Forthcoming Books from Atlantic Books (Incl Corvus Books and Atlantic Grove UK)

January 2027

Behind closed doors. Deadley secets lie. When Issy marries her school crush Sean, it seems she has everything: the perfect new house on Kill Lane, the perfect husband. But the day they return from their honeymoon, tragedy strikes. Her best friend Ciara calls to the house to bring their dog back, but instead of holiday happiness and souvenirs, she discovers Sean and Issy's bodies. Everything points to a murder suicide. But Ciara and Elaina have been best friends with Issy since school, and they know her too well to believe that's what really happened... Kill Lane is by Sam Blake.

For Whom the Spell Tolls is by Alice Bell. Tucked away in a genteel, rural hamlet, a coven of witches is the last thing you'd expect to find. But these modern-day witches are more into tarot and social media than toil and trouble - except for their ongoing feud with a prominent historian who claims the witch trials were a hoax. When the historian turns up dead and the witches become the prime suspects, medium-cum-detective Claire wants to solve the case and clear their names. In this small village, secrets and spirits abound. Can Claire separate the black magic from white lies?

The serial killer he couldn't catch is dead. The last victim isn't. DI Marshall must find her before it's too late. Two years ago DI Rob Marshall almost caught Callum Davidson, the serial killer who'd abducted and killed a string of women across London, before dumping their bodies in the streets. Now, Callum Davidson has turned up at the bottom of a viaduct in Melrose. Dead. And Marshall is dragged back home to the Scottish Borders - and a tragedy he's avoided for twenty years. Davidson is dead, but the last woman he abducted hasn't been found . . . She might still be alive somewhere, but she's running out of time. Marshall was too late to save the last victim. He has to save this one - for both of them. How can you save the final victim when the murderer is dead, taking his secrets to the grave? The Turning of Our Bones is by Ed James

February 2027

Raven's River is by S W Perry. Where'er she be seen, Death will surely follow... London, 1800. Born in the gutter, raised on the banks of the greatest waterway in the world, Sergeant Jack Raven is an officer in the newly formed Thames River Police. And like any good policeman he doesn't believe in ghosts. But when labourers building the city's great new docks unearth a child's bones and an ancient curse, men start dying. Raven must solve the case before more lives – and fortunes - are lost. His only allies are the unlikely kind: bare-knuckle fighters and a network of scientifically-minded young women, led by the aristocratic, spirited but married Lady Callista Granville - whose interest in Raven is a secret that could ruin them both.

Crooks make the best detectives. They know how the guilty think and where the guilty hide. Xavier Rule - Ecks to his friends - didn't come to California searching for salvation. A thief and a killer on the run from the law, he expected to disappear. But under the influence of the unusual church he's begun attending, Ecks has started to forgive himself and others for past misdeeds. Then Benol Richards walks through the door. Twenty-three years ago, she helped her lover kidnap three baby boys and sold them on the black market - she has carried the guilt with her ever since. Now she wants to know what became of the children, and Ecks is given the job of finding out. But if he is to pick up this trail and follow where it leads, he will have to fight his old, lethal instincts - and know when justice demands he give in to them. Parishioner is by Walter Mosley.

March 2027

A Frightfully Fiendish Murder is by Lucy Andrew. An utterly charming mystery set in Bath's high society with Harriet Smith reprising her role as sleuth extraordinaire, perfect for anyone who loved The Other Bennet Sister. A jewel thief, a mysterious dagger, a faded lithograph . . . it's the perfect case for Miss Harriet. Harriet Smith is in Bath to uncover a thief in the Upper Assembly Rooms, who's been snatching priceless jewels and scaring off the wealthy clientele. Harriet flirts with John and Isabella Thorpe but soon unearths more than she bargained for... At a soirée at the Assembly Rooms, she tracks the thief - only to find his lifeless corpse stuffed into an empty sedan chair, with a stage-prop dagger and the image of a famous actor tucked into his pocket. Harriet has a case to crack. And there's no time to waste...

April 2027

When historian Rose McHugh is left a mysterious bequest after the death of the reclusive heiress of Thornwood Park, she's excited to visit the estate. But when Rose realises she may have found evidence of women going missing, she delves deeper. During World War II, the nearby Robertson Hotel housed trainees of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force, who often attended lavish parties thrown by Thornwood's wealthy owners. Unearthing a decades-old mystery is a challenge, particularly when it may lead to the unmasking of a serial killer. And it appears that someone in the misty Southern Highlands will do anything to keep the killer's identity hidden... Murder at Thornwood Park is by Joan Sauers.

May 2027

Where The Bodies Lie is by Ed James. A copycat killer is on the loose in this taut cat-and-mouse thriller featuring former criminal-profiler-turned-detective, Rob Marshall. Three missing victims never found. A fresh murder. A race against time to catch a killer . . . Ten years ago DI Rob Marshall profiled a serial killer the press dubbed the 'Shadow Man', who murdered six young athletes before burying their bodies in shallow woodland graves. They caught the killer, but the bodies of his last three victims were never found. Now the Shadow Man is willing to reveal their final resting place. But when Marshall finds the body, it isn't ten years old - it's a fresh murder. There's a copycat killer on the loose . . .

