International Thriller Writers Award

 

The International Thriller Writers announced 

the 2026 Thriller Awards at ThrillerFest. 

Best Standalone Novel: 

Cross My Heart, by Megan Collins (Atria)

Best Series Novel: 

The Big Empty, by Robert Crais (Putnam)

Best First Novel: 

Party of Liars, by Kelsey Cox (Minotaur)

Best Audiobook: 

The White Crow, by Michael Robotham; narrated by Katy Sobey (Simon & Schuster)

Best Young Adult Novel: 

The Silenced, by Diana Rodriguez Wallach (Delacorte Press)

Best Short Story:

 “The Violent Season,” by Jessica Van Dessel (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, July/August 2025)

There were also Special Recognitions announced during the ThrillerFest Awards Banquet:

2026 ThrillerMaster, Lisa Scottoline
2026 ThrillerMaster, Harlan Coben
2026 Silver Bullet Award, Douglas Preston
2026 Spotlight Guest, Rachel Howzell Hall
2026 Spotlight Guest, Luis Alberto Urrea
2026 Thriller Legend, Barbara Peters
2026 ThrillerFan, Jordon Moblo
2026 Thriller Volunteer of the Year, James L'Etoile

2025 ITW Thriller Award Nominees

Congratulations the finalists of the 2025 ITW Thriller Awards have been announced.

BEST STANDALONE THRILLER NOVEL

The Paris Widow by Kimberly S. Belle

The Chamber by Will Dean

Worst Case Scenario by L.J. Newman, 

The Last One at the Wedding by Jason Rekulak, 

The Truth about the Devlins by Lisa Scottoline, 

BEST STANDALONE MYSTERY NOVEL

Negative Girl by Libby Cudmore, 

The Night We lost Him by Laura Dave

Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett, 

The Life and Death of Rose Doucette by Harry Hunsicker, 

What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan, 

Lake County by Lori Roy

BEST SERIES NOVEL

To Die For by David Baldacci, 

The Last Few Miles of the Road by Eric Beetner, 

The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves, 

Shadowheart by Meg Gardiner, 

Flashback by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen, 

A Forgotten Kill by Isabella Maldonado, 

BEST FIRST NOVEL 

Rabbit Hole by Kate Brody, 

After Image by Jaime deBlanc, 

The Astrology House by Carinn Jade,

Blood in the Cut by Alejandro Nodarse, 

Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney

BEST AUDIOBOOK 

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth, Narrated by Jessica Clarke

Hollywood Hustle by Jon Lindstrom, Narrated by Jon Lindstrom

No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall, Narrated by Karissa Vacker

Beyond All Doubt by Hilton Reed, Narrated by George Newbern

Listeen for the Lie by Amy Tintera, Narrated by January LaVoy and Will Damron

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

Influencer by Adam Cesare, 

The Other Lola by Ripley Jones, 

Darkly by Marisha Pessl, 

49 Miles Alone by Natalie D. Richards, 

Girls Like Her by Melanie Sumrow, 

BEST SHORT STORY 

Not a Dinner Party Person by Stefanie Leder, 

Double Parked by Twist Phelan, 

Jackrabbit Skin by Ivy Pochoda, 

The Doll's House by Lisa Unger, 

And Now, an Inspiring Story of Tragedy Overcome by Joseph S. Walker,

Congratulations t all the nominated authors - Winners will be announced at ThrillerFest XX on Saturday, June 21, 2025 at the New York Hilton Midtown, New York City. 

2024 Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominations

 

Mystery Writers of America have announced the nominees for the 2024 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction and television published or produced in 2023. The 78th Annual Edgar® Awards will be presented on May 1, 2024, at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square.

BEST NOVEL

Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke (Grove Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)

All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)

The Madwomen of Paris by Jennifer Cody Epstein (Penguin Random House – Ballantine Books)

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll (Simon & Schuster – Simon Element – Marysue Rucci Books)

An Honest Man by Michael Koryta (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown and Company – Mulholland Books)

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger (Simon & Schuster – Atria Books)

Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead (Penguin Random House – Doubleday)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry (Simon & Schuster – Atria Books)

The Golden Gate by Amy Chua (Macmillan Publishing – Minotaur Books)

Small Town Sins by Ken Jaworowski (Macmillan Publishing – Henry Holt and Co.)

