Books to Look Forward to from Bonnier Zaffre

January 2020

Hitler’s Secret is by Rory Clements.  The war is going badly for Britain and its allies. If Hitler is to be stopped, a new weapon is desperately needed. In Cambridge, professor Tom Wilde is approached by an American intelligence officer who claims to know of such a weapon - one so secret even Hitler himself isn't aware of its existence. If Wilde can smuggle the package out of Germany, the Third Reich will surely fall. But it is only when he is deep behind enemy lines that Wilde discovers why the Nazis are so desperate to prevent the 'package' falling into Allied hands. And as ruthless killers hunt him through Europe, a treacherous question hangs over the mission: if Hitler's secret will win them the war, why is Wilde convinced it must remain hidden?

Stasi Winter is by David Young.   In 1978 East Germany, nothing is at it seems. The state's power is absolute, history is re-written, and the 'truth' is whatever the Stasi say it is. So when a woman's murder is officially labelled 'accidental death', Major Karin Muller of the People's Police is faced with a dilemma. To solve the crime, she must disregard the official version of events. But defying the Stasi means putting her own life - and the lives of her young family - in danger. As the worst winter in living memory holds Germany in its freeze, Muller must untangle a web of state secrets and make a choice: between truth and lies, justice and injustice, and, ultimately, life and death.

 

February 2020

The Oath is by Klaus-Peter Wolf. If the system can't make them pay, then he will . . . Former chief of police, Ubbo Heide, is enjoying a peaceful seaside retirement - until a gruesome package containing a severed head turns up on his doorstep and catapults him back into a world he left behind. When a torso is found on the local beach, it's assumed it's from the same victim. That is until a second head turns up. As the investigation reaches fever pitch, Chief Inspector Ann Kathrin Klaasen, now assigned to the case, realises that the two victims are connected. Soon it's clear that this quiet coastal community is facing a brutal serial killer. One who is taking justice into his own hands.

March 2020 

You don't know who they are. You don't know why they're hunting her. But you know she's in danger. What do you do? When teacher Jenni Wales sees 15-year-old Destiny's black eye, she's immediately worried. Destiny isn't your average student: she's smart, genius IQ smart, and she's in care. But concern turns to fear when Jenni witnesses an attempt to abduct Jenni from school. Who are these men and what can Destiny know to make them hunt her? With those around her not taking the threat seriously, Jenni does the only thing she can think of to keep Destiny safe: she takes her.  To Keep You Safe is by Kate Bradley.

April 2020

DC Jack Warr and his girlfriend Maggie have just moved to London to start a new life together. Though charming, Jack can't seem to find his place in the world - until he's drawn into an investigation that turns his life upside down. In the aftermath of a fire at an isolated cottage, a badly charred body is discovered, along with the burnt remains of millions of stolen, untraceable bank notes. Jack's search leads him deep into a murky criminal underworld - a world he finds himself surprisingly good at navigating. But as the line of the law becomes blurred, how far will Jack go to find the answers - and what will it cost him!  Buried is by Lynda La Plante.

No Going Back is by Sheena Kamal.  Nora Watts is being hunted . . . When Nora Watts is approached by a man claiming to know her late father, she is thrown into turmoil. Struggling with the imminent death, from cancer, of her friend and mentor Sebastian Crow, she is unprepared for the memories that this encounter brings back. What happened to her father that made him kill himself and abandon Nora and her sister? Heading to Detroit to try and find some answers about his life there, Nora expects to discover a reason behind his suicide. Instead, she finds more questions than answers. But trouble always follows Nora, and it's found her in Detroit, a city that is as broken as she is.

