Books from Headline Publishing incl Wildfire and Tinder Press

July 2020

They went out to the woods to have fun. And two of them didn't return.   I Shot the Devil is by Ruth McIver and is a dark, twisty thriller of small town buried secrets.  Twenty years ago, the devil visited the woods around Southport, Long Island, claiming the lives of two boys. A local youth was charged with murder. Case closed.   Now journalist Erin Sloane has been commissioned to dig deeper into the story and is sent notes from someone long forgotten. But can she trust what she unearths? And how can she unravel what happened when she has her own secrets to hide?

All My Lies Are True is by Dorothy Koomson.  Verity is telling lies...  And that's why she's about to be arrested for attempted murder.  Serena has been lying for years. . .  And that may have driven her daughter, Verity, to do something unthinkable...  Poppy's lies have come back to haunt her . . .  So will her quest for the truth hurt everyone she loves?  Everyone lies.  But whose lies are going to end in tragedy?

Operative 66 is by Andy McDermott.  Every operative knows the rules. The mission comes first. You are a deniable asset. Betrayal is punished by death.   Alex Reeve is Operative 66. A former special ops soldier and one of the UK’s deadliest weapons, he is part of the secretive SC 9 - an elite security service with a remit to neutralize the country’s most dangerous enemies.   But now Reeve is in the firing line. Accused of treason, Reeve is forced to flee as his team is instructed to eliminate the ‘rogue asset’ at any cost. Reeve must survive, alone and under the radar, with the full power of the state arrayed against him. He doesn’t know why he’s a target. Or who betrayed him. But if one man has the skills necessary to uncover the truth...it is Operative 66. 

Two years ago, Miff Ferguson chose to opt out of the rat race. Since then he's been living rough and happily so. That is until now. For, as the first signs of winter approach, everything changes. While looking for shelter, Miff stumbles across the dead body of a young woman inside a dilapidated warehouse. Quickly realising he's not alone, and what's worse he's been spotted, Miff becomes embroiled in a game of cat-and-mouse with a killer that forces him to abandon his life on the streets and take refuge with his aunt and uncle in the village of Weston St Ambrose. But, despite his best efforts to lie low, trouble seems to follow him and when another dead body is discovered at a local farm, it's clear Miff is not free from danger.  With the clock ticking, Inspector Jess Campbell and Superintendent Ian Carter must join forces once again with the team of police at Bamford to piece together the puzzle before another innocent life is lost...  A Matter of Murder is by Ann Granger

Senseless is by Ed James.  Day one - Six weeks after vanishing, Sarah Langton is suddenly found - delirious and starved close to death.  The police struggle to find any answers.  Day two - When another missing person reappears, half-crazed and hysterical, a terrifying pattern emerges: a twisted predator is pushing his victims to insanity.  DS Corcoran, haunted by a previous case, and Dr Marie Palmer, a leading criminal psychiatrist, must try to establish a link between the survivors.   Day three - As it becomes clear others are in grave danger, every second will be critical. But can Corcoran and Palmer unravel the deadliest of puzzles in time?

The Lies You Told is by Harriet Tyce.  Has she left her child in the care of a killer? Sadie has moved back to London so her daughter can attend the exclusive school her domineering father has secured her a place at. It’s highly sought-after and highly competitive - just like the other mothers, Sadie soon discovers.   While she’s trying to get her daughter settled and navigate the fraught politics of the school gate, Sadie is also trying to reclaim a position in her old legal chambers - she used to practice as a criminal barrister. She’s given the junior brief on a scandalous case involving a male teacher and his student. It’s an opportunity to prove herself, but will she let a dangerous flirtation cloud her professional judgement? And will her sudden close friendship with another mother prevent her from seeing the truth - and the threat that she’s Wildfire inviting into her home? 

