Forthcoming Books from Little Brown (Incl Constable and Robinson, Piatkus and Abacus Books)

August 2024

The Last Visitor is by Martin Griffin. The island was abandoned for fifty years. So how did the body get there? Five-hundred kilometres from land in the middle of Atlantic Ocean lies Navigaceo. A tiny island that was hastily abandoned fifty years ago and has been uninhabited ever since. Until now. Tess Macfarlane is a documentary filmmaker tasked with capturing the wild beauty of Navigaceo. Accompanied by a small team of researchers, her job is to film everything she sees. But Tess sees too much: a body. It's clearly recent. It shouldn't be there. And the victim is wearing the same expedition uniform as her colleagues. Someone has been here already and everyone on the team is a suspect. More than one of them could be a murderer. With five days until they are returned to the mainland, Tess must be careful, or hers might be the next body found on the shore.

Una has always been more comfortable working with numbers than people. As an actuary for an insurance company, her job is to spot patterns that other people might miss. When the data for her latest project - into the predicted number of deaths in seaside resorts - shows a blip in her forecasts, Una's untarnished reputation at work is at risk. That is, unless she can work out why there's been an unusual spate of accidental deaths by the coast. Death by Hanging Basket? She's not seen that before. Where better to begin than her mother's hometown of Eastbourne, where strange fatalities are befalling her mother's bingo crowd. But as Una puts her spreadsheets aside and begins to investigate, a sinister pattern begins to emerge and she realises that there is nothing accidental about these casualties . . .Can Una stop the killer in this small seaside town, before she becomes a not-so-vital statistic? Death by Numbers is by Jo Cunningham.

The Weekend Guests is by Liza North. Five old friends. A reunion to die for… A weekend on the wild, beautiful Dorset coast. Seven adults, six kids. A nanny: the ultimate special treat. It should be perfect: old friends, a stunning house, champagne and windswept beaches. But it isn't. Past grudges won't rest. Secrets won't stay put. And by the end of the weekend, at least one of them will be dead.

Despite many years living in South Devon, DI Wesley Peterson has never visited the tiny island of St Rumon's. That is until erosion from a storm reveals three bodies buried outside the local churchyard. Two are ancient skeletons, but one is far more recent, and Wesley realises he has uncovered a case of murder. But whose remains are they? And who killed them? The island has only a small number of inhabitants. Yet one resident keeps cropping up in Wesley's investigation: the author and self-styled academic, Quentin Search. Meanwhile Wesley's friend, archaeologist Neil Watson, becomes fascinated by the remains of the island's old priory. His discovery of a journal, written by a sixteenth century cleric, reveals an eerie tale of strange rituals and disturbing deaths. As Wesley begins to wonder whether the past might be repeating itself, another murder occurs . . . There is a calculated killer on the island - one whose grip is as deadly as the rising tide. Coffin Island is by Kate Ellis.

September 2024

The Great Hippopotamus Hotel is by Alexander McCall Smooth. A chance meeting with the manager of The Great Hippopotamus Hotel leads the much-admired and traditionally built Precious Ramotswe to investigate what is going wrong with this previously successful country hotel. Guests have been unwell, clothing has disappeared from the washing line, and scorpions have found their way into the guest bedrooms. Mma Ramotswe drives out to the hotel with her irrepressible colleague, Grace Makutsi (97 per cent in the final examinations of the Botswana Secretarial College). What they find there are family conflicts that only the investigators of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency will be able to resolve. Meanwhile, at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, Mma Ramotswe's husband, Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, gets a visit from a middle-aged client who wants to purchase a fast Italian sports car. What should the conscientious garagiste do in such circumstances? Should the client's wife be told? Mma Ramotswe is used to wrestling with such tricky questions, but it is harder for Mr J.L.B. Matekoni.

