Forthcoming books from Orion Publishing

 January 2024

Harbour Lights by James Lee Burke is a story collection from one of the most popular and widely acclaimed icons of American fiction, featuring a never-before-published novella. These eight stories move from the marshlands on the Gulf of Mexico to the sweeping plains of Colorado to prisons, saloons, and trailer parks across the South, weaving together love, friendship, violence, survival, and revenge. With his nuanced characters, lyrical prose, and ability to write shocking violence in the most evocative settings, James Lee Burke's singular skills are on display in this superb anthology.

The Clinic is by Cate Quinn. This place will change your life . . . or end it. Welcome to The Clinic. The world's most exclusive rehab clinic offers treatment to the rich and famous. Meg's sister Haley was one of them - a troubled country singer running from a terrible addiction. Between the luxury spa, the ayurvedic yoga and the world-class therapy, the clinic is a perfect place to heal and brush shoulders with the world's most beautiful people. Safely locked in the secluded compound, its patients are a thousand miles away from crazed fans and paparazzi... with no one to call for help. When Haley is found dead at the clinic, Meg checks in under an alias to find out why. Soon she's confronting a whole lot more than her own addiction - there's a killer on the loose and anyone could be next . . .

The Excitements is by C J Wray. Revenge is a dish best served old. Meet the Williamson sisters, Britain's most treasured World War II veterans. Now in their nineties, Josephine and Penny are in demand, popping up at commemorative events all over the country. Despite their age, they're in great form-sprightly and sparky, and always in search of their next "excitement." This time it's a trip to Paris to receive the Légion d'honneur, accompanied by their devoted great-nephew, Archie. Keen historian Archie believes his great aunts had minor roles in the Women's Royal Navy and the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, but that's only half the story. There's a reason sweet Auntie Penny can dispatch a would-be mugger with a brolly. This trip to Paris is not what it seems either. Scandal and crime have quietly trailed the sisters since the war. Now armed with new information about an old adversary, these much decorated (but admittedly ancient) veterans intend to settle scores, avenge lost friends, and pull off one last heist before the curtain comes down on their illustrious careers.

Her teacher's pet, or his worst nightmare? Jessica Mooney seems like any other student at her university. She's talented, driven, and looks set to be this year's 'favourite' in charismatic Professor Crane's Law and Literature class. But unlike the other students competing for his good opinion, Jessica isn't what she seems. She's carrying a dark secret. Her sister is dead. Crane's to blame. And she's the only one who can bring him to justice. Will Jessica be able to get the answers and justice she seeks, or will her search for revenge destroy her first? The Favourite is by Rosemary Hennigan.

Lies cost lives. Three years ago police officer Georgina Ioannau was murdered, her killers never brought to justice. Now the prime suspects have been shot dead within hours of their return to the UK. Has someone finally taken the law into their own hands? Seeking out the truth will force Kate Daniels to confront her own past mistakes, and put her career, and her team's lives, on the line. The Longest Goodbye is by Mari Hannah. 

February 2024

It was my job to look and look and never look away, until I had captured every part of the scene, until I had told the story of those last moments that the dead could not...  For years, A.J. Hewitt was the first person into a crime scene. Before the detectives and the forensics team it was her alone with the body, the only sound her flashes firing as they lit up scenes of unimaginable horror. It was her job to shoot the photographs that revealed the circumstances of someone's final moments. Now in her debut book, The Darkroom, Hewitt takes us into the shadowy world of the crime scene photographer, and recounts remarkable tales, from murders to suicides, accidents to assassinations. In the tradition of Unnatural Causes, When the Dogs Don't Bark and All That Remains, this is a true crime book full of the wisdom that can be found in the darkness.