August 2020

Beauregard "Bug" Montage: honest mechanic, loving husband, devoted parent. He's no longer the criminal he once was - the sharpest wheelman on the east coast, infamous from the hills of North Carolina to the beaches of Florida.  But when his respectable life begins to crumble, a shady associate comes calling with a clean, one-time job: a diamond heist promising a get-rich pay out. Inexorably drawn to the driver's seat - and haunted by the ghost of his outlaw father - Bug is yanked back into a savage world of bullets and betrayal, which soon endangers all he holds dear... Blacktop Wasteland is by S A Crosby.

Blackout is by Simon SCarrow.  Berlin, December 1939   As Germany goes to war, the Nazis tighten their terrifying grip. Paranoia in the capital is intensified by a rigidly enforced

blackout that plunges the city into oppressive darkness every night, as the bleak winter sunsets.  When a young woman is found brutally murdered, Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke is under immense pressure to solve the case, swiftly. Treated with suspicion by his superiors for his failure to joining the Nazi Party, Schenke walks a perilous line - for disloyalty is a death sentence.  The discovery of a second victim confirms Schenke's worst fears. He must uncover the truth before evil strikes again.  As the investigation takes him closer to the sinister heart of the regime, Schenke realises there is danger everywhere - and the warring factions of the Reich can be as deadly as a killer stalking the streets . . .

Innocent is by Erin Kinsley.  The pretty market town of Sterndale is a close-knit community where everyone thinks they know everyone else. But at a lavish summer wedding a local celebrity is discovered slumped in the gardens, the victim of a violent assault that leads to a murder investigation.  As the police search for answers, suspicion and paranoia build - and the lives of the locals are turned upside down. Secrets that lurk beneath the pristine facade of Sterndale come to light as detectives close in on the truth...

Say No More is by Karen Rose.  If they ever catch you, say nothing. Admit nothing. Never tell.  Mercy Callahan never thought she'd be able to talk about her past. When she arrives in Sacramento to make peace with her brother Gideon, and to help find the brutal cult that took away her childhood, she is finally ready to talk. But when Ephraim Burton - the man who made her life a living hell - follows her there, she realises she might never be safe.   Rafe Sokolov would do anything to have Mercy back in his life and would go to any length to protect her. But when it becomes apparent that Ephraim is more determined than ever to get Mercy back, even Rafe might not be able to stop the trail of destruction he leaves in his wake. As Ephraim draws near, it's clear it's not just Mercy who is in danger; those closest to her are firmly in his sights.

October 2020

Also due to be published is Loyalty by Martina Cole.

November 2020

Hermit is by S R White. He disappeared for 15 years … She has 12 hors to find out why. After the puzzling death of a shopkeeper in rural Australia, troubled detective Dana Russo has just 12 hours to interrogate the prime suspect - a silent, inscrutable man found at the scene of the crime, who simply vanished 15 years earlier.  Where has he been? And just how dangerous is he? Without conclusive evidence linking him to the killing, Dana must race against time to persuade him to speak. But over a series of increasingly intense interviews, Dana is forced to confront her own past if she wants him to reveal the shocking truth.

Fortune Favours the Dead is by Stephen Spotswood. New York, 1946. Lillian Pentecost is the most successful private detective in the city, but her health is failing. She hires an assistant to help with the investigative legwork. Willowjean Parker is a circus runaway. Quick-witted and street-smart, she's a jack-of-all-trades with a unique skill-set. She can pick locks blindfolded, wrestle men twice her size, and throw knives with deadly precision - all of which come in handy working for Ms P.  When wealthy young widow Abigail Collins is murdered and the police are making no progress, Pentecost and Parker are hired by the family to track down the culprit. On Halloween night, there was a costume party at the Collins' mansion, where a fortune teller performed a séance, which greatly disturbed Abigail. Several hours later her body was discovered bludgeoned to death in her late husband's office. Problem is, the door to the office was locked from the inside. There was no-one else in the room, and the murder weapon was beside the victim; the fortune teller's crystal ball.   It looks like an impossible crime, but Pentecost and Parker know there is no such thing...

Also published is The Roots of Evil by Quintin Jardine.