Forthcoming Books from Head of Zeus

 January 2027

Fever Island is by Martin Edwards. A cursed island. A macabre party. An impossible crime. Five years after film star Godiva Lee died under suspicious circumstances, Boris Unthank gathers everyone connected to her death for a ‘party’ on the isolated Fever Island. A reluctant Rachel Savernake is invited for one reason: Unthank believes she can solve the impossible crime. She only agrees to attend for another reason, however: he knows something that could ruin her. As storms rage and the island is cut off from the outside world, old scandals resurface as hidden identities are revealed.  With suspicion running rife, Rachel must unravel the deadly mystery or risk exposing an even greater secret: who she truly is...

Archaeologist Nora Kelly and FBI Special Agent Corrie Swanson team up against supernatural foes. On a construction site in the foothills of Santa Fe, New Mexico, workers have uncovered a row of ancient skeletons buried upside down. It is revealed that this was the work of the Spanish Inquisition, who in 1676 condemned six women as witches and executed them, burying them head downwards to speed their way to hell.  Nora Kelly soon makes a further shocking discovery – a fresh inverted burial in the same place… and only two months old. As more murders and bizarre burials start mounting up, Nora and FBI Special Agent Corrie Swanson find themselves in pursuit of a mass killer who possesses a terrifying, ancient power defying human understanding. Dead Man's Journey is by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child.

February 2027

You Reap is by Michael Wendroff. Kidnappings are terrifying a small town.There is no pattern: the missing children and their families appear to have nothing in common and police are baffled. As the number of victims grows, so does the fear that time is running out. With the police department stretched to its limits, bitter rivals Jill Jarred and Jack Ludlum are drawn into the investigation. For Jill, the case hits close to home, reopening the wounds of a family tragedy she’s never escaped. Searching for the children is only the beginning. The kidnapper has a deeper purpose than anyone realised and the closer Jill and Jack get to the truth, the more dangerous the hunt becomes.

Joe Pickett is back in the saddle as he investigates a case of missing children and a community full of secrets. After the attack that nearly took his life, Joe Pickett is back at work, despite lingering issues from the gunshot wounds he sustained.  Joe has been tasked with helping an FBI task force search for two missing children in western Wyoming's Star Valley. The siblings went missing while their wealthy father was out hunting and their socialite mother was staying in the local town. Star Valley is an insular community run by religious elders who keep inserting themselves into the case. With a whole cast of potential suspects but no obvious motive, Joe must use all his expertise to find the children before it's too late. Meanwhile, in Joe's absence, his daughter Sheridan investigates a poaching case that proves to be far more sinister than she imagined. The Missing is by C J Box.

March 2027

Shadow Game is by Nick Petrie. When military veteran Peter Ash steps in to save a fellow hiker on the Appalachian Trail, he ends up accused of murder and faces a fight for his life and his freedom. In the mountains of Tennessee, Marine Corps veteran Peter Ash is hiking the 2200-mile Appalachian Trail when he meets a mysterious older hiker being threatened by two men. Peter intervenes, but soon finds himself at the wrong end of the older man's pistol. Before the day is out, Peter will be wanted for murder, for he has unwittingly ended up in a decades-old story of espionage, betrayal, and homicide.  Along with his friend Lewis and a pair of retired spies, Peter must dodge killers and solve this mystery himself or spend the rest of his life in prison.  If he survives the day...

April 2027

Marcus Ulpius Bellator survived the brutality of war on the furthest frontiers of the Roman Empire. Now living in the Eternal City itself, things haven't worked out the way he’d envisaged. Civilian life is proving difficult and his drinking and gambling are taking a toll on his marriage to Tillia. Everything changes the night his home goes up in flames, when Bellator arrives to find that Tillia, trapped inside, has died in the fire. In order to prevent similar tragedies, Bellator becomes one of the Vigiles - the Watchmen of Rome. He soon discovers that the blaze that took Tillia’s life was no accident. A killer is on the loose, striking seemingly at random. With the victim count slowly increasing, piece by piece Bellator seeks a pattern in the madness as he hunts the murderer through the streets of Rome. Guardian of Rome:Incendium is by Matthew Harffy.

Omega Authority is by Brad Taylor. When a new bioweapon is stolen by hostile forces, the Taskforce must prevent worldwide devastation. American AI company Romulus Solutions has created a biomedical AI model that can target bacteria: a potential game-changing healthcare solution. When a cyber-attack from North Korea obtains the model, nobody is too worried, because of the unbreakable encryption. That is, until a mole inside Romulus vanishes with the keys to break the encryption, and with them, the power to engineer a devastating bioweapon. Pike Logan and the Taskforce are ordered to recover the keys. Their mission will take them through Japan and into the shadow world where the Yakuza and North Korea converge. With an enemy determined not to surrender, Pike and the team must recover the keys at all costs… even if it risks war on the Korean Peninsula.

No good deed goes unpunished. Jan Hughes prides herself on being helpful. An ordinary woman with an ordinary life, she processes background checks for people who want to work with the vulnerable. It feels good to be useful, to smooth things along, to say yes. So when someone asks her for a small favour – a name, an address – Jan tells herself it’s nothing. She just wants to be helpful. Until a news report shows a family has been found dead in the very house she identified. Now Jan is an unwitting accomplice, and the person who drew her in hasn’t finished yet. They want another favour – and this time Jan knows exactly what her answer could cost. One Last Favour is by Charlie Gallagher.

