Forthcoming Books from Bookouture

Morgan kneels beside the fluttering crime scene tape. Their hands clasped, the couple’s embrace looks loving and warm, but an icy chill grips the air. Their lips are blue, and blood is dripping on the floor. They have been silenced forever… When sweet-natured teaching assistant Rosie Waite, and her boyfriend Matt, are found dead in their quaint family home in the Lake District, Detective Morgan Brookes is horrified. Sleeping just two doors down, she heard no screams for help, no slamming doors, or alarms in the night. A twisted killer nailed the couple’s lips shut, and Morgan vows to keep watch over every innocent family in Rydal Falls until this monster is brought to justice. Climbing the narrow attic staircase as she searches every inch of the property, Morgan finds a mattress on the floor, empty food wrappers, and a letter that reads: if you’ve found this, you’re next to die. Fear washes over Morgan’s team; the killer was watching his victims, and now her life is at risk. Ignoring pleas that she take a step back, Morgan throws herself harder at the case discovering that the nails used to bind the victims’ lips were pierced with expert equipment. And Matt had been asking questions at a local tattoo parlour. Everyone thought he and Rosie were a quiet, kind-hearted couple, but was Matt hiding a dangerous secret? Did he betray the woman he loved? It’s the break Morgan desperately needs, until one of her closest friends is attacked. His lifeless body abandoned, crimson with blood, and Morgan believes the chilling crime scene is linked to Matt and Rosie. The killer has been watching from the shadows again. Morgan’s used to putting her life on the line to protect the innocent, but what must she sacrifice to save the people she loves most? And how many precious lives will be lost before she can stop this killer? Their Dying Embrace is by Helen Phifer.

I  thought my first husband was dead. But when I get a letter with his name on it just days before my wedding, it will tear my perfect new life apart…  As we drive up to the gorgeous house by the lake with its red and yellow roses round the door, I breathe in the pure air and count my blessings. In two days’ time I’m getting married to Matt, my soulmate and the father of my beautiful boy. After all the pain of my past, my life now is perfect. But later that night I hear a knocking outside. I find the back door swinging open and a card lying on the floor, addressed to me in familiar handwriting… I can’t wait to see you. I’ve missed you so much. All my love, Callum. Callum was my first husband. Eight years ago, when we were staying at this exact same place for my birthday, he disappeared.
All the people who were with me that terrible night are here for the wedding. My brother. His wife. My new partner Matt: Callum’s best friend. We all had reasons to hate Callum then. We all have reasons to lie now. The police are sure Callum is dead. But as I look around at my loved ones, I wonder... Does someone know what really happened that night? Does someone know what I did? And if Callum is back, is he the dangerous one… or is it one of us? The First Husband is by Elisabeth Carpenter.

While My Baby Sleeps is by Natali Simmonds. I have to stay awake… I need to keep him safe. I haven’t slept properly since Riley was born. I love my baby so much – every noise he makes, and every sleepy blink has me rushing to his side to make sure he’s safe. Yet the lack of sleep is getting to me. There are terrifying blanks in my memory, and my temper is blindingly short. I can’t rely on my partner – I don’t even know where he is half the time. But at least I have Maggie next door. She tells me this is just what new motherhood is like, so I have no choice but to ignore the blackout rages and blurred vision, for Riley’s sake… But after another night of no sleep, the last thing I expect is a police officer at my door. My neighbour has been found dead. The man I’ve been furious at for weeks for keeping me and the baby awake with his late-night parties. Though really, maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised… Because this morning, I woke up on my doorstep. And I have no memory of what happened – or where the blood on my hands came from. As I hear Riley start to cry, I swallow against the rising panic in my throat. It can’t have been me. I’m no killer, I’m just a sleep-deprived, loving mother… aren’t I?

When my husband went missing, I was desperate to get him home. Now I know his secrets, I wish he’d never come back… I hate when Wyatt is away for work—the cold bed. Dinner alone. And comforting our little boy, telling him Daddy will be back to tuck him into bed again soon. But when Wyatt misses his flight and his cell is disconnected, panic takes over. After seven sleepless nights, tossing and turning as I imagine the absolute worst, he walks back into our home. I breathe a sigh of relief. Until I realize that everything has changed. I want to believe Wyatt’s explanations. The work trip. The “stolen” phone. But I see the strange, jagged scar across his side even though he tries to keep it hidden. And when I start digging, I uncover more than signs of an affair. It’s so, so much worse… His secrets have become my nightmares, threatening my son and our unborn child in ways I couldn’t imagine. I can’t confront him. Not without exposing the lies I’ve buried for years. About whom I really am and what I’ve done. And it seems the past has caught up with us. Because one moment, I’m holding my son’s tiny hand as we walk around the mall. The next he is nowhere to be seen. If my husband had never come back, would my son still be safe? And how are we meant to get him back when our deadliest secrets are yet to be uncovered? Never Come Back is by Cara Reinard.

