Books to Look Forward to from Severn House

January 2020

The Good Wife is by Jane A Adams.  1929. Clive Mason is devastated when his wife Martha is found dead in a horsebox at Southwell Races, her handbag stolen. As DCI Henry Johnstone and Sergeant Mickey Hitchens investigate, it's clear this wasn't a robbery gone tragically wrong - Martha was deliberately murdered. Who was Martha Mason and what was she involved in that led to her murder?

Henry Christie is enjoying a quiet retirement running the Tawny Owl pub - until a devastating moorland fire tears through the surrounding area and he finds himself at the forefront of coordinating the local response. When the occupants of a remote farm can't be contacted, Henry goes to check on them - and makes a grisly discovery.  Reluctantly agreeing to help the police with their investigation, Henry is reunited with DC Diane Daniels, and is soon confronting an explosive mix of organized crime, violence and drug turf wars which leads him back to his old hunting ground in Blackpool - and old enemies who will stop at nothing to finally have their revenge.  Wildfire is by Nick Oldham.

Cold Kill is by Rennie Airth.  An American actress arrives in London to find herself the target of a ruthless assassin in this compelling standalone thriller.  Adelaide Banks travels from New York to London to spend Christmas with her Aunt Rose. But when Addy reaches her Knightsbridge address, no one's home. Where is Rose? Dragged into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse on the snowy streets of London, Addy finds herself navigating a dark underworld of ruthless assassins, rogue agents and international crime.

February, 1586. When the queen's spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, learns that Ursula is to visit her relatives in Devon, he asks her to find out what has happened to two of his local agents, who have been strangely silent recently. On arrival in the small Devon village of Zeal Aquatico, Ursula discovers that both spies in question have met with mysterious - and fatal - accidents. Or is there more to it than that?  What did the two spies find out that got them killed? Is there any truth to the rumours that King Philip of Spain, in league with the queen's cousin, Mary Stuart, intends to launch an invasion from the south coast? As Ursula pursues her investigations, it becomes clear that someone in Zeal Aquatico is determined to stop her finding out the truth ... whatever it takes.  The Scent of Danger is by Fiona Buckley.  

Roar  Back is by John  Farrow.  Sergeant-Detective mile Cinq-Mars fails with a task set to him by his former captain and the consequences look set to spark a gangland war in Montreal.  Montreal, 1978. Newly promoted Sergeant-Detective mile Cinq-Mars attends the scene of seventeen break-ins at an apartment complex. Nothing more than stolen toasters. Cinq-Mars suspects that the burglaries are a trial run for a bigger heist . . . until he discovers a body pinned to a wall with a machete in one apartment.  When the former captain of Night Patrol, Armand Touton, receives a tip from an undercover informant in the Mafia, Cinq-Mars is ordered to intervene with a prisoner's release: the man must stay behind bars. He fails with the task and the immediate consequences are  devastating.   While trying to remedy his failure, solve the mystery of the break-ins and the case of the dead body, a chilling aspect emerges . . . gangland Montreal is bracing for war.

A murder of an Icelandic man during a Full Cold Moon reminds Lauren Riley of a previous case she failed to solve. She is determined not to let it happen again.  Since her partner on the Cold Case team has been out of action after being shot in the line of duty, Lauren Riley has been working Homicide. Her latest case involves an Icelandic man murdered on the streets of Buffalo mere feet from his hotel.  The brutality of the case hits Lauren hard. When she realizes the murder was committed on the night of a Full Cold Moon, it triggers memories of the first cold case she investigated that she's been unable to solve.  Lauren is determined not to fail again but when she is involved in a shooting with a suspect, she finds the case may be taken out of her hands . . . especially when it gains attention from the Icelandic government.  A Full Cold Moon is by Lissa Marie Redmond

In The Company of Fools is by Tania Bayard.  A baby abandoned in the palace gardens leads scribe sleuth Christine de Pizan into a mystery involving murder, superstition and scandal in fourteenth-century France. Paris, 1396. Scribe Christine de Pizan is shocked when the Duke of Orlans' fools find a baby, wrapped in rags and covered in sores, abandoned in the palace gardens. Was there really a wicked plan to substitute the child for the queen's own baby daughter and blame the Duchess of Orlans, Valentina Visconti? Who would commit such an evil act, and why?  Accused of being a sorceress, Valentina is the victim of much slander and has powerful enemies at the palace, where rumours of witchcraft and superstition run riot. Convinced of the duchess's innocence, Christine is determined to uncover the truth, and soon makes a number of disturbing discoveries. Could the palace fools be the key to unlocking the mystery?

Return Specialist Simon Fisk is brought in to find the granddaughter of the US Secretary of State who's been kidnapped by a group of terrorists while working with the Peace Corps in Africa. This is Simon's most dangerous mission yet that will take him through the forests of Nigeria and from city to city tracking down those who work in the shadows.  Beyond Gone is by Douglas Corelone.