The Call of the Raven  is by Wilbur Smith and Corban Addision.  'The right of the cat over the mouse, of the strong over the weak. The natural law of existence.' Mungo St John, A Falcon Flies The son of a wealthy plantation owner and a doting mother, Mungo St John is accustomed to the wealth and luxuries his privilege has afforded him. That is until he returns from university to discover his family ruined, his inheritance stolen and his childhood sweetheart, Camilla, taken by the conniving Chester Marion. Fuelled by anger, and love, Mungo swears vengeance and devotes his life to saving Camilla - and destroying Chester. Camilla, trapped in New Orleans, powerless to her position as a kept slave and suffering at the hands of Chester's brutish behaviour, must learn to do whatever it takes to survive. As Mungo battles his own fate and misfortune to achieve the revenge that drives him, and regain his power in the world, he must question what it takes for a man to survive when he has nothing, and what he is willing to do in order to get what he wants.

We Begin at the End is by Chris Whitaker and is a powerful novel about absolute love and the lengths we will go to keep our family safe. This is a story about good and evil and how life is lived somewhere in between. 'You can't save someone that doesn't want to be saved . . .' For some people, trouble just finds them. Thirty years ago, Vincent King became a killer. Now, he's been released from prison and is back in his hometown of Cape Haven, California. Not everyone is pleased to see him. Like Star Radley, his ex-girlfriend, and sister of the girl he killed. Duchess Radley, Star's thirteen-year-old daughter, is part-carer, part-protector to her younger brother, Robin - and to her deeply troubled mother. But in trying to protect Star, Duchess inadvertently sets off a chain of events that will have tragic consequences not only for her family, but also the whole town. Murder, revenge, retribution. How far can we run from the past when the past seems doomed to repeat itself?

May 2020

Seven housemates. Seven lies. Would you join . . . The House Share? Immi thought she had found the perfect new home in central London: a shared warehouse with luxury accommodation, a rooftop terrace and daily yoga, all with a surprisingly affordable price tag. The Dye Factory is a 'co-living' community, designed to combat the loneliness of big city life. But soon after she moves into her new haven, Immi realises that it's not quite as idyllic as it appears. No one seems to know who is behind this multi-million pound urban experiment. And her housemates may be hiding a dangerous secret . . . Then, as a series of pranks escalates into something much darker, Immi is left questioning whether, in this group of strangers, she can ever really be safe. And when you're sharing a house, you can't always lock the danger out.   The House Share is by Kate Helm.

June 2020

The Catch is by T M Logan.  He is not what he seems . . . Ed is delighted to meet his twenty-three year old daughter's fiance for the first time. Abbey is head-over-heels in love with her new man. Smart, successful and handsome, Ryan appears to be the perfect future son-in-law. There's just one problem. There's something off about Ryan. Something hidden in the shadows behind his eyes. And it seems that only Ed can see it. Terrified that his daughter is being drawn in by a psychopath, Ed sets out to uncover her fiance's dark past - while keeping his own concealed. But no-one believes him. And the more he digs, the more he alienates her and the rest of the family who are convinced that Ryan is 'the one'. Ed knows different. For reasons of his own, he knows a monster when he sees one...

The Return is by Harry Sidebottom.  He came home a hero. But death isn't finished with him yet . . . 145BC - CALABRIA, ANCIENT ROME. Gaius Furius Paullus has returned home after years of spilling blood for Rome. One of the lucky few to survive a lifetime of brutal battle, he intends to spend his remaining days working quietly on the family farm. But it seems death has stalked Paullus from the battlefield. Just days after his arrival, bodies start appearing - murdered and mutilated. And as the deaths stack up, and panic spreads, the war hero becomes the prime suspect. After all, Paullus has killed countless enemies on the battlefield - could he have brought his habit home with him? With the psychological effects of combat clouding every thought, Paullus must use all his soldier's instincts to hunt the real killer. Because if they are not brought to justice soon, he may become the next victim. 

Rogue is by James Swallow.  All spooks know that, in modern espionage, every action has a reaction. One wrong move could sink an entire region into turmoil - even war. Former MI6 operative Marc Dane understands this better than anyone. Dedicating your life to protecting the country means collecting enemies, and a lot of them. But for those hellbent on bringing the West to its knees, each failed plot has one thing in common: private intelligence agency The Rubicon Group, and Dane's employer. Only if Rubicon crumbles will their path truly be clear. With the clock ticking, Dane must unpick a monstrous and deadly conspiracy that stretches from the corridors of Westminster to the mountains of Mozambique. One that threatens not only Rubicon, but the lives of millions of civilians. And time is fast running out.