Find My Daughter is by Jennifer Chase. She hears footsteps approaching, the creak of the uneven planks, then the clunk of a heavy lock. Her body is numb and she’s shivering in her pale silk gown, but she stands, ready to fight as the doorway cracks open. A blinding light overpowers her, and she falls backward. Her world goes black once again… When Detective Katie Scott is approached by a smartly dressed woman with desperation in her eyes, Katie’s senses go into high alert. Moments later, questions still buzzing through her mind, Katie finds the woman dead in the carpark, blood pooling around her, and just enough life left to utter the words: find my daughter. Katie doesn’t waste a second gathering her team and pulling the casefile for Anna Braxton, a teen with sparkling blue-eyes and an even brighter future, who left to meet her best friend in the mall, then disappeared. Staring at the blank investigation board, Katie won’t rest until she fulfils Anna’s mother’s dying wish. Scouring the Braxton’s impeccable family home, Katie finds Anna’s journal, filled with teenage secrets and confessions. But it’s the one-off mention of an approach from a talent agency that catches Katie’s expert eye. She gets to work tracking the business down, but it’s a dead end. And now Anna’s best friend is also missing. The case takes another terrifying turn just hours later: a girl’s body is found in the embers of a housefire, her yellow satin dress devastatingly beautiful amongst the ashes. Is it Anna, her best friend, or another girl entirely? One thing is certain: a monster has the close-knit community of Pine Valley in a chokehold, and Katie must get one step ahead before any more precious lives are taken—but at what cost...

When we move to the exclusive Cutters Island, my life changes overnight. Dressed like the perfect wife, pushing my baby down the street in her pink stroller, I look up and smile at the security cameras. Because I know they are watching. And for now, I need to play my part. I wake up in my beautiful bedroom and instinctively feel for my husband. But the silk sheets are cold—he hasn’t come home. Reaching for the baby monitor on my nightstand, I scan the screen for the familiar shape of my sleeping daughter. But she’s not there. Moving through the house in the darkness, I tell myself the footage is just grainy. I pass the large window over the stairs and see a light on in my mother-in-law’s house across the street, as if she is watching. The thought sends a chill down my spine, and I start to run. And as I open my daughter’s bedroom door, my worst fear comes true: my baby is gone. As I collapse onto the carpet, I smell smoke. And when I turn to see flames licking at the banister, I know this is my fault. I am paying for what happened that night all those years ago… Because I am not a perfect wife. I am not a good mother. But I am the perfect liar. No one knows what I have been through to get this life. And they shouldn’t underestimate how far I’ll go to get my baby back… Good Bad Mother is by Anya Mora.

 The Baby Swap is by Daniel Hurst. Someone stole my little boy. I’ll do whatever it takes to get him back… ME: Staring down at the sweet baby in my arms, I feel panic instead of love. Because this isn’t the child, I gave birth to. My husband whispers to the midwife. They all think I’m going crazy. But the tiny boy in my arms is crying again. I’m certain: he knows I’m not his mummy. And I’ll do whatever it takes to get my son back. HER: I did it. I swapped my baby with another new born in the hospital. As I hold the child in my arms, I hear my own little boy start to cry on the other side of the curtain. My heart is shattering into a million pieces. I know I had no choice. I didn’t want to do this. But no one can ever find out the reason why I swapped my baby. Because if anyone knew the truth, my life and my child’s life would be in danger…

Murder on the Cornish Coast is by Helena Dixon. A bright blue sky, a glamorous boating party, an English manor house on the Cornish cliffs… and surely not another murder! Get Kitty Underhay on the case! Cornwall, 1937. Kitty Underhay has been called to investigate some fishy goings-on in the beautiful coastal village of St Mawes. The body of Lady Cordelia Hedges’ beloved father was found floating in the sea, and shortly afterwards Cordelia herself was almost killed… Determined to piece together the puzzle, Kitty spends her first evening in the Cornish Bay at one of Cordelia’s lavish parties. But she’s not just soaking up the idyllic surroundings with her husband Matt, she’s at the party to get to know those closest to their host. The sleuthing duo quickly realise they’re in unchartered waters and this could be their toughest case yet. Later that evening, a scream wakes Kitty in the middle of the night: Lady Cordelia is sitting bolt upright in bed, swearing someone has been in her room. As Bertie the dog retrieves a knife from behind the curtain, Kitty’s list of suspects grows: could the murderer be Cordelia’s suspicious stepsister, her spoiled future mother-in-law, or someone even closer to home…? Then a house guest eats a poisoned chocolate from a box addressed to Cordelia and dies. This latest tragedy helps Kitty to make progress in her investigations at last. But is Kitty floundering? Will she be able to solve this case before someone else gets hurt, or will Kitty end up in a watery grave?

