My Favourite Books of 2013.

It has been hard to narrow down my books of the year, as I have not read as many books this year as I would normally have done.  However, there are some books that stuck with me over the year.  They are as follows in no particular order.

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes (Harper Collins) – In Depression Era Chicago, a drifter named Harper Curtis finds a key to a house that opens on to other times.  But it comes at a cost.  He has to kill the shining girls: bright young women who burn with potential.  He stalks them through their lives across different eras until, in 1989, one of his victims, Kirby Mazrachi, survives, and starts hunting him back.  This is a novel that spans the history of Chicago from the 1930s to 1990s.  An unusual twist on the serial killer novel.

The Double by George Pelecanos (Orion).  In this second novel featuring Spero Lucas, a young Iraq vet working as a PI in Washington DC but with a sideline in finding lost items - the kind of items the owners can't go to the police about.  This time Spero is trying to find a painting belonging to a sexy young woman who was scammed out of it by a super-smooth con artist, part of a team of ruthless thugs.  Spero tracks the painting down but the woman is brutally attacked to warn him off.  Spero goes on the attack and takes the gang out one by one in their isolated house in the woods - prompting the question: have his experiences in Iraq turned him into an amoral killer no better than the crooks he's up against?  George Pelecanos always has the ability to write such fascinating and lyrical novels.  The Double is no exception.  Back to Spero Lucas who finds himself investigating the loss of a painting and his own dark side.  Augmented with a playlist that is as fascinating as the novel. 

Suspect by Robert Crais (Orion) LAPD cop Scott James is not doing so well.  Eight months ago, a shocking night time assault by unidentified men killed his partner Stephanie, nearly killed him, and left him enraged, ashamed, and ready to explode.  He is unfit for duty—until he meets his new partner.  Maggie is not doing so well, either.  A German shepherd who survived three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan sniffing explosives before losing her handler to an IED, her PTSD is as bad as Scott’s.  They are each other’s last chance.  Shunned and shunted to the side, they set out to investigate the one case that no one wants them to touch: the identity of the men who murdered Stephanie.  What they begin to find is nothing like what Scott has been told, and the journey will take them both through the darkest moments of their own personal hells.  Whether they will make it out again, no can say.  In Suspect, Robert Crais has presented readers with not only a multi-faceted and unusual new protagonist but also a gripping and heart-rending thriller.

The Twelfth Department by William Ryan (Mantle).  Set in Moscow during 1937.  Captain

Korolev, a police investigator, is enjoying a long-overdue visit from his young son Yuri when an eminent scientist is shot dead within sight of the Kremlin and Korolev is ordered to find the killer.  It soon emerges that the victim, a man who it appears would stop at nothing to fulfil his ambitions, was engaged in research of great interest to those at the very top ranks of Soviet power.  When another scientist is brutally murdered, and evidence of the professors’ dark experiments is hastily removed, Korolev begins to realise that, along with having a difficult case to solve, he’s caught in a dangerous battle between two warring factions of the NKVD.  And then his son Yuri goes missing . . . The Twelfth Department is a desperate race against time, set against a city gripped by Stalin’s Great Terror and teeming with spies, street children and thieves and is a great atmospheric historical thriller set in Stalin's Moscow

Then We Take Berlin by John Lawton (Atlantic) John Holderness, known to the women in his life as 'Wilderness', comes of age during World War II in Stepney, East London, breaking in to houses with his grandfather.  After the war, Wilderness is recruited as MI5's resident 'cat burglar' and finds himself in Berlin, involved with schemes in the booming black market that put both him and his relationships in danger.  In 1963 it is a most unusual and lucrative request that persuades Wilderness to return - to smuggle someone under the Berlin Wall and out of East Germany.  But this final scheme may prove to be one challenge too far...  Then We Take Berlin is a gripping, meticulously researched, and richly detailed historical thriller - a moving story of espionage and war, and people caught up in the most tumultuous events of the twenty-first century.  This is a new historical series by an author that needs to be read featuring an East-End Londoner turned spy at the start of the cold war.  Brilliantly written.

The Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin (Orion).  Rebus is back on the force, albeit with a demotion and a chip on his shoulder.  A 30-year-old case is being reopened, and Rebus’s team from back then is suspected of foul play.  With Malcolm Fox as the investigating officer is the past and present about to collide in a shocking and murderous fashion?  And does Rebus have anything to hide?  His colleagues back then called themselves ‘The Saints’, and swore a bond on something called ‘the Shadow Bible’.  But times have changed and the crimes of the past may not stay hidden much longer, especially with a referendum on Scottish independence just around the corner.  Who are the saints and who the sinners?  And can the one ever become the other?  As in the best police thrillers there is a rich mixture of ingredients layered into a very satisfying meal.  Ian Rankin's decision to bring John Rebus out of retirement to rake over the past was the right one.