The Serial Killer Next Door is by Emma Kenny. Would you know if you lived next door to a serial killer? Based on her smash hit tour, Emma Kenny - psychologist and true crime expert - reveals the chilling true stories of killers who hide in plain sight. Taking readers on a journey into the dark side of humanity, Emma Kenny explores the ingredient list of experiences that turns regular people into murderous monsters, looking at crimes that shook the world. From Ted Bundy to Joanna Dennehy, Richard Trenton Chase to Aileen Wuornos and many more besides, Emma explores the crime scenes and criminal minds of some of the most notorious serial killers of our time. She also unveils shocking stories of lesser-known killers that even the most dedicated true crime fan will be surprised by. What unites all of these killers is the ability to slip into society. They look just like you and me. Some were married or parents, conscientious neighbours, teachers or fixtures of their community. Join Emma in this compelling exposé of their depraved world to understand what motivates them and what they look for in a victim. Then maybe you'll be able to spot the serial killer next door...

Welcome to Aberfal Boys High School. Independent jewel of academic and sporting excellence in the South-west -- until the headmaster is murdered in his study. And now the Year Seven School Mums' WhatsApp Group really do have something to talk about...

Clare Withoutani: OMG have you heard about Newhall?!!!

Becky Rupertsmum: Helen-Louise just texted. Can't believe it.

Asha: Not heard anything. What's happened?

Pam Geoffreysmum: What's he done this time? They're going co-ed, aren't they? I knew this would happen.

Clare Withoutani: Can't believe it, Becky. I'm in shock.

Pam Geoffreysmum: Are we going co-ed?

Becky Rupertsmum: No, Pam. Newhall died.

Pam Geoffreysmum: Oh GOD. Seriously??!! Can't believe it. So sad. He'll be such a loss to the school. The boys will be devastated. Will the school be offering grief counselling?

Rose Oliversmum: Anyone know what pages they're meant to do for chemistry

Ollie's homework diary says 'do questions 1-4' but no page numbers!

As the resulting police investigation reveals more and more of Aberfal's long-hidden secrets the list of suspects who wanted the headmaster dead grows by the day. And far from being a glittering jewel of exclusivity and excellence, it would appear Aberfal Boys High School is rotten to its core… One Bad Apple is by Jo Jakeman

Because She Looked Away is by Alison Bruce. After the sudden death of her sister, devastated detective DS Ronnie Blake relocates to Cambridge to help her brother Alex raise their sister's young son, Noah. She reports for her first day but instead finds herself being questioned by a special investigations unit, nicknamed the DEAD Team. With a small group of six, led by DI Fenton, the once-successful DEAD team has a single outstanding case, Operation Byron, and the failure to resolve it threatens the unit's existence. Their most promising lead is an anonymous note linking three seemingly unconnected people: a convicted fraudster, a dead academic... and Ronnie's sister Jodie. When Ronnie is denied information about Operation Byron, she follows a lead slipped to her by Malachi, the youngest member of the team, and makes a discovery which links Operation Byron to a disturbing unsolved murder. She is rapidly drawn into an intricate web of deceit, buried secrets and tragedy and the discovery that her connection to Cambridge is far darker than she could ever have guessed.

Passion in Death is by J D Robb. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer On a hot August night, Lt. Eve Dallas is called to a downtown club, where a joint bachelorette party full of love, friendship and laughter has taken a darker turn and ended in a crime scene. One of the brides has been garrotted in a private room and lies dead in a pool of blood. Shauna and Erin are celebrating their joint bachelorette party, living their best lives with a group of their girlfriends, drinking and dancing. Erin is planning a surprise honeymoon for Shauna to Maui – her dream holiday destination – but Erin will never have the chance to tell her fiancée about the surprise because on this – the best night of their lives – a killer lies in wait . . . The brutal murder scene was just seconds from the packed dance floor but despite the dozens of people present, useful witnesses prove hard to come by. Someone must know something, but no one is talking. On the surface the two brides had a supportive, tightknit group of friends but when Eve starts to dig below the surface, she discovers that everything may not be quite as it seems....