The Last Russian Doll by Kristen Loesch (Penguin Random House – Berkley)

Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji (Simon & Schuster)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

Boomtown by A.F. Carter (Penzler Publishers - Mysterious Press)

Hide by Tracy Clark (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)

The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Penguin Random House - Berkley)

Lowdown Road by Scott Von Doviak (Hard Case Crime)

BEST FACT CRIME

In Light of All Darkness: Inside the Polly Klaas Kidnapping and the Search for America's Child by Kim Cross (Hachette Book Group – Grand Central Publishing)

Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux (Penguin Random House – Crown Currency)

Tangled Vines: Power, Privilege, and the Murdaugh Family Murders by John Glatt (Macmillan Publishers – St. Martin’s Press)

Crooked: The Roaring '20s Tale of a Corrupt Attorney General, a Crusading Senator, and the Birth of the American Political Scandal by Nathan Masters (Hachette Book Group Hachette Books)

I Know Who You Are: How an Amateur DNA Sleuth Unmasked the Golden State Killer and Changed Crime Fighting Forever by Barbara Rae-Venter (Penguin Random House Ballantine Books)

The Lost Sons of Omaha: Two Young Men in an American Tragedy by Joe Sexton (Simon & Schuster – Scribner)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

Perplexing Plots: Popular Storytelling and the Poetics of Murder by David Bordwell (Columbia University Press)

Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction by Max Allan Collins & James L. Traylor (Penzler Publishers – Mysterious Press)

A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Mark Dawidziak (Macmillan Publishing - St. Martin's Press)

Fallen Angel: The Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Robert Morgan (LSU Press)

Love Me Fierce in Danger - The Life of James Ellroy by Steven Powell (Bloomsbury Publishing - Bloomsbury Academic)

BEST SHORT STORY

"Hallowed Ground," by Linda Castillo (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

"Thriller," Thriller by Heather Graham (Blackstone Publishing)

"Miss Direction," Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September-October 2023 by Rob Osler (Dell Magazines)

“The Rise," Amazon Original Stories by Ian Rankin (Amazon Publishing)

“Pigeon Tony’s Last Stand," Amazon Original Stories by Lisa Scottoline (Amazon Publishing)

BEST JUVENILE

Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Hachette Book Group – Workman Publishing – Algonquin Young Readers)

The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto by Adrianna Cuevas (Macmillan Publishers – Farrar, Straus and Giroux BFYR)

Epic Ellisons: Cosmos Camp by Lamar Giles (HarperCollins Publishers – Versify)

The Jules Verne Prophecy by Larry Schwarz & Iva-Marie Palmer (Hachette Book Group Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski (HarperCollins Publishers – Quill Tree Books)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

Girl Forgotten by April Henry (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Star Splitter by Matthew J. Kirby (Penguin Young Readers – Dutton Books for Young Readers)

The Sharp Edge of Silence by Cameron Kelly Rosenblum (HarperCollins Publishers – Quill Tree Books)

My Flawless Life by Yvonne Woon (HarperCollins Publishers – Katherine Tegen Books)

Just Do This One Thing for Me by Laura Zimmerman (Penguin Young Readers – Dutton Books for Young Readers)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

“Time of the Monkey" – Poker Face, Written by Wyatt Cain & Charlie Peppers (Peacock)

“I’m a Pretty Observant Guy” – Will Trent, Written by Liz Heldens (ABC)

“Dead Man’s Hand" – Poker Face, Written by Rian Johnson (Peacock)

“Hózhó Náhásdlii (Beauty is Restore)" – Dark Winds, Written by Graham Roland & John Wirth (AMC)

“Escape from Shit Mountain" – Poker Face, Written by Nora Zuckerman & Lilla Zuckerman (Peacock)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD – Endowed by the family of Robert L. Fish.

