Forthcoming Books from Transworld

 January 2024

Argylle is by Elly Conway. A luxury train speeding towards Moscow and a date with destiny. A CIA plane downed in the jungles of the Golden Triangle. A Nazi hoard entombed in the remote mountains of South-West Poland. A missing treasure, the eighth wonder of the world, lost for seven decades. One Russian magnate's dream of restoring a nation to greatness has set in motion a chain of events which will take the world to the brink of chaos. Only Frances Coffey, the CIA's most legendary spymaster, can prevent it. But to do so, she needs someone special. Enter Argylle, a troubled agent with a tarnished past who may just have the skills to take on one of the most powerful men in the world. If only he can save himself first...

Some comebacks can be murder . . . Stella is enjoying life as an almost student, or at least she is until a man falls from the sky right in front of her, leaving a big old hole in the pavement for Manchester Council to fill. The obvious question of how he ended up in the sky in the first place has no obvious answers, which is where The Stranger Times come in. But this isn't just the hunt for another story. Dark powers think Stella might have been involved and the only way she and the team can prove her innocence is to find out what the hell is really going on. And what have dodgy gear, disturbed graves and a decommissioned rock star got to do with all this? Vincent Banecroft has problems of his own in the form of a tall, dark but-definitely-not-handsome man dressed like a funeral who has been sent to make the paper's editor atone for his sins. Once he finds out exactly what that entails, Banecroft is not keen. Being banished to a Hellscape for all eternity looks like being no fun at all, not least because he has that pale Irish skin that burns really easily . . . All that plus territorial ghouls, homicidal felines, eternal (and seemingly unstoppable) gnomes and a celebrity Who's Who that'd put a royal wedding to shame, and you're looking at a wild few days for The Stranger Times. Relight My Fire is by C K McDonnell. 

Maggie Bird is many things. A chicken farmer. A good neighbour. A seemingly average retiree living in the seaside town of Purity. She's also a darned good rifle shot. And she never talks about her past. But when an unidentified body is left on Maggie's driveway, she knows it's a calling card from old times. It's been fifteen years since the failed mission that ended her career as a spy, and cost her far more than her job. Step forward the 'Martini Club' - Maggie's silver-haired book group (to anyone who asks), and a cohort of former spies behind closed doors. With the help of her old friends - and always one step ahead of the persistent local cop - Maggie might still be able to save the life she's built. The Spy Coast is the first novel in the Martini Club series by Tess Gerritsen.

February 2024

Knife Skills for Beginnners is by Orlando Murrin. A recipe for disaster. When chef Paul Delamare takes a job teaching at an exclusive residential cookery school in Belgravia, the only thing he expects his students to murder is his taste buds. But on the first night, the unthinkable happens: someone turns up dead... The school rests on a knife-edge. The police are convinced Paul is the culprit. After all, he’s good with a blade, was first on the scene – and everyone knows it doesn’t take much to push a chef over the edge. To prove his innocence, he must find the killer. Could it be one of his students? Or the owner of the school – a woman with secrets and a murky past? It all boils down to murder. If Paul can’t solve the mystery fast – as well as teach his students how to make a perfect hollandaise sauce – he’ll be next to get the chop.

Everything is a clue. Bonnie arrives on a remote sea fort off the coast of England to take part in a mysterious reality TV show. Competing against seven strangers, she must solve a series of puzzles to win the prize money, but this is no game - and the consequences of failure are deadly. No one leaves. Under scrutiny from the watching public, the contestants quickly turn on one another. Who will sacrifice the most for wealth and fame? And why can't Bonnie shake the creeping sense that they are not alone? The only way out is to win. When the first contestant is found dead, Bonnie begins to understand the dark truth at the heart of this twisted competition: there's a killer inside the fort, and anyone could be next. If Bonnie wants to escape, she needs to win... Are you ready to play? The Escape Room is by L D Smithson.

