I actually wrote novels. She is one of the best novelists around and her work constantly gives the reader not only hours of joy but food for thought.  Sunburn (Faber & Faber) is a noir gem of a novel that is reminiscent of James M Cain.  What kind of woman walks out on her family? Gregg knows. The kind of woman he picked up in a bar three years ago precisely because she had that kind of wildcat energy. And now she's vanished - at least from the life that he and his kid will live. We'll follow her, to a new town, a new job, and a new friend, who thinks he has her figured. So who is this woman who calls herself Polly? How many times has she disappeared before? And who are the shadowy figures so interested in her whereabouts?   There is a sultry femme fatale ambiance that permeates throughout the novel and this certainly brings a sense of noir to the fore despite the fact that the novel is set in the 1990s. If you haven’t done so already then read Sunburn and also Laura Lippman’s backlist. You certainly won’t regret it.

Everyone has a secret... Only some lead to murder. The House on Half Moon Street by Alex Reeve (Bloomsbury Publishing) introduces Leo Stanhope: a Victorian transgender coroner's assistant who must uncover a killer without risking his own future When the body of a young woman is wheeled into the hospital where Leo Stanhope works, his life is thrown into chaos. Maria, the woman he loves, has been murdered and it is not long before the finger of suspicion is turned on him, threatening to expose his lifelong secret. For Leo Stanhope was born Charlotte, the daughter of a respectable reverend. Knowing he was meant to be a man - despite the evidence of his body - and unable to cope with living a lie any longer, he fled his family home at just fifteen and has been living as Leo ever since: his secret known to only a few trusted people. Desperate to find Maria's killer and thrown into gaol, he stands to lose not just his freedom, but ultimately his life.  This is a mysterious Victorian crime novel with a troubled but fascinated narrator.   His transgenderisim is handled incredibly well along with the other resulting issues that take their toll.  Told in first person this is an enthralling psychological murder that is original and has a brilliant premise.  Wonderfully atmospheric The House on Half Moon Street is exactly what a Victorian murder mystery should be.

A Treachery of Spies by Manda Scott (Transworld Publishing) is an espionage thriller to rival the very best; a high stakes game of cat-and-mouse, played in the shadows, which will keep you guessing every step of the way. An elderly woman of striking beauty is found murdered in Orleans, France. Her identity has been cleverly erased but the method of her death is very specific: she has been killed in the manner of traitors to the Resistance in World War Two. Tracking down her murderer leads police inspector Ines Picaut back to 1940s France where the men and women of the Resistance were engaged in a desperate fight for survival against the Nazi invaders. To find answers in the present Picaut must discover what really happened in the past, untangling a web of treachery and intrigue that stretches back to the murder victim's youth: a time when unholy alliances were forged between occupiers and occupied, deals were done and promises broken. The past has been buried for decades, but, as Picaut discovers, there are those in the present whose futures depend on it staying that way - and who will kill to keep their secrets safe....  If you are a fan of espionage thrillers then this is a fascinating read. It is beautifully written and one of the best spy thrillers that has recently been written.

Stuart Turton’s debut novel The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (Bloomsbury Publishing) is a brilliant, high concept murder with nods to Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie and Robert Altman’s Gosford Park.  Somebody's going to be murdered at the ball tonight. It won't appear to be a murder and so the murderer won't be caught. Rectify that injustice and I'll show you the way out.'  It is meant to be a celebration but it ends in tragedy. As fireworks explode overhead, Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house, is killed. But Evelyn will not die just once.  Until Aiden - one of the guests summoned to Blackheath for the party - can solve her murder, the day will repeat itself, over and over again. Every time ending with the fateful pistol shot. The only way to break this cycle is to identify the killer. But each time the day begins again; Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is determined to prevent him ever escaping Blackheath...  A story within a story, a highly original read with an intriguing storyline and a depiction of Blackheath that will leave you fascinated. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is an unusual concept that plays with all the tropes and conventions of the Golden Age of detection and is certainly worth reading.   

The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the World by Sarah Weinman (Orion Publishing).  For many Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita is one of the most beloved and notorious novels of all time. And yet, very few of its readers know that the subject of the novel was inspired by a real-life case: the 1948 abduction of eleven-year-old Sally Horner.  Weaving together suspenseful crime narrative, cultural and social history, and literary investigation, The Real Lolita tells Sally Horner's full story for the very first time. Drawing upon extensive investigations, legal documents, public records and interviews with remaining relatives, Sarah Weinman uncovers how much Nabokov knew of the Sally Horner case and the efforts he took to disguise that knowledge during the process of writing and publishing Lolita.  Sally Horner's story echoes the stories of countless girls and women who never had the chance to speak for themselves. By diving deeper in the publication history of Lolita and restoring Sally to her rightful place in the lore of the novel's creation, The Real Lolita casts a new light on the dark inspiration for a modern classic.  I will freely admit that I am not a big reader of true crime books.  However, I managed to devour The Real Lolita and was thoroughly captivated by the literary detective work that was clearly undertaken to bring to life the poignant story of Sally Horner.  A stupendous read that will make you look at Nabokov’s Lolita in a very different light.

Honourable mentions also go to Val McDermid’s Broken Ground (Little, Brown), The Darkness by Ragnar Jonasson (Penguin) The Syndicate by Guy Bolton (Oneworld Publishers) Robicheaux by James Lee Burke (Orion) and Name of the Dog by Elmer Mendoza (Quercus)

Books to Look Forward to from Bloomsbury Publishing

January 2019

The Flower Girls is by Alice-Clark Platts.  Three children went out to play, only two came back. The Flower Girls. Laurel and Primrose. One convicted of murder, the other given a new identity. Now, nineteen years later, another child has gone missing. And the Flower Girls are about to hit the headlines all over again...

