The making of Joe Wilderness IV : Moscow Exile

 

Photo ©Nick Lockett

How do you invent a character? I’ve no idea. Perhaps boredom plays its part. In 1983 I was tending orange groves in Spain, so far south that the Rock of Gibraltar loomed up outside my bedroom window like an unfinished skyscraper and Morocco’s Atlas Range looked like a wallpaper freeze.

Oranges do not ask a lot of you. Their small talk is microscopic. The highlight of the day would be when the locals, other farmers, passed by to marvel at the sheer whiteness of a kid from the north of England. The day might have livened up if they’d asked what I was doing there, but no one ever did. So … Troy was born out of boredom. I told myself stories to stave off the noonday devil and at dusk I wrote them in the sky on the tips of the Atlas mountains. 

Troy began as an honest copper, in the vein of Roderick Alleyn or Charlie Luke. Soon got fed up with that and over the course of my first novel he evolved into something far more complex — a lethal, deceitful philandering bastard. A few books into the series a CNN reviewer said to me, “I used to wonder why Troy got the shit kicked out of him in each book. It’s because he deserves it.” Correct. Then he said, “Wouldn’t you just love to write about someone who was … well … decent?”

Thus was Joe Wilderness born. He’s the hero of my latest novel —Moscow Exile — and of three earlier books. Unlike Troy he’s very English, working class (from Whitechapel in the East End of London) and he’s honest. He would never cheat on his wife or kick the cat. He believes in trust. Betrayal of trust would never occur to him. That said, he’s also a burglar, smuggler, MI6 agent and con-artist. Still … an honest man.

The centre of Wilderness’s world has never been London. Berlin, East and West, is his personal magnet. In part this location is down to my father’s all-too-brief narrative of his time in Germany in 1945 — his war ended in the British Sector of Berlin — and Joe’s good or bad fortune is down to two of my university tutors in the 1960s, Peter Frank and David Lane, both Russianists who’d been drafted just after WW2 and given a stark choice. Cue the voice of the late William Hartnell, “Right, you ’orrible lot. You can spend two years square-bashing or you can bugger off to Cambridge and learn Russian.”

They chose Cambridge, became fluent in Russian and in their modest way became spies. I gave Joe Wilderness the same choice. And after Cambridge, Hamburg and after Hamburg … Berlin. And after Berlin … Moscow.

I left Joe at the end of Hammer to Fall with a bullet in his back, flat on his face, on the Glienicker Brücke, where West Berlin met East Germany. The bridge was deeply fictionalised as The Bridge of Spies by Steven Spielberg … I say ‘fictionalised, as I’ve never seen a photograph in which the bridge resembled the one he filmed. As the book ends Joe is hauled away by the KGB to whatever fate awaits him. Finis … been there … done that … bought the T-shirt.

However … ya gets asked fer sequels.

And ya cain’t say … ‘Fuuuuuuuck off!’

So … Moscow Exile. The life and misadventures of Joe Wilderness in Moscow, exile … prisoner … defector? To say more would be a spoiler.

But … how to get there? That wasn’t obvious and the oddest idea occurred to me … a prequel-sequel, a book in which much of the outcome is already anticipated and the narrative task is to get back to that point. This might be called ‘backstory’ — a phrase I had never heard until the great Robert B. used it as a title — more properly termed prolepsis.

Risky … but from the standpoint of the writer … er … appropriately challenging. No risk, no fun. So once the prelims were over I rolled the plot back thirty years to London and then to Washington, aiming all the time for Moscow in 1969.

I based the prequel, very loosely, on the life of Pamela Harriman, daughter-in-law of Winston Churchill, who later married the former US ambassador to Moscow, Averell Harriman, and became, quite possibly, the queen of Washington society, renowned for her celebrity-packed dinner parties, and for the little Asprey’s silver notebook in which she recorded the gossip of the DC elite.

It’s a long time before ‘Coky’ (that’s what I named her) meets Joe Wilderness.

And before I could type the words ‘The End’ (so pleasing to the eye) Joe is back at the bridge in the heartland of the mid-century spy — Berlin — Moscow still a memory so fresh as to sting, still in pursuit of the pot of gold at the end of the spook’s rainbow.

Moscow Exile by John Lawton Published by Atlantic Grove (Out Now)

Charlotte is a British expatriate who has recently settled in Washington, D.C. with her second husband, but enviable dinner parties aren’t the only thing she is planning. Meanwhile, Charlie Leigh-Hunt has been posted to Washington as a replacement for Guy Burgess, last seen disappearing around the corner and into the Soviet Union. Charlie is surprised to cross paths with Charlotte, an old flame of his, who, thanks to her gossipy parties, has a packed pocketbook full of secrets she is eager to share. 

Two decades later, in 1969, Joe Wilderness is stuck on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain, held captive by the KGB, a chip in a game way above his pay grade – but his old friends Frank and Eddie are going to try to spring him out of the toughest prison in the world. All roads lead back to Berlin, and to the famous Bridge of Spies…

John Lawton has written three previous novels starring Joe Wilderness - Then We Take Berlin (2013), The Unfortunate Englishman (2016), and Hammer to Fall (2020). He has also written eight Inspector Troy thrillers -, Black Out (1995), Old Flames (1996), A Little White Death (1998), Riptide (aka Bluffing Mr Churchill) (2001), Flesh Wounds (aka Blue Rondo) (2005), Second Violin (2007), A Lily of the Field (2010), Friends and Traitors (2017). One standalone book – Sweet Sunday (2002) and a number of other books.  