March 2024

Listen for the Lie is by Amy Tintera. Am I a murderer? You tell me . . . You probably already know about me. Lucy Chase, the woman who doesn’t remember murdering her best friend. You all think I did it. That’s OK, I get it. Being found wandering the streets covered in her blood wasn't a great look. Believe me, I’m as frustrated as you are. I’d love to know if I’m a murderer – it’s the sort of thing you really should know about yourself, isn’t it? And now, thanks to true-crime podcast Listen for the Lie, I finally have the chance to find out. But will I be able to live with myself if it turns out it was me? And if it wasn’t, will digging into the secrets of the night I forgot make me the next target of whoever did?

April 2024

Clickbait is by L C North. 'We're not famous anymore. We're notorious.' For over a decade, the Lancasters were celebrity royalty, with millions tuning in every week to watch their reality show, Living with the Lancasters. But then an old video emerges of one of their legendary parties. Suddenly, they're in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons: witnesses swore they'd seen missing teenager Bradley Wilcox leaving the Lancaster family home on the night of the party, but the video tells a different story. Now true crime investigator and YouTuber Tom Isaac is on the case. He's determined to find out what really happened to Bradley - he just needs to read between the Lancasters' lies . . . Because when the cameras are always rolling, it won't be long until someone cracks.

Florence Butterfield has lived an extraordinary life full of travel, passion and adventure. But, at eighty-seven, she suspects there are no more surprises to come her way. Then, one midsummer's night, something terrible happens - so strange and unexpected that Florrie is suspicious. Was this really an accident, or is she living alongside a would-be murderer? The only clue is a magenta envelope, discarded earlier that day. And Florrie - cheerfully independent but often overlooked - is the only person determined to uncover the truth. As she does, Florrie finds herself looking back on her own life . . . and a long-buried secret, traced in faded scars across her knuckles, becomes ever harder to ignore. The Night in Question is by Susan Fletcher. 

The Other Tenant is by Lesley Kara. ‘Dont get too comfortable”. Marlow has always lived in unusual places. But when she accepts a position as a live-in property guardian, she finds herself moving somewhere she swore she’d never return to. Right from the start, she knows it’s a terrible mistake. The elegant Victorian school is due to be turned into luxury apartments, but its eerie, empty corridors are full of Marlow’s worst memories. And now something sinister is happening on the site. One of the other tenants has disappeared without warning, and Marlow suspects that the nine other guardians know far more than they’re letting on. She’s determined to find out what happened to the missing woman – but which of these strangers can she trust? And can she uncover the truth before her own past catches up with her?

May 2024

When we Were Silent is by Fiona McPhillips. Lou Manson is an outsider when she joins the final-year class at Highfield Manor, Dublin’s most exclusive private school. Beyond the granite pillars and the wrought-iron gates is a world of wealth, privilege and potential. But Highfield is also hiding a dark secret – and Lou is here to expose it. When Lou befriends the beautiful and talented Shauna Power, her plans are thrown into turmoil. Speaking out against the school would mean betraying Shauna, and Lou soon discovers that the Highfield elite will go to any lengths to protect their own reputation…even when the consequences are fatal. Thirty years later, Lou is called to testify in a new lawsuit against Highfield. But telling the truth means confronting her past – and there is one story she swore she’d never tell…

2024, and China is massing troops on its coast across the Strait from Taiwan. This time it looks like they're serious about invasion - an act that would result in war between the People's Republic and the US and its allies, including the UK. But Britain's Secret Intelligence Service has an agent in play: someone close to the top of the Chinese Communist Party and who's ready to pass on vital secrets that could defuse the escalating situation. But as the handover takes place in a Hong Kong back street cafe, the agent's MI6 handler is snatched before she can transmit the data back to London and disappears. There are few clues as to who might be responsible. Is it China's infamous state security agency, the MSS? Or has another, less predictable player entered the game? MI6 field operative Luke Carlton is despatched to track down the missing agent. Accompanying him is his Mandarin-speaking colleague, the highly capable Jenny Li. But as they follow a succession of tip-offs that take them from shady Macau casinos to tawdry night clubs, Luke begins to sense that something's not right - that they are being deliberately strung along. As the clock ticks, global tensions heighten and the two SIS operatives have traced their target to Taiwan - a country frantically preparing for imminent invasion. And there, in a remote mountain temple hideaway, Luke and Jenny stumble across what's really going on. But China's People's Liberation Army has already begun to flex its hi-tech muscles, in Taiwan and closer to home, and suddenly the world is holding its breath . . . Invasion is by Frank Gardner.

