Books to Look Forward to From Penguin and Michael Joseph.

When a bloated corpse is found floating in the River Thames the police can at least sure that identifying the victim will be straightforward. Around the dead man's wrist is a hospital band. On it are the words Dr F Klein...But psychotherapist Frieda Klein is very much alive. And, after evidence linking her to the murder is discovered, she becomes the prime suspect. Unable to convince the police of her innocence, Frieda is forced to make a bold decision in order to piece together the terrible truth before it's too late either for her or for those she loves.  Friday on My Mind is by Nicci French and is due to be published in July 2015.

There are many rumours about the bay off Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Some say it was the site of the lost empire of the Solomon king and that great treasure lies beneath the waters. Others say terrible things happened here, atrocities and disappearances at the hands of cannibal giants, and those who venture there do not return. It is cursed. Which is exactly what attracts the attention of husband-and-wife treasure-hunting team Sam and Remi Fargo. How could they resist? Clues and whispers lead them on a hunt from the Solomons to Australia to Japan, and what they find at the end of the trail is both wonderful and monstrous-and like nothing they have ever seen before...  The Solomon Curse is by Clive Cussler and Russell Blake and is due to be published in September 2015.

What Remains is by Tim Weaver and is due to be published in July 2015.  When all has been

lost what is there left to find? Colm Healy used to be one of the Met's best detectives. Until, haunted by the unsolved murders of a mother and her twin daughters, his life was left in ruins. His failure to find an elusive killer - or even a motive for such a merciless crime - consumed him, his career and his family. Missing person’s investigator David Raker is the only friend Healy has left. The only one who understands that redemption rests on solving these murders. As they reopen the investigation together, Raker learns the hard way how this case breeds obsession - and how an unsolvable puzzle can break even the best detective. Their search will take them down a trail of darkness, unravelling a thread of tragedy spanning years, and will force them to sacrifice everything they have left.

Liar, Liar is by M J Arlidge and is due to be published in September 2015. Faced with yet another ruthless serial killer, one with a penchant for pyromania, DI Helen Grace is an unwilling participant in a race against this new sadistic combatant.

This is a chilling new thriller that gets into the heart and mind of the killer, and the victim...Seventeen-year-old Tessa, dubbed a 'Black-Eyed Susans' by the media, became famous for being the only victim to survive the vicious attack of a serial killer. Her testimony helped to put a dangerous criminal behind bars - or so she thought. Now, decades later the black-eyed Susan’s planted outside Tessa's bedroom window seem to be a message from a killer who should be safely in prison. Haunted by fragmented memories of the night she was attacked and terrified for her own teenage daughter's safety, can Tessa uncover the truth about the killer before it's too late?  Black Eyed Susans is by Julie Heaberlin and is due to be published in August 2015.

Jefferson Hinkley is back. In his role as an undercover investigator for the British Horseracing Authority, Jeff is approached by the multi-time champion jockey, Dave Swinton, to discuss the delicate matter of losing races on purpose. Little does Jeff realise that the call would result in an attempt on his life, locked in a sauna with the temperature well above boiling point. Dave Swinton is then found dead, burnt beyond recognition in his car at a deserted beauty spot. The police think it's a suicide but Jeff is not so sure. He starts to investigate the possible races that Swinton could have intentionally lost but discovers instead that others are out to prevent him from doing so, at any cost.  Front Runner is by Felix Francis and is due to be published in September 2015.

Following Stormbird and Trinity this novel will continue through the brutal Civil War that we now know as the Wars of the Roses. Bloodline sees the Lancastrian and Yorkist factions clash at the battle of Towton - the single most bloody conflict every fought on British soil. The victorious Edward of York seals his claim to the English throne. Bloodline is by Conn Iggulden and is due to be published in October 2015.