London, 1396. A trip to the swordsmith shop for Crispin Guest, Tracker of London, and his apprentice Jack Tucker takes an unexpected turn when Crispin crosses paths with Carantok Teague, a Cornish treasure hunter. Carantok has a map he is convinced will lead him to the sword of Excalibur - a magnificent relic dating back to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table - and he wants Crispin to help him find it.  Travelling to Tintagel Castle in Cornwall with Carantok and Jack, Crispin is soon reunited with an old flame as he attempts to locate the legendary sword. But does Excalibur really exist, or is he on an impossible quest? When a body is discovered, Crispin's search for treasure suddenly turns into a hunt for a dangerous killer.  Sword of Shadows is by Jeri Westerson.

February 2020

Carrie Tollman awakes in the night to an intruder gazing down at her. He seems crazy. He tells her he's killed before and he'll kill again. Carrie is one of two carers looking after Enora Andressen's favorite scriptwriter. But Pavel is now paralysed, as well as blind, and it falls to Enora to track down this terrifying presence at Carrie's bedside.  Off Script is by Graham Hurley.

The Indigo Ghosts is by Alys Clare.  In this gripping forensic mystery set in Stuart England, Gabriel Taverner uncovers a series of shocking secrets when he's summoned by his former naval captain to investigate strange goings-on aboard his ship.  1604. Gabriel Taverner is surprised to receive an urgent summons from his old naval captain, who believes his ship is haunted by an evil spirit. Dismissive of the crew's talk of blue-skinned ghosts, Gabriel is convinced there must be a rational explanation behind the mass hallucinations. But matters take a disturbing turn when a body is discovered... 

Introducing an engaging new amateur sleuth, declutterer Ellen Curtis, in the first of a brilliant new mystery series.  Ellen Curtis runs her own business helping people who are running out of space. As a declutterer, she is used to encountering all sorts of weird and wonderful objects in the course of her work. What she has never before encountered is a dead body.  When Ellen stumbles across the body of a young woman in an over-cluttered flat, suspicion immediately falls on the deceased homeowner's son, who has recently absconded from prison. No doubt Nate Ogden is guilty of many things - but is he really the killer? Discovering a link between the victim and her own past, Ellen sets out to uncover the truth. But where has her best friend disappeared to? And is Ellen really prepared for the shocking revelations to follow? The Clutter Corpse is by Simon Brett

Introducing reluctant spy and friar-sleuth Brother Rodric Chandler in the first of a brand-new medieval mystery series.  London. July, 1399. As rumours spread that his ambitious cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, has returned from exile in France, King Richard's grip on the English throne grows ever more precarious. Meanwhile, the body of a young woman is discovered at Dowgate sluice. When it's established that the dead woman was a novice from nearby Barking Abbey, the coroner calls in his friend, Brother Chandler, to investigate.  Who would cut the throat of a young nun and throw her remains in the river? And what was she doing outside the confines of the priory in the first place? Secretly acting as a spy for Henry Bolingbroke, Chandler is torn by conflicting loyalties and agonising self-doubt. As the king's cousin marches towards Wales and England teeters on the brink of civil war, Chandler's investigations will draw him into affairs of state - and endanger not only himself but all those around him.  The Hour of the Fox is by Cassandra Clark.

Deadly Primrose is by Suzette A Hill.  The unfortunate demise of a local woman while sea bathing at the Birling Gap sends Primrose Oughterard's sleuthing antennae into overdrive.  Eccentric artist and indomitable amateur sleuth Primrose Oughterard is back in Lewes after her 'Baden-Baden' sojourn, but finds tragedy on her doorstep once again with the news that Elspeth Travers has drowned at sea while bathing at Birling Gap. The unfortunate Mrs Travers met her chilly demise in a black ruched swimming costume and pink floral cap, but Primrose is sure something is afoot. Elspeth hated swimming, and indeed frothy swimming hats - why was she in the water, and was her death really a tragic accident?  With so much incompetence around, Primrose feels compelled to investigate, and soon uncovers secrets, betrayal and nefarious deeds - with the help of her newly acquired pets, Maurice and Bouncer, inherited from her late brother, Francis. But just when Primrose thinks she's solved the mystery, there's an incredible twist...

The Doom List is by Gerard O’Donovan.  July, 1922. Newly-appointed 'movie czar' William H. Hays is about to arrive in town on a single-minded mission to clean up Hollywood. He is said to be compiling a list of 'undesirables' whom he plans to bar from screen work. They call it the Doom List.  With the industry in the grip of fear and paranoia, Hollywood's hottest young director Rex Ingram is determined that no hint of scandal should mar the premiere of his new movie, The Prisoner of Zenda, and hires private investigator Tom Collins, a fellow Irishman, with instructions to protect his leading lady's reputation at all costs. But, as Collins discovers, Barbara La Marr isn't the only member of the cast hiding a dangerous secret.  Meanwhile, a body is discovered in the Baldwin Hills to the south of the city. Could there be a connection? Against his better judgement, Collins is drawn into a case of scandal, forbidden love, blackmail . . . and cold-blooded murder.