Someone Knows the Truth (Shed No Tears) is by Caz Frear. Four victims. Killer caught. Case closed . . . Or is it? Christopher Masters, known as 'The Roommate Killer', strangled three women over a two-week period in a London house in November 2012. Holly Kemp, his fourth victim, was never found. Until now. Her remains have been unearthed in a field in Cambridgeshire and DC Cat Kinsella and the major investigation team are called in, but immediately there are questions surrounding the manner of her death. And with Masters now dead, no one to answer them. DCI Tessa Dyer, the lead on the 2012 case, lends the team a hand, as does DCI Steele's old boss and mentor, the now retired Detective Chief Superintendent Oliver Cairns. With Masters dead, Cat and the team have to investigate every lead again. But if you’d got away with murder, what would you do when the case is re-opened? 

Book news!

Some book news including news from Frankfurt!

Mantle publisher Maria Rejt has also picked up the worldwide rights to a crime trilogy by Norwegian historian Olav Lahlum.  Mantle plan to publish all three books in 2014.

HarperCollins imprint Avon has snapped up a series of self-published novels by British author Mark Sennen. His Detective Inspector Charlotte Savage books which are police procedurals set in Plymouth and Dartmouth have already sold over seventy-three thousand e-copies in the UK and have spent 250 days in the Kindle bestseller chart.  Avon plan to publish Touch the first of the three crime novels that bought initially as an ebook in January 2013, followed by a paperback in April.

Headline have picked up four new crime novels by crime writer Anne Granger. Two of the titles will be in her Cotswold village crime series, featuring detective duo Campbell and Carter; two will be in her Victorian crime series, including Scotland Yard's Inspector Ben Ross and his wife Lizzie. The first title in the new contract is lined up for July 2014.

HarperFiction have signed a three-book deal with historical novelist Harry Sidebottom, for a series of novels charting the bloodshed of Imperial Rome.  The author will write three books in a series called Throne of the Caesars, with the first title, Iron and Rust, planned for publication in spring 2014.  This series will be set around the tumultuous "Year of the Six Emperors" in 238 A.D.  He is best known for his Warrior of Rome series, published by Michael Joseph.

Headline have also pre-empted world rights for two books by author Stephen Jones.  The first book The String Diaries has been described as “a captivating supernatural thriller which follows a historical mystery to its nail-biting contemporary conclusion”.

Forthcoming books to look forward to from Penguin and Michael Joseph

Isaac Bell is back in another nerve-shredding historical thriller from the international bestselling author Clive Cussler and Justin Scott. Intrepid detective Isaac Bell engages in his most dangerous case yet. It is the early years of the twentieth century, air travel is in its infancy, and newspaper publisher Preston Whiteway is offering $50,000 for the first flier to cross America in less than fifty days. He is even sponsoring one of the candidates a barnstorming woman flier named Josephine Frost and that's where Isaac Bell comes in. Frost's violent tempered business magnate husband, Harry, has just killed her lover and tried to kill her and now he's on the run but Whiteway is sure he'll try again. Not that that's news to Bell. He tangled with Harry Frost ten years before, and lost badly. He knows that Frost has access to thieves, murderers and thugs in every city in the country. He knows Frost won't just be coming after his wife, but after Whiteway. And Bell knows that if he takes the case, Frost will be after him, too. Yes, Bell knows all that . . . but he still has no idea what he has just gotten himself into. Things are not quite what they seem to him and that will prove to be a very fatal mistake indeed. The Race is due to be published in October 2011.