Dead Man’s Land by Robert Ryan (Simon & Schuster) Deep in the trenches of Flanders Fields, men are dying in their thousands every day.  So one more death shouldn't be a surprise.  But then a body turns up with bizarre injuries, and Sherlock Holmes' former sidekick Dr John Watson - unable to fight for his country due to injury but able to serve it through his medical expertise - finds his suspicions raised.  The face has a blue-ish tinge, the jaw is clamped shut in a terrible rictus, and the eyes are almost popping out of his head, as if the man had seen unimaginable horror.  Something is terribly wrong.  But this is just the beginning.  Soon more bodies appear, and Watson must discover who is the killer in the trenches.  Who can he trust?  Who is the enemy?  And can he find the perpetrator before he kills again?  Surrounded by unimaginable carnage, amidst a conflict that's ripping the world apart, Watson must for once step out of the shadows and into the limelight if he's to solve the mystery behind the inexplicable deaths.  Dead Man's Land is not only a very inventive murder plot that will be welcomed by all lovers of crime thrillers, but it is also a brilliant and powerful depiction of wartime horror from the point of view of Dr John Watson.  The first in what is hoped a new series.

How a Gunman Says Goodbye by Malcolm Mackay (Pan Macmillan).  How does a gunman retire?  Frank MacLeod was the best at what he does.  Thoughtful.  Efficient.  Ruthless.  But is he still the best?  A new job.  A target.  But something is about to go horribly wrong.  Someone is going to end up dead.  Most gunmen say goodbye to the world with a bang.  Frank’s still here.  He’s lasted longer than he should have ... The breath taking, devastating sequel to lauded debut The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter, How a Gunman Says Goodbye plunges the reader back into the Glasgow underworld, where criminal organisations war for prominence and those caught up in events are tested at every turn.  This is a page-turner of a read that is brutal whilst being smoothly written.

London Falling by Paul Cornell (Tor) The dark is rising . . . Detective Inspector James Quill is about to complete the drugs bust of his career.  Then his prize suspect Rob Toshack is murdered in custody.  Furious, Quill pursues the investigation, co-opting intelligence analyst Lisa Ross and undercover cops Costain and Sefton.  But nothing about Toshack’s murder is normal.  Toshack had struck a bargain with a vindictive entity, whose occult powers kept Toshack one-step ahead of the law – until his luck ran out.  Now, the team must find a 'suspect' who can bend space and time and alter memory itself.  And they will kill again.  As the group starts to see London’s sinister magic for themselves, they have two choices: panic or use their new abilities.  Then they must hunt a terrifying supernatural force the only way they know how: using police methods, equipment, and tactics.  But they must all learn the rules of this new game - and quickly.  More than their lives will depend on it.  London Falling is pacy, clever and delights in London mythology.  An unusual but still unique novel.

In Screwed by Eoin Colfer (Headline) he adds and entirely new chapter to the adventures and misadventures of Daniel McEvoy, the down-on-his-luck Irish bouncer at a seedy New Jersey bar who, with the help of a motley crew of unlikely characters, solved a bizarre string of murders--including the one of the girl he loved.  But people around him continue to die mysteriously, and Daniel is called into action once again.  Colfer provides more back-story in this second novel and weaves in information about McEvoy’s alcoholic father and doomed mother and brother as well as McEvoy’s experiences in the Middle East.  Screwed is an equally gritty novel with a dark vein of humour that runs throughout the book.  This is shaping up to be a brilliantly wacky series that is awesomely good to read.

Plugged by Eoin Colfer

Best selling author Eoin Colfer has a new novel coming out in May. Plugged which is a dark, comedic noir crime novel. Eoin kindly took the time to record this very brief promo for Shots.