Called to investigate the bloodstained aftermath of an eventful Christmas party, detectives Anderson & Costello discover that the holiday season can be anything but merry.  A family man is stabbed to death at a crowded Christmas Ice Show. Murdered in plain sight. No clues, no witnesses, no known motive.  A week later, two bodies are discovered at a holiday cottage in a remote highland glen: one in the kitchen; the other sprawled outside on the icy lawn. The killer would appear to have arrived and left without leaving a trace, not even a footprint in the snow.  What secrets are lurking within this isolated,  superstitious community? As the snow piles higher, detectives Anderson and Costello put their wits to solving a seemingly impossible crime, and gradually uncover a twisted tale of greed, obsession - and cold-blooded murder.  The Red Red Snow is by Caro Ramsay.

Hold Your Breath, China is by Qiu Xiaolong.  Inspector Chen is on the case of a serial murderer when he is called away to report on environmentalists trying to tackle the pollution issues in China.  Chief Inspector Chen and Detective Yu Guangming are brought into a serial murder case when the Homicide squad proves incapable of solving it. But before Chen can make a start, he is called away by a high-ranking Party member for a special assignment: to infiltrate a group of environmental activists meeting to discuss the pollution levels in the country and how to prompt the government into action.   Chen knows it will be a far from simple task, especially when he discovers the leader of the group is a woman from his past. Meanwhile, Yu is left to investigate a serial murder case on his own.  Both Chen and Yu face pressure from those above to resolve the cases in a satisfactory way . . . even if that means innocents face the punishment.

March 2020

Praying for Time is by Carlene Thompson.  She thought her prayers had been answered. Now she's praying for time.  Eight years ago, Vanessa Everly's younger sister Roxanne was kidnapped. Devastated, Vanessa ended her relationship with Christian Montgomery, whose troubled brother Brody was the police's prime suspect. Now, Vanessa receives the news she never thought she'd hear: Roxanne is alive. Vanessa's torment should be over, but it's about to get much darker...

An uninvited house guest throws Bea Abbot's summer plans into chaos, bringing danger and peril to Bea's door.  Bea Abbot is looking forward to spending the summer with her fourteen-year-old ward, Bernice, but her plans go awry when one of Bernice's schoolfriends finds herself in trouble. Evelina Trescott's uncle has died in a mysterious accident at their country house, and her aunt, Mrs Trescott, is keen to hide Evelina away from the police.  Evelina arrives on Bea's doorstep catatonic, heavily drugged up on epilepsy medication and unable to remember finding her uncle's body. Is she really a hapless victim, or is Bea harbouring a wily criminal?  The more Bea learns about the troublesome Trescotts, the more she realizes something is horribly wrong, and soon finds herself drawn into a dark web of greed, abuse, and murder. False Conclusion is by Veronica Heley.

Borrowed Time is by David Mark.  A badly mutilated body has been discovered in a remote woodland pond on the Essex borders - a location known to be the haunt of the ruthless crime gang that ruled London in the 70s. When one of the victim's hands is found nearby, forensic tests reveal a number scrawled on the palm. It is quickly identified as the National Insurance number of struggling family man Adam Nunn.  As Adam is arrested in connection with the murder, it emerges that the dead man was a private investigator he had hired to find out the identity of his birth parents. Just what did Larry Paris discover that got him killed?  As Adam seeks the truth surrounding his origins and promises justice for the mother he never knew, he is drawn into a lurid criminal world of violence and violation, reprisal and merciless death. Torn between the man he wants to be and the man he fears becoming, Adam's investigations will lead him ever deeper into darkness.

Money is the root of all evil, according to the Reverend Mother - but is it the motive for her cousin's murder?  Wealthy widow Charlotte Hendrick had always promised that her riches would be divided equally between her seven closest relatives when she died. Now she has changed her mind and summoned her nearest and dearest, including her cousin, the Reverend Mother, to her substantial home on Bachelor's Quay to inform them of her decision. As Mrs Hendrick's relatives desperately make their case to retain a share of her wealth, riots break out on the quays outside as the flood waters rise ...  The following morning, a body is discovered in the master bedroom, its throat cut. Could there be a connection to the riots of the night before - or does the killer lie closer to home? In her efforts to uncover the truth, the Reverend Mother unearths a tale of greed, cruelty, forbidden passion ... and cold-blooded malice.  Death of a Prominent Citizen is by Cora Harrison.