 October 2024

Summoned to an unnerving, abandoned theme park to retrieve a body, Dr Kay Scarpetta is devastated to learn that the victim is a man she once loved. While teaching in Rome during the early days of her career, Scarpetta had a love affair with acclaimed astrophysicist Sal Giordano that led to a lifelong friendship. The murder scene is bizarre, with a crop circle of petals around the body, and Giordano's skin is strangely red. Scarpetta's niece Lucy believes he was dropped from an unidentified flying craft. Scarpetta knows an autopsy can reveal the dead's secrets, but she is shocked to find her friend seems to have deliberately left her a clue. As the investigators are torn between suspicions of otherworldly forces, and of Giordano himself, Scarpetta detects an explanation closer to home that, in her mind, is far more evil . . . Identity Unknown is by Patricia Cornwell.

The Last One at the Wedding is by Jason Rekulak. The guests are arriving, and the celebrations are starting. But there's something strange about this wedding... Frank Szatowski hasn't seen his daughter Maggie in years, and it breaks his heart every day. So when she calls him out of the blue, to tell him that she's getting married and he's invited, Frank is overjoyed. Maggie is marrying into one of the richest families in the country, and Frank finds himself overwhelmed by the social circle she now moves in. He'll do anything to reconnect, though, and arrives at their New Hampshire estate ready to bond however he can with Maggie's in-laws. But as the wedding weekend gets underway, it becomes clear to Frank that although they have spared no expense, there's something strange about Maggie's fiancé. And maybe he shouldn't be celebrating just yet...

Agatha Raisin: Killing Time is by M C Beaton with R W Green Life is never, ever dull in Agatha Raisin's sleepy Cotswolds village! Agatha Raisin's private detective agency is working flat out on a series of burglaries which take a violent turn when a friend of Agatha's is murdered during a raid on his antiques shop. Although determined to nail the villains, Agatha still makes time to help Sir Charles Fraith prepare to stage a massive, hugely glamorous event in the grounds of his ancestral home, Barfield House. When Agatha begins to receive death threats and narrowly avoids being abducted by kidnappers, she takes advantage of a previously arranged trip to Majorca to lie low for a while. There she meets her partner, former police officer John Glass, who is now working as a dance instructor on a cruise liner. Their relationship founders over John's apparent closeness to his stage dance partner, Louise. Putting her love life on hold, Agatha heads home, having worked out who has been threatening her life. Can Agatha track down the would-be killer, nail her friend's murderers and rescue her romance with John? Everything comes to a climax at the Barfield Extravaganza when on top of everything else, Agatha also manages to solve a 400-year-old Cotswold murder mystery!

The man who can't feel fear is back, in a race against time to find the woman who knows a secret that could take down the world as we know it. When a shocking murder and abduction on the streets of London leads investigators to him, Ben Koenig has no idea at first why the highest echelons of the CIA would need his help. But then he realises he knows the woman who carried out the killings. Ten years earlier, without being told why, he was tasked with helping her disappear. Far from being a deranged killer, she is the gatekeeper of a secret that could take down the West, so for years she has been in hiding. Until now. And if she has resurfaced, the danger may be closer and more terrifying than anyone can imagine. So Ben Koenig has to find her before it's too late. But Ben suffers from a syndrome which means he can't feel fear. He doesn't always know when he should walk away, or when he's leading others into danger . . . Nobody’s Hero is by M W Craven

November 2024

Mercy has a cost. Time for Victor to pay. Assassin-for-hire Victor is in Bucharest, Romania, to kill two targets meeting to exchange stolen intelligence his client wants back. It should be a simple task - until he realises the second of his targets is a former ally. Even for a man of Victor's twisted morality, he's not prepared to kill someone to whom he owes his life. To atone for not completing the job, Victor agrees to take on the kind of dangerous assignment he would otherwise avoid. At a conference on international relations, he must identify and assassinate a killer just like him and remain unseen, despite a guest list of spies, dignitaries, and security experts. Even for an elite professional, the job is a tall order - which is why he looks for help from the person whose life he spared in Romania. Yet unbeknownst to Victor, the Bucharest contract stepped on the toes of powerful enemies from his past; enemies who now know exactly where to find him . . . Fire Fight is by Tom Wood.