Two writers in Paris by Luisa Etxenike (Aka Antonia Lassa)

The idea of ​​creating a heteronym happened in Paris during one of those wonderful walks I like to take around the city. In a world that is tending more and more towards (re)building borders, my first impulse was linked to the desire to break them down, to go beyond them, to become an explorer of my own writing, a joyous, adventurous explorer. I wanted to have a go at a writing style and literary genre that were totally new to me.

My heteronym was going to be that of a Parisian woman. So, I immediately looked for a name: Antonia Lassa, which has its origins in my maternal grandmother's name. She also needed an address: Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, in Paris of course. And then a profession. She would be an oenologist, an expert in understanding wine, in interpreting it and “guessing” what was to be found in each glass. This knowledge was going to relate closely with her way of understanding literature.

In addition, I endowed her with one desire above all: to write crime novels.

And just like that Antonia Lassa was created; as an author she is different from me, so we were able to start a up dialogue. While we were walking through Paris, I asked her why she had chosen to write crime fiction. "Because”, she replied, “crime fiction is real life, or rather, life itself, with all its light and darkness. And since the genre focuses more on the darkness, it helps us appreciate the light even better.”

Antonia also told me the novels she was going to write would deal with societal issues in a close, detailed way. She would also focus on aspects of identity and intimacy in a political and ethical way. What she wanted to create, like a good wine, were stories full of multiple tones, aromas, flavours but well blended... and that contained mysteries to solve with our five senses. She wants to invite readers to get involved in this literary sampling: to see, hear, smell, savour the mystery... and get close to it. Then suddenly, with a big smile, she added: “Speaking of touch… I just had an idea for my first book. It has to do with the skin…”.

This was how our first walk together ended. But we continue to talk on a regular basis. Recently she told me that her first novel, Skin Deep, was finished, and she started to tell me all about it:

The mystery with which the story begins is closely linked to the notions of place and space. An elderly millionairess who is staying at a suite in the most luxurious hotel in Biarritz, just like every summer, appears brutally murdered in a shabby apartment she had rented. What reasons had led her to the underbelly of that elegant city, as Inspector Canonne who’s in charge of the crime investigation calls it? The first clues point to some sort of sexual motive, although the victim is more than eighty years, and identifying her lover then becomes the police’s number one priority.

This search will be the start of a mystery that will bring with it other enigmas that will be marked by the contrast between a world of light: wealth, power, art, elegant neighbourhoods, and a world of shadows, in life’s underbelly, where crime seeks out spaces where it will go unpunished. There’s also a strong contrast in the different lines of enquiry because it’s not only the police in Biarritz who deal with the case. Singular private detective Albert Larten (another who breaks down borders...) will also carry out his own investigation from Paris, which will force him to travel not only through the streets of that city with the meticulousness of a wine taster (wine is one of his passions and he writes about this is a blog entitled The Wine Detective), but he will also have to roam through different cities in France: Bayonne, Bordeaux, Arcachon...

Larten doesn't mind having to travel, on the contrary, he enjoys the constant movement. Because this singular detective’s specialty is being in perpetual motion and it’s why he has set up his office in a mobile home.

Skin Deep's intrigue moves relentlessly not only through Paris and other cities in the southwest of France, but also through the delicate contours of the body, through the silhouettes of desire and the complicated territories of prejudice, ambition, violence.

At the beginning of the novel, we learn that the murderer has drawn some strange signs and symbols on the skin of his victim, an elderly woman murdered in a shabby apartment, in Biarritz. To solve the crime, the investigators will have to decipher the meaning of these markings and to do so they must observe her skin in detail. For it is in the skin, with all its extraordinary expressiveness, that the answers lie.

Skin Deep by Antonia Lassa (Trans Dr Jacky Collins (Corylus Books) Out Now.

When police arrest eccentric loner Émile Gassiat for the murder of a wealthy woman in a shabby seaside apartment in Biarritz, Inspector Canonne is certain he has put the killer behind bars. Now he just needs to prove it. But he hasn’t reckoned with the young man’s friends, who bring in lawyer-turned-investigator Larten to head for the desolate out-of-season south-west of France to dig deep into what really happened. Larten’s hunt for the truth takes him back to the bustle of Paris as he seeks to demonstrate that the man in prison is innocent, despite all the evidence – and to uncover the true killer behind a series of bizarre murders.

More information about the author and her books can be found on her website. You can also follow her on Twitter @letxenike

A Tribute to Peter Robinson

 

Last year the crime writing world lost one of its very finest: Peter Robinson, author of the bestselling Inspector Banks series. In this special online event, three leading crime writers – Ian Rankin, Louise Penny and Michael Connelly – will pay tribute to Peter’s life and body of work, which spanned over three decades. 

The event will be available to view, free of charge, from Thursday 8th June, to mark the publication day of the twenty-eighth and final book in the Banks series, Standing in the Shadows.

Last year the crime writing world lost one of its very finest: Peter Robinson, author of the bestselling Inspector Banks series. In this special online event, three leading crime writers – Michael Connelly, Louise Penny and Ian Rankin – will pay tribute to Peter’s life and body of work, which spanned over three decades.

The event will be available to view, free of charge, from Thursday 8th June, to mark the publication day of the twenty-eighth and final book in the Banks series, Standing in the Shadows.

More information including how to watc h/ take part in the event can be found here.

Anthony Awards Announced

 

Congratulations to all the nominated authors.