The Baker is Tim Sullivan. Murder is both a science and an art. Brian Fothergill co-owns a thriving Bristol bakery with two close friends that was built on a shared dream: to use their success to give something back, offering opportunities to those most often overlooked. Brian has always believed in doing good, in giving people second chances. So how has he ended up head down and lifeless at the bottom of an industrial dough mixer? Even in a place built on kindness, pressure can build. But who turned up the heat? DS George Cross is back to find out.

Forthcoming Books from Orion Publishing

 January 2027

Lie for Your Life by Anna Sharpe. 'You're trying to play a game with me. So is someone else. But me? I'm not playing. I'm not saying nothing more.' The truth doesn't always set you free. Nicole is a rising star in the courtroom - sharp, ambitious, and determined to outrun the shadow of her criminal family. Her latest case could make her career: prosecuting the infamous serial killer known as The Tattooist. It's a tough challenge, but Nicole is confident she can secure a conviction. Everything changes when Nicole discovers evidence that suggests the defendant may have been set up. Then a body is found followed by a threatening message: unless she secures a conviction of the man on trial, the killer will strike again. And this time, it's her family on the line. Torn between her loyalty to her family and desire for justice, Nicole is left with no choice but to hunt down the killer before the jury reach a verdict. Taut, twisty, darkly witty, and razor-sharp, Lie For Your Life is a gripping exploration of true crime obsession, the lies we tell and what we're willing to sacrifice to protect the people we love.

On an island with no way out, even old friends become suspects . . . When Cassie Brogan and her friends are invited to a school reunion on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, their first instinct is to refuse. Ravenwood Academy is a chapter of their lives they'd rather forget - a place haunted by tragedy, secrets and betrayal. But the lure of a five-star stay at the secluded and luxurious Tech Duinn Manor soon proves impossible to resist. As the guests begin to arrive, tensions rise and old rivalries reignite. When a dead body turns up, it soon becomes clear that someone is out for revenge.  Trapped on an island with no escape, Cassie must uncover the truth about what really happened at Ravenwood Academy - before history repeats itself. The Island is by Cathy Cole. 

Wolf Point is by Lisa Howells. One missing girl. Three possibilities. No turning back. Wolf Point, Alaska. When police officer Terril Black is thrust into the role of sergeant under brutal circumstances, she expects a quiet first night in charge. Instead, a teenage girl vanishes from a remote motel - and for Terril, walking away is never an option. With a department that doesn't want a woman in charge, a hostile officer undermining her at every turn, and a rookie fresh from Miami as her only back-up, she is plunged into a desperate missing persons investigation, racing against time and the elements. Here, it isn't the first 48 hours that count - it's the first four to eight. After that, even something innocent can end badly. But as she digs deeper, unsettling clues point towards something dark festering beneath the surface of this isolated small town. And when a violent snowstorm cuts them off from the outside world, Terril isn't just fighting to save the girl - she's fighting to get out alive. Yet Wolf Point never surrenders its humanity. Terril Black, Eli Ash, Angela Stone―you'll remember these names long past The End.'

February 2027

The Therapist's Secret is by Kingsley Pearson. Will he help her? Or hurt her? When therapist Aaron Pereira arrives on the Isle of Wight seeking a fresh start, the last thing he expects is to find himself caught in a tragedy. The police suspect that his predecessor, Dr Geoffrey Miller, is guilty of murdering a former patient. The problem? He's nowhere to be found. As long-buried secrets come to light, Aaron finds himself questioning everything the authorities claim and is drawn to investigate. After all, what would drive a respected and kindly therapist to harm a patient they're sworn to protect? And even worse - if a therapist like him could be a killer, what might Aaron himself be capable of?

March 2027

The Last Secret: Victor Rothschild and the Cambridge Spies by Roland Thomas. On a cold February day in 1944, a British intelligence officer knelt in a Northamptonshire field, staring into a crate of onions. Hidden inside: Nazi explosives, bound for British ships, planes and factories. He began to dismantle the bomb, dictating every move into a field telephone. One slip, and he would be blown to pieces. His name was Victor Rothschild, and he was one of the richest men in England. Darkly handsome, dazzlingly clever and unflinchingly brave, Rothschild was a rising star of British intelligence. He was also a Cambridge scientist, a first-class cricketer and heir to the legendary banking dynasty. He could have been anything he wanted. He chose to run MI5's counter-sabotage unit, disarming bombs and hunting Nazi agents. Yet the greatest danger he faced, and his greatest sacrifice, was personal. His friends from Cambridge, Anthony Blunt and Guy Burgess, had shared his flat, his table and his trust. He helped them into positions of national importance, at the heart of British intelligence. Both were Soviet spies, traitors to Britain. The Last Secret is a true story of loyalty and betrayal, courage and misjudgment. Drawing on newly released MI5 files and unheard testimony, it reveals for the first time the extraordinary scope of this decades-long cat-and-mouse game - Rothschild's obsessive struggle to clear his own name and bring his former friends to justice.