It's 1951 and the forces of Joseph Stalin are closing in on a brave band of resistance fighters holding out in the dark forests of Lithuania. One must escape the net: Greta, best and bravest of the partisans. Her mission is to cross the Iron Curtain and find new allies in the fight against Soviet rule. But the West is full of thieves and killers too, and they are harder to spot... The Exile (aka The Stiletto Artist) is by Patrick Worrall. 

June 2024

Someone In The Attic is by Andrea Mara. You thought you were home alone. Think again... It could happen to you.  Anya is enjoying a relaxing bath when she hears a noise in the roof. Through the open bathroom door, she sees the attic hatch swing open, and a masked figure drops to the floor. Thirty seconds later, Anya is dead. Even in a wealthy neighbourhood like this.  Across town, Anya's old school friend, Julia, sees an online video of a masked figure climbing out of an attic. She suddenly realises why the footage is eerily familiar: it was filmed inside her house in a luxury gated community, designed to keep intruders out. Even with friends like these. Why would a stranger target Julia? Unless of course, it's not a stranger at all.

Lynch arrives in London, looking over his shoulder for a past he cannot escape. His phone is dead, he has no money, no contacts. He is alone. Until he runs into a wealthy young woman, Bobbie Pierce, who mistakes him for her brother, Heydon, who disappeared 5 years ago without a trace. The resemblance is striking. Or so she says. At her suggestion, Lynch goes to the luxurious Pierce family home, posing as Heydon to try and con some money out of them. But far from succeeding, his subterfuge is instantly discovered, forcing him into a devil’s bargain – their silence for his cooperation in finding out what really happened to Heydon. But Lynch’s investigation goes too deep and soon reveals the dark world in which Heydon Pierce was immersed - and the dangerous and powerful people who hunt there. It seems that everyone has good reasons to keep Heydon buried in the past. In such a conspiracy of mirrors, just one thing is certain: the only person he can trust is himself. Imposter's Syndrome is by Joseph Knox.

The Estate is by Denzil Meyrick. Every family has a secret. The mega-rich Pallander family are used to luxury – a castle in the Scottish Highlands, a villa in Tuscany, a billion-dollar fortune and an island in the Caribbean – but their perfect life is about to be shattered. Every father has a favourite. Sebastian Pallander dies, leaving a pitiful amount of money to his wife and children. His family fight over the scraps as old rivalries and bitter jealousies come to the surface. And when Pallander’s son is killed in mysterious circumstances, everyone suspects foul play. Every killer has a motive. After a desperate race for survival, the relatives gather at their estate to weather the storm. They all begin to wonder: who will be next? Where has all their money gone? And will any of them get what they truly deserve?

Books to Look Forward to From Transworld Publishers

January 2021

At first glance, Leonard Graves' death was unremarkable. Sleeping pills, a bottle of vodka, a note saying goodbye. But when Detective Henry Hobbes discovers a grave in the basement, he realizes there is something far more sinister at work. Further investigation unearths more disturbing evidence. Scattered around the old house are women's dresses. All made of the same material. All made in the same colours. And all featuring a rip across the stomach, smeared in blood. As the investigation continues and the body count rises, Hobbes must also deal with the disappearance of his son, the break-up of his family and a growing sense that something horrific happened in the Graves' household. And he's running out of time to find out what. House With No Door is by Jeff Noon.