Books to look forward to from Headline

In Satori it is the autumn of 1951 and the Korean War is raging. Twenty six year old Nicholai Hel has spent the last three years in solitary confinement at the hands of the Americans. Hel is master of 'hoda kaorosu' or 'naked kill', fluent in over six languages, and has honed extraordinary 'proximity sense' - an extra awareness of the presence of danger. He has the skills to be the world's most formidable assassin and now the CIA needs him. The Americans offer Hel freedom in exchange for one small service: go to Beijing and kill the Soviet Union's Commissioner to China. It's almost certainly a suicide mission, but Hel accepts. Now, he must survive chaos, violence, suspicion, and betrayal while trying to achieve his ultimate goal of Satori - the possibility of true understanding and harmony with the world. Satori is by Don Winslow and is due to be published in April 2011

Alex Cahill and Logan Finch return in Blindside GJ Moffat's Glasgow-set crime series. When a passenger jet crashes in Denver, Colorado, nobody survives. In Glasgow, Alex Cahill is surprised to receive a phone call from the wife of an old Secret Service colleague who was supposedly travelling on the doomed plane. But there is no record of his name on the passenger list. Cahill uses his connections to find out what has happened but no one is talking. Not even to him. Enlisting the help of his lawyer and friend, Logan Finch, Cahill is determined to get some answers. Logan's girlfriend, DCI Rebecca Irvine, is also looking for answers. A new drug is killing users but is it accidental death or could it be homicide? As Rebecca searches the streets of Glasgow, and Cahill and Logan head to Denver, they are unaware that a perfect storm of events across the globe is about to engulf them all. Blindside is due to be published in April 2011.

Edinburgh's toughest cop, Bob Skinner, looks into his past to assuage his demons in Grievous Angel. Skinner revisits his nightmares: old but not forgotten. Fifteen years in the past, newly promoted Detective Superintendent Bob Skinner is called to investigate a most brutal death. A man lies at the deep end of an empty swimming pool, his neck broken and almost every other bone in his body shattered. Soon, an organised crime connection looms, and bloody retribution spreads to a second city. Then violence erupts on a new front, as a vicious knifeman seems to be targeting Edinburgh's gay population. As if this double dose of homicide isn't enough for a single man with a teenage daughter to raise and protect, Skinner's personal life takes a similar, perilous twist. Can he stay on the side of the angels, or will he fall ...? Grievous Angel is due to be published in June 2011 and is by Quintin Jardine.

Steve Jones, our Cityboy hero, wants out. He's looking to cash-in before the soul-stripping toil of coining it in London's financial heartland turns into a life sentence. All it will take is a handsome seven figure wedge in the bank and it's the good life for him and goodbye to the horrors of the Square Mile. Like the expert chancer he is, he sees an opportunity. Hacking into his boss's computer, he finds something that chills him to the bone. This is big time; there are bad men involved; there are millions at stake. So no change there then. But when he stumbles upon a murder and becomes the prime suspect, he has to go on the run. Together with his partner Gemma, he improvises ingenious ways of outwitting the authorities, a vicious drug cartel and even M15 in a chase that will send him half way round the world if he's going to stay alive. Just Business is by Geraint Anderson and is due to be published in June 2011.

Dan, an Irishman who's ended up in New Jersey, finds himself embroiled in a world of murder, kidnapping and corrupt cops. Dan works as a bouncer in a seedy club, half in love with hostess Connie. When Connie is murdered on the premises, a vengeful Dan finds himself embroiled in an increasingly deadly sequence of events in which his doctor friend Zeb goes mysteriously missing, a cop-killing female cop becomes his only ally, and he makes an enemy of ruthless drug-dealer Mike Madden. Plugged is the debut crime novel by Eoin Colfer and is due to be published in May 2011.

In 88 Killer Tom Harper and Denise Levene return in this new thriller from Oliver Stark. In a brand new case, full of twists and turns, Harper and Levene hunt a serial killer on the streets of New York. When the body of a young white male is discovered in a Harlem alleyway, NYPD detective, Tom Harper, is not convinced this is a straightforward homicide case. Determined to discover the truth, Harper investigates a spate of similar murders across the city with the help of police psychologist, Denise Levene. But Denise is battling her own demons, as Tom knows all too well. The realisation that a serial killer could be on the prowl seems like frighteningly familiar territory to Tom and Denise. But hatred and fear take on many forms and Tom has never come across a case quite like this. 88 Killer is due to be published in April 2011.

Cumbria, 1783. A broken heritage; a secret history. The tomb of the first Earl of Greta should have lain undisturbed on its island of bones for three hundred years. When idle curiosity opens the stone lid, however, inside is one body too many. Gabriel Crowther's family bought the Gretas' land long ago, and has suffered its own bloody history. His brother was hanged for murdering their father, the Baron of Keswick, and Crowther has chosen comfortable seclusion and anonymity over estate and title for thirty years. But the call of the mystery brings him home at last. Travelling with forthright Mrs Harriet Westerman, who is escaping her own tragedy, Crowther finds a little town caught between new horrors and old, where ancient ways challenge modern justice. And against the wild and beautiful backdrop of fells and water, Crowther discovers that his past will not stay buried. Island of Bones is by Imogen Robertson and is due to be published in April 2011.