"Errand for a Neighbor," Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, January-February 2023 by Bill Bassman (Dell Magazines)

"The Body in Cell Two,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May-June 2023 by Kate Hohl (Dell Magazines)

“The Soiled Dove of Shallow Hollow,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, January-February 2023 by Sean McCluskey (Dell Magazines)

“It’s Half Your Fault,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, July-August 2023 by Meghan Leigh Paulk (Dell Magazines)

“Two Hours West of Nothing,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September-October 2023 by Gabriela Stiteler (Dell Magazines) 

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD Presented on behalf of Simon & Schuster.

Play the Fool by Lina Chern (Penguin Random House – Bantam)

The Bones of the Story by Carol Goodman (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)

Of Manners and Murder by Anastasia Hastings (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard by Kate Robards (Crooked Lane Books)

Murder in Postscript by Mary Winters (Penguin Random House – Berkley)

THE G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD Presented on behalf of G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

Hard Rain by Samantha Jayne Allen (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

An Evil Heart by Linda Castillo (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

Bad, Bad Seymour Brown by Susan Isaacs (Grove Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)

Past Lying by Val McDermid (Grove Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)

A Stolen Child by Sarah Stewart Taylor (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

THE LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN MEMORIAL AWARD Endowed by the estate of Lilian Jackson Braun.

Glory Be by Danielle Arceneaux (Pegasus Books – Pegasus Crime)

Misfortune Cookie by Vivien Chien (Macmillan – St. Martin’s Paperbacks)

Hot Pot Murder by Jennifer J. Chow (Penguin Random House – Berkley)

Murder of an Amish Bridegroom by Patricia Johns (Crooked Lane Books)

The Body in the Back Garden by Mark Waddell (Crooked Lane Books)

2022 Hammett Prize Shortlist

 

The International Association of Crime Writers, North America have announced the 2022 Hammett Prize Shortlist. 

The Hammett Prize is given for literary Excellence in Crime Writing. Books must be published in the English language in the U.S. or Canada. 

Copperhead Road, by Brad Smith (At Bay Press)

Gangland, by Chuck Hogan (Grand Central)

Don’t Know Tough, by Eli Cranor (Soho Crime)

Pay Dirt Road, by Samantha Jayne Allen (Minotaur)

What Happened to the Bennetts, by Lisa Scottoline (Putnam)

Congratulations to al the nominated authors. The winner will be announced Summer 2023.

Books to Look Forward to from Headline, Tinder Press & Wildfire Press

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June 2018

A senseless murder. A Terrifying legend. A Family haunted. 1990: In the darkest woods, three girls devote themselves to a sinister figure.  2000: A young mother disappears, leaving behind her husband and baby daughter.  2018: A teenage girl is charged with murder, and her trial will shock the world.  Three chilling events, connected by the shadow he casts.  He is the Tall Man. He can make you special...  The Tall Man is by Phoebe Locke.

July 2018

The Story Keeper is by Anna Mazzola.  Audrey Hart is on the Isle of Skye to collect the folk and fairy tales of the people and communities around her. It is 1857 and the Highland Clearances have left devastation and poverty, and a community riven by fear. The crofters are suspicious and hostile to a stranger, claiming they no longer know their fireside stories.Then Audrey discovers the body of a young girl washed up on the beach and the crofters reveal that it is only a matter of weeks since another girl disappeared. They believe the girls are the victims of the restless dead: spirits who take the form of birds.  Initially, Audrey is sure the girls are being abducted, but as events accumulate she begins to wonder if something else is at work. Something which may be linked to the death of her own mother, many years before.

When Thea Paris's flight is hijacked over the Libyan Desert, her first priority is the two former child soldiers she is escorting to a new life in London.  As an international kidnap specialist, Thea Paris negotiates for hostage release as part of her job. She knows one wrong move could lead to deadly consequences.  After she is forcibly separated from the boys and the other passengers, Thea and her tactical team quickly regroup. And in their desperate search for the hostages that follows, unearth a conspiracy involving the CIA, the Vatican and the Sicilian Mafia, and a plot far more sinister than Thea could ever have imagined.  Skyjack is by K J Howe.