Agathaland and MC Beaton

 

When the remarkable MC Beaton died in 2019, I was astonished that we knew so little about her. Her obituaries were full of tiny teasers about what seemed to be her 9 lives, all well-lived, spanning careers and continents as if mere paths in her way. 

A no-nonsense, no-frills Glaswegian, Marion became a crime reporter by accident, navigating razor-wielding gangs and tenement murders as a single woman reporter in the 1950s – as a result, she was a pioneering woman in Fleet Street before women were even allowed; She worked for Murdoch in the USA; Then, started writing Regency Romances when she was at home and bored – doing 100 titles under 6 pseudonyms; She married a spy; Bought a working croft in the Highlands that inspired her best-selling Scottish detective Hamish Macbeth; She then moved to the Cotswolds which in turn inspired her PR turned PI sleuth, Agatha Raisin. Phew!!!

Beside Marion Beaton most of us pale into insignificance. 

I had produced the tv series of her stellar character, Agatha Raisin, for 5 years. At the time of her death, we were on the verge of series 4, perkily planning away not knowing that covid was around the corner and laughing at the weak and shifting sands we were plotting from. 

We were also just about to travel to the TV Critics Association bash in Pasadena to relaunch Agatha Raisin in the USA as an ‘Acorn Original’ (which it wasn’t given that we’d invented it for Sky but hey-ho … truth doesn’t thrive in TV). 

I felt bereft. Marion was our creator and our collaborator. Our partner in crime. A woman who had the balls to rail against the (90’s TV) version of ‘Hamish Macbeth’ that was made and that she hated. The woman I had to persuade to let us make Agatha and who, once she had seen what we could do, asked us to ‘have a look at Hamish and see if there is anything there’. At her funeral, 4 people in a row told stories of how much she hated Hamish and how she loved Agatha. It was a relief, but I was also proud. It was hard to impress MC Beaton. And for very good reason. She didn’t suffer fools and her appreciation of us made me feel like I wasn’t a fool. 

So, Agathaland is (exists) because I wanted to do something to celebrate her life and her great creations. 

For years before, my company had made documentaries about other people’s shows: ‘Revisiting Brideshead’, ‘The Wonderful World of Roald Dahl’, ‘The Spiderman Story’ and it occurred to me that Marion deserved a tribute to her remarkable life in fiction, and that given our track record, we should be the people to make it. 

In the show we trace Marion’s colourful life and the genesis of her incredible characters. I also wanted to make a noise about our beautiful show ‘Agatha Raisin’ I wanted to celebrate our star, Ashley Jensen, and our wonderful cast and crew who have made 4 seasons of a unique television proposition. It’s a crime-comedy-drama that is hugely underrated, much-copied and one of those ‘if you know, you know’ shows that - because we are behind paywalls - continues to be hiding in the light. When the first series of ‘Only Murders in the Building’ finished, the New York Times said that ‘Agatha Raisin’ should be what people sought out if they were having ‘Only Murders…’ withdrawal – this, again, made me blush.

Agathaland is due to be shown on Monday 8th May 2023 at 8pm on Sky Max

More information can be found here.

A SHOTS Magazine Question Exchange with Dennis Lehane

 

Shots Magazine were delighted that Dennis Lehane agreed to answer a few questions following our recent review of his novel SMALL MERCIES, which has been released to great acclaim from within the industry.

Shots Magazine have been long-term readers of the work of Dennis Lehane, discussing his work on his visits to the UK, promoting his work – and as we stated in our review of SMALL MERCIES – “I postulate that this is his most vibrant work, a truly exciting, engaging and enraging narrative. There is an echo of Mystic River, the beautiful [though dark] novel that was shortlisted in 2010, as the greatest crime-novel of the decade via Deadly Pleasures Magazine’s Barry Award [narrowly missing out to Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at Bouchercon 2010 hosted in San Francisco]”

Early Review copies of SMALL MERCIES were accompanied by a letter from the author, giving some context to this extraordinary novel -

Dear Reader,

At the end of summer 1974, when I was nine years old, we were heading home through South Boston to Dorchester when my father took an errant turn and we found ourselves on Broadway, Southie’s main drag, as an anti-busing protest consumed the neighbourhood. It was night, and flaming effigies of the most well-known supporters of school desegregation— Garrity, Kennedy, Taylor—hung from street poles, the yellow, blue, and red reflections of the flames sluicing up the windshield and along the windows of my father’s Chevy. The mob chanted slogans—some violent and racist, some not—and my father’s car was rocked and buffeted as it crept through the ocean of furious bodies. No one seemed to notice us, and yet I’d never been so terrified in my life.

This is a novel about those times. And maybe about the times we live in now. It’s about a mother’s search for her daughter in those crazed last days of summer in South Boston in 1974, when a first day of school unlike any first day of school in the city’s history loomed ahead and felt—depending on which side of the issue one stood—like either the culmination of a long-delayed promise or the punch line to joke no one found funny. It’s a story that finally puts into words, I hope, what a terrified nine-year-old tried to make sense of when his father took a wrong turn straight into the heart of a community’s rage.

Sounds strange to say, but I hope you enjoy it.

Dennis Lehane, Los Angeles, CA, July 27, 2022

After reading SMALL MERCIES, we had a few questions for the author [which despite his busy schedule] Dennis Lehane replied -

Ali Karim: Dennis, welcome to Great Britain’s Shots Magazine

Dennis Lehane: Good to be here.

Ali: You have been very loyal to your Literary Agent Ann Rittenberg and your Film Agent Amy Schiffman from the ‘get go’. Can you tell us a little about how these professional relationships came about, and how they matured over the years [with perhaps an anecdote or two], and why they remain so strong?