Traitor is by Roberta Kray. She sold him out. Now he's out for revenge . . . After her murderous ex-boyfriend who she turned into the police was released from prison, Jem Byrne fled to London, desperate to hide herself in the hustle of the big city. Now she spends every day watching her back, waiting for him to catch up with her. But The Mansfield estate is far from a safe place to hide, and Jem soon learns she's only ever one wrong move away from being found out - and sold out. Private Investigator Harry Lind makes a living out of other people's secrets. When he meets Jem, he can tell she's hiding something big and he's desperate to find out what. But his talents have already been enlisted by another: an aging mother hoping to discover the truth about her daughter's disappearance fifty years earlier. There's also the two kids from The Mansfield pestering him to find their missing dad. Could Jem be the key to cracking both cases?

Against the Grain is by Peter Lovesey. When his former deputy, Julie, invites Detective Peter Diamond and his partner Paloma to spend a week at her home in the depths of rural Somerset, Diamond is horrified. What could be worse than seven days in the back end of nowhere with nothing to do? But it turns out that Julie has an ulterior motive. A local woman is doing time for manslaughter after a wild party ended in a tragic accident: a man suffocated in a silo of grain. Nobody in the village has much sympathy for Claudia, the unruly daughter of a wealthy local farmer. Nobody that is, except Julie, who is convinced there's more to this case than there appears and wants her former boss to investigate. And as Diamond tests his skills as an amateur sleuth, he soon discovers that the countryside isn't quite so dull as he'd anticipated. And then there's Philip, The Mansfield Estate's newest resident. He's lurking in the shadows, watching it all unfold. Or is he doing more than just watching?

One murder mystery movie. Three Dahlias. And a whole cast of suspects... Ex child star Posy Starling is finally filming her dream role - Dahlia Lively in The Lady Detective movie. But things take a nightmare turn when a prop weapon is replaced with the real thing - with almost fatal consequences for her fellow Dahlia, Rosalind King. There's something very wrong on the set of The Lady Detective - which means it's time to call in Caro Hooper, so the three Dahlias can investigate. In between filming scenes, signing autographs for locals, photoshoots on set and jetting off to France for an impromptu party, the three Dahlias do what they do best - surreptitiously sleuth. And very soon the evidence starts to point towards one particular co-star... But before they can prove it, a murder rocks the production. And this time, with a storm raging, the river flooded, and the bridge washed out, there are no police to rely on so it's up to the three Dahlias to stop a murderer in their tracks... before another victim is claimed. A Lively Midwinter Murder is by Katy Watson.

Dead Cold is by T F Muir. St Andrews, Scotland: When a woman's eviscerated body is found on the golf course close to the Fairmont Hotel, DCI Andy Gilchrist and his associate DS Jessie Janes are assigned the investigation. But the postmortem examination uncovers a shocking detail that must be kept from the public. Who could carry out such a brutal murder? And what is the significance of the gruesome trophy? But DNA uncovers links to a murder committed thirty years earlier and has Gilchrist fearing a killer of old has resurfaced, or worse, a debut serial killer setting out to learn his murderous trade. The hunt for the killer forces Gilchrist down a dangerous path that puts his and Jessie's life in danger, and ultimately leads them to a mind-playing madman who will kill again rather than go to prison. As Gilchrist homes in on the murderer, he finds himself relentlessly drawn into the killer's mind games, and a desperate fight for his life, in which there can only be one winner. Has Gilchrist finally met his match?

A Fatal Feast at Honeychurch Hall is by Hannah Dennison. When Eric Pugsley, who runs the unsightly scrapyard on the Honeychurch Hall estate, brings home his Turkish fiancée, everyone is delighted -- even if the marriage does seem to include her feisty mother who is never without a Terkel cigarette dangling from her lips. A Safari Supper at the Hall is held in their honour, but trouble begins when somewhere between the first course and dessert, one of the villagers goes missing and is later found drowned in the estate's ornamental lake. Rumours of foul play abound, given that competition is fierce to clinch the Honeychurch Challenge Cup at the upcoming Flower Festival, where sabotage has already come into play - earlier in the week someone released a herd of goats into the village allotments, where of the planned entries were eaten. But things take a sinister turn when Eric asks Kat to value the bride-to-be's 19th century Etruscan engagement ring only to be told that historically it is used for poison - hardly an appropriate choice for love but Eric is adamant it's what his fiancée wants. And then a second body is found... unearthing a hotbed of sabotage, blackmail, and old grudges.