Lying to You is by Amanda Reynolds.  You’d know if you were lying to yourself, wouldn’t  you? When Jess Tidy was Mark Winter's student, she made a shocking accusation. Mark maintained his innocence, but the damage was done.  Karen Winter stood by her husband through everything, determined to protect her family.  Now, ten years later, Jess is back. And the truth about that night is finally going to come out . . .

No Time to Cry is by James Oswald.  Undercover ops are always dangerous, but DC Constance Fairchild never expected things to go this wrong.  Returning to their base of operations, an anonymous office in a shabby neighbourhood, she finds the bloodied body of her boss, and friend, DI Pete Copperthwaite. He's been executed - a single shot to the head.  In the aftermath, it seems   There's no place to hide, and no time to cry.

someone in the Met is determined to make sure that blame for the wrecked operation falls squarely on Con's shoulders. She is cut loose and cast out, angry and alone with her grief... right until the moment someone also tries to put a bullet through her head.

In the ring, Cameron King is known as The Hunter. A celebrated champion. A warrior.  But when her brother, science genius Nate, deliberately crashes the car they're in and vanishes without trace Cameron is left with a career in ruins, a reconstructed body and one burning question: why?  18 months later, working to find bail-jumping fugitives, Cameron discovers a dead body - apparently killed with her gun. As a detective comes through the door, she receives a panicked call from her missing brother: 'They're coming, Cam. Get out.'  Sucked into a lethal and sinister conspiracy hidden in the darkest shadows of power, Cameron is forced to fight her toughest, bloodiest battle yet - not only to survive, but to uncover the terrifying truth. The Hunter is by Andrew Reid.

August 2018

Grist Mill Road is by Christopher J Yates.  Everyone knows what happened there. No one knows why.   Matthew and Hannah were just playing in the woods, a little way from home.  But now he's tying Hannah to a tree. And she has never been so terrified.  Patrick is there too, hidden, watching. He can't move. He can't take his eyes off Matthew's gun.  Years later, in New York City, living adult lives they never would have imagined, the three will meet again. With even more devastating consequences.  It all began on Grist Mill Road . . .

The Girl I Used to Be is by Mary Torjussen.  How can you hide your mistakes when you don't know what they are?  Gemma Brogan needs a break from her life.  A work event looks the ideal chance to get away. And a friendly new client seems like the perfect gentleman when he joins Gemma for an innocent dinner . . .  But the next morning she has no memory of how the night ended and he has vanished into thin air.  Suddenly, Gemma is plunged into a twisted nightmare she can't control. To protect her future, and her family, she will have to confront shocking secrets from her past - and the truth about the girl she used to be.

November 2018

On her own wedding night, beautiful and complicated Evie White leaps off a cliff to her death.  What drove her to commit this terrible act? It's left to her best friend and her husband to unravel the sinister mystery.  Following a twisted trail of clues leading to Evie's darkest secrets, they begin to realize they never knew the real Evie at all...  The Night She Died is by Jenny Blackhurst.

After Anna is by Lisa Scottoline.  Everyone deserves a second chance at happiness.  Dr Noah Alderman, a widower and single father, is finally content after marrying the wonderful Maggie. And they're both thrilled when Maggie gets an unexpected chance to be a mother to Anna, the daughter she once thought she'd lost forever.  But when seventeen-year-old Anna arrives everything changes - and the darkest turn of events will shatter their lives in ways no one could have imagined.  What if your perfect family becomes your worst nightmare?

Look Alive Twenty Five is by Janet Evanovich There's nothing like a good deli, and the Red River Deli in Trenton is one of the best. World-famous for its pastrami, coleslaw, and for its disappearing managers. Over the last month, three have vanished from the face of the earth, and the only clue in each case is one shoe that's been left behind. The police are baffled. Lula is convinced that it's a case of alien abduction. Whatever it is, they'd better figure out what's going on before they lose their new manager, Ms. Stephanie Plum.