Dennis: Ann was the first agent who believed in me, when I was 26, and she fought the good fight for two years to get my first novel accepted by a reputable publisher. We’ve been together 31 years now. I never saw any reason not to be loyal. Amy was my second book-to-film agent. The first was not a good fit. After I parted ways with him, I spent two years searching out an agent who had the kind of integrity and loyalty I value. I like to work with people whose word is their bond. People who can be trusted. And people who will put up with—and even support--my resistance to “branding” or pumping out a book a year. Ann and Amy have done that.

Ali: I pictured James ‘Whitey’ Bulger and the Winter Hill Gang of 1970s Boston, when I imagined your gangland boss Marty Butler and his henchmen in Small Mercies. Would my imagination be aligned correctly on his influence upon many crime thrillers?

Dennis: I avoided writing about him for many years, despite dozens of offers, because I saw nothing “Shakespearean” in the story of him and his politician brother, Billy. Whitey was an informant for the FBI who got innocent working men killed and flooded the housing projects where his mother lived with heroin. He enslaved an entire generation of “his people” to drug addiction. Oh, and he was a virulent racist. To the degree that Marty Butler and his crew may (or may not) resemble Whitey Bulger and his crew, it’s in the pure heartless amorality, the complete lack of a conscience, the standing for nothing but your own unquenchable greed.

Ali: For me, your novels are all about Character. You delineate them in the grey light of reality; warts and all. Two of my favourite characters in terms of how you have written them, are Luther Laurence [from THE GIVEN DAY] and Rachel Childs [from SINCE WE FELL]. Could you tell us a little about their genesis and how they changed over the course of those novels [because they both embarked upon journeys]?

Dennis: Luther was never supposed to stick around The Given Day. He was meant to show up in the first chapter and walk back out again. But he refused to leave the stage. (Bobby Coyne did the exact same thing in Small Mercies.) Outside of Luther being African American and born about 75 years before me, we had a lot in common, he and I. He reminds me a lot of me in my 20s—restless and constantly searching for indefinable things. He values nothing so much as movement and it leads him into a lot of trouble. But he’s a very good man (or boy-trying-to-be-a-man depending on your perspective), and I loved his journey to become a father, essentially, and a husband worthy of his woman’s love. Rachel is a lost soul, desperately flailing about to understand an abandonment that happened before she can really remember it. That’s something she shares with Luther, actually; both of them were abandoned by their fathers as babies. In the end, they each have to make peace with the idea that they, themselves, have to be enough. Because no one’s coming to the rescue. 

TO READ THE FULL INTERVIEW PLEASE CONTINUE TO THE SHOTS' WEBSITE

Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen

I’m the friend who takes you to the horror movie you’re scared to see. It’s a role I first occupied reluctantly, after realizing that if I didn’t exert some peer pressure, I’d always be flying solo at the cinema. Such is the reputation surrounding the genre. Many people I know “don’t do horror.”

Sometimes that aversion stems from the misconception that every scary movie is filled with gore — just Saw-era torturefests all the way down. Other times, it’s about a stress response to watching other people in peril. And if someone has a clear bright line they don’t want to cross, I stop evangelising.

But if you tell me something like, “I wanted to watch Hereditary because I love Toni Colette, but it looks so scary,” I’m your wingwoman. I’m coming over. We’ll rent it tomorrow. One by one, my horror-averse friends are getting tempted by the genre’s expansive possibilities. Whether they get pulled in by an arthouse Ari Aster film or a comedic hybrid like M3GAN, they’re second-guessing “not doing horror.” They’re realizing that they’re missing out on dynamic, genre-bending stories about the things that make us tick and the thoughts that keep us up at night. Still, they need someone to push them over the edge. To give them permission to be scared.

When I wrote my novel Patricia Wants to Cuddle, I realised I was essentially replicating my movie going role in literary form. I always envisioned it as a horror story about a reality dating show gone terribly wrong. Death and violence were part of the equation from the start. But I knew that some in my target audience — fellow Bachelor and Love Island obsessives – might not be as into Stephen Graham Jones, Catriona Ward, and Paul Tremblay as I have been these last few years.

Of course, some readers were already on my wavelength. Mary Shelley basically invented modern horror fiction, after all — and thanks in large part to the explosion of weird women’s fiction, the appetite for unhinged female-focused novels is decidedly on the rise. But still, I knew I’d have to get some new noses buried in a horror book. If I billed Patricia as a novel full of blood and guts, some would be turned off from the jump.

But what if I wrote a book about four women trying to survive a manipulative TV production, navigating complicated relationships with each other and with the contemporary social media landscape? What if they each had different reasons for signing up to broadcast their lives on the airwaves? What if those women just so happened to be filming the show on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest? And what if that island had a secret — and very hairy — inhabitant lurking in the dark? Could I tempt some reluctant souls to give that story a chance?

That was how I approached unfolding the story of Patricia. The gore in the book — and it does, eventually, become a bit sanguineous — serves a metaphorical purpose, and by the time the reader arrives there, it hits like an exclamation point. To me, it’s an extension of the inherent violence of reality television, not just violence for the sake of it. And by adopting that slow-boil strategy, I’ve heard from many readers who “don’t do horror” that they can get down with Patricia. The book’s comedic bent helps them soften the horror’s hard edges, empowering them to tackle material that’s perhaps a little more grisly than what they’re used to reading. Before they know it, they’re savoring the kills.

