Forthcoming Books from HarperCollins

 January 2025

Murder, jealousy, and deceit underscore three interlocking mysteries as Holmes and Watson take on a high profile case at Windsor Castle, a boy drowned in the Serpentine, and a crusading women’s rights activist who suspects a traitor in her organization. The cases send them into danger into locales as varied as the Palace itself, a dockland cannery, an arts and crafts atelier, and a Gypsy encampment. But is there peril underfoot as well – right at 221B Baker Street? The twisting, breathlessly plotted conjoined mysteries that Bonnie MacBird is known for provide a thrill ride that will delight Sherlockians worldwide. The Serpent Under is by Bonnie Macbird.

February 2025

Don't miss this award winning debut crime thriller set in Sheffield introducing DI Diana Walker: A grizzly murder has Diana questioning everything she knows, and secrets come to light that threaten to tear her world apart. Silence protects the victims… And the killer. When the dismembered body of a headmaster is found on the derelict site of a former school in Sheffield, DI Diana Walker finds herself chasing shadows. Faced with missing teachers, unreported crimes and silent witnesses, Diana is running out of leads. Her colleagues insist this is just another instance of gang violence, but Diana knows there’s something more. Something everyone’s too scared to talk about. With her reputation on the line, Diana is determined to find the truth. Her search for answers leads to Sheffield’s neglected underbelly, where she finds distrust, horrifying secrets and a whole new understanding of justice. The Day of The Roaring is by Nina Bhadreshwar.

Making a Killing is by Cara Hunter. In 2016, eight-year-old Daisy Mason vanished from her Oxford home. Her disappearance made the national press and the final culprit shocked everyone. DCI Adam Fawley remembers the case well, he arrested Daisy’s mother for murder himself. But her body was never found. Now, forensic evidence at a current murder scene calls the whole case into question. DCI Adam Fawley and the team are brought back in to investigate. And they all have one question on their minds. What really happened to Daisy Mason?

On an Island full of secrets. The truth lies in the dark. A gripping and atmospheric debut crime thriller set on an isolated Scottish island… A mysterious death On a small island off the coast of Scotland, an isolated community is grieving. Eighteen-year-old Alan Ferguson was found at the foot of the lighthouse – an apparent suicide. Two detectives trapped on an island. DIs Georgina Lennox and Richard Stewart are sent to investigate. But a raging storm keeps them trapped on the island for four days. And the locals don’t take kindly to mainlanders. A village full of suspects. As George and Ritchie question the island’s inhabitants, they discover a village filled with superstition and shrouded in secrets. But someone wants those secrets to stay buried. At any cost. The Wolf Tree is by Laura McCluskey.

March 2025

It’s the story everyone wants to hear.That spring night in South London, when Isabel and Edward’s lives were torn apart. The night Isabel learned that the worst things wait, just outside the door. The night Edward learned that he was powerless to stop them. The night they never talk about.When their attacker is caught, it's finally time to tell the story of that night. Not to the world. Or to the man who did it. But to each other. This is a story of murder. This is a story of survival. But most of all, this is a story of love. The Death of Us is by Abigail Dean. 

The bigger the star, the harder they fall. Johnny Klein, fallen ‘80s pop icon, thinks life is finally on the up. He’s basking in the luxury of the French Riviera – hoping his worst days are behind him. But when a man falls from a window to his death in London, Jonny is forced to confront the darkest corners of his fame. Thrust into a dangerous game of lies and betrayal, Jonny must uncover a deadly secret, before somebody else dies… The Fall is by Martin Kemp. 

April 2025

The Maid's Secret is by Nita Prose. Molly the maid is no stranger to secrets… She sees everything behind closed doors at the Regency Grand hotel: wiping away the dust and grime of guests passing through. But one secret lies much closer to home. An old trinket – a faux Fabergé egg – is revealed to be a precious antique during an appraisal at the hotel, making Molly a rags-to-riches sensation. But no sooner has the egg shown its value than it’s stolen: vanishing without a trace. Determined to crack the case of the missing Fabergé, Molly begins dusting for clues – uncovering a mystery that stretches deep into the past. For in the pages of a long-forgotten diary, written by her late gran, lie the secrets that could unlock all others – and only Molly holds the key…

The Burial is by Stig Abell. A beautiful landscape… It began as the project of a lifetime – a group of archaeologists, uncovering the remains of a Roman settlement on a beautiful hill in the glorious English countryside. A looming threat… But, the idyll is shattered when they begin receiving threatening letters. Former city detective Jake Jackson, now enjoying a quieter life in the local village, is pulled in to investigate. A killer closing in… Soon, threatening letters are the least of their problems, when a murderer strikes. And now the race is on for Jake to find them, before they kill again…

They raised me. Nurtured me. And lied about everything. Sadie’s childhood has always been shrouded in mystery. But there are three things she knows. She was raised by two aunts. She never knew her parents. She is convinced she was stolen. Cristy Ward, podcast host, is gripped by Sadie’s story. It’s perfect for her next true-crime investigation. Yet Sadie's aunt claims it’s all a fantasy.As the evidence begins to stack up, and the lies fall apart, they all could be in a lot more danger than they thought… Don't Believe A Word is by Susan Lewis. 