As the wall is peeled back, everyone falls silent. Then they see her. The near-perfect remains of a young female, two jelly bangles and a neon necklace being the only clues to how long she had been hidden there. But who was she? And who could have possibly wanted to take such an innocent life? When the body of a girl is discovered in the walls of a Woodbridge church, Detective Amanda Steele is immediately called to the scene. On arrival she meets FBI Special Agent Sandra Vos who explains that while negotiating a hostage incident moments before, a gun was fired. The bullet missed its target, but exposed human remains. The victim has been perfectly preserved, her jewellery and summer dress taking Amanda back to her own teenage years. DNA quickly confirms that the victim was taken over thirty years ago. Thinking about her own daughter, Amanda cannot imagine the devastation for the young girl’s family and vows to find the killer. Amanda and her partner Trent determine the suspect behind the attempted shooting, Cameron Cofell, had a very clear reason for exacting revenge on the church’s priest. As they question the wider community, a neighbour reveals her long-held suspicions too. But when she is found murdered, Amanda knows this killer is prepared to do whatever it takes to keep their dark secret from ever coming to light. Soon the investigation takes Amanda and Trent to an abandoned farmhouse—a place that haunts Cameron’s nightmares—where they find a faded photograph that holds the mystery of another chilling cold case. But just how far back does this evil go, and how much will Amanda and Trent need to sacrifice to find the killer? Hidden Angels is by Carolyn Arnold. 

The Nanny Share is by Emily Shiner. I love being a nanny. But now, the two little girls I nanny for are missing. Soon the police will be at my door—and I can’t let that happen again. I’ll tell them I’m innocent, but will anyone believe me? Sweet little Emma and Nealie, both just four years old, live on the same block in the exclusive, gated Blackwood neighbourhood—miles from my cramped studio apartment. I go between each family’s home to care for the girls. And I know all their secrets… Their mothers were best friends until three months ago, when everything fell apart. There’s a door that’s always locked at Nealie’s house. And Emma’s house is filled with whispered arguments. I’m sure her father is having an affair. But I tried to overlook the slow splintering of these marriages: because I Ioved the girls. Braiding their hair and then walking them to kindergarten was my favourite part of the day. But now they’re gone. Snatched from their beds. In Blackwood, little girls don’t just vanish. The police will suspect the nanny, the person who loved them, the person with a key to both houses. I’ll swear that I’m being framed. And I will do anything to stop them finding out who I really am, or why I was so desperate to work here. Because these families are about to pay for their secrets. But who is really in danger? Two missing little girls? Their desperate parents? Or me?

Gone in the Storm is by B R Spangler. Getting in his car was a mistake. But as the frigid air whipped through her thin coat, she felt too cold to say no. Now, snowflakes settle on her long dark lashes. Ice-cold and forever fifteen years old, she’ll never see her mother’s smile again… As the biggest snowstorm the Outer Banks has seen in decades ravages the coastline, Detective Casey White is called to an abandoned junk yard miles beyond the marshes. Teenager Jill Carter’s body is posed on her back, a look of terror frozen on her beautiful face. Casey’s heart breaks for Jill’s family. She vows she’ll do whatever it takes to find this merciless killer who left this girl out in the cold all alone. But the unforgiving blanket of snow will soon claim the crime scene, and the team are up against the clock to catalogue any vital evidence… then Casey notices strange objects arranged in patterns around the girl’s body. Among them is a selection of perfectly preserved autumn leaves that have no place in the salvage yard in the dead of winter. When the new District Attorney goes above Casey’s head to charge Jill’s high school sweetheart with the crime, Casey is certain she’s making a mistake. The poor boy is terrified and heartbroken, but he isn’t a murderer. Casey must rush to make sense of the sparse, ritualistic evidence they have, before another life is ruined. As the snow continues to fall, another young girl is found frozen forever, the same strange items displayed around her body in a deliberate ritual. And Casey knows now this is only the beginning… Can Casey hunt down a killer determined to add another teenage girl to his collection, before it is too late?

 ‘Is that you, darling?’ A second of silence before her son replies. ‘It wasn’t me’. Her heart breaks at the pain in his voice – he sounds like a little boy again. Thirty minutes later, the police knock at the door. ‘Your son’s girlfriend is dead.’ And Dan has disappeared. It’s almost midnight when Jennifer sees her son’s name flash up on her phone. Away at university, she’s normally so happy when he calls. But something is terribly wrong… Jennifer is devastated for poor Ella’s family – losing their precious girl, so young. She knows her sweet son, just twenty years old, would never, ever harm anyone. But the police are looking for him. And if Dan is innocent, why has he run? When Jennifer hears how Ella died, her blood runs cold. Because Jennifer’s best friend was murdered twenty years ago the same way. In the same place. Jennifer hasn’t been back since… but now, she has no choice. She would do anything for her son. Any mother would. But how far will she have to go – what secrets in her own past will she have to confront – to prove Dan is innocent? And what if the truth is worse than she ever imagined? My Son’s Girlfriend is by Kerry Wilkinson.