The Molten City is by Chris Nickson.  Detective Superintendent Tom Harper senses trouble ahead when the prime minister plans a visit. Can he keep law and order on the streets while also uncovering the truth behind a missing child?  Leeds, September 1908. There's going to be a riot. Detective Superintendent Tom Harper can feel it. Herbert Asquith, the prime minster, is due to speak in the city. The suffragettes and the unemployed men will be out in the streets in protest. It's Harper's responsibility to keep order. Can he do it? Harper has also received an anonymous letter claiming that a young boy called Andrew Sharp was stolen from his family fourteen years before. The file is worryingly thin. It ought to have been bulging. A missing child should have been headline news. Why was Andrew's disappearance ignored? Determined to uncover the truth about Andrew Sharp and bring the boy some justice, Harper is drawn deep into the dark underworld of child-snatching, corruption and murder as Leeds becomes a molten, rioting city.

The Reckoning is by M J Trow. December, 1592. England is entering dangerous waters as thoughts turn to the question of the ageing Queen Elizabeth's successor. Christopher Marlowe meanwhile is leading a troupe of the Lord Chamberlain's Men on tour with a controversial new play.  Marlowe expects his latest play, Edward II, to ruffle feathers. What he doesn't expect is it to lead to is sudden, violent death. The morning the tour is due to begin, the newest member of the cast is found stabbed to death in the local brothel. And when a second murder, and then a third, disrupt rehearsals for the inaugural performance in the Great Hall at Scudbury Manor, it becomes clear that someone is determined to prevent this play from being performed - at any cost. But who ... and why?

Maggie Wise, a retired homicide cop turned radio presenter, is asked to help the local police with the case of two missing girls.  Dr Oscar LeBlanc is close to a medical breakthrough to cure dementia and other degenerative diseases . . . but in order to succeed he needs to illegally obtain plasma from prepubescent children. He believes the ends justify the means and two young girls are abducted.  The disappearance of the girls causes a lockdown of the area and, when one of the girl's parents prove uncooperative with the police, former homicide cop turned radio presenter Maggie Wise offers to help. Maggie quickly forms a connection with the family just as the girls are recovered.  LeBlanc is quickly suspected, but after he is questioned he's found dead from an apparent suicide. However, the circumstances are suspicious and Maggie finds herself conflicted when the family become the prime suspects.  Young Blood is by Tricia Fields.

April 2020

Detective Sarah Burke and new cop Zivko 'Bogey' Boganicevic are sent to an incident at Fairweather Farms senior living center in Tucson. The center's van has suddenly been chased at reckless speed by a carload of bandits firing high-powered rifles, and crashed into its own garage. Arriving at the scene, Sarah makes a grisly discovery: the driver, Enrique Lopez, was shot in the head during the chase. Why was a kindly man, dedicated to looking after the elderly, targeted and killed so dramatically by a team of hoodlums? As Sarah works through her list of questions, she soon finds herself drawn into the high-stakes world of drugs, deception and mistaken identity where nothing is as it first appears, and she is forced to risk her career - and her life - in her search for answers.  Sarah’s List is by Elizabeth Gunn.

Lucky Bones is by Michael Wiley.  "My boyfriend's been stealing my Jimmy Choos." Genevieve Bower has hired private investigator Sam Kelson to recover her stolen shoes from her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend. The problem is that no one's seen Genevieve's boyfriend for the past two weeks. Events take a disturbing twist when, in his search for the shoes, Kelson comes across a body, shot in the head. A clear-cut case of suicide - or is it? Has Kelson's client been wholly honest with him? What is this case really about? At the same time, an explosion rips through one of the city's public libraries, leaving a friend's nephew critically injured. Could there be a connection? If there is, Kelson's determined to find it. But Kelson's not like other investigators. Taking a bullet in the brain during his former career as a Chicago cop, he suffers from disinhibition: he cannot keep silent or tell lies when questioned - and his involuntary outspokenness is about to lead him into dangerous waters . . .

Ghosts Up Her Game is by Carolyn Hart.  After a busy morning dispatching emissaries from Heaven's Department of Good Intentions to those in need, Bailey Ruth Raeburn is feeling flush with success. So when an urgent call for help comes through from her old hometown, she can't resist taking on the mission herself. After all, what could go wrong? With the shouted warning of her boss, Wiggins - "Irregular! Problematic!" - ringing in her ears, she arrives to face a shocking scene: Professor Iris Gallagher leaning over the corpse of her colleague Matt Lambert, the murder weapon clutched in her hand. Bailey Ruth is only sent to help the innocent, but things are looking very black for Iris. With Wiggins breathing down her neck, and her old friend Police Chief Sam Cobb casting doubt on her every theory, Bailey Ruth must uncover the truth - or this could be the last trip to earth she's ever allowed to make.

Literary caterer Letitia 'Tish' Tarragon has pulled out all the stops for her booth at the Hobson Glen Holiday Fair, theming her appetising offerings around the festive performances by the Williamsburg Theatre Group. But when Tish meets the cast, she is surprised by the hostility between members of the allegedly close-knit troupe, centred around their star actress, the beautiful, talented yet mysterious ingnue, Jenny Inkpen.  Determined to spread some Christmas cheer, Tish volunteers to deliver breakfast to the eight actors, but is horrified to discover Jenny dead in her trailer the next morning. As Tish attempts to find out more about the group's leading lady, she soon uncovers lies, jealousy and a series of shocking secrets. Can Tish expose a cold-blooded killer before the fair is over?  The Christmas Fair Killer is by Amy Patricia Meade.