The Penthouse is by Catherine Cooper. Beneath the glamour dark secrets lurk. World famous singer Enola had it all – fame, fortune, and a breathtaking penthouse view. Then she vanished without a trace, leaving the band’s careers in ruins. Fifteen years on, the remaining members are reuniting for a series of concerts in Las Vegas. But when mysterious accidents plague them, some start to wonder if Enola is back for revenge. What happened all those years ago – and who really knows the truth?

There's a killer on the airwaves … and they're calling for you. Darkness looms over sunny Sidmouth, when an unsolved murder comes to the attention of late-night radio talk show host Edward Temmis. Recently sacked from his beloved job after a devastating tragedy, Edward is cast adrift – until he meets Stevie, whose grandmother, a devoted listener, died in a suspicious fire last year. Well, nobody hurts his listeners and helping Stevie might just give him the purpose he needs. Joined by his old fling, Kim, they discover Stevie's grandmother wasn't the only one of his listeners targeted – this is just the tip of the iceberg. But who is pursuing his ageing audience and why? And can Edward, Stevie and Kim get to the bottom of this mystery before it’s too late? Murder on Line One is by Jeremy Vine.

The Secret Room is by Jane Casey. A closed door. An impossible murder. 2:32 p.m. Wealthy, privileged Ilaria Cavendish checks into a luxury London hotel and orders a bottle of champagne. Within the hour, her lover discovers her submerged in a bath of scalding water, dead. At first glance it looks like an accident. No one went in with her. No one came out. But all the signs point to murder. For DS Maeve Kerrigan, the case is a welcome distraction. But when shock news hits close to home, affecting her partner, DI Josh Derwent, she faces the toughest challenge of her career. And if she fails her world will never be the same again…

'Hello Niklas Sockenberg. We hope you have been satisfied with our services during this time, which has now reached its end. You have 14 days, 1 hour and 12 minutes left to live' It is December in Stockholm and Sweden's Minister of Justice is under threat. An anonymous note has told him he has four days left to live. At the same time, a human skeleton is found in the Stockholm subway, belonging to a high-ranking financier. Police inspector Mina Dabiri's team, still recovering from the traumatic incident last summer that ended in the death of a colleague, calls in mentalist Vincent Walder to help with the case. For Vincent, it feels as if the world is increasingly closing in on him. When another pile of bones is found underground, the group is once again put to the test – what is going on in the tunnels deep under Stockholm? And who taunting the minister? Mirage is by Camilla Läckberg and Henrik Fexeus.

May 2025

South of Nowhere is by Jeffery Deaver. A small town in Northern California is at risk of being destroyed by a failing levee, and Colter Shaw has been hired to locate a family swept away by the raging water, with just mere hours to survive.But is the levee at risk of failing from natural causes or is someone sabotaging it? With the help of his sister, Dorion, the duo must save the citizens before the old town washes out at the hands of a secret conspirer.

England, 1598. Queen Elizabeth’s successor remains unnamed. The country teeters on a knife edge. When a young heiress is found murdered at the theatre, the Queen’s spymaster Robert Cecil calls upon former agent Sophia de Wolfe to investigate. A cryptic note found on the dead girl’s body connects to Sophia’s previous life as a spy, and her quest soon takes her into dangerous waters. Powerful enemies emerge, among them the Earl of Essex: the Queen’s favourite courtier and a man of ruthless ambition. This is a murder that reaches directly into the heart of the court. And Sophia is concealing a deep-buried secret of her own. She must uncover the truth before her past threatens to destroy her. Traitor's Legacy is by S J Parris

June 2025

A brutal murder. When a headless corpse washes up on the bank of the Thames, DCI Tannahill Khan knows this wasn’t accidental – the killer wanted the body found. This is just the beginning. A deadly warning The post mortem reveals a shocking discovery. Written on the dead man’s arm is Forensic Criminologist Dr Laughton Rees’ home address. A fatal game With her life in danger and more bodies washing up along the river, Laughton and Tannahill are in a race against time to stop the killer before Laughton’s own name reaches the top of his list. Dead Water is by Simon Toyne.

A Schooling in Murder is by Andrew Taylor. The isolated Monkshill Park boarding school seems a world away from the violence that has engulfed Europe. Yet its eerie ground have witnessed a murder. Annabel Warnock, a teacher with a checkered past, disappeared during the holidays. The teachers and girls assume she has left the school, but the truth is quite different. Her body is lying at the bottom of the Maiden’s Leap, along the dangerous and overgrown Gothic Walk. Annabel’s ghost is trapped at Monkshill, unable to move on whilst the mystery of hear death remains unsolved. Haunting the grounds and school, she discovers a hidden world – both students and staff are riven with deadly rivalries and dangerous tensions. Among them is her killer.