The murder of a first-year university student shocks the city of Durham. The victim, Emily

Brabents, was from the privileged and popular set at Joyce College, a cradle for the country's future elite. As Detective Inspector Erica Martin investigates the college, she finds a close-knit community fuelled by jealousy, obsession and secrets. But the very last thing she expects is an instant confession...The picture of Emily that begins to emerge is that of a girl wanted by everyone, but not truly known by anyone. Anyone, that is, except Daniel Shepherd. Her fellow student, ever-faithful friend and the only one who cares. The only one who would do anything for her… Bitter Fruits is by Alice Clark-Platts and is due to be published in July 2015.

The Drowning Ground is the debut novel by James Marrison and is due to be published in August 2015.  A man is found dead near his home with a pitchfork through his neck. When DCI Guillermo Downes is called to the scene he realizes the victim is well known to him. A decade earlier, Downes made a promise to the families of two missing girls that he would find their daughters. Although cleared of any involvement, the dead man had been a suspect in their disappearance. And as the ripples from his death spread through the local community it happens to offer fresh hope that the detective might finally make good on his promise. But as Downes, tormented by his own troubled past, pursues the case alongside a new partner, Sergeant Graves, it soon becomes clear to them both that there's a darkness at the heart of the investigation more dreadful than either could ever have imagined. As past and present bind ever more tightly, Downes and Graves are forced to confront a terrible truth that lies just beneath the surface.

Religion, madness and murder align amongst the teeming spires of Oxford, England, in this terrifying Halloween thriller from Jason Sharp. Perfect for fans of Karen Rose, Richard Montanari, Chris Carter, and Alastair Gunn. Oxford in October: on the outskirts of the city, the mutilated body of a local doctor is found flayed and robed in his own skin. The gruesome crime scene displays religious iconography leading DI Lauren Rose the detective assigned to the case, to University's theology department. Here, Professor Matthew Brask - on exchange from Harvard - identifies the agonies suffered by the victim as identical to those that killed martyred apostle St Bartholomew. A series of unsolved deaths across Europe suggest a murderer with a dangerous religious obsession is on the loose and that the doctor's death is likely only to be the first of a pattern of three. And it's up to Rose and Brask to stop the Halloween Killer... Trick or Treat is the debut novel by Jason Sharp and is due to be published in October 2015.

For a lucky few, death is merely an inconvenience. With the help of technology the mind can survive long after a body has been laid to rest. This afterlife, however, is far from paradise...Making A Living. Rhodes is a 'Husk'. It's an illegal, controversial and highly lucrative job - renting out control of his body and mind to the highest bidder. It's a sure way to gain a better life, but some clients go too far. Sometimes, he wakes up with scars. Making A Killing. Then the visions start - terrible sights that haunt his waking hours. They could be dreams, or they could be something far worse - they just might be memories...  Husk is by J Kent Messum and is due to be published in July 2015.

Only to Die Again is by Patrick Lee and is due to be published in August 2015.  In the dead of night, ex-Special Forces operative Sam Dryden gets a call from an old colleague, desperate for help with a last-minute secret mission.  Together they race to a remote shack, break in, rescue four kidnapped girls, fleeing seconds ahead of the arriving police and FBI.  Only then does Sam Dryden learn the secret behind this mission.  His former team-mate has been working security for an old friend whose company has made a discovery which could change the curse of history.  And there are some very bad people determined to ensure that it goes their way.

My Sunshine Away is the debut novel from M O Walsh, and is due to be published in July 2015. Welcome to Woodland Hills, Louisiana: a place of lush, sweltering summers, neighbourhood cookouts in every backyard and vats of chilled beer under the crepe myrtles. A terrible crime is just about to take place...One day Lindy Simpson cycles home from school and straight into a trap: someone is lying in wait for her, a wire strung between lampposts blocking the path. She is raped just yards from her front door. No one sees a thing and the perpetrator is not caught. Her fourteen year old neighbour has cherished a crush on Lindy, the ultimate girl next door, since they were kids. After her assault he becomes determined to solve the crime, investigating each suspect in the neighbourhood. But before this long, hot summer is out, it will become clear that the friendly community of Woodland Hills has much to hide. Behind every white picket fence in suburbia lies a tangled web of darkness. In his zeal to solve the mystery, the teenage detective stumbles across a sinister world he doesn't recognise, drawing ever closer to a terrifying denouement.