Everyone is Lying is by Holly Down. They say I’m lucky to be alive. But the only thing I can remember are the faces of my husband and baby. The husband and baby they insist don’t exist… I can hear a door slamming, and the low hum of distant traffic. I struggle to open my eyes, and the panic sets in. I have no memory of who I am, why I’m here, where all this pain is coming from… Then the door cracks open, a face lighting up in surprise. ‘You’re awake!’ She looks pleased to see me, but all I can think is: I don’t know you. She tells me I’m her sister – that there was an accident and I’ve been in a coma. But as she skilfully evades my questions, I know something is wrong. Because when I ask her about my husband and baby, she gently tells me they never existed. I know she’s lying. As she leaves the room and the lock clicks behind her, my heart starts to pound. And as the days pass stuck in this room, I start to discover unsettling details I hadn’t noticed before. Photographs that don’t seem to fit their frames. The anonymous note buried deep in a bunch of flowers I feel sure I was never meant to find – with just two words on it: I’m sorry… What really happened to me? Is this woman really my sister? And if she’s not: who is she, what does she want from me – and what has she done to my family…?

 

Forthcoming books from Bookouture

 January 2025

Family Doctor is by J M Dalgliesh. I have three days to kill a patient. If I fail, my daughter will die… As the only doctor on a stunning remote Scottish island, I finally feel safe and happy. Here, nobody knows about my troubled past except my teenage daughter Lauren. I'm a single mother, so it’s just the two of us now, and Lauren is my world. Caring for every person on the island, from birth to death, I know all their fears and secrets. But they don’t know mine, and for the sake of my daughter, I must keep it that way… Everything is going perfectly until I am sent a link to a live video stream of my beautiful daughter Lauren, her wide blue eyes terrified. And there’s a voice: ‘Three rules. Three days. You must murder one of your patients. You must not tell another soul. You must not get caught. If you fail, your daughter dies…’

I know it’s him. He says we’ve never met. Why would he lie?  Her - When I see him, my heart stops dead. I tell myself it’s impossible, but I would recognise those striking pale blue eyes anywhere. It’s him. The high-school boyfriend I adored… Until the day he vanished without a trace. I run towards him, my pulse racing. He turns, politely, a puzzled look on that familiar face. ‘I’m sorry,’ he says. ‘Do I know you?’ I need answers. I’m certain he’s lying. I just have to prove it. Him - Of course you recognised me. Always so keen, always trying to do right by everyone. It’s typical of my bad luck that we happened to run into each other. I left this place for a reason – one you never knew. And now I’m back, I have plans. And I’m afraid, my dear, that you’re getting in my way… The Perfect Boyfriend is by S E Lynes.

What Kind of Mother is by Anna-Lou Weatherley. My son and his girlfriend stand there, two terrified teenagers shivering in the doorway, and say the unthinkable. ‘I think we killed someone.’ Now, I have to decide exactly what kind of mother I am… It was never my dream to clean the Levinsons’ mansion for a living, particularly as Helen Levinson and her daughter Paris are oddly secretive about which rooms I can go into.But none of that matters the night Paris and my son Conor come begging for help, their clothes spattered with blood. They say it was an accident, that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time… Now, Helen and I have to make a terrible choice. Do we tell the truth and risk losing our children forever? Or do we lie to keep them safe? We will do anything to protect our children, but one wrong move could cost us everything. Lying to the police was a risk, and now Helen is acting more unpredictable by the day – turning up at my house unannounced, harassing my husband, telling lies about my past… The only way to save my family is to uncover the truth about that night. I’m convinced the answers lie hidden inside the Levinsons’ house. I’d do anything for Conor, but am I prepared for what I might find behind locked doors? But when your son is in danger, you find out what kind of mother you are…

She’s perfect. Too perfect… Wife: For twenty-five years, my husband and I have been the ideal couple. I’m shy, but he’s always been the life and soul of the party, a charmer, so I didn’t worry the first time I caught him a little too close to my best friend, Wendy. Mother: Then our darling son says he’s taking Wendy’s daughter to prom, the girl I never trusted because she’s too much like her mother. As I snap photos of them, I have a smile plastered on my face, but inside my head I’m screaming at him to stay away from her. Liar: As flashing lights slice the darkness around our home, my worst nightmare comes true with the shocking news that one of our children is dead. And I can tell my husband, my best friend are both lying about where they were. But none of their secrets compares to mine. And nobody knows just how far I’d go to protect my family… Wife, Mother, Liar is by Sue Watson.