A Murder in Paris is by Matthew Blake. Then. On a dark night in 1945, the Hotel Lutetia in Paris was witness to a murder. Two women walked into the hotel, but only one left alive. The crime was forgotten to time; locked away in Room 11. Now. A confession reawakens a mystery with long, dangerous shadows. What really happened in the corridors of the Hotel Lutetia? It all comes back to Room 11 – and the people who would kill to keep its secrets…

Welcome to North Falls—a small town where everyone knows everyone. Or so they think. Until the night of the fireworks. When two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites. For Officer Emmy Clifton, it’s personal. She turned away when her best friend's daughter needed help—and now she must bring her home. But as Emmy combs through the puzzle the girls left behind, she realizes she never really knew them. Nobody did. Every teenage girl has secrets. But who would kill for them? And what else is the town hiding? We are all Guilty Here is by Karin Slaughter.

The Countdown Killer is by Sam Holland. He's tracking people down one by oneAnd you're next on the list…A man murdered live on camera.When a DVD is delivered in the dead of night, DCI Cara Elliott hits play on a horrifying showreel of violence… This is death, on demand. A killer counter down. Avid viewers are paying for the killings, with twisted specifications. A request, an abduction, a murder. And always in a forty-eight-hour pattern. A missing detective. But when the killer finds out they’re being investigated, they reveal their next target. In forty-eight hours, a police officer will be the one in front of the camera. The hunters have become the hunted, and the clock is ticking…

Carnivore is by K. Anis. Ahmed. In New York’s high-end restaurant scene one chef will do anything, and cook anything, to come out on top. Kash owes a lot of money. His restaurant, specialising in exotic meats and catering to New York’s elite, was doing well. Then business dried up, and now Boris the loan shark wants his investment back. But Kash has a plan. There’s a rumour of a dinner club, hosted in turns by billionaires. Lots of ego, and lots of money. If Kash can get the gig, it would pay off Boris and then some. He will need to offer something new, something that five of the richest men on the planet will have never tasted before. Something entirely unprecedented … But Boris is done waiting. He kidnaps Kash, takes him to a warehouse and cuts off his finger. And this gives Kash an idea.

Some crime books that I am looking forward to the first half of 2023.

With the start of the New Year there are so many books that I am looking forward to read during the first six months.These include debuts, long running series from some of my favourite authors as well a standalone books.

These are some of the books that I am looking forward to being published and reading during the first half of the year. In no particular order -

All The Sinners Bleed (Headline) by S A Cosby. After years of working as an FBI agent, Titus Crown returns home to Charon County, land of moonshine and cornbread, fist fights and honeysuckle. Seeing his hometown struggling with a bigoted police force inspires him to run for sheriff. He wins, and becomes the first Black sheriff in the history of the county. Then a year to the day after his election, a young Black man is fatally shot by Titus's deputies. Titus pledges to follow the truth wherever it leads. But no one expected he would unearth a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight, haunting the dirt lanes and woodland clearings of Charon. Now, Titus must pull off the impossible: stay true to his instincts, prevent outright panic, and investigate a shocking crime in a small town where everyone knows everyone yet secrets flourish. All while also breaking up backroads bar fights and being forced to protect racist Confederate pride marchers. For a Black man wearing a police uniform in the American South, that's no easy feat. But Charon is Titus's home and his heart, and he won't let the darkness overtake it. Even as it threatens to consume him..

Cast a Cold Eye (Pan Macmillan) by Robbie Morrison. Glasgow, 1933. Murder is nothing new in the Depression-era city, especially to war veterans Inspector Jimmy Dreghorn and his partner 'Bonnie' Archie McDaid. But the dead man found in a narrowboat on the Forth and Clyde Canal, executed with a single shot to the back of the head, is no ordinary killing. Violence usually erupts in the heat of the moment - the razor-gangs that stalk the streets settle scores with knives and fists. Firearms suggest something more sinister, especially when the killer strikes again. Meanwhile, other forces are stirring within the city. A suspected IRA cell is at large, embedded within the criminal gangs and attracting the ruthless attention of Special Branch agents from London. With political and sectarian tensions rising, and the body count mounting, Dreghorn and McDaid pursue an investigation into the dark heart of humanity - where one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist, and noble ideals are swept away by bloody vengeance.

The Last Dance (LittleBrown) which is the start of a new series by Mark Billingham. Meet Detective Miller: unique, unconventional, and criminally underestimated... He's a detective, a dancer, he has no respect for authority - and he's the best hope Blackpool has for keeping criminals off the streets. Meet Detective Declan Miller. A double murder in a seaside hotel sees a grieving Miller return to work to solve what appears to be a case of mistaken identity. Just why were two completely unconnected men taken out? Despite a somewhat dubious relationship with both reality and his new partner, can the eccentric, offbeat Miller find answers where his colleagues have found only an impossible puzzle?