Books to Look Forward to from Penguin and Michael Joseph

Fall From Grace is the latest missing persons case in the David Raker series by Tim Weaver.  It is due to be published in August 2014.  You don't really know anybody.  Not even the ones you love...When Leonard Franks and his wife Ellie leave the clamour of London for a dream retirement on the seclusion of Dartmoor, everything seems perfect.  But then the dream shatters.  Late on a January afternoon, only two years into their new life, Leonard leaves the house to fetch firewood - and never returns.  Nine months later, he's still missing.  With the police investigation dead in the water, Ellie and her family turn to David Raker.  Raker tracks down missing people for a living.  He knows how they think.  But nothing can prepare him for what he's about to find.  Because, behind Leonard Franks' disappearance, lies a deadly secret, buried so deep it was never meant to be found.  And, by the time Raker starts to uncover the truth, it's not just him in danger - it's everyone he's ever cared about...

The stakes are higher than ever in Damage.  Jeff Hinkley, undercover investigator for the British

Horseracing Authority, is looking into the shady activities of a racehorse trainer.  But as he's tailing his quarry through the Cheltenham Racing Festival, the last thing he expects to witness is a gruesome murder.  Could it have something to do with the reason the trainer was banned in the first place - the administration of illegal drugs to his horses?  Days later, it's discovered that many more horses test positive for prohibited stimulants, a scandal that could throw horse-racing into disrepute.  It's no surprise when the BHA receives a demand - pay up or face the consequences.  In order to limit the damage to the sport, it's critical that Jeff find the perpetrator ...but he'll soon learn he's up against someone who will stop at nothing to prevail...  Damage is by Felix Francis and is due to be published in September 2014.

Death or Glory IV is by Michael Asher and is due to be published  in November 2014.  Italy, 1943 – SAS Captain, Tom Caine, is being held captive by Nazis forces.  Whilst imprisoned he befriends another member of the SAS – one who has heard a rumour.  The operative knows the location of an ancient codex.  A codex he claims will lead them to the location of the original texts of Tacitus’s Germania.  Caine is deployed by the Nazis to find the codex and retrieve the texts on a mission that will most certainly bring about his death, and refusal is not an option.  Caine has little choice but to begin his most deadly campaign yet.

The Eye of Heaven is the outstanding new Fargo Adventure from Clive Cussler and is due to be published in September 2014.  Baffin Island: Husband-and-wife team Sam and Remi Fargo are on a climate-control expedition in the Arctic, when to their astonishment they discover a Viking ship in the ice, perfectly preserved - and filled with pre-Columbian artifacts from Mexico.  How can that be?  As they plunge into their research, tantalizing clues about a link between the Vikings and the legendary Toltec feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl - and a fabled object known as the Eye of Heaven - begin to emerge.  But so do many dangerous people.  Soon the Fargos find themselves on the run through jungles, temples, and secret tombs, caught between treasure hunters, crime cartels, and those with a far more personal motivation for stopping them.  At the end of the road will be the solution to a thousand-year-old mystery - or death. 

The brilliant retelling of the Wars of the Roses continues with Trinity, the second gripping novel in the new series from historical fiction master, Conn Iggulden.  1454: King Henry VI has remained all but exiled in Windsor Castle, struck down by his illness for over a year, his eyes vacant, his mind a blank.  His fiercely loyal wife and Queen, Margaret of Anjou, safeguards her husband's interests, hoping that her son Edward will one day know the love of his father.  Richard Duke of York, Protector of the Realm, extends his influence throughout the kingdom with each month that Henry slumbers.  The Earls of Salisbury and Warwick make up a formidable trinity with Richard, and together they seek to break the support of those who would raise their colours in the name of Henry and his Queen.  But when the King unexpectedly recovers his senses and returns to London to reclaim his throne, the balance of power is once again thrown into turmoil.  The clash of the Houses of Lancaster and York will surely mean a war to tear England apart.  Trinity is due to be published in September 2014.

