Forthcoming Crime Books From Michael Joseph

 January 2023

The Drift is by C J Tudor. Survival can be murder... During a deadly snowstorm, Hannah awakens to carnage, all mangled metal and shattered glass. Evacuated from a secluded boarding school, her coach careered off the road, trapping her with a handful of survivors. Meg awakens to a gentle rocking. She's in a cable car stranded high above snowy mountains, with five strangers and no memory of how they got on board. Carter is gazing out of the window of an isolated ski chalet that he and his companions call home. As their generator begins to waver in the storm, the threat of something lurking in the chalet's depths looms larger. Outside, the storm rages. Inside one group, a killer lurks. But which one? And who will make it out alive?

Blood is thicker than water . . . and murder is best kept in the family. At first the townspeople of Cherryvale welcome the arrival of medium Kate Bender and her family. Kate's messages from the Beyond give their dreams hope, and her mother's potions cure their ills - for a price. No one knows about their other business, the shortcut they offer to a better life. And why shouldn't Kate's family prosper? They're careful. It's only from those who are marked, those who travel alone and can easily disappear, that the Benders demand their pound of flesh. But even a gifted seer like Kate can make a misstep. Now as the secrets festering beneath the soil of the family orchard threaten to bring them all to ruin, the Benders must sharpen their craft - or vanish themselves . . .All the Blood We Share is by Camilla Bruce.

You Should Have Told Me is by Leah Konen. When Janie and Max welcomed their newborn daughter, they hoped life would be complete. But six weeks in, Janie is sleep-deprived and struggling to adjust - she relies on Max more than ever. Until the night he doesn't come home. Alone with her baby and desperate for answers, Janie searches for Max. But when a woman's body is found, his disappearance raises serious alarms - for Janie, and for the police. The harder she looks for him, the more Janie realises how much Max has been hiding. And when it becomes clear he's the prime suspect in the murder, Janie faces an awful question: How much does she really know about the man she loves? . . 

February 2023

As a child, Evan Smoak was plucked out of a group home, raised and trained as an off-the-books assassin for the government as part of the Orphan program. When he broke with the program and went deep underground, he left with a lot of secrets in his head that the government would do anything to make sure never got out. When he remade himself as The Nowhere Man, dedicated to helping the most desperate in their times of trouble, Evan found himself slowly back on the government's radar. Having eliminated most of the Orphans in the program, the government will stop at nothing to eliminate the threat they see in Evan. But Orphan X has always been several steps ahead of his pursuers. Until he makes one little mistake . . . Now the President has him in her control and offers Evan a deal - eliminate a rich, powerful man she says is too dangerous to live and, in turn, she'll let Evan survive. But when Evan left the Program he swore to only use his skills against those who really deserve it. Now he has to decide what's more important - his principles or his life. The Last Orphan is by Gregg Hurwitz.

March 2023

The Half Burnt House is by Alex North. Katie always looked after her beloved younger brother Chris - until she left him alone for one selfish afternoon, and their picture-perfect family fell apart. Although Chris survived the attack, the scars ran deeper than the ones left across his face. Now they're adults, and they haven't spoken in years. Then she gets a call, from Detective Laurence Page. Page is facing an unusually disturbing crime scene. Alan Hobbes, a distinguished and wealthy philosophy professor, has been brutally murdered. Hobbes was living in a sprawling mansion - but one that remains half-ruined by a decades-old fire, wind and rain howling through the gaping, creaking roof. Page only has one suspect: Chris, caught on CCTV at the house. But he has plenty of questions. What could cause a man as wealthy as Hobbes not to repair his home? Why did he seem to know his death was coming, yet do nothing to stop it? And why was he obsessed with a legendary local serial killer? But Katie only has one thing on her mind. She knows this is her last, best chance to finally save her brother, and make up for her negligence all those years ago. But she can't possibly imagine just how much danger he's in...

April 2023

Aisling's two sons, Ethan and Finn, mean everything to her. Ever since becoming estranged from her own parents, though, she's always felt like a piece of her is missing. Desperate to find answers - about her family, and herself - Aisling uploads her DNA to an ancestry website, and is thrilled when it finds a match. But instead of finding answers, she comes face to face with a detective. Aisling's DNA is a match for a recent crime scene - the latest in a string of murders by a dangerous serial killer, known as 'the bonfire killer'. And the police have three lead suspects: her father, or one of her two sons. Aisling would do anything for her family - but can she protect a killer? A Killer in the Family is by Gytha Lodge.