Exit is by Belinda Bauer It was never supposed to be murder. Pensioner Felix Pink is about to find out that it's never too late . . . for life to go horribly wrong. When Felix lets himself in to Number 3 Black Lane, he's there to perform an act of charity: to keep a dying man company as he takes his final breath . . . But just fifteen minutes later Felix is on the run from the police - after making the biggest mistake of his life. Now his world is turned upside down as he must find out if he's really to blame, or if something much more sinister is at play. All while staying one shaky step ahead of the law.

How far would you go to correct your worst mistake? When Chloe goes to university and meets wild, carefree Zadie, she is utterly seduced by her and her lifestyle. It doesn't take long for Chloe to ditch her studies in favour of all-night parties at Zadie's huge house off campus.nnBut when something goes badly wrong one night and Zadie disappears in the aftermath, Chloe knows she should have done more to help her friend. It's something she'll always regret. Fifteen years later, Chloe finally gets the chance to make it right. But in order to do so, she'll have to put everything at stake . . . Two Wrongs is by Rebecca Reid.

 February 2021

The Sanatorium is the debut novel by Sarah Pearse. Everyone's in danger. Anyone could be next.An imposing, isolated hotel, high up in the Swiss Alps, is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But she's taken time off from her job as a detective, so when she receives an invitation out of the blue to celebrate her estranged brother's recent engagement, she has no choice but to accept. Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge. Though it's beautiful, something about the hotel, recently converted from an abandoned sanatorium, makes her nervous - as does her brother, Isaac. And when they wake the following morning to discover his fiancee Laure has vanished without a trace, Elin's unease grows. With the storm cutting off access to and from the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic. But no-one has realized yet that another woman has gone missing. And she's the only one who could have warned them just how much danger they're all in . . .

March 2021

The Dare is by Lesley Kara. As a child, it was just a game. As an adult, it was a living nightmare.'This time it's different. She's gone too far now. She really has.' When teenage friends Lizzie and Alice decide to head off for a walk in the countryside, they are blissfully unaware that this will be their final day together - and that only Lizzie will come back alive. Lizzie has no memory of what happened in the moments before Alice died, she only knows that it must have been a tragic accident. But as she tries to cope with her grief, she is shocked to find herself alienated from Alice's friends and relatives. They are convinced she somehow had a part to play in her friend's death. Twelve years later, unpacking boxes in the new home she shares with her fiance, Lizzie is horrified to find long-buried memories suddenly surfacing. Is the trauma of the accident finally catching up with her, or could someone be trying to threaten her new-found happiness?

Tokyo, Japan. Umiko Wada has had enough excitement in life. With an overbearing mother and her husband recently murdered, she just wants to keep her head down. As a secretary to a private detective, her life is pleasantly filled with coffee runs and paperwork. That is, until her boss takes on a new case. A case that is surrounded by shadows. A case that means Wada will have to leave Tokyo and travel to London. London, England. Nick Miller never knew his father, and was always told he wasn't missing much. But when an old friend of his late mother says there are things that Nick needs to know about his parents, he can't ignore it. When a chance encounter brings Wada and Nick together, they couldn't know the series of violent events set off by their investigations. And when they discover Nick's father might have been the only witness to a dark secret forever buried, they realise there are some powerful people who will do whatever it takes to keep it that way... The Fne Art of Invisblle Detection is by Robbert Goddard.

April 2021

Tall Bones is by Anna Bailey. When seventeen-year-old Emma leaves her best friend Abi at a party in the woods, she believes, like most girls her age, that their lives are just beginning. Many things will happen that night, but Emma will never see her friend again. Abi's disappearance cracks open the facade of the small town of Whistling Ridge, its intimate history of long-held grudges and resentment. Even within Abi's family, there are questions to be asked - of Noah, the older brother whom Abi betrayed, of Jude, the shining younger sibling who hides his battle scars, of Dolly, her mother and Samuel, her father - both in thrall to the fire and brimstone preacher who holds the entire town in his grasp. Then there is Rat, the outsider, whose presence in the town both unsettles and excites those around him. Anything could happen in Whistling Ridge, this tinder box of small-town rage, and all it will take is just one spark - the truth of what really happened that night out at the Tall Bones...