Gripping the phone, my hands tremble with fear. I look at my son and wonder how my darling blue-eyed boy could have done this. But as my eyes focus down on the body, I know what I must do. I know it will destroy our lives forever. 'Hello? I need help. It’s my child. He’s killed someone.' As my son looks at me, his eyes pleading for help, all I can think in that moment is that I will do whatever it takes to protect him. A young girl’s lifeless body lies on the ground and my heart breaks when I realise I’m already too late to save her. Our family will never be the same again. I know I should call for help. But looking towards the phone table I see an old picture of the children playing in the garden. Our children and hers. We used to be so close, I thought our families would be together for a lifetime. But in a moment of rage, the life I imagined has been snatched away. But if I’m honest, I’ve been kidding myself about how perfect our lives were. I’m a mother. I should be able to keep my children safe. But what I see in front of me cannot be denied. No one else is here. My son’s guilty. How far will I go to protect him? The Mother's Phone Call is by Victoria Jenkins.

May Day should mark the start of spring. But this year, it means murder… Fortunately antique store owner and amateur detective Bella Winter is on the case!  Everyone in Hope Eaton climbs the hill to Sweet Agnes’ Spring on May Day, to greet the dawn and leave tokens among the flowers. Antique store owner Bella Winter grumbles about the early start, but she has to admit that watching the sun rise over the flower-strewn grove is worth it. And her interest deepens when she sees that one of the offerings this year is a little doll stuck all over with pins… a perfect replica of Mary Roberts, who lives nearby. Determined to find out what lies behind this bizarre threat, Bella dives into a murky mess of strange events. Mary’s house is up for sale, but someone’s trying to wreck the deal, leaving rotting weeds on her front step. And Mary claims she’s seen a cloaked figure watching her from the woods… Bella’s half convinced this is all nonsense, but then Mary is found dead, her prized carving of the spring stolen from her dresser. The police say it was a heart attack, but was she literally scared to death? Soon Bella has uncovered a string of further mysteries. Why is Mary’s nearest neighbour missing? Who graffitied her boss’s house with a warning the night she died? And why would anyone want Mary’s carving? All paths lead back to the spring itself… but does it hold answers or more danger? And can Bella track the killer down before she’s cut off at the source? The Antique Store Detective and the May Day Murder is by Clare Chase.

The Husband is by Daniel Hurst. Is the man you love a killer? I’ve been married to my kind, loving husband Lachlan for over twenty years. He’s my everything. We have two teenage children, a beautiful home and I feel so lucky to live this perfect life. Until my best friend says something that makes me doubt everything… She whispers it’s strange Lachlan has lived nearby to two unsolved murder cases. First, the murder of the woman in the small, Scottish village where he grew up and more recently the shocking death of a woman who lived round the corner from us. The thought makes my head spin. It’s just a coincidence, surely? But at home, I can’t help but notice that Lachlan’s becoming angry, not at all like his usual self. It makes me wonder if he’s hiding something from me. It makes me wonder if he could be guilty. I push the thought away, but no matter what, I can’t get rid of this niggle of doubt. The only way to find out is to go to Scotland and get my husband to face his past. But when secrets start to unravel in the remote Scottish Highlands, I realise the truth is more complicated than I thought, and more than one person could be a killer. Now my children and I are in terrible danger. And coming here might be the last mistake I ever make.

“Megan, you need to call me. Wallace was here. He left a message to say please don’t worry. He’s coming for you soon.” As I hang up the call, my blood runs cold. I’ve spent a lifetime running from this man. But as I look down at his next victim, their face frozen in one final moment of fear, I can’t escape the feeling that I will be next to die. When the body of Detective Susan Dupont is discovered lying across the dividing line of two counties, Detective Megan Carpenter is immediately called to the scene. When her body is examined they find a sharp piece of metal has been lodged in her eye. A detail that takes Megan back to a deeply-buried memory which she has long been running from. Twenty-four hours later, retired Detective Riley Denton is found dead at home. His death is deemed a tragic accident. He fell down the stairs and had no enemies. Why would anyone want him dead? But Megan feels sure there is a link to the deaths and there is only one person she can trust with her theory. Calling in the help of her partner Detective Ronnie Marsh, they start to piece together a link that places Megan right at the centre of a deadly plot. As they race to find the killer before they strike closer to home, a string of murder victims going back years starts to emerge. And when Megan discovers how the murders are linked, she has to finally accept a dark truth she has spent her life running from. A killer from her past is back just like they promised and they will stop at nothing to take everything she loves. Can Megan stop them dead in their tracks or will she pay the ultimate price? Final Victim is by Gregg Olson.

Stolen Baby is by L G Davis. I told everyone she is my baby. I lied. My life changes forever when my little girl appears in a basket on my doorstep, her long lashes fluttering, only a few hours old. She’s so tiny and precious; my heart is hers in an instant. My husband Tom and I have always longed for a child, so we agree not to tell the authorities. We won’t risk them taking her away. And I know if they find out my history, they’d never let me keep her… I’m so grateful to have my beautiful baby, who we call Daisy. But while Tom refuses to talk about it, I can’t stop wondering who her biological parents are and why they left her with us? Then someone sends me a message, enclosing it in a funeral programme I find on my kitchen table. Now I know the terrible truth about what happened to Daisy’s parents, and it’s closer to home than I could ever have imagined. I thought I could protect us all, despite my past mistakes. But when the secrets I uncover put my family’s lives at risk, how far will I go to keep the little girl I love?