The Hand that Feeds You (Bitter Lemon Press) by Mercedes Rosende.The attempted robbery of the armoured car in the back streets of Montevideo is a miserable failure. A lucky break for the intrepid Ursula Lopez who manages to snatch all the loot, more hindered than helped by her faint-hearted and reluctant companion Diego. Only now, the wannabe robbers are hot on her heels. As is the police. And Ursula's sister. But Ursula turns out to be enormously talented when it comes to criminal undertakings, and given the hilarious ineptitude of those in pursuit, she might just pull it off. She is an irresistible heroine. A murderess with a sense of humour, a lovable criminal with an edge and she is practically invisible to the men who dominate the deeply macho society of Uruguay. 

Fatal Legacy (Hodder & Stoughton) by Lindsey Davis. An unpaid bar bill leads Flavia Albia to her most bitter and complex case yet. Decades earlier Appius Tranquillus Surus wrote his will: it freed his slaves and bequeathed his businesses to them. He left an orchard to the Prisci, a family he was friendly with, on the condition that his freedmen could still take its harvest. The convoluted arrangement has led to a feud between the two families, each of which has its own internal strife. Endless claims and counterclaims lead to violence and even death. Lawyers have given up in exasperation as the case limps on. The original will has disappeared, along with a falsified codicil - and might there be another one? But is there a solution? Two youngsters from each side of the divide, Gaius Venuleius and Cosca Sabatina, have fallen in love, which could unite the feuding families. There is only one problem: were Sabatina's grandmother and father really liberated in the Surus will? If not, the stigma of slavery will stop the marriage and the dispute will rage on forever. Reconciliation seems impossible, but Albia will try. Her investigation must cut through decades of secrets, arguments, lies and violence to reach a startling truth.

Needless Alley (John Murray/Viper Press) by Natalie Marlow. Birmingham, 1933. Private enquiry agent William Garrett, a man damaged by a dark childhood spent on Birmingham's canals, specialises in facilitating divorces for the city's male elite. With the help of his best friend - charming, out-of-work actor Ronnie Edgerton - William sets up honey traps. But photographing unsuspecting women in flagrante plagues his conscience and William heaves up his guts with remorse after every job. However, William's life changes when he accidentally meets the beautiful Clara Morton and falls in love. Little does he know she is the wife of a client - a leading fascist with a dangerous obsession. And what should have been another straightforward job turns into something far more deadly.

The Shadows of London (HarperCollins) by Andrew Taylor. London 1671. The damage caused by the Great Fire still overshadows the capital. When a man's brutally disfigured body is discovered in the ruins of an ancient almshouse, architect Cat Hakesby is ordered to stop restoration work. It is obvious he has been murdered, and Whitehall secretary James Marwood is ordered to investigate. It's possible the victim could be one of two local men who have vanished - the first, a feckless French tutor connected to the almshouse's owner; the second, a possibly treacherous employee of the Council of Foreign Plantations. The pressure on Marwood mounts as Charles II's most influential courtiers, Lord Arlington and the Duke of Buckingham, show an interest in his activities - and Marwood soon begins to suspect the murder trail may lead right to the heart of government. Meanwhile, a young, impoverished Frenchwoman has caught the eye of the king, a quiet affair that will have monumental consequences..

The Last Orphan (Penguin Random House /Michael Joseph) by Gregg Hurwitz. As a child, Evan Smoak was plucked out of a group home, raised and trained as an off-the-books assassin for the government as part of the Orphan program. When he broke with the program and went deep underground, he left with a lot of secrets in his head that the government would do anything to make sure never got out. When he remade himself as The Nowhere Man, dedicated to helping the most desperate in their times of trouble, Evan found himself slowly back on the government's radar. Having eliminated most of the Orphans in the program, the government will stop at nothing to eliminate the threat they see in Evan. But Orphan X has always been several steps ahead of his pursuers. Until he makes one little mistake... Now the President has him in her control and offers Evan a deal - eliminate a rich, powerful man she says is too dangerous to live and, in turn, she'll let Evan survive. But when Evan left the Program he swore to only use his skills against those who really deserve it. Now he has to decide what's more important - his principles or his life.

The Murder Game (Century) by Tom Hindle. One house. Nine guests. Endless motives for murder... In the seaside town of Hamlet Wick, nine guests assemble for a New Year's Eve party to remember. The owner of Hamlet Hall has organised a murder mystery evening with a 1920s twist, and everyone has their own part to play. But the game has barely begun when one guest is found dead - killed by a fatal injury to the head. With no phone signal and no way out of the house, the others are trapped with a killer in their midst. Someone is playing by their own rules. And in a close-knit community, old rivalries run deep...

Red Queen (Pan Macmillan) by Juan Gómez-Jurado. You've never met anyone like her . . . Antonia Scott is special. Very special. She is not a policewoman or a lawyer. She has never wielded a weapon or carried a badge, and yet, she has solved dozens of crimes. But it's been awhile since Antonia left her attic in Madrid. The things she has lost are much more important to her than the things awaiting her outside. She also doesn't receive visitors. That's why she really, really doesn't like it when she hears unknown footsteps coming up the stairs. Whoever it is, Antonia is sure that they are coming to look for her. And she likes that even less. This is soon to be a major series on Amazon Prime.