A true Victorian murder mystery... Great Yarmouth, September 1900: A young woman is found dead on the beach, a bootlace tied tightly around her neck. Despite her death attracting national attention in the press, nobody claims her. Detective Inspector Robert Lingwood of the Great Yarmouth police force declares he will not rest until the mystery of the young woman's death is solved. But it's only once the case has been referred to Scotland Yard that the layers of mystery start to peel away... 'Mrs Hood' was in fact Mary Jane Bennett, and this is her story. Following clues and tracking red herrings leads the police to close in on their one and only suspect. With arson, fraud, an affair and a sensation-hungry press, the murder gripped the nation in one of the most eagerly anticipated trials of the early twentieth century. The Mysterious Mrs Hood is by Kim Donovan who finally tells her great-great-aunt's story and the truth of evil duplicity in Victorian England

After the Carusos family home is destroyed by police with a no-knock warrant, the family struggle to return to normal. Two former inmates reunite on a TV set. They're both back on the straight and narrow ... until one sees the potential for an easy grift. A teenage boy must step into the man he'd like to be as a hostage crisis grips his hometown. A woman adrift meets a man tied to her grandmother's past, and awakens to the bloody history of the place she grew up. Owning Up is by George Pelecanos' and his portraits are characterized by shades of grey, resisting the mold of heroes and villains, victims and perpetrators, good and evil. At once streetwise and full of heart, Owning Up grapples with random chance, the bind of consequence, and the forked paths a life can take.

March 2024

As each prisoner dies, the bell will ring... After a drugs bust goes wrong, Deputy Sheriff Garrett Nelson is left wounded, with a permanent limp and a career in tatters. On his long road to recovery he finds one consolation - Hannah, his tough-as-nails physiotherapist, and soon they're planning a future together. Unfit for active police service, Nelson is left with few options, so he gratefully accepts his father-in-law's offer of a job at a Florida penitentiary on the grounds of an old Spanish mission in the Everglades. The prison's chapel, a working bell tower, is now an execution chamber. And Nelson must attend the executions. Working on Death Row comes with a few simple rules: - Do not let the inmates get under your skin. - Do not allow any prisoners to escape. - Do not take justice into your own hands. Garrett Nelson will break every one of them. The Bell Tower is by R J Ellory. 

Rome, 1659. Months after the plague has ravaged Rome, men are still dying in unnatural numbers, and rumour has it that their corpses do not decay as they should. The Papal authorities commission prosecutor Stefano Bracchi to investigate, telling him he will need considerable mettle to reach the truth. To the west of the Tiber, Girolama and her female friends are at work, helping other women with childbirths and foretelling their futures. Elsewhere in the city, a young wife, Anna, must find a way to escape her abusive husband. But in a city made by men for men, there are no easy paths out.  Stefano's investigation at the Tor di Nona prison will introduce him to horror, magic and an astonishing cast of characters. He will be left wondering if certain deeds should remain forever unpunished... The Book of Secrets is by Anna Mazzola.

Even Greater London 1887. An uninterrupted urban plane encompassing the entire lower half of England and, for complex reasons, only the upper third of the Isle of Wight. The immense Tower casts electricity through the sky, powering the mind-boggling mechanisms of the city. The engineer-army of Isambard Kingdom Brunel swarms across the capital, building, demolishing, and rebuilding whatever they see fit. And at the heart of it all sits the country's first private detective agency. Archibald Fleet and Clara Entwhistle hoped things would pick up quickly for their new enterprise. No-one is taking them seriously, but their break will come soon. Definitely. Probably. Meanwhile, police are baffled by a series of impossible bank robberies, their resources absorbed by the case. Which means that when a woman witnesses a kidnapping, Fleet-Entwhistle Private Investigations is the only place she can turn for help. They're more than happy to oblige! But what's the motive behind the kidnap? As Clara and Fleet investigate, they find more than they could ever have imagined . . . High Voltage is by Chris Sugden and Jen Sugden. 

April 2024

An innocent man faces execution. Can Baptiste save him? France, 1977. Baptiste is an intelligent but somewhat naive detective, sent to work in Clermiers, a town filled with corruption. A girl goes missing, presumed dead after bloody clothes are found close to an illicit party near an abandoned chateau. Baptiste believes he's nailed the culprit, the eccentric Gilles Mailloux. When he appears in court, the public call for the guillotine - and that's the sentence Mailloux gets. But as Mailloux awaits an appeal for clemency, he asks to see Baptiste, who's still haunted by the fact the girl's body remains missing. As the clock ticks towards execution hour, Baptiste begins to realise he may have made a terrible mistake... Baptiste is by David Hewson. 