February 2019

A journalist must follow the clues, no matter how far that takes her. Casey Benedict, star reporter at the Post, has infiltrated the lives and exposed the lies of countless politicians and power players. Using her network of contacts, Casey is always on the search for the next big story, no matter how much danger this might place her in, no matter what cost emotionally. Tipped off by an overheard conversation at an exclusive London nightclub, she begins to investigate the apparent suicide of a wealthy young British man, whose death has left his fiancee and family devastated. Casey's determined hunt for the truth will take her from the glitz of St-Tropez to the deserts of Libya and on to the very darkest corners of the human mind.  To The Lions is by Holly Watt.

March 2019

The Road to Granchester by James Runcie is the captivating prequel to the treasured Grantchester series follows the life, loves and losses of a young Sidney Chambers in post-war London It is 1938, and eighteen-year-old Sidney Chambers is dancing the quickstep with Amanda Kendall at her brother Robert's birthday party at the Caledonian Club. No one can believe, on this golden evening, that there could ever be another war. Returning to London seven years later, Sidney has gained a Military Cross, and lost his best friend on the battlefields of Italy. The carefree youth that he and his friends were promised has been blown apart, just like the rest of the world - and Sidney, carrying a terrible, secret guilt, must decide what to do with the rest of his life. But he has heard a call: constant, though quiet, and growing ever more persistent. To the incredulity of his family and the derision of his friends - the irrepressible actor Freddie, and the beautiful, spiky Amanda - Sidney must now negotiate his path to God: the course of which, much like true love, never runs smooth. 

The thrilling true story of Richard Sorge - the man John le Carre called `the spy to end spies', and whose actions turned the tide of the Second World War Richard Sorge was a man with two homelands. Born of a German father and a Russian mother in Baku in 1895, he moved in a world of shifting alliances and infinite possibility. A member of the angry and deluded generation who found new, radical faiths after their experiences on the battlefields of the First World War, Sorge became a fanatical communist - and the Soviet Union's most formidable spy. Like many great spies, Sorge was an effortless seducer, combining charm with ruthless manipulation. He did not have to go undercover to find out closely guarded state secrets - his victims willingly shared them. As a foreign correspondent, he infiltrated and influenced the highest echelons of German, Chinese and Japanese society in the years leading up to and including the Second World War. His intelligence regarding Operation Barbarossa and Japanese intentions not to invade Siberia in 1941 proved pivotal to the Soviet counteroffensive in the Battle of Moscow, which in turn determined the outcome of the war. Never before has Sorge's story been told from the Russian side as well as the German and Japanese.  An Impeccable Spy: Richard Sorge, Stalin’s Master Agent is by Owen Matthews.

April 2019

Impossible Causes is by Julie Mayhew. Four elements. Four seasons. Four points on the compass. Four teenage girls. And one body. Black-haired, pure islander, Britta. The alpha female of the so-called Eldest Girls. 'Half-blood' Jade-Marie, her missionary father long drowned. Blonde, angelic looking Anna - the moral compass of the trio. And then red-headed Viola. Viola, the newcomer to the island, escaping tragedy and desperate to belong. Viola, who turns three girls into four and completes the set. Viola, who finds the man's body, lying in the stone circle. Viola, who has watched and waited for her opportunity to become one of the inner circle, whatever it takes. In Julie Mayhew's mesmerising and compelling thriller, a remote and deeply religious island with a history of paganism is riven when a man is found dead. As rumours spread and tensions rise, and fog descends, sealing the island off from the mainland, the four teenage girls of Lark Island find themselves accused of witchcraft - and murder.

Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps is by Ursula Buchan.  John Buchan's name is known across the world for The Thirty-Nine Steps. In the past one hundred years the classic thriller has never been out of print and has inspired numerous adaptations for film, television, radio and stage, beginning with the celebrated version by Alfred Hitchcock. Yet there was vastly more to `JB'. He wrote more than a hundred books, fiction and non-fiction and about a thousand articles for newspapers and magazines. He was a scholar, antiquarian, barrister, colonial administrator, journal editor, literary critic, publisher, war correspondent, director of wartime propaganda, member of parliament and imperial proconsul - given a state funeral when he died, a deeply admired and loved Governor-General of Canada. His teenage years in Glasgow's Gorbals, where his father was the Free Church minister, contributed to his ease with shepherds and ambassadors, fur-trappers and prime ministers. His improbable marriage to a member of the aristocratic Grosvenor family means that this account of his life contains, at its heart, an enduring love story.

May 2019

It's been a year since Leo Stanhope lost the woman he loved, and came closing to losing his own life. Now, more than ever, he is determined to keep his head down and stay safe, without risking those he holds dear. But Leo's hopes for peace and security are shattered when the police unexpectedly arrive at his lodgings: a woman has been found murdered at a club for anarchists, and Leo's address is in her purse. When Leo is taken to the club by the police, he is shocked to discover there a man from his past, a man who knows Leo's birth identity. And if Leo does not provide him with an alibi for the night of the woman's killing, he is going to share this information with the authorities. If Leo's true identity is unmasked, he will be thrown into an asylum, but if he lies... will he be protecting a murderer?  The Anarchists’ Club is by Alex Reeve.