I’m home,’ she says, standing at my door with a sky-blue backpack clutched tightly to her chest. I haven’t seen my granddaughter in years. But I know she’s hiding a deadly secret…It’s been ten years since I last saw Stephanie, but looking into her haunted eyes, she looks just as innocent as she did as a baby. I remember the photo of her wrapped in a little pink blanket; how my heart hurt not to hold her on the day she was born. Pulling her in to a tight embrace, I promise her that although she’s lost her mother, I will take care of her from now on. No matter what… But as I usher her inside, I can’t help wondering if Stephanie knows my secrets. The real reason I hadn’t seen her mother in years… or why she wasn’t ever allowed to visit me at my house. Did my daughter take our family secrets to the grave? Stephanie’s heart breaks when she talks about her mother. But soon details slip out about the night she died, and I begin to realise that my granddaughter is just as good a liar as I am… Stephanie says my daughter's death was an accident, but I’m not so sure. If I uncover my granddaughter’s secrets, will I be next? The Perfect Guest is by Casey Kelleher.

Her Hiding Place is by Shannon Hollinger. “Okay sweetheart,” I whisper, giving my little girl Alice a final kiss. “Now remember, after I’ve locked the door, be quiet like a mouse. I’ll come back later, I promise.” Her little face crumples as I turn to leave and my heart breaks. But I have no choice. I have to work, and I have to keep her hidden. It’s just ten days until the new hotel opens. As I push my cleaning cart into the chandeliered honeymoon suite, I wonder how it would feel to stay here as a guest. To watch the sun rise over the ocean, to fall asleep with no fear. I’ll never know, of course. Instead, I work twelve-hour days as a maid, constantly frightened of discovery. Alice is just three, and she’s already seen more than any child should. Hiding on this isolated island resort, where she can only come out at night, is so hard for her. But the other staff can’t know she’s here, let alone the guests when they arrive. And no one can know my secret—or what we’re really running from. But when a massive storm cuts the island off from the mainland, my darkest fears become real. A body is found and in the shocking aftermath, someone finds out about Alice… With no means of escape, I know we are stuck on the island with a killer. Someone has been hiding in plain sight, waiting for an opportunity to make their move. Then my worst nightmare comes true and Alice disappears. I know I can trust no one. How far will I have to go to find her? And what will happen when they find out who Alice really is…?

August books from Bookouture

The Girl Who Lied is by Shannon Hollinger. Rain hammers the earth and a vicious wind rattles the trees. Then lightning strikes, the flash illuminating a young girl staggering out of the woods, her brown eyes wide with fright, a silent scream on her lips… There’s a storm approaching the tiny Maine town of Coyote Cove when Chief Maggie Riley comes across the body of a man, blood seeping from stab wounds into the damp forest floor. As she desperately struggles to secure the evidence before the rain hits, Heather, a local teenage girl, emerges from the woods, shivering and unable to talk. Maggie, once a high flying big-city detective, lost everything when her four-year-old brother went missing five years ago. Heart-broken, she’s never stopped searching for him: but now she is plunged back into the world she left behind.The victim, Maggie discovers, knew secrets about everyone in isolated Coyote Cove. It seems there are more local suspects in this case than people she can rule out. And with Heather still traumatised, Maggie struggles to unravel her strange appearance at the crime scene. Until, following a faint, bloody trail deep into the forest, she’s horrified to unearth what the terrified girl’s been hiding…  But when Heather is kidnapped, the battle to identify the killer becomes a race to save an innocent girl’s life. And with the whole town terrified, Maggie is shocked to uncover that this twisted killer is much closer to home than she’d ever imagined. Battling her own demons and memories of her missing brother, how far will Maggie have to go to save Heather? Or will another innocent young life be lost forever...?

The little dog trembles and whimpers, but refuses to move. Maggie reaches further into the undergrowth, trying to tempt it out. But as she moves closer, she sees something that stops her heart—a tiny, shivering baby, wrapped in a thin, pink blanket, saved only by its loyal protector. There’s a ferocious storm heading toward the isolated town of Coyote Cove when Chief Maggie Riley gets the call every cop dreads. Three bodies have been found on Rattlesnake Mountain, half a day’s hike from civilization. And when Maggie finally reaches the site, exhausted and freezing, she discovers something even more terrifying—a tiny baby girl, kept alive only by the warmth of a small dog who refuses to leave her side. As Maggie races the baby to safety, she wonders, why on earth the family risked hiking the mountain in this weather? Who were they and who could possibly have killed them? A former detective, Maggie may be an experienced investigator, but she’s still an unwelcome newcomer. Battling town prejudice, her fears for the orphaned baby, and the increasingly dangerous weather, Maggie soon discovers the case is far more complicated than she could have imagined. The family is not who they seemed. The mother has never had a baby, there’s no link between them at all. So whose baby is it, and where are they now? With Coyote Cove cut off by the storm, Maggie knows that wherever the killer is, they won’t be able to leave. Stuck in town with a murderer on the loose, Maggie must race to find them before anyone else gets hurt. But she hasn’t counted on the killer taking matters into their own hands, and going after Maggie first… Their Angel's Cry is by Shannon Hollinger.