May 2023

Just Another Missing Person is by Gillian McAllister. Olivia: 22 years old. No history of running away. Last seen on CCTV, entering a dead-end alley. And not coming back out again. Missing for one day and counting . . . Julia is the detective heading up the case. She knows what to expect. A desperate family, a ticking clock, and long hours away from her daughter. But Julia has no idea how close to home it's going to get. Because her family's safety depends on one thing: Julia must NOT find out what happened to Olivia - and must frame somebody else for her murder . . . What would you do?

Vienna, 1946 A brilliant German scientist spirited out of the ruins Nazi Europe in search of a new life. Moscow, 1964 A rising star of the British diplomatic service whose job is not what it seems. London the Present day. A once promising academic offered an opportunity to seal his place in history. Their stories, their lives, and the fate of the world, are bound by a single document: The Scarlet Papers. The devastating secrets contained within teased by a brief invitation: Tomorrow 11AM. Take a cab and pay in cash. Tell no one. The Scarlet Papers is by Matthew Richardson.

June 2023

The Last Goodbye is by Tim Weaver. One day ago … On the night Tom Brenner and his nine-year-old son Leo visit the Seven Peaks theme park, they head straight for the ghost house. They go in. But they don't come out. Somewhere inside the ride, impossible as it seems, the two of them simply vanish. Forty Years ago....When Rebekah Murphy was three, her mother walked out of their childhood home and never returned. Nearly four decades on, Fiona Murphy is still missing. But then, out of the blue, a letter arrives in the post. It says it's from Fiona. What is the connection? Missing persons investigator David Raker is hired by Rebekah to find out if the letter is actually from Fiona - and, if it isn't, why someone would pretend to be her. But this is a mystery whose secrets were never meant to be found. And as Raker starts to connect the dots from Fiona to the Brenners, he begins to realise he can't trust anyone - even the people closest to him...

When she's gifted a once-in-a-lifetime Antarctic cruise, Olivia has never been anywhere so spectacular. Huge cliffs of ice loom up to the sky. The sun never sets over the sparkling sea. And there's a killer on board... Unable to sleep in the endless eerie daylight, Olivia has no idea who she can trust. And if she can't figure it out soon, she won't make it back alive. Midnight is by Amy McCulloch.

Night Will Find You is by Julia Heaberlin. Vivvy Bouchet saved a boy's life when she was a child, after a premonition. That boy is now a Texas police officer, who has always believed Vivvy is psychic. He convinces her to help him solve a high-profile cold case: three-year-old Lizzie Solomon disappeared in broad daylight from her home. A body was never found, but the child's mother, Nicolette, is in prison for the disappearance, loudly proclaiming her innocence. When a popular podcaster hears of Vivvy's involvement in the case, his conspiracy theories about the missing child, and Vivvy too, have an army of fans hanging on every dangerous word. But when it becomes clear there may be a kidnapper - or killer - still on the loose, Vivvy knows there's more to lose than her reputation. Because the difference between the truth and a lie can mean life or death . . .

Fatal Shore Festival of Crime Writing – All Day Event

As part of Shoreham Wordfest Festival that is taking place between 3rd and 16th October 2022 a one-day crime writing event is being curated and hosted by William Shaw and Elly Griffiths on Saturday 15t October 2022.

 

Details of the programme for the day can be found here. Further information about buying tickets can be found here.

Why We Listen to Psychopaths: The compelling testimony of the smartest, coldest figures in literature

“You caught me because we’re very much alike. Without our imaginations, we’d be like all those other poor dullards. Fear is the price of our instrument".

Hannibal Lecter delivered those lines to Special Agent Will Graham while supposedly helping him to catch a serial killer (and actually trying to get him and his family killed by said killer. Classic.) 

What Hannibal engages in here is some textbook psychopathic manipulation. He begins by telling Will that they are they are different and special, with their own bond. He gives Will the ultimate compliment in telling him he is a psychopath like him. He must be, because it takes a psychopath to imagine how another’s mind might work. 

But Lecter’s comment says more than this, too. It sums up, neatly, the particular draw that the psychopath has on all of us. They provide a vividness and imagination that is anything but dull. Time spent with one is, at first at least, addictive and enthralling and enlivening. It throws everything else into the shade – but it comes at a cost. 

In fiction, that cost can range from the small – like having to live with someone who might just decide to kill you – to the major. We’ll call this worst option “They kill everyone you know and then either kill you, or frame you.” 

For some reason, despite the obviousness of this cost, we can’t get enough of psychopaths. From Villanelle in Killing Eve to Amy Dunne in Gone Girl; from Tom Ripley and all his talents, to Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes. From the Marquise and Visconte in Liaisons Dangereuses, to the dark antics of Dexter: we are fascinated by them. And of course there’s Hannibal himself, the most-quoted psychopath of them all, and the reason Antony Hopkins rarely gets invited to kids’ parties. 