They believed that it was over.  Having survived the lethal Pendulum conspiracy, photographer John Wallace atones for his past mistakes.  DI Patrick Bailey clings to the hope that he can, at last, return to a normal life in London.  But it’s only just beginning.  FBI investigator Christine Ash - alone and paranoid - hunts down the remaining members of the ruthless Foundation organisation.  Dark forces are rising again.  But when masked assassins strike at the heart of the UK government, a shocking new threat emerges that forces all three to reunite.  Deadlier than ever before. With time running out, they must defeat a lethal new adversary: a manipulative mastermind with sinister powers unlike anything they've seen before. Aftershock is by Adam Handy.

Cold Case is by Quintin Jardine.  Former Chief Constable Bob Skinner may have left the police service, but he's never far from a case. When his old mentor on the force, Jimmy Proud, finds himself in a desperate situation, Skinner gets pulled into a murder investigation that's been closed for thirty years.  The Body in the Quarry case was well-known around Edinburgh at the time: a popular priest found dead in a frozen quarry; a suspect with a clear motive charged; a guilty verdict. But with a journalist uncovering new evidence, the cold case has come back to haunt Proud - and only Skinner can help him.  With the clock ticking and his friend's reputation at stake, Skinner must uncover the truth to find out if an innocent man was convicted for murder. And if a killer is still on the loose...

So this is how it ends. It is clear to me now: one of us has to die.  Mark and Evie had a whirlwind romance. Evie brought Mark back to life after the sudden death of his first wife. Cleo, Mark's sister, knows she should be happy for him. But Cleo doesn't trust Evie... When Evie starts having accidents at home, her friends grow concerned. Could Mark be causing her injuries? Called out to their cliff-top house one night, Sergeant Stephanie King finds two bodies entangled on blood-drenched sheets.  Where does murder begin? When the knife is raised to strike, or before, at the first thought of violence? As the accused stands trial, the jury is forced to consider - is there ever a proper defence for murder?  And So it Begins is by Rachel Abbott.

Other books being published include No Mercy by Martina Cole (October) and The Coldest Blood by J S Law (November)

Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction Finalists

Finalists for the eighth annual Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction: The prize was authorized by the late Harper Lee, and established in 2011 by the University of Alabama School of Law and the ABA Journal to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird. It is given annually to a book-length work of fiction that best illuminates the role of lawyers in society and their power to effect change. 

Nominated books -

Exposed by Lisa Scottoline (St. Martin’s Press)
Proof by C.E. Tobisman (Thomas & Mercer)
Testimony by Scott Turow (Grand Central)
The award ceremony will take place on 1^st September 2018 during the Library of Congress National Book Festival.

Books to Look Forward to from Headline

June 2016

The Pursuit by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg featuring FBI agent Kate O'Hare and her secret partner, fugitive Nicolas Fox. FBI agent Kate O'Hare's covert partner has been kidnapped. But she is in hot pursuit...Nicolas Fox, con man, thief, and one of the top ten fugitives on the most-wanted list, has been kidnapped from a retreat in Hawaii. The kidnapper doesn't know that Nick Fox has been secretly working for the FBI and that his partner, Special Agent Kate O'Hare, is on their trail. The pursuit leads to Belgium, France and Italy, and pits Nick and Kate against a deadly adversary: Dragan Kovic, an ex-military officer from Serbia. He's plotting a crime that will net him billions...and cost thousands of lives. Nick and Kate have to mount an audacious con to avert catastrophe. The pressure's on for them to make this work - even if they have to lay their lives on the line...

On a cold November night in a Deptford yard, dock worker Harry Parker stumbles upon the body of a dead woman. Inspector Ben Ross is summoned from Scotland Yard to this insalubrious part of town, but no witness to the murder of this well-dressed, middle-aged woman can be found. Even Jeb Fisher, the local rag-and-bone man, swears he's seen nothing. Meanwhile, Ben's wife Lizzie is trying to suppress a scandal: family friend Edgar Wellings has a gambling addiction and no means of repaying his debts. Reluctantly, Lizzie agrees to visit his debt collector's house in Deptford, but when she arrives she finds her husband is investigating the murder of the woman in question. Edgar was the last man to see Mrs Clifford alive and he has good reason to want her dead, but Ben and Lizzie both know that a case like this is rarely as simple as it appears...  The Dead Woman of Deptford is by Ann Granger.