Books to Look Forward to from Headline Publishing

January 2019

What would you do if you woke up and didn't know who you were?  Chloe Daniels regains consciousness in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. She doesn't recognise the strangers who call themselves family. She can't even remember her own name. What if your past remained a mystery?  As she slowly recovers, her parents and sister begin to share details of her life. The successful career. The seaside home. The near-fatal car crash.  But Chloe senses they're keeping dark secrets - and her determination to uncover the truth will have devastating consequences.  What if the people you should be able trust are lying to you?  Between the Lies is by Michelle Adams.

Scrublands is by Chris Hammer.  A dead river. A dying town. A killer's secrets... In an isolated country town ravaged by drought, a charismatic young priest opens fire on his congregation, killing five men before being shot dead himself.  A year later, journalist Martin Scarsden arrives in Riversend to write a feature on the anniversary of the tragedy. But the stories he hears from the locals don't fit with the accepted version of events.  Just as Martin believes he is making headway, a shocking discovery rocks the town. The bodies of two backpackers - missing since the time of the massacre - are found in the scrublands. The media descends on Riversend and Martin is the one in the spotlight. Wrestling with his own demons, Martin finds himself risking everything to uncover a truth that becomes more complex with every twist. But there are powerful forces determined to stop him, and he has no idea how far they will go to make sure the town's secrets stay buried.

February 2019

Cold as the Grave is by James Oswald. Her mummified body is hidden in the dark corner of a basement room, a room which seems to have been left untouched for decades. A room which feels as cold as the grave.  As a rowdy demonstration makes its slow and vocal way along Edinburgh's Royal Mile, Detective Chief Inspector Tony McLean's team are on stand-by for any trouble. The newly promoted McLean is distracted, inexplicably drawn to a dead-end mews street... and a door, slightly ajar, which leads to this poor girl's final resting place.  But how long has she been there, in her sleep of death? The answers are far from what McLean or anyone else could expect. The truth far more chilling than a simple cold case...

A troubled genius who vanishes in a mysterious car crash.  A disillusioned cop sensing conspiracy in the corridors of power.  A ruthless team of mercenaries operating in the shadows.  A billion-dollar business that wants the world in its grip.  One link connects them all.  A champion fighter. Betrayed and searching for the truth. The Hunter is by Andrew Reid.

Say you’re Sorry is by Karen Rose.  Special Agent Gideon Reynolds has tried hard to put his past behind him. He escaped the violence of his cult upbringing when he was just thirteen, and since then routine and discipline have been his way of making sense of the world. But when a petite blonde woman crashes into his life, he begins to realize that a little bit of chaos might not be so bad.  Daisy Dawson has had more than her fair share of pain too - but she's done being a victim. Daisy's determined to explore every new experience she can - including getting to know the dark and serious FBI investigator she meets when she fights off a masked attacker one night.  It soon becomes clear that Daisy's attack was just the beginning. Now the bloodied bodies of young women are showing up all over California, and, as Gideon tries to find the killer, it's clear that Daisy is in more danger than they ever realised...

Alison has it all. A doting husband, adorable daughter, and a career on the rise - she's just been given her first murder case to defend. But all is never as it seems...  Just one more night. Then I'll end it.  Alison drinks too much. She's neglecting her family. And she's having an affair with a colleague whose taste for pushing boundaries may be more than she can handle.  I did it. I killed him. I should be locked up.  Alison's client doesn't deny that she stabbed her husband - she wants to plead guilty. And yet something about her story is deeply amiss. Saving this woman may be the first step to Alison saving herself.  I'm watching you. I know what you're doing.  But someone knows Alison's secrets. Someone who wants to make her pay for what she's done, and who won't stop until she's lost everything....  Blood Orange is by Harriet Tyce.

 March 2019

Past Life is by Dominic Nolan.  Detective Abigail Boone has been missing for four days when she is finally found, confused and broken. Suffering retrograde amnesia, she is a stranger to her despairing husband and bewildered son.  Hopelessly lost in her own life, with no leads on her abduction, Boone's only instinct is to revisit the case she was investigating when she vanished: the baffling disappearance of a young woman, Sarah Still.  Defying her family and the police, Boone obsessively follows a deadly trail to the darkest edges of human cruelty. But even if she finds Sarah, will Boone ever be the same again?