It isn’t just that we like to watch them do their evil misdeeds. It is, I think, more profound than that. We crave their insight, because they have an ability to cut through all the layers of social conditioning and say piercing truths that none of us are willing to. They are, in literature at least, always profoundly smart. 

And there’s a small part of us that wants them to be redeemable, too. We are desperate for them to turn out to be the charming, likable version of themselves that they put forward when it suits them (usually right at the beginning or just as you are about to tell them “no”). We want them to genuinely see the main character as special in the way that they claim, and to go out of their way to save them from harm. 

I was certainly conscious of all this when writing Keely, my very own psychopathic young woman, in Little Sister. She is someone who seems to have been willing to sacrifice anything to get what she wanted, including her own younger sister Nina, and in the early chapters, sits opposite DCI Jonah Sheens, telling him that he needs to play her game or never see Nina alive again.

The problem for Jonah is that, like so many of those who encounter a psychopath, he doesn’t know whether to believe what she is telling him; or to treat her as you might a snake. And every sudden rush of belief in her as human comes up against her biting sarcasm – or against what seems to be cold, hard reality. 

So why does Jonah keep trying, and why do all of us want to hang in there, too?

Intellect without empathy

The strange thing about our belief in psychopaths is that we look to them for an understanding of human nature. It’s strange because these people lack empathy, the one quality necessary to really understand the people around us. In its place, psychopaths have (in fiction at least) pure intellect, which has allowed them to learn how to manipulate people. They may not have always grasped complex emotions, but they have recognised what ordinary peoples’ grubbier desires are and how to control them. And though they lack any morality, they are quite happy to use other people’s desire to be moral for their own ends. It immediately gives them a starting bonus. Think Iago in Othello, mocking his superior for his “foolish honesty” and using it to destroy him. 

And yet, in spite of their lack of empathy, these villainous psychopaths so often deliver exactly the kind of insight that makes us feel like they’re voicing all the thoughts we’ve had but not been able to put into words. Take, for example, Amy Dunne’s glorious rant about “cool girls” in Gone Girl. 

“Men always say that as the defining compliment, don’t they? She’s a cool girl. Being the Cool Girl means I am a hot, brilliant, funny woman who adores football, poker, dirty jokes, and burping, who plays video games, drinks cheap beer, loves threesomes… Men actually think this girl exists. Maybe they’re fooled because so many women are willing to pretend to be this girl… You are not dating a woman, you are dating a woman who has watched too many movies written by socially awkward men who’d like to believe that this kind of woman exists and might kiss them.”

If you’re anything like me, it’s impossible to read that as a woman and not feel as though Amy Dunne has cut to the heart of your own discomfort with this kind of woman: a woman held up as an ideal, but who is acting with only the male gaze in mind. It’s wonderful to have that behaviour exposed. Liberating.

The same can be said for the Marquise de Merteuil’s reflections on the status of women in Les Liaisons Dangereuses: 

“I already knew that the role I was condemned to, namely to keep quiet and do what I was told, gave me the perfect opportunity to listen and observe… I became a virtuoso of deceit. It wasn't pleasure I was after, it was knowledge. I consulted the strictest moralists to learn how to appear, philosophers to find out what to think, and novelists to see what I could get away with. And in the end, I distilled everything to one wonderfully simple principle: win or die.”

Like Amy, she rages against how society is attempting to make her and other women behave, and chooses another path. But such observations are also part of the psychopath’s toolkit. By revealing them to us, we’ve been drawn into a feeling of fellowship with Amy, and with the Marquise. We feel that we might sympathise with her. We might even like her. 

These thoughts may also, perhaps, not be quite true. Just like Lecter’s reflections on Will or Clarice, those harsher thoughts of ours about “cool girls” – those tired-and-fed-up judgements that she is echoing – may be no more the right answer than the ones wrapped in social norms and empathy. People are complex, after all. They might like the things they claim to like more than Amy Dunne understands. And the Marquise’s thoughts about being condemned to “shut up and do as she was told” are perhaps belied by the way other clever women of her generation lived their lives. 

I had Keely Lennox paint a similarly harsh portrait of human nature. She tells Jonah:

“We all have the same savage possibility in us. I know I do. Mine got stripped pretty bare by everything. To find my sister, you have to look in the mirror, and actually see what’s there. Have a good delve into all the dark places. At all the times you’ve chosen your own interests over someone else’s. All the petty or selfish things you’ve done. 