July 2016

Set in London in 1837, Anna Mazzola's The Unseeing is the story of Sarah Gale, a seamstress and mother, sentenced to hang for her role in the murder of Hannah Brown on the eve of her wedding. After Sarah petitions for mercy, Edmund Fleetwood is appointed to investigate and consider whether justice has been done. Idealistic, but struggling with his own demons, Edmund is determined to seek out the truth. Yet Sarah refuses to help him, neither lying nor adding anything to the evidence gathered in court. Edmund knows she's hiding something, but needs to discover just why she's maintaining her silence. For how can it be that someone would willingly go to their own death?

August 2016

Curious Minds is by Janet Evanovich and screenwriter Phoef Sutton They couldn't be less compatible, but they make a great team...Emerson Knight is introverted, eccentric, and has little-to-no sense of social etiquette. Good thing he's also brilliant, rich and (some people might say) handsome. Riley Moon has just graduated from Harvard. Her assertive (some people might say aggressive) spitfire attitude has helped land a dream job at Blane-Grunwald bank. At least, Riley Moon thinks it's her dream job until she is given her first assignment: babysitting Emerson Knight. An inquiry about missing Knight money leads to a missing man, missing gold and a life-and-death race across the country. Through the streets of Washington D.C., and down into the underground vault of the Federal Reserve in New York City, an evil plan is exposed. A plan so sinister that only a megalomaniac could think it up, and only the unlikely duo of the irrepressibly charming Emerson Knight and the tenacious Riley Moon could hope to stop it...

Psychiatrist Dr. Evelyn Talbot thought she had experienced her darkest nightmare when she was targeted as a teenager by a killer, but she's about to find out that some nightmares return again and again... Dr. Evelyn Talbot has learnt to live with the fear. As a teenager she was targeted by her boyfriend, Jasper Moore, and survived days of torture. She escaped with her life, but Jasper disappeared before he could be caught. Now Evelyn Talbot lives in a world of psychopaths. As the pioneering head of the Hanover House institute in Alaska, she engages daily with killers who have no conscience, no remorse and an ever-increasing desire to murder her. Her only desire is to try and figure out why they do what they do and stop them. But when a mutilated body is found in her sleepy Alaskan town Evelyn is forced to question herself, her inmates and whether her darkest nightmare has come back to haunt her...  Her Darkest Nightmare is by Brenda Novak.

Dark Serpent is by Paul Doherty.  Summer 1311, and Sir Hugh Corbett has taken up a life of

danger again...After his recent unveiling of a devious assassin, Sir Hugh Corbett has returned to service as the Keeper of the Secret Seal, begrudgingly admitting that his appetite for adventure has once again been whetted. Summoned to meet the King to be congratulated on their work together, Corbett and Ranulf learn of the death of Corbett's close friend, Ralph Grandison. Ralph, a leper, has been found dead in a rowing boat, a dagger thrust through his chest. But this murder is not the first of its kind. Other patients of the hospital in which Ralph was staying have similarly slaughtered and it seems as though the lepers, all former knights of the Royal household, are being targeted. The discovery that Ralph was killed by no ordinary weapon, but a poison dagger that once belonged with the Crown Jewels before being famously stolen, leads Corbett down a complex path, where the risk of disease plays out against the backdrop of finding an assassin who will use any means necessary to kill. As Corbett puts himself in the path of extreme danger, will he survive to see another day?

September 2016

A very egalitarian killer. The nun is dead, her body lies on the mayor's lawn. And it isn't alone. There are four of them altogether. They've been killed at different times, in different places, and dumped there. There should be five - but the boy is missing. One second he was there...Jonah Quill, blind since birth, sits in a car driven by a killer and wonders where they are going. Though he is blind, Jonah sees more than most people do. It is his secret, and he is counting on that to save his life. Then gone. Detective Kathy Mallory is counting on herself to save his life. It takes her a while to realise that the missing-person case she is pursuing is so intimately connected to the massacre on the mayor's lawn. But there's something about the boy she is searching for that reminds her of herself, all those years ago. She will find him - she just hopes it will be in time.  Blind Sight is by Carol O’Connell.