Spiral is the first bio-tech thriller from Cornell professor, Paul McEuen. Pacific Ocean 1946: Liam Connor of the British Army, a global expert on germ warfare, is sent to help the US Navy foil an attempt by a Japanese submarine to unleash the world's first biological super-weapon. Code-name: Uzumaki. Translation: Spiral. The devastating decision is made to annihilate Spiral by releasing the world's fourth atomic bomb, obliterating the weapon before it can release its catastrophic payload. New York, present day: Connor, now a world-renowned Nobel prize-winner working on the cutting edge of nano-science technology, prayed that the spectre of Spiral would never return. But now it is back and the stakes are exponentially higher. Spiral would be virtually unstoppable with current technological advances and only Connor holds the key to its cure. Those who seek Spiral will stop at nothing to obtain Connor's knowledge, even if it means his death and that of everyone he holds dear. As the race begins for Spiral, will the world survive the Doomsday scenario about to unfold? Spiral is due to be published in March 2011.

Rose has it all - the gorgeous children, the husband, the beautiful home. But then her best friend Polly comes to stay. Very soon, Rose's cosy world starts to fall apart at the seams - her baby falls dangerously ill, her husband is distracted - is Polly behind it all? It appears that once you invite Polly into your home, it's very difficult to get her out again. Cuckoo is the debut novel by Julia Crouch and is due to be published in March 2011

In The Loner Xavier (Xavi) Aislado is a gentle giant, half Spanish, half Scot, brought up in Edinburgh by his grandmother, Paloma Puig, a ferocious old lady whose grim brand of care sees him into his teens, until his father moves back to Spain, leaving him to grow up fast. His emergence into manhood is colourful, and eventful. After a short career as a professional footballer, he turns to journalism, and has a bloody introduction to the trade, as his first assignment ends in violent death. Inevitably, remorselessly, as his autobiography unfolds, Xavi's life and his love become entwined with his work, and he is immersed in tragedy, loss and betrayal, going halfway round the world in search of a truth that may destroy him. The Loner is by Quintin Jardine and is due to be published in March 2011.

The Beverley Fauborg hotel is about to close for good. Psychologist Alex Delaware and his girlfriend Robin are making a farewell visit to the hotel bar when one patron in particular grabs their attention -- a beautiful but aloof young woman dressed all in white. Two days later, Alex is called in on a murder case and is shocked when he recognises the victim as the woman in white. Discovering her true identity is not going to be easy though and, Milo's investigation into the girl nicknamed 'Mystery' leads him to the darkest of secrets in the highest of places. Mystery is by Jonathan Kellerman and is due for publication in March 2011.

The Secret Soldier is the brand new John Wells thriller by Alex Berenson. Those in power always need an unofficial option. Meet John Wells. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah fears he is fast losing control of his family and his people. A series of terrorist attacks has put his kingdom on edge and, with powerful factions turning against him, the king must turn to the one man he has been told will make the difference. Ex-CIA operative John Wells knows all too well how covert internal battles can undermine a nation. With the stability of a powerful Middle Eastern country at stake, he goes undercover to investigate King Abdullah's claims. But as Wells begins to unravel the conspiracy, it takes an unexpected twist. The plotters want more than the fall of a monarch. Their objective is to spark the final bloody conflagration between Islam and the West. Has time finally run out for John Wells? The Secret Soldier is due to be published in March 2011

Nina Wilde and Eddie Chase are back for their seventh blockbusting adventure by the bestselling author of The Hunt For Atlantis, Andy McDermott. When archaeologist Nina Wilde and her husband, ex-SAS soldier Eddie Chase, are given the chance to work on an Interpol investigation into smuggled artefacts, they are stunned to realise that the artefacts hold clues to the location of a lost Inca settlement hidden somewhere in South America. As Nina and Eddie dig deeper, it soon becomes clear that finding the settlement may only be the start of their incredible quest. One which, astonishingly, may lead them to one of the greatest legends of all time: El Dorado -- the mythical city of gold. Nina and Eddie are desperate to locate the fabled city. But they are not alone in their search. Deep in the jungles of Venezuela, they face corrupt soldiers, murderous revolutionaries and ruthless drug lords who will stop at nothing to obtain the city's treasures. With so much at stake, what price will they pay for the greatest of fortunes. Empire of Gold is due to be published in February 2011.

When someone is out for revenge is there any way to stop them? When a mutilated body is found in a Baltimore park, forensic Pathologist Dr Lucy Trask and DEtective Michael Fitzpatrick uncover a story of guilt, anger and retribution more terrifying then they ever imagined. You Belong to Me is by Karen Rose and is due to be published in January 2011.