 

Dangerous Promises with Roberta Kray

Sadie Wise has finally tracked down her husband Eddie, who left her five years ago, taking all her savings with him. Now in a new relationship, all she cares about is getting him to agree to sign the divorce papers so that she can move on. On the train to London to confront him, Sadie finds herself confiding the whole story to a stranger, Mona Farrell. In her mind, it’s a throwaway moment. In Mona’s mind, it’s a promise: she will rid her new friend of her husband, and in exchange, Sadie will kill Mona’s domineering father.

After securing the divorce, Sadie wants to put the whole experience behind her – but then she learns that just after she left, Eddie was stabbed to death. Mona took their chance encounter very seriously, and she won’t leave Sadie alone until she’s fulfilled her end of their ‘deal.’ Meanwhile, Eddie’s death has attracted the unwanted attention of the Gissings, a family Sadie doesn’t want to get on the wrong side of. They hold Sadie firmly responsible, and they want revenge.

Published in paperback by Sphere, 11th February 2016, £7.99

With the biopic Legend one of the biggest film hits of 2015, and a new Kray television documentary also released last autumn, our fascination with the East End gangland heyday shows no signs of abating.  Roberta Kray’s unique perspective into that world lends her latest fiction an authenticity that few could boast; coupled with fantastically-drawn, strong female characters and a pulse-racing plot.

----

Through her marriage to Reggie Kray, Roberta Kray has a unique insight into London's East End. Born in Southport, Roberta met Reggie in early 1996 and they married the following year; they were together until Reggie's death in 2000.  Roberta Kray is author of the bestselling Nothing But Trouble, Strong Women, The Villain’s Daughter, Broken Home and Bad Girl.  She lives in Norfolk.

Forthcoming Books To Look Forward to from Little Brown

Salvation of a Saint is by Keigo Higashino and is due to be published in February 2013.  When a man is discovered dead by poisoning in his empty home his beautiful wife, Ayane, immediately falls under suspicion.  All clues point to Ayane being the logical suspect, but how could she have committed the crime when she was hundreds of miles away?  As Tokyo police detective Kusanagi tries to unpick a seemingly unrelated sequence of events, he finds himself falling for Ayane.  When his judgement becomes dangerously clouded, his assistant must call on an old friend for help; it will take a genius to unravel the most spectacular web of deceit they have ever faced...

Peter Diamond, head of Bath CID, takes a city break in Vienna, where his favourite film, The Third Man, was set, but everything goes wrong and his companion, Paloma, calls a halt to their relationship.  Meanwhile, strange things are happening to jobbing musician Mel Farran, who finds himself scouted by methods closer to the spy world than the concert platform.  The chance of joining a once-famous string quartet in a residency at Bath Spa University is too tempting for Mel to refuse.  Then a body is found in the city canal, and the only clue to the dead woman's identity is the tattoo of a music note on one of her teeth.  For Diamond, who wouldn't know a Stradivarius from a French horn, the investigation is his most demanding ever.  Three mysterious deaths need to be probed while his own personal life is in free fall…  The Tooth Tattoo is the thirteenth book in the Peter Diamond series by Peter Lovesey and it is due to be published in April 2013.

  

Five years after Charles II's triumphant return to London there is growing mistrust of his extravagant court and of corruption among his officials - and when a cart laden with gunpowder explodes outside the General Letter Office, it is immediately clear that such an act is more than an expression of outrage at the inefficiency of the postal service.  As intelligencer to the Lord Chamberlain, Thomas Chaloner cannot understand why a man of known incompetence is put in charge of investigating the attack while he is diverted to make enquiries about the poisoning of birds in the King's aviary in St James's Park.  He becomes even more suspicious of his employer's motives when he discovers that the witnesses he needs to interview have close links to the business conducted in the General Letter Office, activities more firmly centred on intercepting people's mail than delivering it.  Then human rather than avian victims are poisoned, and Chaloner knows he has to ignore his master's instructions and use his own considerable wits to defeat an enemy whose deadly tentacles reach into the very heart of the government.  An enemy who has the power and expertise to destroy anyone who stands in the way … Death in St James’s Park is by Susanna Gregory and is due to be published in January 2013.