Last Witness is by Lucie Whitehouse. One murder, three families destroyed. And a detective guilty of a crime of her own. When 18-year-old Ben Renshaw is found dead in city woodland, DCI Robin Lyons is plunged into one of Birmingham's most controversial cases. Months earlier, Ben and his best friend gave testimony that sent a former classmate, Alistair Heywood, to prison for a vicious sexual assault. Before the trial, the boys and their families endured months of brutal witness intimidation, for which the Heywoods, a privileged and influential local family, faced no legal repercussions. Instead, they vowed revenge. Is Ben's murder the fulfilment of that vow, the beginning of a bloody new chapter that will go on claim lives on all sides? Or is the truth - as the Heywoods claim - something entirely different? To solve the case, Robin has to negotiate the city's networks of power while walking a dangerous line: her own daughter, Lennie, has a secret that could threaten her liberty - and, if it comes out, Robin's, too. Before long, Robin comes to question whether she knows what justice is at all.

The Vanishing of John Blackwood is by Lisa Rookes. The debris from the night before is scattered underneath the village tree and across the cobbles. Red wine stains the ground like blood. And Joni has vanished. Joni Blackwood is my best friend. She was there for my first crush, stood beside me at my wedding, watched my daughter grow up. She's been there through the painful mess of the divorce, too. So when she suddenly goes missing on All Gallows' Eve, I'm first to raise the alarm. People outside the village say she must have been sacrificed in some pagan ritual. But All Gallows' Eve isn't like that. We're just simple folk enjoying an annual bonfire to keep an old tradition alive. It's mulled cider and local mums running charity bake sales to be in with a chance of winning Gallows Queen. Joni wins every year. My mum used to say this village was built on the roots of The Gallows Tree, that they're underneath the ground, under all of our houses. It used to scare me as a kid. Thick, snaking roots squirming under me. No matter how far you ran, they could tunnel after you. And when the bones of a small child are unearthed in the church graveyard, I have to wonder how many secrets are running through our village, like the roots of the tree. And I wonder if Joni can really outrun hers. And I wonder if I can really outrun mine.

May 2024

There are more than just secrets buried in these walls. It's the day of the demolition at White Cross Academy, and a crowd of former pupils and teachers have gathered to watch. But as the final charges are laid in the basement, the crew make a shocking discovery - a human skull. Former student DI Jennie Whitmore is assigned to the case, her first big murder investigation and one where there can be no room for mistakes. The remains are identified as Hannah Jennings, a popular, but troubled classmate who went missing during her lower Sixth year. As news of the body's discovery soon leaks, the small town erupts with intrigue, conspiracy and accusation. Jennie now finds herself at the heart of the storm, tasked with making up for the failings of the initial investigation to ensure that justice is finally done. At the centre is Hannah's five closest friends who used the basement as a base for the photography club. Jennie knows many of the suspects personally and she is convinced that one of this group of five knows the truth about what happened to the wilful, beguiling teenager. As Jennie unearths secrets buried deep, and lies repeatedly told, the assembled friends must reassess their past, before confronting the terrible realisation that one amongst them would rather kill to protect their new life, than pay for the sins of their teenage years. The Reunion is by M J Arlidge and Steph Broadribb.

June 2024

Farewell Amethystine is by Walter Mosley. The Easy Rawlins novels follow the infamous detective Easy Rawlins solving mysteries on the sun-soaked streets of Southern California. Ezekiel "Easy" Porterhouse Rawlins is an unlicensed private investigator turned hard-boiled detective always willing to do what it takes to get things done in the racially charged, dark underbelly of Los Angeles.

Daniel Clement has suffered a secret humiliation and to recover, takes respite at the monastery where he was a novice. But the monastery doesn't allow Daniel a break, for there are tensions building there too, as the secret past of novice master Father Paul is emerging. Tension mounts and a murder ensues. Meanwhile back at Champton, Daniel is the subject of village gossip, his mother Audrey is up to something again, there's trouble at the dress shop, up at the big house, and the puppies are running riot. Can Daniel be reconciled with detective Neil and solve the mystery? Murder at the Monastrey is by Richard Coles.

July 2024

Forget Me Not is by M J Arlidge. As a feud between drug gangs grips the city, a desperate mother begs DI Helen Grace to help find her teenage daughter. Grace soon discovers more missing girls, but the web of corruption she finds stretches far deeper and closer to home than she could have imagined. 