If I have one hope for Patricia, it’s that people enjoy it. That it lives up to the reputation of being unlike anything you’ve ever read. That it’s “bonkers,” “bizarre,” or any other number of astonished adjectives I’ve seen thrown around. But if I can be permitted a second wish, it’s that the book serves as a sort of gateway drug for new horror readers. If a dash of terror can make a reality show into frightfully fun fodder for satire, imagine what it can do to so many other premises. Horror has a lot to say, and so much more to do. 

I’m the friend who takes you to the horror movie you’re scared to see. And now I want to be the author who wrote the first horror book you’ve ever read, but hopefully not the last.

Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen (Faber) Out Now

Renee has made it: she's in the final four. But is she dying to win? Renee should be thrilled to have been chosen as one of the final four contestants in The Catch, the world's biggest reality show. But now she, the other contestants, and Jeremy 'the Catch' have arrived on the remote, wooded island for the final show, Renee begins to wonder if there's something wrong. Is she taking a bigger risk than she realised? And as she and the other contestants begin their final challenges, they slowly start to realise that the island they've been taken to is hiding a terrifying secret - one that could make the final Elimination Event all too real.

More information about Samantha Allen and her work can be found on her website. She can also be found on Twitter @slawrites and on Facebook.

May books by Bookouture

Kitty Underhay is awarding first place… to murder. Spring, 1935. Newlywed Kitty Underhay has been enlisted by her old nemesis Mrs Craven to help organise the Miss Dartmouth Jubilee pageant at the Dolphin Hotel. Being bossed around by her arch enemy is not quite what Kitty had in mind for the start of her married life, but she’s excited to launch the glamorous show. Sparkling smiles are quickly replaced by audible gasps however, when one of the girls goes missing during the interval… When pretty Peggy Blaine is discovered dead, Kitty can’t help but notice that none of the other contestants seem particularly shocked. Can jealousy over a sash and a diamante tiara be a motive for murder? But when she discovers the threatening notes the young women have received, Kitty enlists her husband Mattto figure out who’s scaring the competitors. However, before Matt can speak to them, another entrant turns up dead after an apparently accidental overdose. Taking part in a beauty pageant seems to have turned into a fatal occupation! The daring duo are sure that someone close to the girls is responsible. But can they sort the harmless face powders from the fatal poisons before it’s too late? Or will Kitty and Matt find they are next to be crowned… with death? Murder at the Beauty Pageant by Helena Dixon.

Close Her Eyes is by Lisa Regan. The young woman lay among the rocks next to the creek like a broken doll, strands of her long dark hair covering her face. Her body was the kind of cold that only the dead can be… A body lies beside Kettlewell Creek, the waters rushing and churning next to her broken form. When Detective Josie Quinn arrives at the scene, she finds few clues and a victim with no enemies. Nineteen-year-old Sharon Eddy was cherished by her beloved grandmother, who raised her, and her death shocks the Denton community where she worked at the local animal hospital. When Josie is called to the morgue to hear the results of Sharon’s autopsy, the case takes a sinister turn. She is horrified to see that a mark has been burned on to Sharon’s left hip with a cattle brand: a horseshoe shot through with an arrow. Shaken and terrified, the usually cool and collected Medical Examiner Anya Feist lifts her own top to show Josie an identical mark. Ten years ago, Anya fled her hometown after her marriage to her high school sweetheart ended in terror. But Josie can find nothing to connect Anya’s ex-husband Vance Hadlee to the murder. Her search of his family farm leads to more questions than answers. Then another body is found. A young woman in a red coat, lying in her final resting place, her hip bearing the same tell-tale horseshoe mark. As Josie gets closer to finding the truth, the killer creeps ever closer to home, threatening the lives of those Josie loves the most. Can she put together the pieces of this terrifying puzzle before it’s too late? 

The young woman lying on the forest floor looks like she’s dreaming; her brown hair fanning out into a crown around her head, her hands clasped over her breast. She could be sleeping—if it weren’t for the brutal slash across her neck… It’s autumn in Oakhurst when Detective Jo Fournier rushes to local beauty spot, Crone Ridge Woods, desperately hoping to find Madison Coehlo alive. Instead, she discovers the pregnant woman’s pale and lifeless body, killed in the spot where she loved to walk her dog. Madison looked after her sick mother and studied at community college, who could have wished her harm? Madison’s mother is utterly broken by her brutal murder, but she cannot give Jo any insight into the tiny doll pushed into her daughter’s hand. Supposed to bring luck to whoever finds one, is it a coincidence or a warning from the killer? When Jo gets another frantic emergency call, she rushes to the scene, determined to catch this cruel monster before he can steal more innocent lives. Her heart pounds when she finds another identical plastic doll. As the local community panics, Jo and her team work round the clock to keep other pregnant women safe. The call logs of the murdered expectant mothers give Jo the clue she desperately needs, but her heart splits in two when she realizes another woman is in danger. Can Jo get to her first, or is the killer pulling them both into a deadly trap?The young woman lying on the forest floor looks like she’s dreaming; her brown hair fanning out into a crown around her head, her hands clasped over her breast. She could be sleeping—if it weren’t for the brutal slash across her neck… It’s autumn in Oakhurst when Detective Jo Fournier rushes to local beauty spot, Crone Ridge Woods, desperately hoping to find Madison Coehlo alive. Instead, she discovers the pregnant woman’s pale and lifeless body, killed in the spot where she loved to walk her dog. Madison looked after her sick mother and studied at community college, who could have wished her harm? Madison’s mother is utterly broken by her brutal murder, but she cannot give Jo any insight into the tiny doll pushed into her daughter’s hand. Supposed to bring luck to whoever finds one, is it a coincidence or a warning from the killer? When Jo gets another frantic emergency call, she rushes to the scene, determined to catch this cruel monster before he can steal more innocent lives. Her heart pounds when she finds another identical plastic doll. As the local community panics, Jo and her team work round the clock to keep other pregnant women safe. The call logs of the murdered expectant mothers give Jo the clue she desperately needs, but her heart splits in two when she realizes another woman is in danger. Can Jo get to her first, or is the killer pulling them both into a deadly trap? Little Lost Dolls is by M M Chouinard.