Havana Storm is by Clive Cussler and is due to be published in November 2014.  While investigating a toxic outbreak in the Caribbean Sea that may ultimately threaten the United States, Pitt unwittingly becomes involved in something even more dangerous—a post-Castro power struggle for the control of Cuba.  Meanwhile, Pitt’s children, marine engineer Dirk and oceanographer Summer, are on an investigation of their own, chasing an Aztec stone that may reveal the whereabouts of a vast historical Aztec treasure.  The problem is, that stone was believed to have been destroyed on the battleship Maine in Havana Harbour in 1898, which brings them both to Cuba as well—and squarely into harm’s way. The three of them have been in desperate situations before . . . but perhaps never quite as dire as the one facing them now. 

Dead Men's Bones is the fourth novel in James Oswald's phenomenal Inspector Mclean series set in Edinburgh.  A family lies slaughtered in an isolated house in North East Fife ...Morag Weatherly and her two young daughters have been shot by husband Andrew, an influential politician, before he turned the gun on himself.  But what would cause a rich, successful man to snap so suddenly?  For Inspector Tony McLean, this apparently simple but high profile case leads him into a world of power and privilege.  And the deeper he digs, the more he realises he's being manipulated by shadowy factions.  Under pressure to wrap up the case, McLean instead seeks to uncover layers of truth - putting the lives of everyone he cares about at risk.  Dead Men’s Bones is by James Oswald and is due to be published in July 2014.

DI Helen Grace returns in Pop Goes the Weasel, the new thriller from M. J. Arlidge.  The body of a middle-aged man is discovered in Southampton's red light district - horrifically mutilated, with his heart removed.  Hours later - and barely cold - the heart arrives with his wife and children by courier.  A pattern emerges when another male victim is found dead and eviscerated, his heart delivered soon afterwards.  The media call it Jack the Ripper in reverse; revenge against the men who lead sordid double lives visiting prostitutes.  For Grace, only one thing is certain: there's a vicious serial killer at large who must be halted at all costs...  Pop Goes the Weasel is due to be published in September 2014.

Gone for Good is a suspense-filled mystery from David Bell.  No secret is ever truly gone for

good...Elizabeth Hampton has not spoken to her family in weeks when she gets the phone call.  Her mother has been found dead under suspicious circumstances.  But who would want to kill a kind old woman who stayed at home to care for her son Ronnie's special needs?  And just why did her mother recently change her Will?  The police tell Elizabeth that this is not only a murder investigation - but that her brother Ronnie is the prime suspect.  Desperate to prove her brother's innocence, Elizabeth begins to unravel family secrets and dark double lives - leading to the dangerous truth behind her own identity...  Gone for Good is due to be published in August 2014.

The Devil's Workshop is the third historical thriller in Alex Grecian's Scotland Yard Murder Squad series.  April, 1890.  London wakes to the shocking news of a mass prison escape.  Walter Day and the Scotland Yard Murder Squad now face a desperate race against time: if they don't re-capture the four convicted murderers before night settles, they'll vanish into the dark alleys of the London's criminal underworld for ever.  And in the midst of this mayhem and fear, the city's worst nightmare is realised: Jack the Ripper haunts the streets of London once more... The Devil’s Workshop is due to be published in July 2014.