The Square of Sevens (Pan Macmillan) by Laura Shepherd Robinson. 'My father had spelt it out to me. Choice was a luxury I couldn't afford. This is your story, Red. You must tell it well.' A girl known only as Red, the daughter of a Cornish fortune-teller, travels with her father making a living predicting fortunes using the ancient method: the Square of Sevens. When her father suddenly dies, Red becomes the ward of a gentleman scholar. Now raised as a lady amidst the Georgian splendour of Bath, her fortune-telling is a delight to high society, but she cannot ignore the questions that gnaw at her soul: who was her mother? How did she die? And who are the mysterious enemies her father was always terrified would find him? The pursuit of these mysteries takes her from Cornwall and Bath to London and Devon, from the rough ribaldry of the Bartholemew Fair to the grand houses of two of the most powerful families in England. And while Red's quest brings her the possibility of great reward, it also leads into her grave danger.

The Invisible Web (Quercus Publishing) by Oliver Bottini. Berlin: A man is beaten up, the attacker escapes undetected. As a trail leads to Freiburg, Chief Inspector Louise Boni is sent to investigate. It's a complex case: the attacker appears to be a professional, the victim a secret service informer, the only witness knows more than she's saying, and the domestic intelligence service is hovering in the background but refusing to cooperate. Industrial espionage appears to be at play, focused on the burgeoning solar energy sector. Boni's investigation keeps being obstructed, so yet again she has to rip up the police handbook in her attempt to find out how the different threads of the web are linked. But by the time she discovers the truth, it's already too late for one of those involved . . .

Forthcoming Books from Harper Collins

January 2023 

No One Saw It Coming is by Susan Lewis. Secrets lie at the heart of every family... When the unthinkable happens... Hanna's world is crumbling. An unimaginable crime has been committed, and everyone's looking for someone to blame. Her loved ones are under suspicion. Now Hanna must work out who is threatening her family - before it's too late. No one could have seen this coming...

February 2023

They tried to cage us. But a Weyward woman belongs to the wild. We cannot be tamed. Kate, 2019 Kate flees London – and her abusive partner – for Cumbria and Weyward Cottage, inherited from her great-aunt. There, a secret lurks in the bones of the house, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century. Violet, 1942 Violet is more interested in collecting insects and climbing trees than in becoming a proper young lady. Until a chain of shocking events changes her life forever. Altha, 1619 Altha is on trial for witchcraft, accused of killing a local man. Known for her uncanny connection with nature and animals, she is a threat that must be eliminated… Weyward is by Emilia Hart. 

All The Danagerous Things is by Stacy Willingham. Today is day 364. 364 days since my last night of sleep. 364 days since my son, Mason, was taken from his bed. The police have stopped looking. My husband wants me to move on. But I need to keep his story alive. Someone knows what happened to my son. And I'm going to find them. It's been a year since Isabelle Drake's son, Mason, disappeared from his bedroom. Since then, she hasn't had a full night of sleep. Everyone else has moved on - the detectives, the press, her husband - but she can't rest until she knows the truth. Teaming up with true crime podcaster Waylon Spencer, Isabelle investigates her son's case. But Waylon has motives of his own and as long-forgotten memories of Isabelle's past resurface, doubt begins to cloud her sleepless nights. What happened to Mason Drake? What if the past is better left buried?

March 2023

An all-new collection of spring-themed mysteries from the master of the genre. The days are growing warmer and the nights are growing shorter... It's the perfect time to relax in the garden with this spring-themed collection from legendary mystery writer Agatha Christie. Blossoming flowers and countryside strolls may sound innocent enough, but not when there's murder in the air. Beware of secluded cottages, stolen treasure and fatal revenge schemes. This compendium of short stories, some featuring beloved detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, is an essential omnibus for Christie fans and the perfect gift for mystery lovers. INCLUDES THE STORIES: The Market Basing Mystery, The Case of the Missing Lady, The Herb of Death, How Does Your Garden Grow?, Swan Song, Miss Marple Tells a Story, Have You Got Everything You Want?, The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan, Ingots of Gold, The Soul of the Croupier, The Girl in the Train, Greenshaw's Folly

At first glance, Jellicoe Close seems to be a perfect suburban street - well-kept houses with pristine lawns, neighbours chatting over garden fences, children playing together. But there are dark secrets behind the neat front doors, hidden dangers that include a ruthless criminal who will stop at nothing. It's up to DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwent to uncover the truth. Posing as a couple, they move into the Close, blurring the lines between professional and personal as never before. And while Maeve and Josh try to gather the evidence they need, they have no idea of the danger they face - because someone in Jellicoe Close has murder on their mind. The Close is by Jane Casey.