When Lee Black – once the golden child of the crime community, now miserly creative writing lecturer – opens his student’s work-in-progress, he is at first confused, then slightly disturbed, and then, finally, flattered. It’s fanfiction. But what the awkward, brilliant Bella has done with his most famous character – classic detective figure DCI Last – is something far bolder and more subversive than he would ever have dreamed of … Sensing an incredible opportunity, Lee sends the first few chapters off to his agent, pretending to have written them. She loves them – and so does his former publisher. This is truly Lee’s ‘Last’ chance. This could change everything, even save his failing marriage. But when Lee tries to complete the new idea himself, it’s soon obvious he’s not getting it. He just needs to persuade Bella to come on board. And if she doesn’t agree? Well, there’s always his brother-in-law’s secluded countryside lodge to go to – perfect for a writing retreat. Of sorts. Fanfiction is by Liam Brown.

April 2027

My Husband's Family is by Kristina Kamen. 'Sleek as a yacht cutting through the Med, My

Husband's Family reads like the seaworthy lovechild of The Perfect Couple and The Guest List. Fabulous, funny, and pure escapist pleasure' Jenny Jackson, bestselling author of Pineapple Street and The Shampoo Effect. The Amalfi Coast is a dazzling backdrop for the day Rebecca marries Preston, the heir to the ultra-rich Wexley family. But when their honeymoon - a romantic break on a superyacht - turns into a family affair, she soon realises she'll have her work cut out with her new in-laws:· The mother-in-law, who rules the family with an iron will· The ex, now an executive at the Wexley enterprise, plotting her own rise to the top Preston's attention-seeking brother, Brad, and his influencer girlfriend· The influencer, scrambling for attention alongside Preston's emotionally stunted brother· And then there's the bride - Rebecca, an outsider whose past threatens to unravel the moment an unexpected guest arrives... When a body goes overboard in the middle of the night, no one can leave until the killer is caught. Everyone on board has their secrets and selfish motivations, and with so much at stake, even family isn't safe..

June 2027

There are three truths: My truths, Your Truth, and the Truth. French Riviera, Spring 2023. Off the coast of Cannes, a yacht drifts between the Lérins Islands. On board lies Oriana Di Pietro, an Italian publisher and heiress to a famous Milanese family. Brutally attacked, she succumbs after ten days in a coma. Who killed Oriana? A man and three women offer their version of the story: Adrien, the victim's husband, a seductive and mysterious jazz pianist; the elusive Adèle, his young mistress; Justine, the local police officer in charge of the investigation; and finally, Oriana herself, through the harrowing account of the last weeks of her life. No one is lying. But no one agrees on the truth. Someone Else is by Guillaume Musso.

Careful What You Wish For is by Kirsty Lockwood. The perfect home or your worst nightmare? After breaking up with her long term boyfriend, Freya is in a rut. Working a dead end job with debts mounting up she longs to escape. So when she hears about The Wishing Well, an app where wealthy donors grant wishes for deserving strangers, she decides she has nothing to lose. Within days, a donor known only as Anon grants her wish for 'escape' and Freya is gifted a stay in an isolated country cottage, rent free. The cottage is perfect and Freya finally has the freedom to focus on her dreams. However, not everything is as it seems, a young woman has gone missing in the nearby hills and Freya finds herself entangled in the investigation into her disappearance. As Anon bombards Freya with messages and gifts, it becomes clear that they believe they are owed for their generosity and will go to extreme lengths to get what they want . .

When Marianne Capaletti's mobester hsuband goes missing , she finds both the FBI and the Patriarca crime family at her door. As it becomes clear that her life and er son's are in grave danger, there is only one place she can flee to for safety. - the lawless frozen wasteland of Northern Quebec, and the home she swore she would never return to. When The Devil Knows Your Name is by R J Ellory.

One morning, a phone call from a real estate agent changes the life of Lumiere, a broke architect in Paris. He is invited to view a historic mansion on the Ile de la Cité, a location far beyond his wildest dreams. If approved, he'll be able to call it home.The only catch? He must visit the ailing owner at a sanatorium in Switzerland and help him uncover the family secrets embedded in the mansion's walls.. Where the Light Leads is by Heesung Baek.

Set over one eventful New Year's Eve in a luxury Dubai hotel – when the festivitoes are held up by armed mercenaries, ex-SAS fighter Sam and his daughter Megan must defy all odds to reunite. Freefall is by M J Arlidge

The London Silver Vaults – the largest collection of silver for sale in the world, with more locks than the Bank of England and more cameras than a celebrity punchup. Not somewhere you can murder someone without a trace- Only that's what happened. The disappearing act, the reports of a blinding flash of light, and memory loss amongst the witnesses make this a case for Detective Constable Peter Grant and the Special Assessment Unit. But Peter's about to encounter something – and somebody – that nobody expects. In High Places is by Ben Aaronovitch.

Anthony Award Winners

Anthony Award Winners were announced at Bouchercon 2026 in Calgary, October 24, 2026.  The list of all the nominations can be found here.