The Music Box Enigma is by R N Morris.  Could a mysterious music box hold the key to unlocking the puzzle behind a gruesome murder for Detective Inspector Silas Quinn?London, 1914. Despite a number of setbacks, rehearsals for The Hampstead Voices' Christmas concert are continuing apace. The sold-out event is raising funds for war refugees, and both Winston Churchill and Edward Elgar are expected to attend. But the most disturbing setback of all occurs when the choirmaster, Sir Aidan Fonthill, is discovered dead at a piano, a tuning fork protruding from his ear.Detective Chief Inspector Silas Quinn and his team from the Special Crimes Department at New Scotland Yard soon discover that Sir Aidan had a number of enemies, but who hated him enough to carry out such a heinous crime? Could the answer be linked to a mysterious music box delivered to Sir Aidan's house shortly before the murder, and can Silas solve the puzzle of the music box enigma and catch the killer before the concert takes place?

The truth is stranger than fiction for Albert Campion in this gripping mystery where murder, detective novels and the supernatural collide.1946, London. The eagerly anticipated new detective novel from Albert Campion's godsibling, bestselling author Evadne Childe, is proving to be another runaway success. Unfortunately, it has also caught the attention of Superintendent Stanislaus Oates for reasons that go beyond its superior plotting. The crime at the heart of The Bottle Party Murder bears a number of striking similarities to a very real, recent and unsolved murder at the Grafton Club in Soho. Evadne wrote the book before the murder occurred, yet predicts it remarkably accurately - is it just a weird coincidence, is Evadne getting her information from 'the other side', or is something more sinister afoot? The repercussions of this extraordinary and complex case will reach out over the next fifteen years, drawing in three of Mr Campion's favourite policemen - Oates, Yeo and Luke - before finally coming to its violent conclusion in 1962.  Mr Campion’s Séance is by Mike Ripley.

July 2020

Secrets simmer in the lonely wasteland of Dartmoor.  Spring, 1312. At Malmaison Manor, Lord Simon is concealing a dark secret - one he arrogantly assumes will never catch up with him. But someone knows about the crime he committed and they've found a way to make him pay. And he's not alone. When he is found mysteriously slain, other deaths soon follow. Meanwhile, ships on the Devonshire coast are being deliberately wrecked, their crews slaughtered, their cargoes plundered.  Sir Hugh Corbett and Lord Simon are bound by the Secret Chancery and their search for one precious ruby - the Lacrima Christi. So, when Corbett learns of Lord Simon's death, he is once more dragged into a tangled web of lies and intrigue and it's not long before secrets of his own start to surface. As the Hymn to Murder reaches its crescendo, can Corbett confront his past and live to see another day?  Hymn to Murder is by Paul Doherty.

August 2020

Every Kind of Wicked is by Lisa Black.  Life and death have brought Maggie Gardiner full circle, back to the Erie Street Cemetery where she first entered Jack Renner's orbit. Eight months ago, she learned what Jack would do in the name of justice. More unsettling still, she discovered how far she would go to cover his tracks. Now a young man sprawls atop a snowy grave, his heart shredded by a single wound. A key card in the victim's wallet leads to the local university's student housing - and to a grieving girlfriend with an unsettling agenda.  Maggie's struggle to appease her conscience is complicated by her ex-husband, Rick, who's convinced that Jack is connected to a series of vigilante killings. Also a homicide detective, Rick investigates what seems like a routine overdose on Cleveland's West Side; but here, too, the appearance belies a deeper truth.   Rick's case and Jack's merge onto the trail of a shadowy, pill-pushing physician who is everywhere and nowhere at once, while Maggie and Jack uncover a massive financial shakedown hiding in plain sight. And when Rick's bloody fingerprint is found at another murder scene, Maggie's world comes undone in a violent, irreversible torrent of events . . .

Books to look forward to from Severn House 2016

January 2016

The Night Wanderer is by Alys Clare.  The latest title in the Aelf Fen series sees Lassair investigating a series of brutal murders after rumours that the legendary demon, The Night Wanderer, has returned. Can she discover his identity before she, too, becomes a victim?

Crime blogger and radio host Kit Doyle goes undercover as a teenage runaway to discover why young people are going missing. On the streets, she enters an unpredictable world and wanders into the clutches of a dangerous psychopath. Goodbye Forever is by Bonnie Hearn Hill.

When Eden Radley is told her mother has killed herself and her severely disabled half-brother, Eden sets out to discover why. The more she learns, the more she becomes convinced that her mother’s death was no suicide. How much did she really know about her mother or her troubled step-father, Flynn Darby? Don’t Believe a Word is a psychological stand-alone thriller from Patricia MacDonald.