A Noble Killing is the latest book from the CWA Silver Dagger author Barbara Nadel. In Turkey the police are called to the scene of what seems to be the honour killing of a young girl. Burnt alive, she is not the first girl to suffer such an horrific death in Istanbul. Further investigations by Inspectors Cetin Ikmen and Mehmet Suleyman reveal that the girl had a secret boyfriend who has now disappeared. A Nobel Killing is due to be published in January 2011.

Newsy Stuff

The tagline “Getting Away With Murder” is not only the tagline for Mike Ripley’s delightful monthly column but it has also been used by the Guardian’s Lucy Mangan’s recent Agatha Christie article. Lucy Mangan’s article looks at whether or not Dame Agatha Christie is actually as good as her fans say or whether it is just fantasy. You can see for yourself here. What do you think? Do you believe that Lucy Mangan has got it wrong or did Dame Agatha Christie get it right?

At the same time Alison Food selects what she considers to be the five best books written by Dame Agatha Christie. Do you agree?

There are more books on their way to the Frankfurt Book Fair –
Ed Victor is bringing the début crime novel from Artemis Fowl author Eoin Colfer. Already acquired by Headline Plugged will be published in August 2011 in the UK whilst Overlook Press in the US will publish the book. The noir novel features an Irish bouncer in New Jersey, finding himself embroiled in a world of murder, kidnapping and corrupt cops.

The Agency are also taking with them Ranulph Fiennes adventure novel Killer Elite which was originally published in the 1991 as The Feathermen. The book is currently being filmed (staring Robert de Niro) and is due for release in Summer 2011. Killer Elite(The Feathermen)is about a secret organisation that is dedicated to protecting ex-SAS men. Hodder in the UK and Ballantine in the US will publish the books to tie-in with the film. It is not to be confused with the 1975 Sam Peckinpah film The Killer Elite.

Luigi Bonomi Associates are bringing with them Covenant a début novel by début author Dean Crawford. Covenant is said to be a “terrific fast-paced action-adventure novel” about the discovery of a 7,000-year-old tomb containing the body of an alien. World rights have been sold to Maxine Hitchcock at Simon & Schuster and to Stacy Creamer at Touchstone USA.

Meanwhile the Darley Anderson Agency will be selling the US and translation rights to Recorder (Part-time Judge) and best selling author of the novels Ugly and Beyond Ugly Constance Briscoe’s début thriller Partners in Crime. The novel is due to be published by Ebury in the UK in 2011. Darley Anderson will also have the début crime novel The Wrong Man by Jason Dean. It will be on offer not only in the UK but also the US and translation rights will be available.

Hodder and Stoughton have bought the rights to three historical military intelligence novels by début author Nick Brown. The first book, Agent of Rome: The Siege is set in the Syrian Desert in AD 270, and will introduce young military intelligence officer, Cassius Quintius Corbulo. Agent of Rome: The Siege will be published in June 2011. With the following two Corbulo novels due for publication in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

According to book2book, Chatto have acquired the true crime début novel Damn His Blood by début author Peter Moore. Damn His Blood is a story set in Georgian England.

Matthew Lewin takes a look at Laura Wilson’s new historical crime novel A Capital Crime (the third in the Ted Stratton series) and pronounces it historical crime fiction at its best.

Author Jessie Keane is to reunite with her editor Wayne Brookes at Pan Macmillan. Brookes discovered Keane whilst he was at Harper Collins. The first of the three titles for Pan Macmillan will be published in 2012. Meanwhile Keane’s next title for Harper Collins is The Make and is due to be published in January 2011 with a further book to follow.

According to the Guardian and confirmed by Fry himself, Stephen Fry is set to play Mycroft Holmes, the elder and brainer brother of Sherlock Holmes. Meanwhile, Jared Harris (the son of the late Richard Harris) who is best known for playing Lane Pryce in the hit television programme Mad Men is due to play Professor James Moriarty in the sequel as well.

So which other literary sleuths would you like to see on the television? Maxim Jakubowski takes a look at the television version of Peter Robinson’s DCI Banks and suggests a number of other literary detectives that would be worth seeing on television.

Congratulations to Colin Bateman or Bateman as he is better known on his books!. According to book2book, Headline have signed a seven-book deal with the author. The contract will cover three new novels, two in the bestselling Mystery Man series and one continuing the Dan Starkey series, and four backlist titles. The BBC has also optioned Mystery Man and casting is taking place. The first book in the new contract Dr Yes has recently been published.