May 2021

Sometimes the only way to catch a killer is to become their prey. In Bristol, a young woman jumps into an icy reservoir. In Leeds, a girl cuts ties with her family and disappears. The only thing that links them is a shared obsession with a mysterious woman called Paula. For Dr Bloom, the stories told by their families are disturbingly familiar. She has seen this all before. She is sure that this charismatic, charming woman is the leader of a cult. She begins investigating the Artemis community but is met with walls of secrecy. Which leaves only one option. The Hunt is by Leona Deakin

Outbreak is by Frank Gardner. Deep within the Arctic Circle, three environmental scientists from the UK's Arctic Research Station trudge through a blizzard landscape in search of shelter. There's a cabin ahead. It appears abandoned. No lights or tell-tale smoke. No snowmobile parked outside.The first thing the team's medic, Dr Sheila Mackenzie, notices when she enters is the smell. It's rank, rotting, foetid. Then suddenly there's movement. A figure, barely recognisable as human, lies slumped on a sofa, his face staring back at her in the torchlight. It's hideously disfigured by livid pustules, rivulets of blood run from his nostrils, his chest covered in black bile. Momentarily Dr Mackenzie can't comprehend what she's seeing. Then the alarm bells begin to ring. These are the signs of chronic, deadly infection . . .But the man is trying to say something. She edges closer to him, and it's then that the convulsions begin. His body erupts into a violent fit of coughing, spewing out a toxic cocktail of blood, bile and mucus . . .Dr Mackenzie already knows it's too late. She is contaminated . . . Setting in train a terrifying chain of events that threatens millions with a deadly, man-made contagion.

Luke Truman is a junior officer on board the USS Leviathan, the most advanced and powerful warship ever built. It is an eight-hundred-foot-long submarine which, among its vast array of weaponry and secret systems, boasts a top secret “cloaking technology.” Bending light around objects to render them invisible, it is the hottest military research innovation not just in the US, but throughout the world. Now the time has come for the first large-scale trial of its effectiveness. But neither Luke nor the United States government realize the astonishing forces this experiment will unleash. What Luke discovers on board the Leviathan is that the future of our world is at a deadly tipping point and that only he will be able to stop the cascade of events which are leading them all inexorably towards doom. The Year of the Locust is by Terry Hayes.

Triple Cross is by Tom Bradby. Attempting to rebuild her shattered life in the South of France, former MI6 operative Kate Henderson receives an unexpected and most unwelcome visit from an old adversary: the UK Prime Minister. He has an extraordinary story to tell - and he needs her help. A Russian agent has come forward with news that the PM has been the victim of the greatest misinformation play in the history of MI6. It's run out of a special KGB unit that exists for one purpose alone: to process the intelligence from 'Agent Dante', a mole right at the heart of MI6 in London. Against her better judgement, Kate is forced back into the fray in a top-secret, deeply flawed and dangerous investigation. But now she's damaged goods. Her one-time allies no longer trust her. And neither do her enemies. With the stakes this high, can the truth ever come out? Or is the cost of uncovering it a price that no one, least of all Kate, can afford to pay?

June 2021

What happens to those girls who go missing? What happens to the Zoe Nolans of the world?' In the early hours of Saturday, December 17th, 2011, Zoe Nolan, a 19-year-old Manchester University student, walked out of a party taking place in the shared accommodation where she had been living for three months. She was never seen again. True Crime Story is by Joseph Knox.

Capital Crime talks espionage!

International Bestselling Authors Tom Bradby, Charles Cumming, Frank Gardner and Stella Rimington to talk espionage at Capital Crime.

Capital Crime is pleased to welcome Tom Bradby, Charles Cumming, Frank Gardner and Stella Rimington to the festival which takes place at the Grand Connaught Rooms on the 26th – 28th September 2019.

This exciting line-up of thriller authors will be appearing in a special event that asks ‘Are We Living in a Spy Thriller?’