Murder at the Inn is by Katie Gayle. Julia Bird loves the village pub quiz, but it seems one of her team won’t make it to the next round alive…  On the first Tuesday of each month, Julia Bird and her Agatha Quizteam teammates take part in Berrywick’s village pub quiz. They take it seriously – what’s the point of playing, after all, if you aren’t in it to win it? But it seems someone connected with the quiz night has taken the competition to a whole new level when Lilian, the local police constable and all-round general knowledge expert, is found fatally stabbed after the evening’s final round. With local DI Hayley Gibson stuck home with a broken leg and an incompetent Superintendent brought in from the nearby town, it’s up to Julia to make sure the investigation stays focussed – whether they like it or not! While the police are convinced that the murderer is linked to Lilian’s professional life, Julia turns her amateur sleuthing eye to suspects much closer to home. Perhaps Lilian’s personal life could have something to do with the dreadful crime? When another quiz team member is attacked, Julia is finally put on the right track. But what could possibly be important – or dangerous – enough for two attendees of the pub quiz night to meet such foul ends over? Could the culprit really be among them on that busy Tuesday night? As Julia’s race to identify the killer ramps up to desperate heights, she wonders, where will the murderous spree end?

The Inheritance is by Samantha Hayes. I thought he took my secret to the grave. But the truth can’t stay buried forever… In the wake of my darling husband’s death, I am so lucky to have my three beautiful, grown-up daughters by my side at our holiday home in Scotland. We need some time together, to recover from the shock. But I also need to set some things straight about their beloved father… I’ve always known this house was the perfect place to bury secrets – remote, isolated, surrounded by nothing but miles of dense forest. But this time I’m not here to hide more of my lies. I’m here to expose one. I promise everything I’ve ever done has been to protect my daughters. I just hope they understand that too… By the end of the trip, nothing will ever be the same again. I knew revealing the truth about the inheritance would have consequences, but I could never have imagined we wouldn’t all survive it. And now the truth is out, am I in danger too…?

Murder at the Village Fair by Helena Dixon. Kitty Underhay is riding a carousel… with death.  Summer 1935. Enjoying a belated honeymoon visiting her new husband Matt’s family in the rolling Yorkshire hills, Kitty strolls through a village fair. But when Kitty persuades Matt to visit the fortune teller’s tent, the lovebirds are shocked to find the body of Madame Zaza slumped over her crystal ball, pearl necklace askew and a half-drunk cup of tea at her elbow. After predicting so many of the villagers’ misfortunes, how did she not foresee her own murder? From a pompous old colonel to a reticent reverend and a dodgy village doctor, Kitty soon feels like half the village had a motive for murder. But with more suspects than tarot cards, she and Matt are no closer to finding the culprit. Madame Zaza had been a part of the community’s life for decades and discovering a photograph album of the villagers through the years gives Kitty and Matt the breakthrough they’ve been searching for. Kitty is soon hot on the killer’s trail when her sleuthing puts her in terrible danger. Will her lucky stars align, or is her life line about to run out?

The Mistake I Made is by Sam Hepburn. A man is dead. And only I know why. As we sit drinking wine by the river and I gaze into his dark brown eyes, I know I have finally met the man of my dreams. I have been hurt before, but this time will be different. He has a terrible past and everyone tells me he can’t be trusted, but they don’t know what I know. I know deep down that together we can overcome anything. Because sure he has secrets, but who doesn’t? But now a man is dead. And the police are knocking on my door. Was trusting him the biggest mistake I could make…? I don’t know where to go or who to turn to. What if I am next?

The Family on Smith Street is by Elisabeth Carpenter A happy family. A picture-perfect street. A secret someone would kill for. My husband James and I love living on Smith Street, with its neat houses and friendly family barbecues. Our daughter Scarlett grew up playing outside with the other local kids – it’s somewhere nothing bad could ever happen. Or so I thought… Because when I wake terrified, head pounding, in a cramped windowless room, I realise I was entirely wrong. As my eyes adjust to the dark, I see creased pictures of missing local people I vaguely recognise from the news covering the walls. Then my skin turns ice-cold when I notice the newest pictures are of me, of James, of Scarlett… A terrified sob catches in my throat. It seems there’s been a killer hiding in our neighbourhood for years. And I’m their next victim. I stare at the photos in horror. Because if they’ve got me, they could also have James or, worst of all, my precious daughter Scarlett... In that moment, I know I’ll do anything, everything, to save my family. Especially because, deep down, I know this is all my fault…