The Shadows of London is by Andrew Taylor. London 1671. The damage caused by the Great Fire still overshadows the capital. When a man's brutally disfigured body is discovered in the ruins of an ancient almshouse, architect Cat Hakesby is ordered to stop restoration work. It is obvious he has been murdered, and Whitehall secretary James Marwood is ordered to investigate. It's possible the victim could be one of two local men who have vanished - the first, a feckless French tutor connected to the almshouse's owner; the second, a possibly treacherous employee of the Council of Foreign Plantations. The pressure on Marwood mounts as Charles II's most influential courtiers, Lord Arlington and the Duke of Buckingham, show an interest in his activities - and Marwood soon begins to suspect the murder trail may lead right to the heart of government. Meanwhile, a young, impoverished Frenchwoman has caught the eye of the king, a quiet affair that will have monumental consequences..

The Hike is by Lucy Clarke. Wish you were here? Think again … Maggie, Liz, Helena & Joni. Old friends bound by history, adventures, old secrets. And now, bound by murder. They lace up their hiking boots for the adventure of a lifetime in the Norwegian wilderness: a place of towering mountains, glass-like lakes, log cabins and forests stolen from a fairytale. It's the perfect place to lose yourself - until a broken body is found at the bottom of a ravine. Somewhere out there, someone knows exactly why a woman has died. And in this deep, dark wilderness, there's a killer on the trail.

Also in March there is The Boys by Kimberley Chambers

April 2023

Death Under a Little Sky is by Stig Abell. For years, Jake Jackson has been a high-flying detective in London. But then one day he receives a letter from his reclusive uncle - he has left Jake his property in the middle of the countryside. For Jake, it is the perfect opportunity for a fresh start. A rural idyll the stuff of dreams... At first, life in the middle of nowhere is everything Jake could wish for. His new home is beautiful, his surroundings are stunning, and he enjoys getting back to nature. A death that disrupts everything... But then, what starts as a fun village treasure hunt turns deadly, when a young woman's bones are discovered. And Jake is thrust once again into the role of detective, as he tries to unearth a dangerous killer in this most unlikely of settings.

City of Dreams is by Don Winslow. A quiet, peaceful existence. But the Feds track him down and want Danny to do them a favor that could make him a fortune or kill him. And when Hollywood starts shooting a film of his former life, Danny demands a piece of the action and begins to rebuild his criminal empire. Then he falls in love. With a beautiful movie star who has a dark past of her own. As their worlds collide in an explosion that could destroy them both, Danny Ryan has to fight for his life in a city where dreams are born. Or where they go to die. From the shores of Rhode Island to the deserts of California where bodies disappear, from the power corridors of Washington where the real criminals operate to the fabled movie studios of Hollywood where the real money is made, City of Dreams is a sweeping saga of family, love, revenge, survival and the fierce reality behind the dream.

Prague, 1588. A city of tolerance, peace… and treachery. The Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II, wants to expand the boundaries of human knowledge, and his court is a haven for scientists, astrologers and alchemists. His most abiding passion is the elusive hunt for the philosopher’s stone and thus immortality. The Catholic Church fears he has pushed too far—into the forbidden realm of heresy and magic. Giordano Bruno is sent to his court by Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth’s spymaster, to contact John Dee, a famous English alchemist. But Dee is nowhere to be found, having disappeared after the brutal murder of a rival. Ordered to track Dee down, Bruno’s investigations bring him face to face with an old enemy from the Inquisition and he finds himself once more pitted against the might of the Catholic Church. When another murder takes place, Bruno is forced to re-evaluate everything he thought he knew. And he soon realizes that his own life is at stake. Alchemy is by S J Parris.

May 2023

Twenty victims. A race to zero. The countdown has begun... A shocking crime scene... DCI Adam Bishop has never seen anything like it. Five murder victims - all with numbers written above. And the spray-painted daubs reveal a horrific truth: the killer is counting down... A case that twists and turns... When Dr Romilly Cole learns of the murders, they trigger memories of a traumatic past she has tried hard to forget. But getting involved with the case is a bad idea. She and Bishop have history - and working together could never end well. A race against time to stop a killer... Adam and Romilly soon realise the truth lies in a decades-old case, and only Romilly holds the key. But they must act quickly, because with every passing day, there are more victims. And as the numbers edge toward zero, the murders get closer to home. The Twenty is by Sam Holland.

Outback is by Michael Davies based on an idea by Desmond Bagely. A brand new novel that continues the legacy of 'Master of the Genre' Desmond Bagley by the co-author of Domino Island. Insurance investigator Bill Kemp had never wanted to trek deep into Australia's remote interior. But when his clients Sophie and Adam Church inherit an abandoned opal mine, triggering some explosive long-lost secrets, they - and Kemp - find themselves facing an unknown enemy even more deadly than the vast, forbidding wilderness of the Outback... The Desmond Bagley centenary novel honours the legacy of the bestselling thriller writer with a new adventure featuring Bill Kemp, described by Jeffrey Deaver as 'part James Bond, part Philip Marlowe, and all hero'. Writer Michael Davies, who completed the first Kemp novel Domino Island for publication nearly 40 years after the author's death, now weaves an original tale of danger and death under the blistering Australian sun.