Capital Crime co-founder Adam Hamdy says, ‘We’ve asked four of the world’s leading thriller authors to join us at Capital Crime to explore the nature of espionage in the modern world. Stella, Frank, Charles and Tom all have unique expertise and are certain to give us a fascinating insight into contemporary geopolitics.’

Capital Crime co-founder David Headley says, ‘Russian use of social media to

manipulate political outcomes is all over the news and it certainly feels as though we’re experiencing unusual, volatile times. Tom, Charles, Frank and Stella have extensive experience of the political and intelligence fields, and we’re looking forward to hearing them talk about how their work as authors relates to the world we’re living in. We’re delighted to welcome them to Capital Crime.’

Tickets for Capital Crime are available at www.capitalcrime.org 

For publicity enquiries please contact 

Lizzie Curle 

E: info@capitalcrime.org 

www.twitter.com/CapitalCrime1

Books to Look Forward to from Transworld Publishing

January 2018

PERFECT HUSBAND. PERFECT FATHER. PERFECT LIAR? Vivian Miller is a CIA analyst assigned to uncover Russian sleeper cells in the USA. After accessing the computer of a potential Russian spy, she stumbles on a secret dossier of deep-cover agents living in her own country. Five seemingly normal people living in plain sight. A few clicks later, everything that matters to Vivian is threatened - her job, her husband, even her four children . . . Vivian has vowed to defend her country against all enemies, foreign and domestic. But now she's facing impossible choices. Torn between loyalty and betrayal, allegiance and treason, love and suspicion, who can she trust? Will her next move be the right one?  Need to Know is by Karen Cleveland

March 2018

Panic Room is by Robert Goddard.  Sometimes the danger is on the inside . . . High on a

Cornish cliff sits a vast uninhabited mansion. Uninhabited except for Blake, a young woman of dubious background, secretive and alone, currently acting as housesitter. The house has a panic room. Cunningly concealed, steel lined, impregnable - and apparently closed from within. Even Blake doesn't know it's there. She's too busy being on the run from life, from a story she thinks she's escaped. But her remote existence is going to be invaded when people come looking the house's owner, missing rogue pharma entrepreneur, Jack Harkness. Suddenly the whole world wants to know where his money has gone. Soon people are going to come knocking on the door, people with motives and secrets of their own, who will be asking Blake the sort of questions she can't - or won't - want to answer. And will the panic room ever give up its secrets?

Bryant & May – Hall of Mirrors is by Christopher Fowler.  The year is 1969 and ten guests are about to enjoy a country house weekend at Tavistock Hall. But one amongst them is harbouring thoughts of murder. . . The guests also include the young detectives Arthur Bryant and John May - undercover, in disguise and tasked with protecting Monty Hatton-Jones, a whistle-blower turning Queen's evidence in a massive bribery trial. Luckily, they've got a decent chap on the inside who can help them - the one-armed Brigadier, Nigel `Fruity' Metcalf. The scene is set for what could be the perfect country house murder mystery, except that this particular get-together is nothing like a Golden Age classic. For the good times are, it seems, coming to an end. The house's owner - a penniless, dope-smoking aristocrat - is intent on selling the estate (complete with its own hippy encampment) to a secretive millionaire but the weekend has only just started when the millionaire goes missing and murder is on the cards. But army manoeuvres have closed the only access road and without a forensic examiner, Bryant and May can't solve the case. It's when a falling gargoyle fells another guest that the two incognito detectives decide to place their future reputations on the line. And in the process discover that in Swinging Britain nothing is quite what it seems... So gentle reader, you are cordially invited to a weekend in the country. Expect murder, madness and mayhem in the mansion!