Winners

Best Hardcover Novel

The Black Wolf by Louise Penny 

Best First Novel

Mask of the Deer Woman by Laurie L. Dove 

Best paperback/eBook/Audiobook 

 Edge by Tracy Clark 

Best Children's YA

Death in the Cards by Mia P. Manansala 

Best Critical/Non-Fiction

Vacations Can Be Murder: A True Crime Lover's Travel Guide to New England by Dawn M. Barclay 

Best Anthology/Collection

On Fire and Under Water: A Climate Change Crime Fiction Anthology edited by Curtis Ippolito Hollywood Kills edited by Adam Meyer & Alan Orloff 

Best Short Story

"AITA for Using My Husband's Hobby to Teach Him a Lesson" by Mindy Carlson 

Congratulations to all!

The Private Eye Writers Of America Announce The 2026 Shamus Award Winners

(PWA Logo by Terry Beatty (Copyright2005))

The winners have just been announced at the 2026 Bouchercon‘s Opening Ceremonies in Calgary, Alberta.

The 2026 Shamus Awards Winners are in bold italics.

Best PI Hardcover

The Big Empty by Robert Crais (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

Photograph by Brian Freeman (Blackstone Publishing)

Hatchet Girls by Joe R. Lansdale (Little, Brown and Company)

Gray Dawn by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown and Company)

Mirage City by Lev AC Rosen (Minotaur Books)

Best First P.I Novel

Where the Bones Lie by Nick Kolakowski (Datura Books)

Chase Harlem by Elise Burke Brown (Rising Action Publishing)

Miles in Time by Lee Mathew Goldberg (Wise Wolf Books)

Shadow of the Eternal Watcher by Josh Mendoza (Inkshares)

The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan (Minotaur Books)

Best Original Paperback P.I. Novel

Midnight Streets by Phil Lecomber (Titan Books)

The Hook and the Eye by Raymond Benson (Ian Fleming Publications)

Sunday or the Highway by Cindy Fazzi (Thomas & Mercer)

City Lights by Claire M. Johnson (Level Best Books)

Catch Me on a Blue Day by M.E. Proctor (Shotgun Honey Books)

Best P.I. Short Story

"The Roosevelt Affair” by Adam Meyer (Crimeucopia: Not So Frail Detective Agency, Murderous Ink Press)

“The One Cry” by F.H. Batacan (Accidents Happen, Soho Crime)

“Dr. Bones” by Libby Cudmore (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May/June)

“Hours on the Phone” by Gregory Fallis (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, July/August)

“The Shadows” by Charles John Harper (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May/June)

2026 Barry Award Winners: Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine

 

Congratulations to all. The winners of the 2026 Barry Awards were announced at the Opening Ceremonies of Bouchercon (Calgary, Canada) last night. Congratulations to all!

Best Mystery
King of Ashes by Cosby (Flatiron Books)

Best First Mystery
The Vanishing Place by Zoe Rankin (Berkley)

Best Paperback Original Mystery
The Dentist by Tim Sullivan (Atlantic Crime)

Best Thriller
Midnight Black by Mark Greaney (Berkley)

Deadly

Deadly 

Deadly 

An Post Irish Book Awards announced

The shortlist for the 2026 An Post Irish Book Awards has been unveiled, featuring a diverse and exciting mix of exceptional writing from both new and established writers and illustrators across 19 categories.

Winners will be announced at awards ceremony in the Convention Centre Dublin on Tuesday, 1st December and a TV programme announcing the overall ‘An Post Irish Book of the Year’ winner will be broadcast on RTÉ One on 10th December 2026.

The Crime Fiction shortlist -

The Book Centre Crime Fiction Book of the Year in association with The Irish Independent 

The Truth About Ruby Cooper by Liz Nugent (Sandycove)

Everything She Didn’t Say by Jane Casey (Hemlock Press)

One of Us Is Guilty by Steve Cavanagh (Headline)

Such a Nice Girl by Andrea Mara (Bantam)

In Glass Houses by Edel Coffey (Sphere)

The Keeper by Tana French (Viking)

Never to be Found by Jo Spain (Zaffre)

If These Walls Could Talk by Michelle McDonagh (Hachette Books Ireland)

 

 

Winner of the Petrona Award 2026 announced

The winner of the Petrona Award 2026 for the Best Scandinavian Crime

Novel of the Year is:

Into Thin Air by Ørjan Karlsson translated from the Norwegian by Ian Giles and published by Orenda Books.

Both Ørjan Karlsson and Ian Giles will receive a trophy.

The judges would like to highly commend Broken, the dark and compulsive police procedural by Jón Atli Jónasson, which is translated by Quentin Bates and published by Corylus Books.

The judges’ statement regarding Into Thin Air:

Ørjan Karlsson puts a spotlight on the stunning beauty of the Lofoten Islands in the Norwegian Arctic Circle while discovering devastating secrets hidden beneath the calm surface. With empathy and deep understanding he introduces a fascinating investigative duo dealing with personal challenges and explores relationships within the tight-knit community.

Told from several perspectives Into Thin Air has a contemporary feel and nuanced narration. This taut and tense thriller has a strong sense of location and utterly engaging characters, with nature as one of them. Perfect pacing and atmospheric storytelling add to the compelling story which moves seamlessly between recent European political history and dramatic local events from the past, all of them having impact on everyone in the area.