Isn’t it weird how, with all those things, you can still hold it all together and tell yourself you’re a good person? That’s because you didn’t have the same pressure I did. You know, I’d probably be a lot like you if all the bad stuff had happened later. It wasn’t really child-appropriate, any of it. The trouble is, nobody’s overseeing this stuff, and life just does its thing. It has basically no respect for ratings.”

It’s persuasive and engaging, and like Hannibal Lecter’s words to the officers who come to see him, it puts Jonah and Keely on a level to a certain extent. But is it honestly true?

In both Amy and the Marquise’s cases, there were other courses of actions open to them than the destructive ones they took. Amy might simply have exposed her husband’s affair, instead of framing him for murder. The Marquise might have sought a partner who saw her as an equal and gathered like-minded people around her. But that was never their game. 

Playing nicely wasn’t Keely’s game, either. But it isn’t clear to Jonah or his team whether that happened out of choice – or out of necessity. And I won’t spoil the surprise here by revealing all…

The hope of redemption

And so we come on to the other incredibly appealing side to the psychopath: that strange hope in all of us that the bad will be redeemed. It is a trope seen over and over again in literature: most commonly in the bad boy turned good, but only because of the love of a particular person, or the friendship of another. 

It is this trope that underlies the draw of The Silence of the Lambs, and still more so the Hannibal TV spin-off. We have seen Will Graham and then Clarice Starling finally get to Hannibal. They have each of them become a soul-mate. An equal. Someone with a bond that goes beyond the normal. Instead of simply voicing a recognition of them in order to manipulate, Hannibal has in each case become emotionally entangled with the investigating officer. It is never more clear than when, in the series, Hannibal asks Will Graham, “Do you think you can change me as I’ve changed you?” We know that Will is right when he replies that he already has.

We see it clearly in Villanelle’s relationship with Eve, where the psychopathic assassin is suddenly drawn to care for and protect the woman she becomes besotted with. And once again, this obsessive care is reserved for Eve and Eve only. Her husband and friends are no more than collateral. 

We see it in the development of Joe Goldberg in Caroline Kepnes’s You series, and even in Humbert Humbert in Lolita. We see it in Amy Dunne’s bloody return to Nick after he calls to her on-air in Gone Girl; and in the Visconte Valmont’s respect and love for Madame de Tourvel in Les Liaisons Dangereuses - while he continues to treat Cecile Volanges as though she is worthless. 

The fascinating side to all of this is that we all of us appear to identify with the main character in these scenarios. We take satisfaction from seeing the psychopath not only become to a very limited extent good, but more importantly, besotted. Even when the psychopath still treats others with as little care as ever, and perhaps almost because they still do, we find ourselves drawn to them and this new close relationship.

There’s a real question to ask, here, about what makes this so fascinating. The answer seems, to me, clear. We’re all of us, when becoming absorbed in these books or films, seeing ourselves in those main characters. And that means that we have been singled out as special by the psychopath. That manipulative, charming man or woman with their promise that we meant something has suddenly decided that we really did mean something. This hardest of people to please and reach has actually come to like and respect us.

And somehow, this is the very best prize of all.

Little Sister by Gytha Lodge is published on 28th April by Penguin Michael Joseph. 

Two sisters went missing. Only one of them came back... Detective Jonah Sheens is enjoying a moment of peace and quiet, when a teenage girl wanders out of the wood. She's striking, with flame-red hair and a pale complexion. She's also covered in blood. She insists she's fine. It's her sister he needs to worry about. Jonah quickly discovers that Keely and her sister, Nina, disappeared from a children's home a week ago. Now, Keely is here - but Nina's still missing. Keely likes to play games. She knows where her sister is - but before she tells, she wants Jonah's full attention. Is she killer, witness, or victim? And will Jonah find out what Keely's hiding, in time to save Nina?

You can follow Gytha Lodge on Twitter @theGyth. You can also find her on Facebook

Books To Look Forward To From Penguin Michael Joseph

 January 2022

When her husband Harry walks out after just six months, a girls' weekend away with two friends seems like just what Sam needs. But they aren't even halfway to their destination when things start to go wrong: car trouble that just happens to leave them stranded in the town where Harry lives. And that's only the beginning. Because there are three things Sam doesn't yet know: One of her friends is lying about what happened. One is lying about who she is. And one of them will never make it home . . . The Perfect Escape is by Leah Konen

February 2022

Dark Horse is by Gregg Hurwitz. The hero - Evan Smoak: former off-the-books assassin - code name Orphan X. His world is divided into those who deserve his help and those who've brought his singular brand of justice upon themselves. The victim - A desperate father reaches out. His teenage daughter Anjelina has been kidnapped by a brutal criminal cartel and spirited over the border into Mexico. And while money is no object, Evan soon realises that his prospective client's past is as clouded and compromised as his own. The mission - If Evan is going to put his life on the line to rescue Anjelina, he must first decide whether he can act on behalf of a bad man. And even then, up against the men who are holding his daughter, there will be no guarantee of success...