Mystery at Farfield Castle by Clare Chase. Beautiful Farfield Castle is opening its grounds for a party, and everyone in Saxford’s invited. But as the champagne flows, the owner takes a fatal fall. Fortunately, amateur sleuth Eve Mallow is on the case!  When novelist Julian Fisher buys Farfield Castle to turn the charming old building into a writers’ retreat, he wants the neighbours onside. But he has his work cut out: Saxford St Peter locals tried to buy the castle for the village, and are furious that only the very rich will be able to enjoy it. At the lavish launch party, Fisher treats the villagers like royalty, but Eve Mallow is distracted by the tension in the air. She watches as Fisher’s wife Kitty argues with several guests, almost in tears, before she disappears altogether…  Later that evening, when Kitty is found dead in the castle’s icehouse, it’s quickly proved to be no accident. With dozy Detective Palmer on the wrong track, Eve can’t resist getting involved. Convinced the answers lie inside Farfield Castle, Eve questions an overly inquisitive journalist, Kitty’s less-than-loyal husband, and his prickly PA. But when it emerges that a family heirloom and Julian’s computer both went missing on the night of the party, Eve is sure that solving the theft will solve the murder. Who is behind this deadly tale… and can Eve find the killer before she gets written off?

“Where are you taking me?” Rylan follows the figure through the trees. The girl’s dark ponytail swings as she turns back, then walks on without answering. Deep in the woods, she disappears… and Rylan finds her body, mouth wide in a silent, final plea for help. Rylan Flynn has always been able to see what others don’t—the restless spirits haunting Ashby, Indiana. She’s learned to live with her “gift” but sometimes she longs to escape. The woods have always been a peaceful place for Rylan. But on a visit to her aunt’s cabin, she catches sight of a spirit in the trees. The ghost of a young woman approaches, leading Rylan to her body. With a flood of horror, Rylan realizes that the girl, Celeste Monroe, has been murdered. An outgoing newcomer to town, Celeste had no enemies. Who on earth would want to see her dead? When a coin carved with strange symbols is discovered in Celeste’s throat, it’s clear that a twisted, cold-blooded killer is at work. Rylan’s abilities could be the only way to prevent further deaths. But Ashby’s handsome head detective, Ford Pierce, has made it very clear that he doesn’t want her help. And any unexplained knowledge of the case could make Rylan the perfect suspect. When another body is discovered and blood at the scene points to Rylan’s family, she is more determined than ever to uncover the truth. She must race against time to untangle a web of dark secrets… but can she find answers before the murderer claims another victim? The Spirit Girls is by Dawn Merriman.

The Summer Holiday is by S E Lynes. One loving couple. One surprise guest. One week to destroy everything…  When the doorbell rings, I take one last look round the villa. The nuts and olives are in bowls; the white wine is chilling in the fridge; everything is ready for my old college friend, the guest I’m dying to impress. When I open the door, Coco steps from the dusty street into the cool tiled hall, as effortlessly beautiful as ever. But then her face freezes in horror, her mouth falling open. I turn to see my husband Jeff behind me, his eyes wide, his cheeks pale. After a moment, they both smile, pretending nothing happened at all. But I know what I saw. This holiday was meant to rescue my marriage, not ruin it. But the connection between my friend and my husband isn’t what I thought. All three of us have something to lose, and something to fight for. And when the truth comes out, not all of us will survive…

My husband is keeping secrets. I’m watching his every move… Jake and I were childhood sweethearts. Strong, dependable and with a smile that melts my heart, he is the perfect husband and father to our beautiful little daughter. We have our money troubles – but getting a lodger, Kara, calms the panic I feel about our bills. Jake is reluctant but what choice do we have? I’m relieved that Kara is so sweet, playing endless games of hide and seek with Elsie and settling into our home. But when I catch Jake and Kara sitting close together on the sofa one evening, they jump apart when I walk into the room. Jake promises it’s nothing… When I search Kara’s room, I know for sure. My husband is keeping a terrible secret. And it’s much, much worse than I imagined. Confronting him will tear our marriage apart, but I’ll do anything to protect my precious daughter. Even if it means putting on a smile as I greet Kara at the breakfast table. Even if it means lying to my husband’s face. Even if it means someone has to die… Happily Married is by Victoria Jenkins.

The Ones Who are Hidden is by Kerry Wilkinson. ‘Your tattoo… it’s exactly like mine.’ She hesitates. ‘But – I’ve never noticed it before. I must have had it since I was little.’ The ink markings on both of them are delicate, barely visible. Interlinked triangles in the shape of a daisy. But how can two strangers have matching tattoos, they didn’t know they had? With their parents gone and nobody left to ask, when Georgia and Oliver first come to amateur sleuth Millie Westlake for help with their daisy-shaped markings she thinks the tattoos are a joke. A funny, if unusual, link between two strangers. In the seaside town of Whitecliff, stranger things have happened – especially to Millie herself. But then Millie finds an artist who remembers giving someone the same tattoo twenty years ago. Someone who spent years hiding in the isolated woods outside Whitecliff – the same place unidentified bodies were once found… Even as Millie gets closer to answers, she witnesses a shocking robbery that changes everything. And as whispers of what happened in the woods decades ago become louder, how much danger will Millie, Georgia and Oliver put themselves in, to uncover the mystery of the daisy-shaped markings and the dark truth about their pasts?