The Market Retreat is by Laura Elliot.‘Welcome to Serenity Falls,’ I say, forcing a smile as I guide our new guests across the courtyard and through the doors of the old house. This should be a fresh new start for the couple, but how can I help them when my own life is being torn apart? My husband Victor and I have been together for twenty-five years and we’ve created a successful marriage retreat business. The tranquil hotel, with its cherry blossom trees and the sound of the waterfall in the backdrop, is the perfect setting for couples to repair their fractured relationships. My own marriage has been a shining example of honesty and trust. Or at least that’s what I believed… When a police officer knocks on my door to tell me the man I loved has been killed in a tragic accident, I’m left trembling with shock. But that isn’t all. An unnamed woman was by his side when Victor died, and she now lies in a coma. As my husband’s secrets unravel, I discover that my whole life has been a lie. Now my future is at stake and my life is in danger. And I have to make a choice to protect myself and my family. A choice that will turn me into a liar, just like Victor. And will end in murder…

The Doctor's Widow is by Daniel Hurst.She trusted him. Now she’s paying the price… I loved my husband, Doctor Drew Devlin, but he betrayed me. And now he’s dead. As I put the key in the lock and open the door to the luxurious new home I’ve purchased with Drew’s life insurance money, I’m certain the worst days are behind me. My secret is safe, and I can’t wait to enjoy my new wealth and freedom. Then I meet handsome Roger. I wasn’t looking for a relationship but as we spend our evenings drinking wine on my sunny terrace, I realise he’s just what I need right now. Roger is nothing like Drew, he’s spontaneous and romantic. And most of all, he’s honest.He thinks I’m a rich, lonely woman. He’s wrong of course, there’s so much more to me… But then one night, when we’re curled up in bed together, Roger says something that makes my blood run cold. I think he knows the truth about my life as the doctor’s wife. I will do anything to stop my past from catching up with me… But is Roger really who he says he is? Or is my life now in danger? 

Murder at Bay View Hotel is by Emma Jameson. Join Jemima Jago—librarian, cake lover and fearless super-sleuth—on her next puzzling case, when an entry at a baking competition proves delicious… but deadly! It’s time for the Bay View Hotel’s annual bake-off and Jem is looking forward to sampling all the cake she can. But when head judge and successful local critic Lemmy Beaglehole drops dead in the middle of tasting a chocolate gateau, Jem can’t resist throwing herself into the investigation. Jem interviews everyone present and discovers that Lemmy had plenty of enemies at the bake-off and was famous for his venomous reviews. But who could have hated him enough to actually poison him? Was it the long-suffering hotel manager? The local busybody who hated Lemmy enough to stage a protest over his inclusion as head judge? Or the aspiring baker, whose dreams of running his own pastry shop were dashed by a terrible review? Finding a crumpled rose-patterned envelope that may have contained the poison, Jem feels certain she’s close to the truth. But when a huge storm blows in over the Isles of Scilly, trapping everyone—bake-off contestants, staff and guests—in the hotel overnight, Jem must work fast to untangle the clues and catch the killer before their next toxic treat ends up on her plate!

The Elevator is by Claire Cooper. My whole body is shaking, my breath catches in my throat. I’m stuck here. Trapped. With the one person who will do anything to destroy me… When I step into the elevator that sweltering morning, I barely notice the woman standing next to me. She seems out of place, with her floaty linen clothes in a building full of suits. But that’s none of my business. A minute later, there’s a sudden jerk. The elevator stops. The lights go out. The other woman’s face is deathly pale. She’s breathing noisily, clearly panicking. As we sit slumped against the mirrored walls, we start talking to try and keep calm. I tell her I moved halfway round the world to start again where no one knew what I was hiding. I tell her my darkest secrets, because she seems to understand, and we’re never going to see each other again, right? But I’m wrong. We’re not strangers. None of this is an accident. And when the truth comes out, there’ll be nowhere to hide…

The Wrong Family is by Ellery Kane. He tells you he’s your father. He welcomes you into his family. And now you’re trapped… I’ve never met my father. It was always just me and Mom, so when she died, I was completely alone. But today, years since I first mailed my DNA to Family Ties, I finally have a match. They’ve found my biological father. When I meet Robert, he’s warm, dependable, sturdy. I’m desperate for him to like me. I want to be part of his perfect, high-flying family more than anything. Except, I’m not so sure they are perfect. Every day, strange things go wrong in the Thompsons’ grand Lake Tahoe house. A family photo is found burning. Robert’s car is tampered with. My mother’s necklace goes missing. Though that’s nothing compared to the horror of finding the huge family portrait violently slashed in its ornate gold frame… But someone is trying to blame me for everything—all eyes are on me. I can’t run now. And then I receive an email from Family Ties that makes my blood run cold. Robert Thompson is not my father. Now I’m trapped in a house full of strangers, with no idea who I can trust. And I’m terrified my life is in grave danger…