Gamble is the latest novel by Dick and Felix Francis. It is due to be published in September 2011. As one of the youngest ever winners of the Grand National, Nick 'Foxy' Foxton's career as a world-class jockey is on perfect track until a near fatal accident cuts his dream brutally short. But when he returns to Aintree as a spectator years later, nothing can prepare him for what unfolds. Minutes before the biggest event on the racing calendar, Nick's affable American colleague Herb Kovak is shot at point-blank range, the gunman disappearing among the stunned crowd. Along with the police, Nick is left baffled as to why anyone would want to kill such an apparently gentle soul. With the press speculating about links to gangland crime and a crumpled note containing a threatening message found in the dead man's coat, Nick begins to doubt how well he really knew Herb. And on discovering Herb had named him as the benefactor of his will, Nick questions why he has been entrusted with the legacy. Is this a generous gift from a friend or is it, in fact, a poisoned chalice?

AD 262 and the Imperium is in turmoil after the struggle for the throne. Furthermore, Ephesus, Asia's metropolis, lies in ruins, shattered by a mighty earthquake. Its citizens live in fear as the mob overwhelms the city, baying for blood to avenge the gods who have punished them. Yet an even greater threat to the Empire advances from the North. The barbaric Goth tribes sail towards Ephesus, determined to pillage the city. Only Ballista, Warrior of Rome, knows the ways of the barbarians, and only he can defeat them. The Goths' appetite for brutality and destruction is limitless and before long Ballista is locked into a deadly blood feud, with an enemy that has sworn to destroy him and the Imperium at all costs. The Caspian Gates is the latest novel in the Warrior of Rome series by Harry Sidebottom and it is due to be published in July 2011.

Disgrace is the latest novel by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen and is due to be published in January 2012. It is 1987. A brother and sister are brutally killed in a summer house in the north of Denmark. The police investigation suggests that the murderer is to be found within a group of young boarding school students who are known for their addiction to gang violence. But the evidence is not strong enough to prove this theory, and the case is shelved. Twenty years later, Carl Moerck and his assistant Assad stumble over the file documenting the murders. No one really knows why it has reappeared, but someone seems to be interested in revisiting the events surrounding the case. When Moerck's bosses strictly forbid the Department Q team to reopen the file, both he and Assad know there is something terribly wrong and get hooked on the story. The first lead they uncover takes them to the very top of Danish high society the world of stockbrokers, businessmen and plastic surgeons. But it also takes them to the very bottom: to Kimmie, a young homeless woman who lives on the streets of Copenhagen and who seems to know a secret that could seriously threaten three incredibly powerful men.


The Death Relic is the new action-adventure thriller set amidst Mexico's ancient Mayan ruins by Chris Kuzneski. The New World, 1545 . . . Vanquished by the Spanish Empire, little remains of the Aztec and Mayan civilizations. From the ashes of their cities, a unified legend emerges: the Christians who conquered them possessed a mysterious object, an artefact so powerful so deadly that it was known throughout the Americas as 'the death relic'. Yucatan Peninsula, present day . . . When Maria Pelati's research team disappears in Mexico, Jonathon Payne and David Jones embark on a perilous mission to find the missing archaeologists. The duo quickly finds a link between the group's work and its recent disappearance. Following the clues left behind, the pair try to solve one of the darkest mysteries of the New World, but their quest for the relic might cost them their lives. The Death Relic is due to be published in September 2011.

It’s 1640, and the pall of war hangs over France . . . The young Chevalier de Roland has scarcely set foot in the city before he crosses swords with a cruel nobleman to defend a young woman's honour. Too late he learns he has stumbled on a conspiracy within the King's own household to seize power by secret alliance with Spain. Accused of treason and forced to flee into hiding, André must fight on alone, staking both his life and his honour in the battle to save France. Blood and Steel is an epic swashbuckling page turner that sweeps from the political intrigues of Cardinal Richelieu to the great battlefields of the Thirty Years War. Blood and Steel is by A L Berridge and is due to be published in August 2011.