Quick and the Dead is an exciting new series from Susan Moody, introducing candid female sleuth Alex Quick. Alex’s business partner, acclaimed art historian and university professor Helena, disappears and Alex is consumed by guilt. Helena had complained of a stalker, and Alex had dismissed her worries. Now she must figure out what happened to her friend. But is Helena a victim . . . or is she a killer?  

The latest addition to the long-running Pennsylvania-Dutch series sees Magdalena Yoder welcome some aristocratic British guests to the inn. But they are by no means the easiest of guests, and then one of the guests disappears over the edge of Lover’s Leap. Did he fall? And where is the body? Tea with Jam and Dread is another hilariously quirky mystery from Tamar Myers.

An astonishing new order has usurped power in Rome and Libertus’ wealthy patron is endangered. He must take Marcus’s young family to safety in order to protect him from an anonymous and vindictive enemy. But his task brings problems as he uncovers a grisly secret and an ancient crime – with ramifications stretching to the present day. The Ides of June is by Rosemary Rowe is set against the backdrop of the Roman Empire.

Intrepid nineteenth-century private investigators Grand and Batchelor return in their second mystery. The pair are commissioned with looking into the mysterious death of Lafayette Baker, head of the US National Detective Police. Even in death, Baker remains one of the most hated men in the country – it seems almost everyone wanted him gone. Can the investigators survive long enough to uncover the truth? The Circle is by M J Trow

February 2016

To The Last Drop is the ninth in Sandra Balzo’s coffeehouse cozy mystery series sees a dead body discovered outside Maggy Thorsen’s ex-husband’s dental practice, and Maggy tries to piece together the clues. But her beau, Jake, has just dropped a bombshell on her – can she keep her emotions in check long enough to find out the truth about this possible murder?

Crime writer sleuth Donald Langham is invited to a remote Scottish castle where an attempt is being made to raise the wreck of a German fighter plane from the loch. But progress is halted when one of the guests is brutally murdered. Murder at the Loch is by Eric Loch and is a traditional murder mystery set in the 1950’s.

Melody of Murder by Stella Cameron is the third instalment of the Alex Duggins mystery series introduces a new family to the idyllic Cotswold village of Folly-on-Weir. Unfortunately, their arrival has also attracted the attentions of a sly, clever and perverted killer. Once again, pub owner Alex Duggins and her veterinarian friend Tony must use their wits to prevent further carnage.

Shortly before Christmas, Professor James Lowell is found brutally attacked in the university where Anna works. She soon discovers that her fellow dogwalker, Isadora, knew the deceased in the Sixties when she was a member of the ‘Oxford Six’. It turns out that Isadora has been keeping a surprising secret all these years. Could the attack on the Professor have its roots in a fifty-year-old murder? Written in Red is by Annie Dalton.

Dangerous Minds is by Priscilla Masters.  Can a psychiatrist prevent a crime when it

exists only in a patient’s mind? After receiving a wedding invitation from a former patient, Claire is alarmed. Jerome is a highly dangerous man and he appears to have intimate details of her other patients. Can Claire prevent a tragedy in this tense psychological thriller? 

Computer hacker Nicole Jones, now living as Susan McQueen on a remote island in Quebec, is startled when her computer is hacked, showing a ‘shadow’ inside her laptop which watches her every move. Afraid she’ll be tracked down, she goes on the run again. Can she escape her past a second time? Shadowed is by Karen E. Olson.

Black Hammock is by Michael Wiley.  Homicide detective Daniel Turner revisits an eighteen-year-old unsolved case in the third of this intriguing and atmospheric crime noir series. Oren returns to the family home he last saw when he was eight, bent on an elaborate scheme of revenge against his mother and her husband. Is this Daniel’s chance to find out what really happened to Oren’s father all those years ago?

 

March 2016

High Jinks is by Shannon Esposito.  Doggie-yoga instructor Elle Pressley is back for the latest ‘Paws & Pose’ mystery series, where she discovers a body hanging from the kitchen rafters at a Halloween party. Elle turns to her new boyfriend, a local P.I. called Devon, to help her. But Devon is distracted by new evidence in his parents’ murder case. Is fate about to deliver them both into the hands of a determined killer?

Think Wolf is Michael Gregorio’s second Mafia thriller, set against the glorious landscape of Italy’s Umbria region. When the headless body of a fellow ranger is found in the woods, Sebastiano is convinced that he himself was the target. He is convinced his friend’s death heralds the return of the ‘ndrangheta, the most formidable criminal organization in Italy. Sebastiano must now draw on his finely-honed survival skills and think wolf if he is to discover what happened to his companion.