David Parker is Manchester's most ingenious criminal defence lawyer. Mike Parker is Manchester's most tenacious homicide detective.  Both bear the burden of the unsolved murder of their sister fifteen years earlier.  And both have a stake in a new series of murders that has shaken their city to its core.  Ronnie Bagley is awaiting trial for the murder of his girlfriend and baby.  Two weeks before he's due in court, he suddenly fires his defence team, claiming that there's only one lawyer he wants to defend him: David Parker.  Despite his misgivings about taking on the case in such strange circumstances, David decides to represent Bagley.  Little does he know that Bagley is smarter than anyone has given him credit for, and soon David will find himself pitched against his own brother, Mike, in a race to outwit the most terrifying serial killer the city has ever seen.  It isn't long before David and Mike's shared past comes crashing into the present in a pulse-pounding race to find out who is next to die...  Next To Die is the first in a new series by Neil White and is due to be published in June 2013.

Transferred to Naples after a tangle with the Sicilian Mafia, Detective Inspector Giuseppe Lojacono feels that he's marking time, waiting out an awkward scandal.  But when the bloodied bodies of teenagers start appearing around the city, victims of a strange and sinister killer whom police and locals take to calling The Crocodile, it soon becomes clear to Lojacono that the killings are more than simple Mafia hits, and that the labyrinthine streets of Naples are more deadly than he'd dared imagine.  Can he catch the assassin in time to save the city's innocents?  A bestseller in Italy, The Crocodile by Maurizio de Giovanni is a dark, bloody story of murder and revenge and is due to be published in June 2013.

Blind Faith is by C J Lyons and is due to be published in January 2013.  When her husband and son are murdered, she thought she'd lost it all.  But for Sarah Durandt the nightmare is just beginning ...Sarah has just witnessed the execution of the man who confessed to killing her husband and son, among others.  Returning home to the small town of Hopewell, Sarah vows to search for the graves of her murdered family - something the killer would never reveal.  But her hunt leads to shocking revelations and in a race to save everything she holds dear, Sarah is forced to swallow the ultimate betrayal and the cruellest of lies.

Victor the assassin is leading a solitary, peaceful life in Iceland when he’s drawn into a job for an unidentified Swiss broker.  Having passed the test, he’s introduced to a group of mercenaries and killers who are tasked to perform the ultimate assassination.  In this group Victor meets someone from his past, someone who recruited him to the life he now knows – someone he thought was dead.  And when he wants out, it’s too late – his former mentor has plans for him…. The Game is the third book in the series by Tom Wood to feature the assassin Victor and is due to be published in June 2013.

Eighteen-year-old Kirsty Wilson can't believe her luck when she lands a room in a luxury Glasgow flat owned by the beautiful Eva Magnusson, a wealthy fellow student from Stockholm.  But her initial delight turns to terror when Kirsty finds the Swedish girl lying dead in their home and their male flatmate accused of her murder.  Kirsty refuses to accept that he is guilty and, inspired by family friend Detective Superintendent Lorimer, sets out to clear his name.  Meanwhile, Lorimer calls on his trusted colleague, psychologist Solly Brightman, to help unravel the truth behind the enigmatic Eva's life and death.  But it is not long until another woman, bearing a marked resemblance to Eva, is brutally murdered in Glasgow.  Horrified, Lorimer and his team realise that Kirsty could be right.  Is it possible that Glasgow's finest detective has put the wrong man behind bars?  And is there a cold-blooded killer out there orchestrating the death of their next innocent victim?  In this absolutely gripping read, Alex Gray sends her dynamic Scottish detective from the gritty heart of Glasgow to the snowy streets of Stockholm in his toughest case yet?  The Swedish Girl is the tenth book in the DC Lorimer series by Alex Gray and is due to be published in March 2013.