The blushing bride. The handsome groom. A secret one of them will kill for… It’s the day I’ve been dreaming about my whole life. As I glide down the flower-strewn aisle overlooking the Greek orange groves, in my pearl-encrusted ivory gown, I finally see my fiancé Nik. We look like the perfect couple, but not all fairy tales have happy endings… Today is supposed to be the day of my dreams. But I don’t see a single friend or family member. I’m surrounded by strangers. I have been so excited to finally meet my fiancé’s family. Then why do they turn their heads away as I walk down the aisle? Now, as I say my vows, I gaze longingly into Nik’s eyes. But instead of love, he looks through me, as if he can’t wait for this day to end… And I suddenly have an awful feeling that I don’t know my fiancé at all. But then again, he doesn’t truly know me either. And by the time he finds out who I really am, it will be far too late. There’s only room for one happily-ever-after on this wedding day, and I’m determined to make it mine… The Wedding Day is by Sue Watson.

The Bedroom Window is by K L Slater. They say they have no children. So who did I see at the window?  My darling little boy Albie adores playing at our new neighbours’ house. And after the terrible year we’ve had, I feel so lucky that we can start over in this perfect place, with new friends who treat Albie like the son they never had. He can’t stop talking about the tree house they’re building him, and the cookies they bake together. But as time passes, something starts to feel wrong. Why don’t they ever open the front door more than a crack? They told me they had no children, so who does the small pink tricycle I saw in their hall belong to? And why can I hear a lullaby drifting across the garden when I’m tucking my own boy into bed? Then, one night, I see a small shadowy figure in their bedroom window… I thought I’d learned my lesson about trusting the wrong people, but now I’m forced to wonder what this perfect couple are hiding. And if I try to save that little helpless figure in the window, will I do what I’ve always feared most, and put my beautiful boy’s life in danger…? 

An ordinary journey. A shocking secret. And the perfect murder… Breathlessly, I rush into carriage 3 just as the train doors slam behind me. It’s the same train I get home every night – the 18.53 – and I always sit in the same seat, with the same people. Each journey is fairly uneventful. Except this one… A passenger drops dead and shockwaves ripple through the train. The lights go out and we’re left waiting in darkness, trapped until further notice. Is it an accident, or something more sinister? The unwritten rule is you don’t talk to your fellow commuters, but the group of people huddled around me all seem like nice, normal people. I just hope they don’t notice my dishevelled hair or smell the alcohol on my breath. Because my life is far from perfect and there are things I’ve done I’m not proud of. But as we all get to know each other, I wonder if I can really trust them? Or are they all hiding dangerous secrets… Was someone in carriage 3 involved in the passenger’s death? And if so, how far will they go to stop the rest of us finding the truth. The Woman in Carriage 3 is by Alison James.

The Murder Affair is by Alice Castle. In a quiet little village, mourners gather for a church funeral. But some of the tears flowing are fake – and Beth Haldane suspects foul play… On a rainy afternoon, Beth Haldane accompanies her elderly mother Wendy to the funeral of her boyfriend and local councillor Len. But as they gather in the church, Beth can’t help but notice how many women are there who look just like her mother. As the service begins it soon becomes clear that all of the women thought they were Len’s special someone – and one of them even claims to be his distraught wife. Wendy suspects foul play and immediately asks Beth to investigate. As Beth begins to speak to the women she has to ask, was one of Len’s many disgruntled girlfriends out for revenge? Why was Len borrowing money from the ladies he romanced? And why did his work for the local council seem so suspicious? Then, Len’s secretary Bella is found dead amongst the dahlias in a planter. Beth starts to suspect Len was involved in something far more dangerous than she’d assumed but what did Bella know about his business that led to her unfortunate end? With the village rumour mill in full swing, fingers start to point at Wendy. After all, distraught Wendy is telling everyone who lends her an ear that Len was murdered – and she saw Len the very evening he was found dead. The clock is ticking for Beth to clear her mother’s name before it’s too late!

Everything I thought I knew about my life is a lie. My mother revealed a terrible, dangerous secret in her last letter to me. But, with her death, any chance of knowing the truth has disappeared. I’ll have to do whatever it takes to find out for myself. Going back to the house where I was born, I find a family living the life I’d always dreamed of. And when Cecelia, the mother, mistakes me for the new nanny, I seize the chance to move in. Maybe, being in the house every day and night, I will remember more, uncover more, about the secret that haunts me… But this family is not the happy one it appears from the outside. Cecelia is angry, unpredictable, unstable. She is not the mother these children deserve. They are scared of her, and rightly so. As my memories start to crystalize, I am ever more determined to shelter them from harm. Because history has a horrible way of repeating itself, and I’ll do everything I can to protect these children. But how long can I stay here, undetected, pretending to be someone I’m not? And if the children end up in danger, what will I have to do to save them…? The Babysitters Secret is by Casey Kelleher.