Cult is by Camila Lackberg & Henrik Fexeus.  A kidnapped boy... A young child is snatched in broad daylight outside his nursery. Nobody in charge sees a thing, but the other children say a woman is the culprit … The police find a link … Detective Mina Dabiri calls on her close friend Vincent to untangle the puzzle that surrounds the kidnapped boy. As he finds a link between the boy and other others who have gone missing, it becomes clear that time is running out for everyone involved .... A looming threat... Meanwhile, Mina's estranged daughter gets caught up in the secretive world of Epicura, a shadowy organisation that claims to be a centre for leadership development. Can Mina protect her child-a child who doesn't even know she exists?

Now You See Us is by Balli Kaur Jaswal. We are invisible: we clean your houses, we look after your children, we know your secrets. But now you know one of ours... Rules for being a maid: * No smoking * No boyfriends * No visitors * And most importantly: be invisible... Corazon, Angel and Donita have all come to Singapore to work for a living. The thing that unites them? Their labour must remain unseen. But when a friend is accused of murdering her employer, everything changes. The accused could be any of them; they all know the stories of women who were scapegoated or even executed for crimes they didn't commit. Each woman has secrets to keep, yet they must gather every ounce of bravery, fearlessness and complete audacity to clear the name of one of their own. After all, no-one knows the secrets of Singapore's elite quite like the women who work in their homes...

June 2023

Twenty classic authors from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction are brought together in the latest in the celebrated "Bodies from the Library" anthology series of previously unpublished and uncollected stories of crime and suspense. The end of the First World War saw the rise of an insatiable public appetite for clever and thrilling mystery fiction and a new kind of hero - the modern crime writer. As the genre soared in popularity, so did the inventiveness of its best authors, ushering in a "Golden Age" of detective fiction - two decades of exemplary mystery writing: the era of the whodunit, the impossible crime and the locked-room mystery, with stories that have thrilled and baffled generations of readers. The Golden Age still casts a long shadow, with many of the authors who were published at that time still hugely popular today. Aside from novels, they all wrote short fiction - stories, serials and plays - and although many have been republished in books over the last 100 years, Bodies from the Library collects the ones that are impossible to find: stories that appeared in a newspaper, magazine or an anthology that has long been out of print; ephemeral works such as plays not aired, staged or screened for decades; and unpublished stories that were absorbed into an author's archive when they died . . .Complete with fascinating biographies by Tony Medawar of all the featured authors, this latest volume in the annual Bodies from the Library series once again brings into the daylight the forgotten, the lost and the unknown, and is an indispensable collection for any bookshelf. Bodies from the Library 6: Lost Tales of Mystery and Suspense from the Golden Age of Detection is edited by Tony Medawar

The Imposter is by Susan Allott. London 2008. The house Maxine and Seb have bought is a beautiful wreck, so considering the amount of work they need to do, this is a bad time for Seb to have lost his high-flying City Job in the financial crash. Home alone as a local workman starts the renovations, Seb begins to spiral into dispair and obessession. Yerss before in1992, the previous ownersdied in the house under suspicious circurmstances, castng suspicion on the family lodging with her – Ruth, her gambling addicted husband Lee and their sensitive young son Cookie. And in 1842, Horatio Lloyd the house for his family only for his wife and a servant to die there – he is sure the 'miasma' from the local river Peck is to blame, but others believe he may have a guilty secret. These threads wind together into a portrait of betrayal, guilt and murder across 150 years...

Fifteen years after the events of the Natchez Burning trilogy, Penn Cage is alone. Nearly all his loved ones are dead, his old allies gone. But Penn’s self-imposed exile comes to an abrupt end when a brawl at a Bienville music festival triggers a shooting—one that nearly takes the life of his daughter Annie. Before the stunned populace can process the tragedy, an arsonist begins torching antebellum plantation homes in Bienville. When an unknown Black group claims the fires as acts of justice, panic ensues, driving the Mississippi River town to the brink of war. When Penn’s closest friend in Bienville is shot to death on the street by a county deputy, mass protests ignite, and the community descends into open hostilities. State and county politicos use the mayhem as an excuse to dissolve the city government and seize control, and enraged activists begin converging on the town from far-away states to see their own brand of justice done. Southern Man is by Greg Iles

There will also be a new Will Trent thriller by Karin Slaughter published in June 2023.

New Anthology from World Famed CWA

 

The world-famous Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) has released a new collection of crime stories written by its members.

Music of the Night edited by Martin Edwards, invited CWA authors to submit short stories on the theme of music. An array of award-winning authors features in the anthology, which is published by Flame Tree Press on 22 February.

The 25 stories include four by CWA Diamond Dagger winners – the highest honour in UK crime writing – alongside nine authors who have never previously contributed to a CWA anthology.