It's 1959 and Lynsey Quinn has done the unthinkable.  She's got herself pregnant by a cop.  Rejected by her criminal family, she will pay the price for her betrayal, and so too will her daughter.  At the age of eleven, Helen is returned to the clan.  Hated by her grandfather, loved only by her uncle, she struggles to fit into a world she doesn't understand.  As warring factions battle for control of the East End, tragedy is about to strike again.  How can she survive?  And who can she trust as the murderous past comes back to haunt her?  Bad Girl is by Roberta Kray and is due to be published in April 2013.

The Cuckoo’s Calling is by Robert Galbraith and is due to be published in April 2013.  When a troubled model falls to her death from a snow-covered Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide.  However, her brother has his doubts, and calls in private investigator Cormoran Strike to look into the case.  A war veteran wounded both physically and psychologically, Strike's life is in disarray.  The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model's complex world, the darker things get - and the closer he gets to terrible danger ...A gripping, elegant mystery steeped in the atmosphere of London - from the hushed streets of Mayfair, to the backstreet pubs of the East End, to the bustle of Soho - The Cuckoo's Calling is a remarkable debut.  Introducing Cormoran Strike, in a classic crime novel.

Already Dead is by Stephen Booth and is due to be published in June 2013.  It’s a wet summer in the Peak District, and the officers of Derbyshire CID have a problem.  A body is discovered lying in shallow water after torrential rain has swollen the rivers and flooded the roads, making travel difficult and forensic examination impossible.  And that’s not their only problem.  The absence of DS Ben Cooper, on extended leave after an arson attack, has left a serious gap.  DS Diane Fry is a reluctant temporary replacement, but now their makeshift team is about to be tested to the limit.  The fatal events of one damp August night are likely to stay shrouded in mystery if they can’t track down a car glimpsed only as a dark outline in the rain by a passer-by.  And then there’s the victim: is there really nothing in his life to suggest a motive for murder?  Did he have no wife, no partner, and no close relationships at all, as his elderly mother insists?  As the rain turns into a deluge, loyalties among the officers will be put under intolerable strain as they try to solve their toughest case yet.  And that is before it emerges that Ben Cooper is not at home, but has vanished into thin air.

The price of betrayal is more than thirty pieces of silver.  Two days after Jesus Christ's crucifixion, Judas Iscariot receives an anonymous note stating, I know what you did.  Wrapped with it is an eye, complete with trailing optic nerve, and a splintered tooth - trophies ripped from two recently butchered friends.  Someone, it seems, knows what Judas did on that fateful night following the Last Supper.  And that someone is intent on exacting a bloody and gruesome revenge.  As more acquaintances and family members die in increasingly brutal ways, Judas finds himself in a desperate race against time to make amends for his act of treachery, and to uncover the identity of the mysterious hooded killer.  A relentlessly paced, gripping thriller, which further explores one of the darkest bargains in human history.  You might just find yourself engaged in the unthinkable: rooting for the man who betrayed Christ.  I Know What You Did Last Supper is by Wayne Williams and Darren Allan and is due to be published in March 2013.

On the steps outside an empty office in New York's financial district, a woman lies dead.  It's a bitterly cold winter and her coat and other items are missing, which initially seems to point to a mugging gone wrong, but Lt Eve Dallas soon discovers that the body was dumped at the newly renovated property.  Now she has to find out why.  Marta Dickenson was an auditor, so Eve has a host of suspects among those who were under her scrutiny, not ruling out the fact Marta's sister-in-law is a famous judge.  With the financial wizardry of Eve's husband Roarke at her disposal and the faithful Peabody by her side - when not distracted by the upcoming premiere they're all to attend - Eve starts the process of shifting through the motives of some powerful people to catch a killer... Calculated in Death is the thirty-sixth book in the In Death series by J D Robb and is due to be published in February 2013.