When struggling journalist Cecily Wong is invited to join an expedition to climb one of the world's tallest mountains, it seems like the chance of a lifetime. She doesn't realise how deadly the climb will be. As their small team starts to climb, things start to go wrong. There's a theft. Then an accident. Then a mysterious note, pinned to her tent: there's a murderer on the mountain. The higher they get, the more dangerous the climb becomes, and the more they need to trust one another. Breathless is by Amy McCulloch. 

March 2022

This Might Hurt is by Stephanie Wrobel. Natalie Collins always has a plan. Her troubled younger sister Kit rarely does. Until Kit finds Wisewood, a secretive self-help retreat on a secluded Maine island. It promises you'll leave a better, braver version of yourself. But why does it forbid contact with the outside world? Why are there no testimonies from previous guests? Natalie fears it is some kind of cult. Then, after six months of silence, she receives an email from Wisewood: Would you like to come tell your sister what you did - or should we? Who is digging into the sisters' past? How did they discover Natalie's secret? A secret that will destroy Kit. She has no choice but to go to Wisewood, to find out if this place of healing has more sinister motives. But as she's about to discover, Wisewood is far easier to enter than to leave.

April 2022

Four friends. One night. Not everyone will come out alive. In the swirling snow of a deadly Icelandic storm, four friends seek shelter in a small abandoned hunting lodge. Miles from help, and knowing they will die outside in the cold, they break open the lock and make their way inside, hoping to wait out the storm until morning. But nothing can prepare them for what they find behind the door . . . Inside the cabin lurks a dangerous presence that chills them to their core. Outside, certain death from exposure awaits. So with no other option, they find themselves forced to spend a long, terrifying night in the cabin, watching as intently and silently as they are being watched themselves. But as the evening darkens, old secrets are beginning to find their way to the light. And as the tension escalates between the four friends, it soon becomes clear that the danger they discovered lurking in the cabin is far from the only mystery that will be uncovered tonight. Nor the only thing to be afraid of . . . Outside is by Ragnar Jónasson

Nobody But Us is by Laure Van Rensburg. Steven Harding is a handsome, well-respected professor. Ellie Masterson is a wide-eyed young college student. Together, they are driving south from New York, for their first holiday: three days in an isolated cabin, far from the city. Ahead of them, the promise of long, dark nights - and the chance to explore one another's bodies, away from prying eyes. It should be a perfect, romantic trip for two. Except that he's nt who he says he is. But then again, neither is she...

Two sisters went missing. Only one of them came back... Detective Jonah Sheens is enjoying a moment of peace and quiet, when a teenage girl wanders out of the wood. She's striking, with flame-red hair and a pale complexion. She's also covered in blood. She insists she's fine. It's her sister he needs to worry about. Jonah quickly discovers that Keely and her sister, Nina, disappeared from a children's home a week ago. Now, Keely is here - but Nina's still missing. Keely likes to play games. She knows where her sister is - but before she tells, she wants Jonah's full attention. Is she killer, witness, or victim? And will Jonah find out what Keely's hiding, in time to save Nina? Little Sister is by Gytha Lodge.

May 2022

It's every parent's nightmare. Your happy, funny, innocent son commits a terrible crime: murdering a complete stranger. You don't know who. You don't know why. You only know your teenage boy is in custody and his future lost. That night you fall asleep in despair. Until you wake . . . . . . and it is yesterday. Every morning you wake up a day earlier, another day before the murder. Another chance to stop it. Somewhere in the past lie the answers, and you don't have a choice but to find them . . . Wrong Place Wrong Time is by Gillian McAllister.

A Kiss After Dying is by Ashok Banker. This is a story about Hannah. She seems shy. Some would even say spiky. People don't pay much attention to Hannah. Which is exactly how she's planned it. It's also a story about Ricky. Ricky is anything but shy. Rich, charming, good-looking, Ricky has never had a problem getting what he wants. And now he wants Hannah. There's a spark between them from the moment they meet. Even Hannah can't resist a man like Ricky for long. But this is not a love story. In fact, it's a little like Hannah. First you'll be intrigued. Then you'll realise there are hidden depths. And then, when you least expect it, you'll be hit by a twist you never saw coming...