Author and editor Martin Edwards said: “The stories are an eclectic mix, which reflects the wide range of tastes in music, and within the crime genre itself. The hope is this collection will entice readers with familiar and established authors while giving readers the chance to sample works by writers they may not have yet discovered.”

One of the UK’s most prominent societies, the CWA was founded in 1953 by John Creasey. It works to support, promote and celebrate the crime writing genre, and runs the prestigious Dagger awards. Membership includes authors at all stages of their career.

The CWA has published anthologies of members’ works for more than fifty years; Martin Edwards has edited them for nearly half that time. A consultant to the British Library’s Crime Classics, Martin is also a former chair of the CWA and current President of the Detection Club.

Maxim Jakubowski, Chair of the CWA and an influential figure in the publishing world, also features in the collection.

Maxim said: "As an anthologist myself, I've always admired Martin Edwards' work in this very particular field, and I was delighted he was able to include a story of my own in Music of the Night, thus combining our mutual admiration for the work the CWA has done since its inception, and our own personal love of music. A winning combination for all involved, and a fascinating snapshot of some of the most exciting authors in the genre at work today.”

The Diamond Dagger authors whose stories are included in the collection are Catherine Aird, Peter Lovesey, Andrew Taylor, as well as Martin Edwards, who received the Diamond Dagger in 2020.

Martin Edwards said the theme of music has a long fascination with many in the crime genre: “Sherlock Holmes was fiction’s most famous violinist, Agatha Christie dreamed of a musical career as a child, and music features in any number of classic detective novels, as well as contemporary stories; Ian Rankin’s love of music is apparent in many of his novels.”

Contributors include Paul Charles, who spent many years working in the music business with acts such as Van Morrison and Elvis Costello.

Music of the Night is the first CWA anthology of brand-new writing to be published by Flame Tree Press after the success of Flame Tree’s Vintage Crime anthology, which celebrated CWA members’ work from the mid-1950s onwards, tracing the development of the genre across half a century.

Flame Tree Press is the imprint of long-standing independent Flame Tree Publishing, dedicated to full-length original fiction in the horror and suspense, science fiction & fantasy, and crime, mystery and thriller categories. The list brings together new authors and the more established; the award winners and exciting, original voices.

Nick Wells, Publisher at Flame Tree Press, said: “Flame Tree is proud to be the steward for the current annual anthology, Music of the Night. This collection of new stories is both a fitting tribute to the CWA’s legacy of great writing while reflecting the vitality of the contemporary membership. It's been a joy to publish.”

The CWA also offers a platform for unpublished stories with its annual Margery Allingham Short Mystery competition, the closing date for both is February 28.

Music of the Night, edited by Martin Edwards and published by Flame Tree Press, is out on 22 February. Buy in bookshops or online. 

Oxford: The Capital of Crime Fiction - 28th St Hilda's Crime Fiction Weekend -

 

Sneek Peek at the St Hilda's Crime Fiction Weekend 13 -15 August 2021

The 28^th St Hilda's Crime Fiction Weekend will be co-chaired by Alison Joseph and Jake Kerridge

Friday 13^th August

7:00pm 

Welcome Triona Adams (Weekend Director), Chair- Sarah Hilary

Lucy Atkins: Ghosts of Oxford- revisiting and reworking Oxford and its literary past in Magpie Lane.

8:00pm 

Live Screening Whodunnit: The Case of the Cambridge Corpse with Andrew Taylor

Saturday 14^th August 

10:00am to 11:00am - Chair Jake Kerridge

Mick Herron: Oxford Crime: an A-Z

Peter Kemp: Colleges and Corpses: Oxford in Crime Fiction

11:30am to 12:30am - Chair Alison Joseph

Maria Rejt: Remorseless Oxford

Cara Hunter: In The Shadow of Morse: Writing New Crime For The Old City

2:00pm to 3:00pm - Chair Jake Kerridge

Veronica Stallwood: It Depends on What You Mean by “Oxford”

Jean Harker: Michael Innes- Oxford Insider

3:30pm to 4:30pm – Chair Alison Joseph

Val McDermid: Daft, Donnish, Delightful: The Detective Fiction of Edmund Crispin 

Philip Gooden: J C Masterman: King of The Double Cross

5:00pm to 5:45pm - Jake Kerridge

Guillermo Martinez: When Crime Fiction Lives in Crime Fiction

Sunday 15^th August

10:00am to 11:00am - Chair Alison Joseph

Jane Casey: 'Let's Have One Other Gaudy Night': Lord Peter Wimsey's Oxford

Carolyn Kirby: Nightmared Spires: Funding the Gothic in Oxford Novels

11:30am to 12:30pm 

Emma Smith: Shakespearean Sleuths: The Scholar as Detective/ The Detective as Scholar – With Val McDermid

12:30pm

The Case of the Cambridge Corpse – Whodidit revealed, and prize winner announced.

Farewell until 2022.

More information about registering, buying a ticket and about the whole weekend can be found here.