Murder on the Serpentine is by Anne Perry.  Pitt is on a secret mission for the Queen, maybe his last...London, 1899: Head of Special Branch Commander Thomas Pitt is summoned to Buckingham Palace. In the twilight of her years, Queen Victoria is all too aware that the Prince of Wales will soon inherit her empire and must be beyond reproach. She tells Pitt she tasked her close friend and confidante, John Halberd, with investigating the Prince's friends, specifically Alan Kendrick, a wealthy playboy and betting man, but before he could report back, Halberd was found dead in a rowing boat on the Serpentine. The death has been ruled an unfortunate accident and the investigation closed, but the Queen is not convinced that all is as it seems and tasks Pitt with finding the truth. Forced to act alone in this most sensitive of investigations, Pitt finds himself embroiled in a plot that threatens not only the reputations of men, but also the safety and reputation of the Empire...

A return to Atlantis The lost city has defined Nina Wilde's life. Her parents' obsession with Atlantis cost them their lives, but finding it brought Nina to her husband Eddie Chase and a series of archaeological treasures. A secret codex A decade later, the International Heritage Agency needs their help to locate the Secret Codex, an account of ancient Atlantean explorer Talonor's journeys, thought to be located in the dangerous underwater ruins of Atlantis. Unable to resist one more adventure, the couple join the mission. A king whose touch turns to gold But when a long-lost relative reappears in Nina's life, asking her to use the Codex to find a hidden cave containing the secret of King Midas, she is unprepared for the devastation that follows. The promise of unlimited gold has aroused the greed of powerful and ruthless forces...and only Nina and Eddie stand in their way.  The Midas Legacy is by Andy McDermott.

The Disciple is by Stephen Lloyd Jones. They are coming... On a storm-battered road at the edge of the Devil’s Kitchen, a woman survives a fatal accident and gives birth to a girl who should never have lived. The child’s protection lies in the hands of Edward Schwinn - a loner who must draw himself out of darkness to keep her safe - and her arrival will trigger a chain of terrifying events that no one can explain. She is a child like no other, being hunted by an evil beyond measure.  For if the potential within her is realised, nothing will be the same. Not for Edward. Not for any who live to see it.

October 2016

Betrayal is by Martina Cole.  Survival. It's all down to who you trust. Aiden O'Hara has been head of the family since he was kid, and he's going to keep it that way. Jade Dixon is the one who watches his back. Mother of his son. The one who makes him invincible. But Jade's been in the game a lot longer than Aiden. She knows no one's indestructible. And when you're at the top, that's when you've got to watch the hardest. Especially the ones closest to you ....

Christmas 1900. Victor Narraway, Thomas Pitt's former boss and his new wife Vespasia are

travelling by train from Jaffa to Jerusalem. Although enjoying their time together and the interesting people they meet, Vespasia soon becomes concerned that someone is watching their every move. When one of their new acquaintances is found murdered, the only clue is a mysterious piece of parchment written in a foreign tongue, and a message imploring Narraway to continue the stranger's quest. Sensing its importance, Narraway and Vespasia decide to fulfil their dead friend's wish. Continuing to Jerusalem with the parchment in hand, they quickly find themselves embroiled in danger. With Vespasia's fears suddenly realised and a watcher on their trail, will Narraway and Vespasia's fates follow that of their friend or can they make it to Jerusalem unscathed?  A Christmas Message is by Anne Perry.