In the fifth instalment of the Kate O’Donnell mystery series, Detective Sergeant Harry Barnard is ordered to track down a missing Soho club owner, Ray. But the case takes on greater urgency when a body is discovered outside a gym owned by Ray. Meanwhile, Kate O’Donnell is working on a project about the devastating East Coast floods of 1953. As Kate and Harry are about to discover, the floods and the murder are connected in more ways than one. Deep Waters is by Patricia Hall.

Sleuthing monk Brother Athelstan returns in his latest medieval mystery, when he is summoned to the monastery at Blackfriars and tasked with solving the murder of a fellow priest. But past crimes have risen their heads, and he finds himself investigating a royal murder that took place fifty-four years earlier, while rebel leaders plot the present king's destruction.  The Great Revolt is by Paul Doherty.

Benjamin January is called up to Vicksburg, deep in cotton-plantation country, to help a wounded ‘conductor’ of the Underground railroad – a secret network of safe houses that guide escaping slaves to freedom. When the chief conductor is found dead, January must find the killer before their secret is uncovered in this latest historical mystery.  Drinking Gourd is Barbara Hambly.

The third tense and compelling thriller to feature The Watchman – deep cover specialist Marc Portman. Portman is in Russia providing covert back-up to a former KGB officer with close links to Vladimir Putin, who hopes to use his influence with the president to improve relations between Russia, the USA and Europe. When the assignment takes an unexpected turn, Portman has no choice but to provide hard cover for his client. Hard Cover is by Adrian Magson.

Classic at Bay is by Amy Myers.  The once-notorious cabaret singer Adora Ferne guards a private treasure trove of twelve classic Jaguar cars, but hankers over the one that is missing. Jack Colby, car detective, has been commissioned to buy the thirteenth car from the Earl of Storrington. But when a murder follows the earl’s rejection of an offer, Jack starts to investigate. Does this murder link to the secrets of Adora’s past?

Lorna Myers thinks she knows where her husband is – until two men come looking for him. Luckily ex-police dog handler Daniel Whelan is on hand to take control of the situation, but for Lorna it’s the start of a nightmare. Daniel finds himself drawn into the complex affairs of the family, with potentially fatal consequences. No Second Chances is the latest British police dog-handler mystery from Lyndon Stacey.

April 2016

In the latest Gillard and Langley mystery, the murder of a senior official of the National Crime Agency sends shockwaves through MI5, MI6 and the Met. Patrick Gillard, the deceased’s protégé and adviser to the NCA, and his wife and working partner Ingrid Langley, vow to find his killer. Dust to Dust is by Margaret Duffy.

Playing with Fire is by Gerald Elias.  When an anxious phone call disturbs Daniel Jacobus from his Christmas festivities, it is up to Jacobus and his team to find out how and why Borlotti, a seemingly humble violinmaker, became a captive of his past indiscretions. The latest Daniel Jacobus mystery holds a mirror to the glittering façade of the concert world, delving into the multimillion-dollar sleight-of-hand of violin dealing.

Treason in the Secret City is by Diane Fanning.  Libby is woken in the middle of the night by a distressed colleague – Marvin’s cousin Frannie has been charged with treason. Libby, a chemist at a secret facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, agrees to help, but her investigations soon uncover a web of indoctrinated spies, greedy opportunists and unscrupulous collaborators. Second in the exciting new World War II mystery series featuring intrepid research chemist-sleuth Libby Clark.

Introducing Elizabethan cutpurse and adventurer Jack Blackjack in the first of a brand-new historical mystery series. Light-fingered Jack knows he’s not going to have a good day when he wakes with a sore head next to a dead body in a tavern’s yard. But with the rebel army marching on London, Jack cannot escape the city. Instead he must try to work out who killed the man, a troublesome task as the rebel army comes closer and the death toll mounts. Rebellion’s Message is by Michael Jecks.

Death at the Boston Tea Party is by Deryn Lake.  A new business opportunity in America leads to a case of cold-blooded murder for Apothecary John Rawlings. When he arrives in Boston in 1773, John finds a place riven with tension and unrest, and the resentment erupts into outright rebellion during the notorious Boston Tea Party. But has someone taken advantage of the chaos to commit murder?

The kidnapping of an innocent schoolgirl throws a glaring light on the tensions and injustices of pre-War Egyptian society in this absorbing historical mystery. Mamur Zapt, Head of the Secret Police, takes charge of the negotiations for her safe return, where he learns that there is more to the girl’s kidnapping than meets the eye and the outcome with shine a glaring light on tensions running through Egyptian society. The Women of the Souk by Michael Pearce.

Rat Run is by Caro Ramsay.  In August 1992, a young mother and her two small sons were brutally murdered in the woods behind their home. Her neighbour Andrew Gyle was convicted of the crime and sentenced to life imprisonment. Now, twenty-three years later, a macabre discovery throws new light on the case. Could there have been a shocking miscarriage of justice? The latest tense and twisting Anderson and Costello mystery.