The Inheritance is by Howard Linskey. You will inherit everything. The house. The money. There's just one condition. You have to catch a killer first... Sarah always had a soft spot for her Aunt Evelyn, a famous writer, but she'd always assumed the elderly woman was penniless. But when Evelyn dies, Sarah gets a shock. Evelyn has a significant fortune, including a foreboding mansion, Cragsmoor, on the outskirts of a small Northumberland town. She wants to leave it to Sarah. But that's not all she wants. For most of her life, she'd been haunted by a cold case. Many years ago, her childhood friend Lucy went missing. She was last seen in the house Evie has now left to Sarah. Evie spent years searching for the truth, desperate to find out what really happened the day Lucy disappeared. Now, her final wish is for Sarah to go back to the house where it all began, and uncover the truth. If she does, she will inherit everything. But if there is a secret at Cragsmoor, someone has benefitted from it remaining hidden. Someone who has already killed once before...

June 2022

David Raker is back with another heart-pounding and tense missing persons case. Ten seconds before the crash, Cate and Aiden Gascoigne are recorded on CCTV. The couple are laughing - happy, untroubled. Then their car plunges into a ninety-foot ravine. The impact should kill them. And if that doesn't, the fire will. Within seconds, the vehicle is an inferno - with the Gascoignes trapped inside. But when fire crews arrive at the scene, they find something impossible. The vehicle is empty. Cate and Aiden have vanished. Now only missing persons investigator David Raker can solve the mystery... The Blackbird is by Tim Weaver.

When fifteen-year-old Anabelle King was raped, she reported it immediately. But corrupted evidence meant the jury let her attacker go. Eighteen years later, Anabelle is Ava, a barrister who always follows the rules. But that changes when she reads a familiar name in a case file: Michael Osborne. This time, Michael is the alleged victim, and in the dock is a young girl; Lily Hawthorne, who pleads guilty to GBH without hesitation. Ava is sure that Lily's plea is false. She knows this man is not innocent. But how much will she have to risk to uncover the truth. Your Word is Mine is by Lia Middleton.

William Wisting is in a race against time. When a severed head is found on a stake in the quiet town of Larvik, Police Inspector William Wisting is called in to investigate. The only clue? The killer is trying to send a message. All roads lead back to the Night Man. As the media closes in on the biggest story of the year, Wisting's journalist daughter Line receives a tip. Soon, it becomes clear that there is more to this case than anyone thought. A criminal network has lodged itself deep into the roots of the city, and it's up to Wisting to take down the elusive and dangerous Night Man. This is just the beginning. But hunting down The Night Man will take everything Wisting has, and it's all too easy for the hunter to become the prey. The Night Man is by Jørn Lier Horst.

Books To Look Forward To From Michael Joseph Books

 January 2021

What if your experience of motherhood was nothing like what you hoped for - but everything you always feared? The women in this family, we're different . . .' The arrival of baby Violet was meant to be the happiest day of my life. A fresh start. But as soon as I held her in my arms, I knew something wasn't right. I have always known that the women in my family weren't meant to be mothers. My husband Fox says I'm imagining it, but she's different with me. Something feels very wrong. Is it her? Or is it me? Is she the monster? Or am I? Push is by Ashley Audrain.

The Burning Girls is by C J Tudor. 500 years ago: eight martyrs were burnt to death. 30 years ago: two teenagers vanished without trace. Two months ago: the vicar committed suicide. Welcome to Chapel Croft. For Rev Jack Brooks and teenage daughter Flo it's supposed to be a fresh start. New job, new home. But, as Jack knows, the past isn't easily forgotten. And in a close-knit community where the residents seem as proud as they are haunted by Chapel Croft's history, Jack must tread carefully. Ancient superstitions as well as a mistrust of outsiders will be hard to overcome. Yet right away Jack has more frightening concerns. Why is Flo plagued by visions of burning girls? Who's sending them sinister, threatening messages? And why did no one mention that the last vicar killed himself? Chapel Croft's secrets lie deep and dark as the tomb. Jack wouldn't touch them if not for Flo - anything to protect Flo. But the past is catching up with Chapel Croft - and with Jack. For old ghosts with scores to settle will never rest . . .

Thomas Cale has been running from his enemies. Raised and trained in an underground programme - the Sanctuary - he was sent to destroy God's greatest mistake, mankind itself. Cale is a paradox: arrogant and innocent, generous and pitiless. Feared and revered by those that created him, he has already used his terrifying talent for violence and destruction to bring down the most powerful civilisation in the world. But Thomas Cale has been caught. He's been given a choice. Bring down the world's best hope for order, for honesty and for progress, or condemn his soul to hell. The fate of humankind rests on Cale's decision. The White Devil is by Paul Hoffman.