The Big Kahuna is by Janet and Peter Evanovich.  FBI Agent Kate O'Hare plays by the rules. Charming con man Nicholas Fox makes them up as he goes along. They're working together to tackle the out-of-bounds cases ordinary FBI agents can't touch. And their relationship? Well, there hasn't been so much explosive chemistry since Nitro was introduced to Glycerin.  Next up: the mysterious disappearance of the Silicon Valley billionaire known as the Big Kahuna. His model wife and shady business partner are more interested in gaining control of his company than in finding him. They need a dead body... not a living Kahuna.  The only lead is the Kahuna's drop-out son, who's living the dream in Hawaii. To get close to him, Kate and Nick go undercover as a married couple in the surfer community. For Kate, there is nothing more horrifying than setting up house with Nick Fox. If they don't catch a break soon, waves aren't going to be the only thing she'll be shredding (or bedding).

May 2019

You could say that it started with vanity.  We believed that we were special.  But the truth is we were simply vulnerable.  One of them is lying.  One of them is guilty.  No one is safe.  Months after landing their dream job, five brilliant young minds are sent on a remote retreat.  But when one of them disappears, they are forced to question why they were brought there in the first place., and how far they’d go to get what they want.  And for the first time in their lives, they realise that too much knowledge can be deadly.  Call me a Liar is by Colette Mcbeth.

Never be Broken is by Sarah Hilary.  Children are dying on London's streets. Frankie Reece, stabbed through the heart, outside a corner shop. Others recruited from care homes, picked up and exploited; passed like gifts between gangs. They are London's lost.   Then Raphaela Belsham is killed. She's thirteen years old, her father is a man of influence, from a smart part of town. And she's white. Suddenly, the establishment is taking notice.  DS Noah Jake is determined to handle Raphaela's case and Frankie's too. But he's facing his own turmoil, and it's becoming an obsession. DI Marnie Rome is worried, and she needs Noah on side. Because more children are disappearing, more are being killed by the day and the swelling tide of violence needs to be stemmed before it's too late.

The Unique Heart is by Kaite Welsh. Sarah Gilchrist has no intention of marrying her dull fiance Miles, the man her family hope will restore her reputation and put an end to her dreams of becoming a doctor, but when he is arrested for a murder she is sure he didn't commit she finds herself his reluctant ally. Beneath the genteel facade of upper class Edinburgh lurks blackmail, adultery, poison and madness and Sarah must return to Edinburgh's slums, back alleys and asylums as she discovers the dark past about a family where no one is what they seem, even Miles himself. It also brings her back into the orbit of her mercurial professor, Gregory Merchiston - he sees Sarah as his protegee, but can he stave off his demons long enough to teach her the skills that will save her life?

June 2019

Pieta has a secret.  Ten years ago, Pieta was kidnapped from outside a London nightclub by a man who said he wouldn't kill her if she kept her eyes closed for 48 hours. Pieta survived the weekend but was left emotionally and physically scarred by the experience. Now living in Brighton, she is a mother and journalist with a good life - until she is tasked with interviewing Callie, a woman who has the same story and scars as she does. Pieta has never told anyone what she did to escape with her life but now she may have to...  Jody has a secret.  Fifteen years ago, policewoman Jody made a terrible mistake that resulted in a prolific serial killer known as The Blindfolder escaping justice. Only his newest victim, Callie, is willing to talk publicly about her ordeal. When Jody finds out journalist Pieta was also once kidnapped by him, she realises how she can catch him. But that would mean endangering at least two innocent people...  Callie has a secret.  As the newest victim of the man known as the Blindfolder, Callie knows all eyes are on her to tell her story and give the police the information they need to catch this man. But does Callie know more than she is willing to tell?  They kept quiet to protect themselves.  Will they tell all to save or sacrifice each other?  Tell Me Your Secret is by Dorothy Koomson.