DCI Monika Paniatowski returns to investigate the killing of an American guest at the Royal Victoria Hotel. Who is this lady and what was she doing in a small town like Whitebridge? The investigation takes an intriguing twist when Monika learns of a possible link to a fifty-year-old murder, but the only person who can tell her why it’s relevant is lying in a coma. Death in Disguise by Sally Spencer.

A Maiden Weeping is by Jeri Westerson.  Crispin Guest awakens in a strange bed after a night of passion and finds his lover dead. Drunk, Crispin scarcely remembers the night before. Did he kill her? With Crispin shackled and imprisoned, and other bodies turning up, his apprentice Jack must hit the ground running to solve the crime.

Books to look forward to from Allison and Busby

Charlie’s latest assignment looked so simple and a perfect distraction from her personal life. Protecting the naive daughter of an investment banker from the kidnappers who prey on the wealthy Long Island set should mean a round of charity auctions, luxurious parties and boutiques— and few risks for an experienced operative. But when her instincts lead Charlie to suspect an inside job, she finds out that defending a girl determined to put herself in danger is far from easy, that not everyone who mingles with the jet set is what they seem - and the idle rich can be as ruthless as any criminal. Fifth Victim is by Zoë Sharp and is due to be published in March 2011

A Mansion and its Murder is by Robert Barnard and is due to be published in Feb 2011. Sarah Jane Fearing is youngest scion of one of England’s most influential banking families. At the centre of her world stands her generous uncle Frank, the only relative to have escaped the family’s straitjacket of ponderous respectability. But while Frank’s ill-considered marriage to a coldly ambitious woman produces the family’s longed-for male heir, the parents fall to quarrels and then to murder. And Sarah is drawn inexorably into a morass that threatens the survival of the entire family.

A missing woman and an apparently accidental death of the new Head of Art are the macabre events that signal a new year at Leighford High School for Peter ‘Mad Max’ Maxwell. The suspect list is non-existent but Maxwell, researching with paper and pencil, stumbles by accident on the linchpin to the whole case and a very powerful motive for murder. M J Trow's Maxwell's Island is due to be published in January 2011.

The Law of Angels by Cassandra Clark is the third book in the Abbess of Meaux series. It is Summer, 1384 and the harvest may be promising but storm clouds of insurrection are gathering over England. John of Gaunt still refuses to step aside for his ward, the boy king Richard II. Heretics roam the land sowing sedition. A return to the bloodshed of the Great Rebellion seems certain. Hildegard of Meaux – sleuth, spy and now abbess – has founded a religious refuge but by taking in a bonded maid Hildegard has made a dangerous enemy, willing to destroying her sanctuary. Meanwhile her own history threatens to drag her into the schemes of traitors – including the ruthless Henry Bolingbroke. – The Laws of Angels is due to be published in February 2011

The year is 1861 and Constable Faro is heading back to Orkney to enjoy some home comforts, armed with a private investigation into the death of champion swimmer Dave Claydon, who drowned in mysterious circumstances. Was this an accident or is there a sinister connection with missing artefacts recovered from an Armada galleon? At Lammastide the legend of the seal king’s annual claim of a human bride becomes reality and Faro’s holiday and his original secret mission turn into a nightmare. With himself as the prime suspect in the girl’s disappearance, he is in deadly danger. The Seal King Murder is by Alanna Knight and is due to be published in January 2011.

Set in the medieval town of Shrewsbury, Frozen Charlotte is the third in the Martha Gunn' series by Priscilla Masters. When a woman arrives in A and E clutching a child in a pink blanket, Martha Gunn is not quite ready to make the discovery that the evening has in store for her. The baby is dead, and not only that, it has been mummified. Post mortem reveals the child to be a new born, deceased for over five years and, despite the mysterious woman's protestations that it is called '-poppy', most certainly a boy. As always coroner Martha Gunn reserves judgement until she is able to get to the bottom of the case. Frozen Charlotte is due to be published in January 2011.

Deception in the Cotswold’s by Rebecca Tope is due to be published in April 2011. In the wake of a series of unfortunate experiences house-sitting in the Cotswolds, Thea Osbourne, accompanied as ever by her spaniel Hepzibah, is perhaps over-optimistic about the English summertime and the possibilities of her latest assignment – house-sitting for transatlantic reptile breeder Harriet Young. However, yet again, the region’s bucolic charms prove to be more than deceptive, and Thea is thrust once more into the heart of a Cotswolds mystery.

The year is 1855, and on the Birmingham express train a criminal is being escorted to his appointment with the hangman. But the wily Jeremy Oxley, con-man, thief and murderer, has one last ace up his sleeve: a beautiful and ruthless accomplice willing to do anything to save her lover. A daring rescue is about to take place and cold-blooded murder is on the cards. This is another puzzling case for the Railway Detective Robert Colbeck and his trust deputy Victor Leeming, which will see them travelling across the UK and to New York in their attempts to capture their nemesis Oxley. Blood on the Line is by Edward Marston and is due to be published in April 2011.