When coffee shop worker Cheryl meets handsome stranger Dale. It's a nightmare and a dream. Loan sharks keep banging at Cheryl's door. That is, until Dale sends them running for good with just a few words. A romance soon blossoms between Cheryl and Dale, whose family has bought the house next door to hers. But when Cheryl mwwts Dale's family, it's clear that they have dangerous secrets to hide. And as Cheryl uncovers the mystery of is family, it's clear that her life is in terrible danger. The Family is by Mandasue Heller.

Books to Look Forward to from Orion Publishing Group

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July 2018

In the slums of Nairobi there is a place where the fires burn constantly and the stench of decay never fades. Dandora, the city's dumping ground, is filled with shadowy figures the world has left behind. Here too are rumours of the night runners - those said to be possessed by spirits, or the devil.  Detective Mollel understands what it means to be an outsider. Born in a Maasai village and forever at odds with the corrupt ranks of the city police, he is drawn to the case of a Fatima, a young girl who has gone missing in the slum. His search takes him deep into Nairobi's underworld, from rap clubs to voodoo healers, and to the lair of the self-styled overlord of Dandora. He learns that Fatima is not the first person to have disappeared, and to find out what has happened to her, Mollel must open his mind to things he cannot see...  Night Runners is by Richard Crompton

The White Devil is by Domenic Stansberry.  Vittoria, as she's known in Italy, is a small-time actress who left behind a dark past in her native Texas and followed her fading writer husband to the Eternal City.

Guided by her controlling, obsessive brother Johnny, Vittoria soon enters the upper circles of Roman society, becoming a paparazzi darling and mingling with shady cardinals and corrupt senators. Among them is Paolo Orsini, who quickly falls prey to Vittoria's charms. Too bad he's married; too bad his wife, an aging film icon, is murdered.  From the ravishing beauty of Rome - a city of dark secrets held within the frescoed walls of glamorous palazzos - to the pristine beaches of Malibu and the dangerous alleys of a mysterious South American city, Vittoria finds herself at the heart of a lethal chase, spiralling dangerously out of control...

EVERY STEP...  Paul Davis forgets things - he gets confused, he has sudden panic attacks. But he wasn't always like this.  TAKES YOU CLOSER...  Eight months ago, Paul found two dead bodies in the back of a co-worker's car. He was attacked, left for dead, and has been slowly recovering ever since. His wife tries her best but fears the worst...  TO THE TRUTH...  Therapy helps during the days, but at night he hears things - impossible things - that no one else can. That nobody else believes. Either he's losing his mind - or someone wants him to think he is.  Just because he's paranoid doesn't mean it's not happening...  A Noise Downstairs is by Linwood Barclay.

August 2018

A Double Life is by Flynn Berry.  Some wounds need more than time. They crave revenge.Claire's father is a privileged man: handsome, brilliant, the product of an aristocratic lineage and an expensive education, surrounded by a group of devoted friends who would do anything for him.  But when he becomes the prime suspect in a horrific attack on Claire's mother - an outsider who married into the elite ranks of society and dared escape her gilded cage - fate and privilege collide, and a scandal erupts.  Claire's father disappears overnight, his car abandoned, blood on the front seat.  Thirty years after that hellish night, Claire is obsessed with uncovering the truth, and she knows that the answer is held behind the closed doors of beautiful townhouses and country estates, safeguarded by the same friends who all those years before had answered the call to protect one of their own.  Because they know where Claire's father is.  They helped him escape.  And it's time their pristine lives met her fury.

How far would you go...  Gina Mills is desperate to be a newsreader, but her boss - the director of the struggling Channel Eight, won't help.  Walking home one night, Gina stumbles upon a dead body, and after calling the police, she makes the split-second decision to report the murder live.  When questioned by the police, Gina can't remember specific details about her discovery, but these memory gaps are explained away as shock.  ...to uncover your family's deadly secret?  But when Gina finds a second body, it's clear she's being targeted. But why?  And how is this connected to the death of Gina's younger sister so many years ago?  The Other Sister is by Elle Croft

Private Investigator Alma is caught up in another impossible murder. One of the world's four richest people may be dead - but nobody is sure which one. Hired to discover the truth behind the increasingly bizarre behaviour of the ultra-rich, Alma must juggle treating her terminally ill lover with a case which may not have a victim. Inspired by the films of Kubrick, this stand-alone novel returns to the near-future of The Real Town Murders, and puts Alma on a path to a world she can barely understand.   By The Pricking of Her Thumbs is by Adam Roberts.