Don't Look Back is the brilliant new thriller from Gregg Hurwitz and is due to be published in September 2014.  After the breakup of her marriage, Evie takes the holiday of a lifetime.  A few weeks of hiking, rafting, and jungle adventure at an eco-lodge in Mexico sound ideal.  But what should have been the perfect pick-me-up soon turns into a nightmare.  Nothing is quite what it seems.  There are secrets hidden that can't be allowed to leave their jungle hiding place.  And which their keeper will kill to protect.  If she is ever to see her son again, Evie will be forced to find reserves of strength, courage, and ingenuity she never dreamt existed.  Or die trying.  With great pace and pitch-perfect characterisation,

Phantom Instinct is the new thriller from the acclaimed Edgar Award-winning writer, M. G. Gardiner and is due to be published in October 2014.  Harper Flynn nearly died when gunmen attacked the L.A. club where she worked.  A year later, Harper tries to rebuild her life - but is failing.  Because not only is she convinced there was a third gunman who escaped, but she also believes that he is targeting the survivors.  The only person who will listen is Sherriff Deputy Aiden Garrison, who tried to save her life that night.  But Harper's only ally has a secret of his own - one that makes him suspicious and highly volatile..

Conn Iggulden talks War of the Roses and King Richard III

Today's guest blog is by Conn Iggulden a former English teacher. A historical fiction writer he has written books on Julius Caeser, Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan.  Stormbird is the first book in the War of the Roses series which tells the story of the English Civil War.

Last month, the ‘Plantagenet Alliance’, which includes fifteen distant relatives of England’s King Richard III, were granted the right to a Judicial Review to decide the king’s final resting place.  Plans to reinter the skeleton of one of history’s most famous kings in Leicester have had to be halted until the issue is decided: Leicester or York.  The judge warned the parties not to begin a ‘legal War of the Roses 2’, but the gloves are already off.

The skeleton of King Richard III was discovered in Leicester last year.  DNA and carbon dating proved its authenticity, right down to the famous twisted spine.  The license to dig included permission for the king to be reinterred in Leicester Cathedral.  Perhaps it is true that no one expected him to be found when that detail was decided, but the city of Leicester is taking it very seriously indeed.  A £1m tomb is already being built and there are plans for a £5m visitor centre.  

Over four years, one lady, Philippa Langley, tracked down the location of Greyfriars Friary.  When she needed £10,000 for the dig, money came in from America, Britain, Canada, even Holland and Austria – a demonstration of the enduring interest in this medieval monarch.  Could they find him?  Moreover, if they could, was Richard the malevolent hunchback of Shakespeare’s play?  Or a much-loved ruler, killed by a usurper at the age of just thirty-two?

     

The original Wars of the Roses lasted from 1455-1485, as the houses of York and Lancaster fought for the throne of England.  By the fourteen-eighties, the House of York had triumphed and thirty years of conflict had come to an end, with Richard’s older brother crowned as King Edward IV.  When he died of pneumonia, Richard made himself ‘Lord Protector’ while the country waited for Edward’s son to be crowned.  The heir was on his way to his coronation, when he was intercepted by his uncle Richard and put in the Tower of London, ostensibly for his own protection.  The mother of the boys trusted Richard enough to send him the other son as well.  After all, the Tower was then a royal residence as well as a prison, a zoo and the royal mint. 

 It is true that Richard then declared his brother’s marriage invalid, rendering those children illegitimate and unable to become king.  He had himself crowned King Richard III in 1483 and – however it happened – the two Princes in the Tower were never seen again.

There was one Lancastrian lord left who might challenge the house of York, in Wales.  Yet Henry Tudor’s claim to the throne was weak and his only choice was to take it with victory on the battlefield.  He raised an army of French and Welsh and the forces met in 1485 at the battle of Bosworth.  King Richard had no heir when that battle began.  He would have known that if he fell, the fate of his line and his house all ended with him. 

From the wounds to his skeleton, we know King Richard took three strikes to his head: a skimming cut from an axe, a dagger thrust that chipped bone and a final fatal blow to the back of his skull.  From historical accounts, we know his body was stripped and tied facedown to a horse to be paraded around Leicester.  A sword or dagger impaled him from behind, a deliberate, brutal humiliation.  All of that is shown in the cuts and breaks of his bones – just as his hunchback was revealed in the great serpentine twist of his spine.