Deadly Fate is by Angela Marsons. The woman’s bright blonde hair floats in the breeze. She almost looks like she could be resting on the soft green grass. But her brown eyes stare unblinking up at the sky, and the final cut across her mouth is dark with blood. Her words silenced forever… Late one evening, as the final church bell rings out, Sandra Deakin’s cold and lifeless body is found in the overgrown graveyard with multiple stab wounds. When Detective Kim Stone rushes to the scene, the violence of the attack convinces her that this murder was deeply personal. What could have caused such hate? As the team dig into Sandra’s life, they discover she believed she could communicate with the dead. Was that why she was targeted? The last people to see her alive were a group of women who had a session with her the night before she was killed, and as Kim and her team pay them a visit, they soon learn each of the women is lying about why they wanted Sandra’s help… Kim realises she must dig deep and open her mind to every avenue if she’s going to stand a chance at solving this case. And when she learns that Sandra was banned from the church grounds and had been receiving death threats too, she’s ever more certain that Sandra’s gifts are at the heart of everything. But just when she thinks she’s found a lead, the broken body of a nineteen-year-old boy is found outside a call centre – a single slash across his mouth just like Sandra’s. Kim knows they are now racing against time to understand what triggered these attacks, and to stop a twisted killer. But they might be too late. Just as Kim sits down at a local psychic show she discovers something that makes her blood run cold. Both Sandra and the call centre were named in an article about frauds. And this show stars the next name on the list. She looks around the audience with a feeling of utter dread, certain the killer is among them…

My future hangs in the balance. They’re questioning both of us and every word I say matters. I need to be careful – it’s my word against his, and I can’t afford to lose… Thirteen years ago. Teenager Lucie babysits our little son Henry. She’s like the daughter I never had. And she believes we’re the perfect family – just me, my husband and Henry. But Lucie doesn’t really know what’s happening behind closed doors. Until one night, she sees something so awful she leaves. And my family is never the same again… Now, Lucie has reached out, desperate for my help. It’s been thirteen years of silence, but I would recognise her voice anywhere. She’s back: and so are the secrets she took with her. What did she see that night? And does she know my side of the story, or only his? I hope she knows what she’s doing. Because there is no line I won’t cross to protect the ones I love – or the secrets I’ve worked so hard to hide… My Word Against His is by Lauren North.

Murder in the Scottish Hills is by Lydia Travers. When Maud McIntyre and her lady’s maid Daisy travel into the Scottish Highlands, the last thing they expect to find is a body on the train… Will these keen amateur sleuths stop a murderer in his tracks? Edinburgh, 1911: When Maud McIntyre receives a letter from a maid called Rose, sharing her suspicions that something strange is happening in the house where she works, she and her assistant Daisy immediately travel to the Highlands to investigate. But as they are changing trains, the body of a man falls from the carriage right in front of them, a bullet in his head. Maud and Daisy can’t believe it – they’ve waited ages for a new case, and now one has literally landed in front of them! And when the local police rule the death as a tragic accident, the pair have no choice but to investigate what they believe is a murder…Arriving in the Scottish village, Maud and Daisy go undercover to begin their hunt for the murderer, while also investigating the strange behaviour of Rose’s employer, a local art dealer. As they begin to piece together the chain of events, Maud and Daisy wonder whether the cases might be linked. Is it possible the man on the train was killed to cover up something in the village? And, if so, who would do such a thing? When a local artist is found murdered, Maud and Daisy become convinced the two cases are connected. Searching for the link between the deaths, will Maud and Daisy solve the case before another mysterious murder takes place?

One last holiday together. One of us wouldn’t come home…  Saturday night: It starts as an innocent holiday game amongst old friends. As we sit around our campfire, the evening sky streaked with peach, my little boy sleeping peacefully in our tent, the wine flows and secrets are spilled. It should be harmless fun, but Annie’s questions worry me. She’s always been the keeper of our secrets. She knows all the infidelities, the indiscretions, the stolen kisses… I just hope she knows when to stop. Because there’s something I can’t let her bring to the surface… Wednesday morning: It’s the little things that stay with you. The hurried rip of zips being opened. Figures stumbling into the cold night air. The screams echoing across the campsite as flashlights scour the ground. That’s what happens when someone you love is murdered. One of us is responsible for Annie’s death. One of us will stop at nothing to keep our secrets hidden… The Last Holiday is by Amy Sheppard.

The Widow Lake is by Rita Herron. “Help,” a tiny voice cried out into the darkness. Little Betsy trembled, praying someone would hear her, save her. “Please,” she whimpered. “I’m scared.” On the hottest day of the year, as a heatwave takes hold of the Appalachian Mountains, a five-year-old girl goes missing. Just as the sun is setting, a family vacation becomes a worst nightmare—Betsy, with her green eyes, ponytail and rainbow t-shirt—disappears in the woods by Widow Lake. Detective Ellie Reeves is straight on the scene, promising Betsy’s heartbroken parents that she will stop at nothing to find their precious daughter. Hours later, Ellie is called back to the lake. One of her team have discovered some remains near where Betsy disappeared. The bones belong to a local girl, Amy Dean, who vanished ten years ago to the day, along with her two-year-old baby girl Paisley. But why was Paisley never reported missing? And could she still be alive? Ellie is suddenly up against the toughest case of her career. Her instincts tell her that the two cases are somehow connected, and she works day and night to uncover the link. When she comes across some little graves beside the water’s edge, she knows she needs to stop the evil lurking around this tranquil lake. When Ellie discovers a notebook scrawled with the handwriting of a little girl, it could be the breakthrough she needs. Can she unravel a decades-old mystery, and stop the monster claiming innocent lives?