September 2018

Anna Byrne is a jailhouse librarian. Most days, she loves her job and shares the life-affirming power of books to people who would have no hope without them. Often, she can get too close and forget some of these men are dangerous criminals.  But some of them never had a chance. Like Michael Hudson, who's been locked up awaiting trial before his sudden release. He's happy and relieved but can't shake the question preying on his mind: how comes the witness who put him behind bars is suddenly refusing to testify?  There's a man who might have the answer, but he wants something first. Phil Ornazian is a private investigator who moonlights as a petty criminal. He's not exactly proud of it, but times are hard in Washington D.C. People have to change to survive, or die trying.  But everything comes at a price and, at some point, everyone has to pay.  The Man Who Came Upstairs is by George Pelecanos.

John Rebus is not as young as he was, but his detective instincts have never left him. And after the daughter of a murder victim turns up outside his flat, he's going to need them at their sharpest. Enlisting the help of his old friend DI Siobhan Clarke, Rebus is determined to solve this cold case once and for all. But Clarke has problems of her own, problems that will put her at odds with her long-time mentor and push him into seeking help from his age-old adversary: 'Big Ger' Cafferty.This haunting story takes Rebus to places he has never been before, sets him and his long-time foe on a collision course and takes us deeper into one of the most satisfying conflicts in modern fiction.  Rebus: Long Shadows is by Ian Rankin and Rona Munro.

Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita is one of the most beloved and notorious novels of all time. And yet, very few of its readers know that the subject of the novel was inspired by a real-life case: the 1948 abduction of eleven-year-old Sally Horner. Weaving together suspenseful crime narrative, cultural and social history, and literary investigation, The Real Lolita tells Sally Horner's full story for the very first time. Drawing upon extensive investigations, legal documents, public records and interviews with remaining relatives, Sarah Weinman uncovers how much Nabokov knew of the Sally Horner case and the efforts he took to disguise that knowledge during the process of writing and publishing Lolita. Sally Horner's story echoes the stories of countless girls and women who never had the chance to speak for themselves. By diving deeper in the publication history of Lolita and restoring Sally to her rightful place in the lore of the novel's creation, The Real Lolita is by Sarah Weinman and casts a new light on the dark inspiration for a modern classic.

October 2018

In a house of lies, who can ever know the truth?  John Rebus might be retired, but he's far from finished. In this brand new mystery from the peerless Ian Rankin, the ex-DI returns alongside series stalwart Detective Siobhan Clarke in a case that will dredge up the secrets of the past and disrupt an even murkier present.  In a House of Lies is by Ian Rankin.

In a thrilling new partnership, Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly picks up the story of  detective Harry Bosch in the first novel in a new series, pairing Bosch’s talents with that of Renee Ballard, who made her entrance in the Ballard series-opener The Late Show.At the end of a long, dark night Detectives Renee Ballard and Harry Bosch cross paths for the very first time.  Detective Renee Ballard is working the graveyard shift again, and returns to Hollywood Station in the early hours only to find that an older man has snuck in and is rifling through old file cabinets. The intruder is none other than legendary LAPD detective Hieronymus ‘Harry’ Bosch, working a cold case that has crept under his skin.  Unimpressed, Ballard kicks him out, but eventually Bosch persuades her to help and she reluctantly relents. Because Bosch is on the trail of a cold-case which refuses to stay buried; investigating the death of fifteen-year-old Daisy Clayton, a runaway who was brutally murdered. It’s a case that haunts Bosch - who crossed paths with Daisy’s devastated mother on a previous case. As Bosch and Ballard are drawn deeper into the mystery of her murder, they find there are more surprises awaiting them in the darkness.

Annie is the dream wife. Supportive, respectful, mild-mannered - everything her husband wants her to be. But underneath, she is so much more. Annie is a prisoner in her own life. Her finances, her routine and her contact with the outside world are all controlled by him. Only her love for her little boy keeps her sane, and at night she escapes into a dream world where she is free.  But Annie is about to do a very bad thing.  And you won’t believe how she is going to do it.  A Good Wife is by Louisa de Lange.