That crooked spine could well have been the seed of all that came later.  In medieval times, it was considered bad luck to even touch a hunchback.  Deformities of any kind were seen as evidence of evil or God’s punishment for misdeeds.  Yet despite constant pain, Richard III was a warrior-king.  Contemporary sources show he was well regarded, even loved by his subjects.  His tainted legend seems to have grown from the House of Tudor’s desperate need for legitimacy.  After all, the worse Richard could be made to seem, the more noble the Tudors became by removing him.

Whatever the truth of the Princes in the Tower, Richard III was made into a monster by historians and playwrights hoping to win Tudor favour.  He was held responsible for the murders of everyone from kings and princes, to his own wife and two of his brothers.

Thanks to Philippa Langley, that shadowy figure has been revealed as a man once more: flawed, without doubt; twisted in body, but no more a monster than any other king of the age.  He lay for five centuries in Leicester, close to where he was killed.  I would have thought it was about time to send him home – to York.

The video for Stormbird can be seen below.

More information about Conn Iggulden can be found on his website.  You can also follow him on Twitter at @Conn_Iggulden.     

 Wars of the Roses: Stormbird, (£18.99, HB, Michael Joseph, 10^th October)

Books to Look forward to from Penguin and Michael Joseph

King Henry V - the great Lion of England - is long dead. In 1437, after years of regency, the pious and gentle Henry VI, the Lamb, comes of age and accedes to the English throne. His poor health and frailty of mind render him a weakling king - Henry depends on his closest men, Spymaster Derry Brewer and William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, to run his kingdom. Yet there are those, such as the Plantagenet Richard, Duke of York, who believe England must be led by a strong king if she is to survive. With England's territories in France under threat, and rumours of revolt at home, fears grow that Henry and his advisers will see the country slide into ruin. With a secret deal struck for Henry to marry a young French noblewoman, Margaret of Anjou, those fears become all too real. As storm clouds gather over England, King Henry and his supporters find themselves besieged abroad and at home. Who, or what, can save the kingdom before it is too late?  War of the Roses: Stormbird is by Conn Iggulden and is due to be published in October 2013.  It is the start of a new series.

 

Tell No Lies is by Greg Hurwitz and was published in August 2013.  Sharing a room with

criminals is an occupational hazard for probation counsellor Daniel Brasher. But he's ready to move on; he's looking forward to leaving it behind for good. That was the plan at least. Until, before leaving work for the evening, Daniel finds a letter in his pigeonhole. Inside is a note: 'admit what you've done or you will bleed for it. you have 'till november 15 at midnite' But the message was meant for someone else and picked up late by Daniel. With the deadline past, the intended recipient is already dead. Further warnings herald a series of gruesome, seemingly inexplicable murders. Then a note is addressed to Daniel himself. And with the clock ticking he must discover who wants him dead. And why, or become the next victim.

Husband and wife team Sam and Remi Fargo are in Mexico when they come upon an astonishing discovery – the skeleton of a man clutching an ancient sealed pot, and within the pot a  Mayan book larger than anyone has ever seen.  The book contains astonishing information about the Mayans, their cities, and about mankind itself. The secrets are so powerful that some people would do anything to possess them – as the Fargos are about to find out.  Before their adventure is done, many men and women will die for that book – and Sam and Remi may just be among them.  The Mayan Secrets is by Clive Cussler and Thomas Perry and is due to be published in November 2013.

Refusal is by Feliz Francis and is due to be published in September 2013. Sir Richard Stewart, chairman of the horse racing authority, wants Sid Halley to look into some suspicious race results, but Sid gave up the investigating business six years ago and he thought nothing could make him go back. He thought wrong. The following day, Sir Richard is found dead and Sid receives a threatening call from a man with an Irish accent. The man insists that Sid Halley should investigate the alleged race-fixing and it is only when his six-year-old daughter goes missing that Sid realises that he may pay the ultimate price for his refusal. With his life in tatters and his family in mortal danger, Sid is forced to act. Maybe he has underestimated the evilness of his foe, but has his foe underestimated the guile and determination of Sid Halley? Extreme situations demand extreme solutions and Sid is desperate to get his life back, or die trying...