February 2021

Prodigal Son is by Gregg Hurwitz. He can escape anything. Except his own past . . . 'Evan. It's your mother. I heard you help people . . ' Evan Smoak used to be known as Orphan X: a figure as elusive as a rumour, until he came to the rescue of those who most desperately needed his help. The kind of help no one else could provide. The kind that caused concern in the corridors of power. As a boy he'd been plucked from a foster home and trained as an off-the-books assassin inside a top secret US government programme. Which is why, even forced into early retirement, he dare not trust the phone call. Nor the caller claiming to be his mother. Asking him to protect a complete stranger who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. None of it stacks up. Yet it bears the tell-tale signs of the secret world that made him. And from inside it, a deadly new threat to the nation's security. But this time the danger is more personal than he could have ever imagined. Because blood runs deep … 

Louise wakes up. Her head aches, her mouth is dry, her memory is fuzzy. But she suspects she's done something bad. She rolls over towards her husband, Niall. The man who, until recently, made her feel loved. But it's not Niall who's lying beside her. In fact, she's never seen this man before. And he's dead . . . As Louise desperately struggles to piece her memories back together, it's clear to Detective Jonah Sheens and his team that she is their prime suspect - though they soon find she's not the only one with something to hide. Did she do it? And, if not, can they catch the real killer before they strike again? Lie Beside Me is by Gytha Lodge.

March 2021

Get ready to meet Rebekah in Missing by Tim Weaver's in his first standalone. She is stranded on an island, left for dead and determined to get home, but danger will continue to stalk her . . . Crow Island was meant to be the perfect break. A chance for Rebekah to reconnect with her brother Jonny and forget about her crumbling marriage. But stepping onto this island puts her in more danger than she could ever imagine. After finding themselves in the forest Rebekah and her brother are attacked. When she wakes up her phone is missing and Jonny has vanished. At that moment Rebekah realises the island has become her living hell. By the time she makes it back to safety the island has closed for the season – and it'll be seven months before anyone returns.With her brother missing and no boats, no phones, no people, Rebekah must survive and make her way off this island. But is finding a way back to the mainland the end of her nightmare, or just the beginning? 

This Nowhere Place is by Natasha Bell. 'That's the thing about our town: people only come here if they're going somewhere else.' One grey afternoon, high on the cliffs of Dover, two girls agree to help a stranger. Within months, two of the three girls are dead. In the years that follow, local legend grows around the events of that summer - and, with the one survivor refusing to speak, it seems the truth will never emerge. Until a documentary-maker arrives, determined to solve the mystery of the Dover Girls. But some will stop at nothing to keep this town's secrets...

In the early days of World War II, the infamous German Luftwaffe embark upon an expedition to Antarctica, hoping to set up a military base to support their goal of world domination. Though the military outpost never comes to fruition, what the Nazis find on the icy continent indeed proves dangerous...and will have implications far into the future. In the present day, Kurt Austin and his assistant Joe Zavala embark for the freezing edge of the world after a former NUMA colleague disappears in Antarctica. While there, they discover a photo of the Luftwaffe expedition of 1939, and are drawn into a decades-old conspiracy. Even as they confront perilous waters and frigid temperatures, they are also are up against a terrifying man-made weapon--a fast-growing ice that could usher in a new Ice Age. Pitted against a determined madman and a monstrous storm, Kurt and the NUMA team must unravel the Nazi-era plot in order to save the globe from a freeze that would bury it once and for all. Fast Ice is by Clive Cussler and Graham Brown. 

April 2021

The Saboteurs is by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul. Detective Isaac Bell's wife has said that he is always in the wrong place at the right time. This is certainly the case when Bell thwarts the attempted assassination of a United States Senator shortly after meeting the man. This heroic rescue is just the start of the mystery for Bell, who suspects that the would-be assassins have a much larger and more dangerous agenda--one involving the nearly constructed Panama Canal. While the Senator supports the building of the canal, there are many, including a local Panamanian insurgency known as the Red Vipers, who never want to see the its completion. With millions of dollars and the fates of two nations at stake, Bell heads to Panama to find answers. After a deadly bombing at the Canal's construction site, he is determined to stop the insurgents--or whoever is funding them--before they can attack again.

The teacher wanted on the edge of the world. Una knows she is struggling to deal with her father's sudden, tragic suicide. She spends her nights drinking alone in Reykjavik, stricken with thoughts that she might one day follow in his footsteps. So when she sees an advert seeking a teacher for two girls in the tiny village of Skalar - population of ten - on the storm-battered north coast of the island, she sees it as a chance to escape. But once she arrives, Una quickly realises nothing in city life has prepared her for this. The villagers are unfriendly. The weather is bleak. And, from the creaky attic bedroom of the old house where she's living, she's convinced she hears the ghostly sound of singing. Una worries that she's losing her mind. And then, just before Christmas, there's an unexplained death and Una's life going from bad to worse..... The Girl Who Died is by Ragnar Jónasson.