Statements from the winning author, translator and publisher: Ørjan Karlsson:

I am both delighted and honoured to be the recipient of this award. The fact that many of this year’s nominees are my own go-to authors for Scandinavian and Nordic crime makes this recognition extra special. A huge thank you to the jury and the organisers of the Petrona Award for championing Nordic crime fiction in this way; it is truly appreciated.

Publishing your novels in a foreign language is a collaborative effort. I would like to thank my agency at Gyldendal in Norway for their tireless work in opening the world of Jakob Weber to readers in other languages. I am also deeply grateful to my publisher, Karen Sullivan, and the entire ‘Team Orenda’ for believing in the series and making all of this happen.

Translating a book into another language often means reading between the lines and adapting parts of the text to ensure it stays true to the spirit of the original. I couldn't ask for a better team to achieve that than Orenda’s excellent editorial director, West Camel, and my brilliant translator, Ian Giles. Thank you.

 Ian Giles:

I knew from the moment I first read Into Thin Air in Norwegian that Ørjan had nailed the intersection in the Venn diagram of setting, characters, and great writing. Fortunately, Orenda Books grasped this too and took a chance on an author who was previously untested in English translation. While I like to think that I have the right voice to share Jakob, Noora and the rest of the gang with anglophone readers, Orenda also had the good sense to pair us with our indefatigable editor, West Camel. I’m chuffed that the Petrona judges recognise what our little trinity worked so hard to achieve with this book.

 Karen Sullivan (Orenda Books):

We are absolutely thrilled to see Ørjan Karlsson’s English debut, Into Thin Air, honoured with this prestigious award. I was transfixed by the premise of the book (and series) from the moment I heard about it. The sheer scale of Chief Investigator Jakob Webber’s job – policing Nordland, Norway’s untamed north, a landscape surrounded by glaciers, forests and lakes, with its endless, rugged coastline and thousands of islands – is utterly compelling, bringing dangers and challenges, but

the immensely believable characters (of which the landscape is definitely one), and Ørjan’s exceptional writing makes this stand-out Nordic Noir in every way. In fact, this is the quintessential modern example of Nordic Noir, ticking all the classic boxes of the genre while bringing a fresh, highly authentic energy to the traditional police

procedural. At its heart are the social issues, moral ambiguity and flawed (but never clichéd) detectives with a superb dynamic – everything we would expect from the best Nordic crime fiction. We are grateful to the judges for choosing Into Thin Air, the first in what we hope will be a long-running series.

 

 

Crime Fiction at the London St Andrews Book Festival

Val McDermid, Louise Welsh, and Chris Brookmyre 

among crime writers to appear at London St Andrew’s Book Festival

Fiction fans will have their pick of genres, with talks and panel events from well-loved novelists, including: acclaimed crime writer Val McDermid who will join Geographer Royal for Scotland Jo Sharp to discuss This Door of Seas, their contribution to the acclaimed ‘Darkland Tales’ series; former sports writer Gordon Simpson, who will chat to Clark McGinn about his gripping new golf thriller Four Deadly Swings; award-winning Scottish novelist Jenni Fagan on her darkly imaginative new novel The Delusions; Traitors star and bestselling author Harriet Tyce, whose new thriller Witch Trial explores a sensational Edinburgh murder case; and award-winning crime writer Louise Welsh, discussing The Cut Up, to name a few.

The official website can be found here. You can also find the complete programme here.

The Festival is taking place between the 16th and 22nd November 2926.

Macavity Award Winners

 

The Macavity Awards are nominated and voted on by members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and friends of MRI. Congratulations to all!

The Macavity Award is named after Macavity: The Mystery Cat, in T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats!

Macavity Winners 2026 (for works published in 2025)

Best Mystery Novel

Winner

Crooks by Lou Berney (William Morrow)

Also nominated:

King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)

Clown Town by Mick Herron (Soho Crime)

River of Lies by James L'Etoile (Oceanview Publishing)

The White Crow by Michael Robotham (Scribner)

All This Could Be Yours by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Minotaur Books)

Best First Mystery 

Winner

History Lessons by Zoe B. Wallbrook (Soho Press)

Also nominated:

Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes by Sandra Jackson-Opoku (Minotaur Books)

Dead Money by Jakob Kerr (Bantam Books)

Voices of the Elysian Fields by Michael Rigg (Level Best Books)

Stillwater by Tanya Scott (Grove Atlantic)

Best Mystery Nonfiction

Winner

Vacations Can Be Murder: A True Crime Lover's Travel Guide to New England by Dawn M. Barclay (Level Best Books)

Also nominated:

Blood and the Badge: The Mafia, Two Killer Cops, and a Scandal That Shocked the Nation by Michael Cannell (Minotaur Books)

Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser (Penguin Press)

V Is for Venom: Agatha Christie's Chemicals of Death by Kathryn Harkup (Bloomsbury Sigma)

Edgar Allan Poe: A Life by Richard Kopley (University of Virginia Press)

Cooler than Cool: The Life and Work of Elmore Leonard by C.M. Kushins (Mariner Books)

Best Mystery Short Story

Winner

Six-Armed Robbery by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier (in Donna Andrews Presents Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Humorous, edited by John Betancourt, Carla Coupe, and Michael Bracken, Wildside Press)

Also nominated:

“Hollywood Prometheus” by Christa Faust (in Crime Ink: Iconic: An Anthology of Crime Fiction Inspired by Queer Icons, edited by John Copenhaver and Salem West, Bywater Books)

“Finding Jimmy Baldwin” by Cheryl Head (in Crime Ink: Iconic: An Anthology of Crime Fiction Inspired by Queer Icons, edited by John Copenhaver and Salem West, Bywater Books)

“The Devil Himself” by Vaseem Khan (in Double Crossing Van Dine, edited by Donna Andrews, Greg Herren, and Art Taylor, Crippen & Landru Publishers)

“The Skies Are Red” by Richie Narvaez (in On Fire and Under Water: A Climate Change Crime Fiction Anthology, edited by Curtis Ippolito, Rock and a Hard Place Press)

“Julius Katz Draws a Straight Flush” by Dave Zeltserman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Sept/Oct 2025)

Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery

Winner

Bye Bye Blackbird by Elizabeth Crowens (Level Best Books)

Also nominated:

A Daughter's Guide to Mothers and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington Books)

City Lights by Claire M. Johnson (Level Best Books)

The Case of the Christie Conspiracy by Kelly Oliver (Boldwood Books)

The Case of the Missing Maid by Rob Osler (Kensington Books)

No. 10 Doyers Street by Radha Vatsal (Level Best Books)

Ninas and Easter Eggs – The Game’s the Thing! by Alys Cummings

 Who can resist the lure of a hidden message?

Solving things, uncovering an answer, is one of the joys of being human – just look at the vast numbers of us drawn to both murder mysteries and puzzles. 

But there’s something that can be even more rewarding than finding the answer which is, after all, the objective of the puzzle or the end of the story. And that is something that you don’t even need to discover, an unannounced extra that has been hidden purely for the fun of it.

In video games and movies, these have long been known as Easter Eggs. (There is a legend that this arises from The Rocky Horror Picture Show where some of its very dedicated fans have spotted actual Easter Eggs rumoured to have been overlooked in an egg hunt organised by cast and crew – perhaps unlikely given the movie was filmed in the Autumn. It’s more commonly accepted the phrase arose from the game Atari where the developer hid a credit to his own name.) 

For solvers of crosswords, these hidden messages abound – you might find one spelt out in an acrostic at the start of clues, in the letters round the edge of a completed grid, or in the words at the top and bottom, for example. Perhaps it’s unsurprising that for people who love playing with words – and whose cryptic setter names are themselves playfully hiding their true identity - they are a fairly common occurrence. Some setters have regular Ninas – such as Pangakupu who frequently hides words and messages in Māori in their puzzles. Well-known examples from the Guardian include a puzzle from the much-loved setter Araucaria, who revealed the news of his late-stage cancer to solvers in a series of clues. And in 2017 those who solved a puzzle by an apparently new setter called the Sphinx discovered they were in fact completing the same puzzle that featured in that evening’s episode of Inside No.9 – The Riddle of the Sphinx. The setter was one of the show’s creators, Steve Pemberton.

In the world of the cruciverbalist these hidden messages are called Ninas, named after the work of American caricaturist Al Hirschfield, who would hide his daughter’s name, Nina, in the lines of his drawings.

In Murder Most Cryptic, my debut novel combining murder mystery with cryptic clues, the protagonist is called Nina – an allusion for crossword fans to enjoy. And there are plenty of other Ninas for readers to find, if they wish to look for them.

In the crosswords that feature in the novel they are used to give additional information about what happened to the man who collapses and dies in Chapter One. These Ninas help the recovery group at the heart of the book begin to piece together what might have happened. But there are also clues from these crosswords at the head of each chapter, with the word that is the answer hidden somewhere in the chapter itself. These are not part of the plot, just something extra for the reader, a treasure hunt if they wish to take part in it. 

One of my Ninas in Murder Most Cryptic is something I haven’t yet revealed – a message hidden in the names of all seven principal characters. I’d love to know if anyone thinks they’ve spotted it….

Readers of Murder Most Cryptic might also spot references – some more obvious than others – to other crime writers they enjoy. The books of some of my favourite authors appear and comments on a blog one of my characters writes gave some freedom to sneak in yet more allusions that readers may recognise.

This is something that authors who find their written work transferring to the screen may also indulge in - a moment of mingling among their own characters for that other type of Easter Egg, a cameo. Who spotted Mick Herron sitting alongside Diana Taverner during a funeral in the latest series of Slow Horses?

It’s a little treat, a surprise, something extra for a mystery lover.

For although a setter or writer can convey a huge range of messages hiding in plain sight, the vital thing about a Nina is that it is not necessary. The solver doesn’t need to spot it to complete the crossword, it’s simply there because it exercised the setter’s mind and they hope it will do the same for the the solver. It’s all just part of the game.