The Chill of Night is by James Hyman and is due to be published in October 2011. It is the second book in the series to feature Detective Michael McCabe. Lainie Goff thinks she has it all. A glamorous young Portland attorney with the brains and looks to match her ambitions, she's on the fast track to a partnership. Until one cold winter night she discovers that her belief in her ability to handle any situation was misplaced. Now she's just a frozen corpse in the boot of a car at the end of Portland Fish Pier. And a problem for homicide detective Michael McCabe. Luckily for McCabe, there's a witness. A mentally disturbed young woman named Abby Quinn saw what happened to Lainie. Unfortunately, Abby mysteriously goes missing the very same night. With a victim who'd known more than her share of bad guys, a list of suspects that seems to get longer and longer and his only witness missing, McCabe has got his work cut out. But it's only a matter of time before the killer strikes again . . .


Every Serial Killer Knows . . . The vicious burns scarring the victims' flesh reveal the agony of their last moments. Each woman was branded with a star, then stabbed through the heart. With every death, a vengeful killer finds a brief, blissful moment of calm . . . The Perfect Time . . . Ten years ago, Eva Rayburn and her sorority sisters were celebrating the end of the school year. That party turned into a nightmare Eva can't forget. Now she's trying to start over in her Virginia hometown, but a new nightmare has begun. Every victim is linked to her. And Detective Deacon Garrison isn't sure whether this mysterious woman needs investigating or protecting . . . To Make His Mark Only Eva's death will bring peace. Only her tortured screams will silence the rage that has been building for ten long years. Because what started that night at the sorority can never be stopped not until the last victim has been marked for death . . . Senseless is by Mary Burton and is due to be published in September 2011.


The Templar's Quest is by C M Palov and is due to be published in November 2011. The Montségur Medallion points the way to the most coveted relic, the Holy Grail. In the wrong hands it could destroy civilization . . . Finn McGuire finds himself framed for a string of murders moments after he uncovers the legendary Medallion in an ancient Syrian chapel. The culprits are a group of Nazi SS descendants known as The Seven who will stop at nothing to possess the pendant . . . and the Holy Grail. Their wish? To resurrect the Third Reich. Former MI5 operative Caedmon Aisquith is an expert in the Knights Templar and the Grail; he knows the Seven can only desire it for evil and when Finn approaches him, the two join forces in a quest to find the deadly relic and halt the bloodshed. Their race takes them from the Louvre to a medieval citadel in the Pyrenees. But the stakes are high, for the fate of mankind hangs in the balance if they fail . . .


The Thousand by Kevin Guilfoile is due to be published in September 2011. Long ago, a thousand men and women abandoned their lives to follow a stranger. Now their legacy threatens modern existence . . . Long ago, a thousand men and women abandoned their lives to follow a stranger. Now their legacy threatens modern existence . . . In 530 BC a mysterious ship appeared off the rainy shores of Croton in what is now Italy. After three days, a man disembarked to address the curious and frightened crowd that had gathered. He called himself Pythagoras. Exactly what he said that day is unknown, but afterwards a thousand men and women abandoned their lives and families to follow him. Over the centuries they became a secret society of powerful individuals safeguarding the teachings of one of history's most brilliant mathematicians. But now, triggered by a brutal murder in Chicago, the brotherhood erupts into civil war, and a young woman finds herself at the centre of ancient revelations that could not only become instruments of terror but could jeopardize civilization itself . . .


The Rembrandt Affair is by Daniel Silva and sees the return of Gabriel Allon. Glastonbury, an art restorer, has been brutally murdered, and the newly discovered Rembrandt he was working on has disappeared. Spy turned art restorer Gabriel Allon has only one thing in mind: recovery. But this unspeakable act of violence once again draws Allon into a world of danger he thought he had left behind forever. Allon is persuaded to use his unique skills to trace the painting and those responsible for the crimes. As he investigates, he discovers there are terrible secrets connected to the painting, and terrible men behind them. Before he is done, he will have undertaken a journey through some of the twentieth century's darkest history - and come face to face with some of the same darkness within himself. The Rembrandt Affair is due to be published in August 2011.