When someone wants to find you badly enough, vanishing is no longer an option. Sarah Keller

is a young single mother living in Oklahoma with her five-year-old daughter, Zoe. Her day job is to hunt out people on the run and bring them to justice. So imagine how it looks when a school bus accident sends Zoe to the ER and tests reveal Sarah can't be Zoe's mother. Sarah has been living a lie for years and finally the truth is coming out. Who is she? Who were Zoe's parents? And why does Zoe's identity bring the FBI down on Sarah's tail in mere minutes? The FBI is the least of her worries, though. Sarah needs to keep Zoe off the grid, but with a sinister religious cult also on the trail, where on earth can they hide? Something deadly lurks in Sarah's past and its resurfacing brings terror to all it touches.  The Shadow Tracer is by M G Gardiner and is due to be published in October 2013.

Never Coming Back is by Tim Weaver and was published in August 2013.  A secret that will change lives forever. It was supposed to be the start of a big night out. But when Emily Kane arrives at her sister Carrie's house, she finds the front door unlocked and no one inside. Dinner's cooking, the TV's on. Carrie, her husband and their two daughters are gone. When the police draw a blank, Emily asks missing persons investigator David Raker to find them. It's clear someone doesn't want the family found. But as he gets closer to the truth, Raker begins to uncover evidence of a sinister cover-up, spanning decades and costing countless lives. And worse, in trying to find Emily's missing family, he might just have made himself the next target…

Alex Grecian's The Black Country sees the Scotland Yard Murder Squad return in a gruesome historical thriller. When members of a prominent family disappear from a coal-mining village - and a human eyeball is discovered in a bird's nest - the local constable sends for help from Scotland Yard's new Murder Squad. Inspector Walter Day and Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith respond, but they have no idea what they're about to get into. The villagers have intense, intertwined histories. Everybody bears a secret. Superstitions abound. And the village itself is slowly sinking into the mines beneath it. Not even the arrival of forensics pioneer Dr. Bernard Kingsley seems to help. In fact, the more the three of them investigate, the more they realize they may never be allowed to leave. The Black Country is due to be published in September 2013.

Atlantis: Revelation is by Marcus Blake and is due to be published in October 2013.   For millennia, mankind has searched for Atlantis - the ancient lost city, sunk without a trace - and found nothing more than myth. A young man drifts, unconscious, into a quiet Haitian harbour. He wakes to find he can only remember one thing - his name, Achilles. Helped by Marta, a beautiful smuggler, he begins a desperate search for his identity. But soon they are running for their lives, pursued by a covert government agency who will stop at nothing to track them down. The agency knows something Achilles doesn't: he is no ordinary young man. Soon, Achilles will find himself at the centre of a deadly game between two civilizations; the world above, and the world below. What if a place of myth, legend and fables...was real? This is Atlantis: Revelation.

Darkness First by James Hayman is the third book in the McCabe and Savage series and is due to be published in December 2013. In the dark shadows of a summer evening a young woman named Tiffany Stoddard is brutally slain by a remorseless killer's razor sharp blade. Learning that her closest childhood friend was nearly killed in the same incident, Portland Detective Maggie Savage rushes to the scene to join the State Police investigation. Maggie soon discovers the killer's name is Conor Riordan. There's only one problem. Conor Riordan doesn't exist. The only person who can provide a clue as to who Riordan really is, is the victim's eleven-year-old sister, Tabitha. And now Tabitha has turned up missing. Soon Maggie and her long time partner, Detective Sergeant Michael McCabe, find themselves in a desperate race against time to find the missing child before she becomes a vicious killer's next victim.