Murder Most Cryptic by Alys Cummings (Penguin Books Ltd)

Nina is a promising young journalist. She’s also an alcoholic. Once a week, she attends a recovery group in the local church hall. When a stranger walks in one night, the group think they might have a new member. Until he promptly drops dead. The police believe it’s nothing more than an accident. But the group soon realise there’s more to this mystery than meets the eye, when they discover a cryptic crossword clue hidden in the dead man’s pocket – the answer to which is Murder. As more mysterious and threatening clues start appearing in a newspaper crossword, Nina and team must work to crack this cryptic case. Can they solve the clues, and catch a killer? Or will the next crossword spell death for one of them…

More information about the author can be found on her website. You can also find her on Instagram and X @alyseliza

The Final Act of Daphne Divine by Syd Moore

The Final Act of Daphne Divine is the third instalment in my World War II series which looks at how the British Security Service exploited the Nazi’s obsession with the occult. Readers of the first two books will have a good idea of what’s coming. But I don’t think it’s a spoiler, for those who haven’t, to state a large part of the action takes place in Heinrich Himmler’s notorious occult castle. After all, it’s pictured on the cover.

Eighty years after its liberation the castle continues to exert a morbid fascination over many.

The SS Reichsführer leased Wewelsburg in 1934 as a school for the SS elite. He also wanted to create an impressive venue for SS leaders, and remodelled it in a strange, symbol-drenched style which married Arthurian legend with Germanic and Nordic rune ‘magic’. Himmler was obsessed with the occult, mysticism and esoterica. He had already commissioned Otto Rahn to search for the Holy Grail (think Indiana Jones) and a year after he leased the castle founded the Ahnenerbe, a SS division, which undertook research into folklore and prehistory. He also set up the Hexenkartothek (Witch Card Index) to compile information on the German witch hunts.

From 1935 to 1943, using the slave labour of the Wewelsburg (later Niederhagen) concentration camp inmates, the castle was remodelled extensively in a design that reflected his fixations.  When the allies closed in on 31 March 1945, Himmler ordered the SS to demolish the castle, covering evidence of the crimes committed there. The demolition squad ran out of explosives and resorted to setting the castle on fire. Most of it was gutted but the North Tower, with its crypt for rituals and the Obergruppenführersaal (Hall of the Supreme SS Leaders), survived. And so it was to there I travelled for research in 2024 and 2025.

Many aspects of the castle shocked and surprised me. For a start, I hadn’t expected there to be a ‘Family Day’ going on. But one has to remember that there’s been a building on the site for over a millennium. The Nazis’ association lasted less than eleven years and, aside from the North Tower, the rest of the castle reflects its long history as an early Medieval fort, a hunting lodge, its use during the witch trials, and its function as seat for the Prince-Bishops of Paderborn. There are displays featuring Ice Age artefacts and curious exhibits of traditional folk costumes from the region.

To visit the North Tower, however, you must pass through the Wewelsburg Memorial Museum’s permanent exhibition, Ideology and Terror of the SS. Though the material is difficult to handle, it prepares you for crossing over the moat into the monument to human suffering and totalitarian terror.

Every single person I saw walk through the arched entrance gasped and stopped. It is vast, echoing and dark, built to resemble an ancient Mycenaean tomb and is quite frankly – quite obviously – sinister. Its rounded spaces are designed to make you feel small and anxious. Your stomach plummets. The air is different, pregnant and tense, layered with so imagined horrors you can almost taste them.  I have visited many troubling sites in my life, but I have never been so affected by the atmosphere of a place.  The chamber’s architecture embraces ghastly theatre - twelve plinths are arranged around the perimeter. In the centre three steps lead to a pit, with a hole in its middle. Above it, at the apex of the ceiling, is a decorated swastika with four small square holes. Around the walls a series of paintings, Memorial Cycle by Josef Glahé, depict the human cost of war and the holocaust. The whole scene is devastating. 

On the second storey, the Obergruppenführersaal, a mosaiced runic sun wheel, in black marble, dominates the floor. The symbol was co-opted in the 1990s by extreme right wing neo-Nazi groups, who gave it the name the ‘Black Sun’. To avoid any ‘celebration’ or ‘romanticising’ of the thing, while there you are closely monitored. All visitors to the North Tower are forbidden to take photographs or wear symbols or clothing associated with far-right groups or racist slogans. Perhaps, in an effort to reclaim the space, this hall now forms part of a youth hostel that runs along the top of the castle (yes, you can stay there if you really want to). When I visited, neon orange and grey bean bags were scattered across the Nazi design.

Once I’d left, it took a while for me to ‘decompress’. The crypt’s atmosphere stays with you, as does the knowledge that you have just visited a site steeped in so much blood. Any writer or reader with a pinch of imagination cannot stop themselves from wondering - what happened within those walls?  What nasty rituals took place? Why is there a pit? What the hell is in it?

Though Himmler tried to bury his secrets in the ruins of the castle, some things have a way of coming to light. If you can bear the horror, you can find out what I made of it in my new book. 

 The Final Act of Daphne Devine by Syd Moore (One world Publications) Out Now

No mission is without its element of danger. But nothing could have prepared Daphne Devine for this... Back in enemy territory, Daphne and one-time lover Jack have been sent to deliver The Grimoire, a centuries-old book filled with mysticism and spells. Posing as a rare book dealer, she will hand the book to a prominent SS officer and send the Nazis into a spiral where their very beliefs are turned against them. But this is war. Behind every corner a betrayal is lurking and your enemies are often closer than you think. There are some things we cannot foresee, and these are the things that can kill us. Is this the mission where there can be no return?

Syd Moore can be found on  Facebook, Instagram @sydmoorewriter and X@sydmoore1