November 2018

Crimea, 1914.  When the Tzar's head of security is assassinated, Fandorin is called to investigate: the killer has been overheard mentioning a 'black city' so Fandorin and his trusty companion, Masa, head to Baku, the burgeoning capital of oil.  But as soon as they arrive, they are attacked and Fandorin almost drowns in an oil well. Saved by a stranger who hides him in the labyrinth of Baku's Old City, Fandorin begins to suspect the plot might be part of something larger - and much more dangerous.  With war brewing in the Balkans, and Europe's empires struggling to contain the threat of revolution, Fandorin must try and solve his difficult case yet before time runs out.  Black City is by Boris Akunin.

'It was the news they had all been dreading, confirmation of a fourth victim.'  When the body of a young woman is found by a Northumberland railway line, it's a baptism of fire for the Murder Investigation Team's newest detective duo: DCI David Stone and DS Frankie Oliver. The case is tough by anyone's standards, but Stone is convinced that there's a leak in his team - someone is giving the killer a head start on the investigation. Until he finds out who, Stone can only trust his partner.  But Frankie is struggling with her own past. And she isn't the only one being driven by a personal vendetta. The killer is targeting these women for a reason. And his next target is close to home….  The Insider is by Mari Hannah.

 

Dark Sky Island is by Lara Dearman.  DCI Michael Gilbert is called out to Sark - the world's first dark sky island - after bones are found on Derrible Bay. He is followed by journalist Jennifer Dorey, driven by a secret in her own past. The remains are decades old, but after a body is discovered Jennifer and Michael fear there may be a killer on the island. Together they follow a dark trail of bad blood and a conspiracy of silence.  Everyone on the island is under suspicion. No one is what they seem. And the murderer could strike again at any time... 

Lies Sleeping is by Ben Aaronovitch.  Martin Chorley, aka the Faceless Man, wanted for multiple counts of murder, fraud, and crimes against humanity, has been unmasked and is on the run. Peter Grant, Detective Constable and apprentice wizard, now plays a key role in an unprecedented joint operation to bring Chorley to justice.  But even as the unwieldy might of the Metropolitan Police bears down on its foe, Peter uncovers clues that Chorley, far from being finished, is executing the final stages of a long term plan. A plan that has its roots in London’s two thousand bloody years of history, and could literally bring the city to its knees.  To save his beloved city Peter’s going to need help from his former best friend and colleague–Lesley May–who brutally betrayed him and everything he thought she believed in.  And, far worse, he might even have to come to terms with the malevolent supernatural killer and agent of chaos known as Mr Punch…

December 2018

For The Missing is by Lina Bengtsdotter.  She must find Annabelle. Before it's too late.  When a teenage girl goes missing from a small town, the local police start to buckle under the pressure.  Enter Charlie Lager, the brilliant but conflicted Detective Inspector sent from Stockholm to solve the mystery of Annabelle's disappearance.  Her superiors don't know that Charlie grew up in this very town - and she's determined to keep it that way. But as she gets closer to the truth, cracks begin to form in her own lies.  Can Charlie find Annabelle before her darkest secrets are brought to light? FOR THE MISSING, time is running out

ONLY A MOTHER . Erica Wright lives a quiet, lonely life in her two-bed end of terrace. Her front door hasn't been graffitied in more than a year but that's soon about to change - her son, Craig, is being released from prison.  COULD BELIEVE HIM.  Local journalist, Luke Harding is determined to warn the public. As the person who covered the arrest and trial all those years ago, he knows the kind of predator Craig really is.  COULD BURY THE TRUTh.  Luke's worst fears are realised after a girl goes missing days after Craig's release and he becomes obsessed with trying to prove that Craig was behind it.  COULD FORGIVE WHAT HE HAS DONE.  Erica is worried, too - but how can a mother turn her back on her son? And how far will she go to protect him?  Only a Mother is by Elizabeth Carpenter.

January 2019

Only she knows what happened.  Only I can make her speak.  Alicia Berenson shoots her husband in the head five times, and then never speaks again.  Forensic psychotherapist Theo Faber must find a way to get Alicia Berenson to talk if he wants to treat her. Only then can he unravel the shocking events of that night five years before.  The Silent Patient is by Alex Michaelides.