Don't let Him In is by Howard Linskey. He's always been there. Now he's looking for you.  There have always been deaths in the small town of Eriston over the years - more than can easily be explained. People dying in their houses, behind locked doors. Sean Cole thought he'd spotted a pattern. Thought he was on the trail of a killer. Now he's dead too. When his daughter Rebecca returns to the town, she realises that her father might have been onto something. But can she find the murderer before he finds her? Because if she can't, her father's shabby old Victorian house is no place to hide.

May 2021

An unlikely spy. July 1940. As Britain braces itself for invasion, ex-Tommy and safecracker Bill O'Hagan is glad to have escaped the battlefield. But when a job goes wrong, he finds himself forced to serve his country once more. A former king. Spurned by his government and fearing for his life, the Duke of Windsor flees to Portugal with the woman for whom he abdicated the throne, Wallis Simpson. As a web of Nazi trickery threatens to ensnare him, his fate and the fate of Britain rest on one man. The fate of a nation in their hands. Dropped on an occupied Channel Island without backup, Bill must crack an enemy safe and get its contents to safety. Failure will devastate any hope Britain has of winning the war. But with the layers of deception and intrigue drawing ever more tightly around them, Bill and the Duke both learn they aren't the only players in this game. And Berlin - which has the Duke in its own sights - is plotting its greatest move yet... Island Reich is by Jack Grimwood.

In Harm's Way is by Anthony Mosawi. Sara Eden isn't like other agents. She was the greatest asset MI5 had ever had. But then she disappeared without a trace. Now, she's out of hiding. And she'll do whatever it takes to save innocent lives. Robert Waterman is the director of GCHQ. He trusts numbers. He trusts data. He's learned that whilst humans are unreliable, patterns and codes never lie. But then he meets Sara. What Sara can do isn't rational. What Sara can do defies logic. He can't trust her - but he needs her.

June 2021

Scorpion is by Christian Cantrell. Around the world, twenty-two people have been murdered. The victims fit no profile, the circumstances vary wildly, but one thing links them all: in every case the victim is branded with a number. With police around the globe floundering and unable to identify any pattern, let alone find a killer, CIA Analyst Quinn Mitchell is called in to investigate. Before long, Quinn is on the trail of an ice-hearted assassin with seemingly limitless resources - but she's prepared for that. What she isn't prepared for is the person pulling the strings.

Murder Will Out at Cambridge

A Day of Crime, Thriller and Mystery Fiction

Saturday 14th March 2020​ 

at The Old Library, Emmanuel College

We're very much looking forward to hosting another day devoted to crime, thriller and mystery fiction, and hope you will come along to hear from these fantastic authors. Here's the full line-up (pun intended)!

The Difficult Second Book? with Stephanie Austin, Lesley Kara & Gytha Lodge.

Location, Location, Location: Stories with a Strong Sense of Place with Alison Bruce, Elly Griffiths, Christina James & Caro Ramsay.

Are These Authors Good or Bad? with Deepa Anappara, Mick Finlay, Sam Lloyd & Caro Ramsay.

Caught in Time: historical crime panel with Christopher Fowler & Nicola Upson.

Going For Gold - CWA Gold Dagger Winners with Steve Cavanagh & MW Craven.

There will be a pop-up bookshop at the event and the authors will be signing copies of their books after their panel slot.

Tickets are priced at £28 and can be purchased here or, by calling 01223 463200 or in person at Heffers bookshop.

Murder Will Out 2020

On Saturday 14th March, a group of hand-picked crime writers will descend upon Cambridge for Heffers' second murderously good day of panel discussions, book signings - and answering those author questions you've been just dying to ask. 

This is Murder Will Out 2020, featuring Steve Cavanagh, Elly Griffiths, MW Craven, Gytha Lodge, Christina James, Lesley Kara and others to be announced.

Tickets are priced from £25 (Early Bird) and can be purchased through this page, by calling 01223 463200 or in person at Heffers bookshop. 

There will be a pop-up bookshop at the event and the authors will be signing copies of their books after their panel slot.

More information about the event and buying tickets can be found here.

Murder Will Out!

On Saturday 8th June, fifteen hand-picked crime writers will descend upon Cambridge for a murderously good day of panel discussions, book signings - and answering those author questions you've been just dying to ask. 

With talks on London based thrillers, dark psychology and debut authors to name a few come and join us for a day of all things crime fiction.

Booking information can be found here.