Fireraiser is by Torkil Damhaug.  A man obsessed with the cleansing power of fire is destroying everything that reminds him of his youth. He calls himself the Fire Man. That same Easter, a teenager is threatened by his girlfriend's tradition-bound family. Karsten's attempts to protect himself put him and his sister Synne at even greater risk. Then he disappears all together. Eight years later, Synne is determined to find out what happened that night. But her investigation will ignite smouldering and dangerous memories. And the Fire Man is still there, waiting, and watching her search for the truth at every step…

  

November 2016

The Smoke Hunter is by Jacquelyn Benson. Chasing a threat born in smoke...London, 1898. Archivist Eleanora Mallory discovers a map to a legendary city. But is it the key to unravelling an ancient mystery or a clever hoax? Compelled to find out, Ellie journeys to Central America - with a merciless enemy hot on her heels. In a race to uncover the map's secret first, Ellie is forced to partner with maverick archaeologist Adam Bates, a man she's not sure she can trust. Together, they venture into an uncharted wilderness alive with smoke and shadows, where an even greater danger awaits them. For what lies there whispering to be unearthed has the power to bring the world to its knees. Join Ellie and Adam as they battle rivers of scorpions, plummeting waterfalls and pre-historic death traps on the journey to uncovering a deadly secret that could shake the fate of the world.

Cincinnati's children are in grave danger, and time is running out to save them...When FBI Special Agent Griffin 'Decker' Davenport wakes from a coma, he immediately thinks of two things: first, the ring of human traffickers he's spent the past three years undercover to bring down was just the tip of the iceberg; second, the brown eyes he sees upon waking belong to a woman he trusts to help him finish the job he started. Special Agent Kate Coppola's mission is to stop the growing menace of domestic human trafficking, starting with the customers and suppliers of the now-broken Cincinnati trafficking ring. Decker's new revelation is her worst nightmare - one of the traffickers' customers is acquiring teens for the Internet sex trade. Knowing the lives of kids are at stake, Kate and Decker ignore the risk to themselves, but the instinct to protect each other is far harder to ignore with each day that they work together. The search for this mystery customer becomes more difficult and dangerous with every passing hour as witnesses, suspects, and even members of their own team, are systematically exterminated by a predator who lets nothing stand in his way.  Every Dark Corner is by Karen Rose.

Pendulum is by Adam Hamdy You wake. Confused. Disorientated. A noose is round your neck. You are bound, standing on a chair. All you can focus on is the man in the mask tightening the rope. You are about to die. John Wallace has no idea why he has been targeted. No idea who his attacker is. No idea how he will prevent the inevitable. Then the pendulum of fate swings in his favour. He has one chance to escape, find the truth and halt his destruction. The momentum is in his favour for now. But with a killer on his tail, everything can change with one swing of this deadly pendulum...Targeted for death. Then fate intervenes. You have one chance. Run.

Paris,1937. Luke Hamilton - a junior air intelligence officer at the British Embassy - finds himself the target of an assassination attempt. A clear case of mistaken identity, or so it first appears. As Luke is hunted across a continent sliding towards war, he comes to learn that the answers lie deep in a past that predates his abandonment as a baby on the steps of an orphanage twenty-five years ago. Where Dead Men Meet is by Mark Mills.

Invictus is by Simon Scarrow. It is AD 54. The soldiers of the Roman army patrol a growing Empire, from the Mediterranean to the North Sea, from the Atlantic to the banks of the Nile. Rome brutally enforces its rule, and its legions are the most efficient and aggressive fighting force in the world. Two battle-scarred veterans of this army, Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro, have survived years of campaigning in Britannia and have been recalled to Rome. Their time in the teeming, dangerously political city is short, and soon they are travelling with the Praetorian Guard to Spain, a restless colony where simmering tension in the face of Roman rule is aggravated by bitter rivalry amongst the natives. The challenges that face two old friends and their comrades in arms are unlike any they have seen before - in a land that declares itself unconquerable...

When a woman and her husband, desperate for a baby, find themselves unable to conceive, they decide to take further steps. Since it is the husband who is infertile, the heroine decides to use a donor. And all seems to be well. Three months pass and she is happily pregnant. But a shocking revelation occurs when she discovers that a man arrested for a series of brutal murders is her donor - the biological father of the child she is carrying. Delving deeper to uncover the truth, the heroine must face her worst fears, and confront a terrifying truth.  Most Wanted is by Lisa Scottoline.