I've been watching you DS Alice Parr.  I saw you trying to save the poor young woman you found in the park.  The woman I tried to kill.  I've been waiting for you to find her family. To find someone who cares about her.  But you can't can you?  You've never had a case like this.  I know everything about you. You know nothing about me.  Even though I'm the man you're looking for.  And you will never catch me...  To Catch a Killer is by Emma Kavanagh.

Mchael J Malone on the Enduring Resilience of Crime Fiction.

My memory is a tad foggy these days, but it must have been around 2003/ 2004 when I received rejections for my first crime novel. What I do clearly remember is one agent rejecting me because she thought crime fiction was waning in popularity.

Present me thinks; narrow escape – that was one agent with a finger on the pulse. Not.

What is absolutely clear is that crime fiction, in all its various forms remains incredibly popular, in fact recent sales figures show that it is outstripping other genres in the UK with amounts of £200 million a year being mentioned.

So why the enduring popularity? Why do Brits like nothing more than to curl up in a chair (usually with wind and rain beating against the window) with some literary dastardly goings on in their sweaty mitt?

Now I can’t speak for anyone else, but as a long-time fan of the genre there are several things that I look for when I’m parting with my hard-earned.

Character. I want to meet someone on the page who engages me, for whatever reason. I might sympathise with them and want to see them get out of the terrible situation they have found themselves in. I might love to hate them and want to see them get their comeuppance. And if the writer manages to get both of these in a book, boy will they have me pressing on through looking for answers.

Writers to check out– William McIlvanney, Louise Beech and John Connolly.

Plot. It’s not enough that I engage with the character, I want something to happen. I remember years ago reading a novel where the writing was beautiful and the character was appealing, but nothing fricking happened! I lasted till about half way before I gave up on the book. A lot of the critics of the crime genre – most of whom clearly haven’t read any – use the issue of plot in a crime novel as the basis of their criticism, but poor plotting is lazy writing in any genre. When the plot grows out of the character and is consistent with their needs and wants, I’m off and running.

Great storytellers – Jeffrey Deaver, Val McDermid, Paul Hardisty and Martina Cole

Themes and issues. I don’t want to be lectured or hit over the head with a message but if a theme or issue is highlighted in the book and the character’s struggle with it is demonstrated through the events that happen to them, my heart as well as my mind is engaged, and I’ve got me a winner.

Writers who make me think – George Pelecanos, Denise Mina, Helen Fitzgerald and Don Winslow

Humour. Let’s face it, crime fiction can deal with some pretty meaty subjects and humanity

at its absolute worst, and if that misery is unrelenting for 300 or so pages it can really weigh me down. So, I love it when a writer chooses her or his moment to slide in a slice of humour to lighten the load a little.

Writers who make me laugh – Carl Hiassen, Chris Brookmyre and Douglas Skelton.

Word choice. Elmore Leonard in his famous rules on writing said that if something sounds like writing he re-writes it. I understand where he’s coming from. If something pushes you out of the fictive dream then it has to go – but – and I hesitate to disagree with such a master – isn’t it wonderful when an author hits you with a surprising noun or verb? Or when they gift you with a sentence that lights up in your mind’s ear like sparkling candy does in your mouth? I love words, I love the feel and sound of them as they trip from the mouth and hit the air, and for me a novel where the author has taken time to pepper their prose with such goodies makes me want to stand up and applaud.

Strong prose stylists – Megan Abbott, Tana French, James Lee Burke and Michael Grothaus.

House of Spines by Michael J Malone (Orenda Books)

Ran McGhie's world has been turned upside down. A young, lonely and frustrated writer, and suffering from mental-health problems, he discovers that his long-dead mother was related to one of Glasgow's oldest merchant families. Not only that, but Ran has inherited Newton Hall, a vast mansion that belonged to his great-uncle, who appears to have been watching from afar as his estranged great-nephew has grown up. Entering his new-found home, he finds that Great-Uncle Fitzpatrick has turned it into a temple to the written word - the perfect place for poet Ran. But everything is not as it seems. As he explores the Hall's endless corridors, Ran's grasp on reality appears to be loosening. And then he comes across an ancient lift; and in that lift a mirror. And in the mirror ... the reflection of a woman ....

Buy it from SHOTS A Store.