Detective Aidan Waits returns - on the hunt to find the identity of The Smiling Man. 'An

arresting new talent' Metro `I usually experienced the presence of a dead body as an absence, but in this case, it felt like a black hole opening up in front of me' Disconnected from his history and careless of his future, Detective Aidan Waits has resigned himself to the night shift. An endless cycle of meaningless emergency calls and lonely dead ends. Until he and his partner, Detective Inspector Peter `Sutty' Sutcliffe, are summoned to The Palace, a vast disused hotel in the centre of a restless, simmering city. There they find the body of a man. He is dead. And he is smiling. The tags have been removed from the man's clothes. His teeth filed down and replaced. Even his fingertips are not his own. Only a patch sewn into the inside of his trousers gives any indication as to who he was, and to the desperate last act of his life... But even as Waits puts together the pieces of this stranger's life, someone is sifting through the shards of his own. When the mysterious fires, anonymous phone calls and outright threats escalate, he realises that a ghost from his own past haunts his every move. And to discover the smiling man's identity, he must finally confront his own.  The Smiling Man is by Joseph Knox.

April 2018

The Fenlands, 1954 It is a tough winter; the temperatures have fallen too low too quickly and the floods are the worst anyone can remember. Most people have lost everything but there are some who have found themselves eager for the chance at a new start. For Jimmy Devlin, it's a little of both. Forced from his home by an uncompromising bailiff, Jimmy has nothing to his name and the prospect of work digging urgently needed drains could be the opportunity he's been waiting for. But Jimmy, it seems, has a knack for finding trouble. Before long, he's caught up in the wrong business with the people from the fairground passing through town. But, on the run from the law, he has nowhere else to turn.   Mercury Falling is by Robert Edric

American by Day is by Derek B Miller.  She knew it was a weird place. She'd heard the stories, seen the movies, read the books. But now police Chief Inspector Sigrid Odegard has to leave her native Norway and actually go there; to that land across the Atlantic where her missing brother is implicated in the mysterious death of a prominent African-American academic. America. And not someplace interesting, either: upstate New York. It is election season, 2008, and Sigrid is plunged into a United States where race and identity, politics and promise, reverberate in every aspect of daily life. To find her older brother, she needs the help of the local police who appear to have already made up their minds about the case. Working with - or, if necessary, against - someone actually named Sheriff Irving 'Irv' Wylie, she must negotiate the local political minefields and navigate the back woods of the Adirondacks to uncover the truth before events escalate further.

May 2018

Snap decisions can be fatal . . . On a stifling summer's day, eleven-year-old Jack and his two sisters sit in their broken-down car, waiting for their mother to come back and rescue them. Jack's in charge, she said. I won't be long. But she doesn't come back. She never comes back. And life as the children know it is changed for ever. Three years later, mum-to-be Catherine wakes to find a knife beside her bed, and a note that says: I could have killed you. Meanwhile Jack is still in charge - of his sisters, of supporting them all, of making sure nobody knows they're alone in the house, and - quite suddenly - of finding out the truth about what happened to his mother. But the truth can be a dangerous thing . . .  Snap is by Belinda Bauer

Open Your Eyes is by Paula Daly.  Haven't we all wanted to pretend everything is fine? Jane doesn't like confrontation. Given the choice, she'll let her husband, Leon, fight their battles. She'd prefer to focus on what's going well, the good things in life. But when bestselling crime author Leon is brutally attacked in the driveway of their home, in front of their two young children, Jane has to face reality. With her husband in a coma, Jane must open her eyes to the problems in her life, and the secrets that have been kept from her, if she's to find out who hurt her husband - and why. Maybe it's time to face up to it all. Who knows what you might find . . . 

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Ultimatum is by Frank Gardner.  After helping to avert a deadly attack on London, Luke

Carlton has been welcomed on board as a full-fledged member of SIS and is assigned the role of case officer running agents. He is sent undercover into Iran to 'turn' and recruit an officer in that country's infamous Revolutionary Guard Corps: the word is that a conservative group within the IRGC doesn't like the direction post-revolutionary Iran appear to be taking and are planning something big to embarrass their own government - and frighten the country's new 'allies' in the West. The intelligence services need to find out who and what, and fast...but then a senior British government minister on an official visit to Iran goes missing, his close protection officers are found murdered...