Crime & Thriller

Have you ever wondered how one split-second decision could change your life for ever? The Bonners are the most powerful couple in Texas. Bode Bonner is the Republican Governor and his wife, Lindsay, is always by his side. From the outside everything looks rosy. But the Bonners are not happy. Bode is bored - he longs for more excitement in his life. Lindsay is at the end of her tether. She's had enough of Bode's womanising and of playing the dutiful wife.She is desperate to break free of her bland, wealthy lifestyle. Then Lindsay makes an impulsive decision that helps save the life of a poor Hispanic boy. From that moment on, nothing will be the same for the Bonners. Everything is about to change...From the author of the international bestsellers The Colour of Law and Accused, this is an addictively readable novel, filled with dramatic and ingenious twists and turns, that delves deep into the dark heart of Texas.

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The war on drugs has been lost but for want of the courage to face the fact that the whole world is rapidly becoming one vast criminal network. From pop stars and princes to crack whores and street kids. From the Groucho Club toilets to the poppy fields of Afghanistan, we are all partners in crime. HIGH SOCIETY is a story or rather a collection of interconnected stories that takes the reader on a hilarious, heart breaking and terrifying journey through the kaleidoscope world that the law has created and from which the law offers no protection.

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A young girl has mysteriously disappeared in Rome. As rain lashes the ancient streets, two men, Clemente and Marcus, sit in a cafe near the Piazza Navona and pore over the details of the case. They are members of the ancient Penitenzeri - a unique Italian team, linked to the Vatican, and trained in the detection of true evil. But they are not alone. Sandra - a brilliant forensics expert with a tragic past - is also working on the case. When her path crosses theirs, not only do they make headway in the case of the missing girl, but they also uncover a terrible secret world, hidden in the dark recesses of Rome. A world that is as perfect as it is evil...A spellbinding literary thriller from the author of The Whisperer, this novel offers a window onto the hidden secrets of Rome. Beautifully capturing the atmosphere of the city, it blends a page-turning plot with fascinating historical fact.

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Will DCI Andy Gilchrist end up like the others - dead, beheaded on a beach?The middle of winter in St Andrews. When a young woman's half-naked body is found on Fife's Coastal Path, frozen and with remnants of a rope manacle around her wrist, DCI Andy Gilchrist is given the case. Gilchrist's investigation uncovers a bloody trail of shootings and executions that lead him to the heart of a trafficking war. Links to Scotland's foremost criminal family, the Home Office and a killer intent on expanding his territory, pull Gilchrist deeper into this murderous web until he comes face to face with the most dangerous man he has ever met. Praise for T. F. Muir:'Everything I look for in a crime novel.' Louise Welsh'A truly gripping read, with all the makings of a classic series.' Mick Herron'A clever thriller, tinged with melancholy.' Karen Campbell.'Rebus did it for Edinburgh. Laidlaw did it for Glasgow. Gilchrist might just be the bloke to put St Andrews on the crime fiction map.' Daily Record

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Danger was forgotten, death was forgotten, the war was forgotten. They only knew they had to kill... The figures in khaki were no longer soldiers, no longer men. Sven Hassel and his comrades are once more hurled into the ferocity of the frontline.The Eastern Front is a sight of unprecedented destruction. The soldiers there - the tank battalions of Hitler's penal regiments - are considered expendable by the German high command. Treated like animals, they learn to live like animals, to fight like beasts. The only other option is to die a bloody death... This is a gripping testament to the soldiers sacrificed on the Russian Front.

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'The screams came again: by now they sounded quite blood-curdling to the girl alone in the small room - or was it that they were getting nearer?'From murders and ghostly visitors to devious plots and family feuds, Antonia Fraser's first collection of short stories is a feast of mingled delight and suspense.There are five Jemima Shore stories including the first ever Jemima Shore mystery in which the fifteen-year-old Jemima is confronted by blood-curdling screams and miraculous moving statues in the dead of night. Jemima is at her sparkling best as she solves the case of the Parr children in a remote corner of the Scottish Highlands and elegantly deals with a missing bride on a romantic Venetian honeymoon.

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The star of JUSTIFIED returns in a stunning new novel from 'the greatest crime writer who ever lived' [Dennis Lehane].US Marshal Raylan Givens, star of the series JUSTIFIED, and protagonist of RIDING THE RAP, PRONTO and the story 'Fire in the Hole', is back in action, this time with a federal warrant to serve on a dope dealer named Angel Arenas, a man 'born in the U.S. but a hundred percent of him Hispanic'. The state troopers are impressed when the marshal struts into the convict's hotel room without drawing his gun, but Raylan soon finds that Angel's already been the victim of another crime, one that's way bigger than a few pot plants, and clearly the work of a professional ...RAYLAN shows Elmore Leonard at the height of his powers, as we follow one of his favourite protagonists through a series of adventures with unlikely villains. As ever, the work is filled with unexpected twists and the most vibrant, crackling dialogue currently available in the English language.

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In 1945, as part of the Occupation forces sent to postwar Japan Nick Zappetti, a native of Italian East Harlem, entered a world as strange as any he had ever know, In postwar Tokyo, however, he realised there were certain opportunities. He had a failed stint as a professional wrestler, and participated in a fumbled (but famous) diamond heist. He was deported but managed to return with the assistance of the Mafia. Then Nick opened a pizza joint in what would be the centre of Tokyo's nightlife and became "the king of Roppongi and Mafia boss of Tokyo," and the intimate of some of Japan's most notorious underworld figures as well as many of its political and business leaders.Following Zappetti's rising and falling fortunes, and his love-hate relationship with his adopted country, Robert Whiting show us the sinister (and sometimes ridiculous) goings-on among Tokyo's traditional criminal gangs as they developed from local racketeers and gamblers into lynchpins of international finance, politics and corruption. Here is a fresh perspective on postwar Japan and how it went from being a defeated nation to an economic player, with a little help from some less than diplomatic friends.

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'PERSEPHONE is another shining milepost for Captain Thomas Kydd and his creator, Julian Stockwin' - QuarterdeckNovember 1807. Captain Sir Thomas Kydd must sail to Lisbon to aid the Portuguese Royal Family's evacuation in the face of Napoleon's ruthless advance through Iberia. In the chaos of the threatened city an old passion is reawakened when he meets Persephone Lockwood, a beautiful and determined admiral's daughter from his past. But the Royal Family's destination is Brazil, Perspehone's England, and it seems Kydd's chance has gone again. Only later he discovers Persephone has another suitor - and that, if he wants to win her hand, he must enter the highest echelons of London society.Mixing with aristocracy and royalty brings other responsibilities. The Prince of Wales asks him to take temporary command of the Royal Yacht. Sailing to Yarmouth, Kydd realises they are being stalked by French privateers. The terrible threat of a prince of the blood being captured sees Kydd call on daring seamanship of the highest order.***************What readers are saying about PERSEPHONE'Very much recommended, for this is an absolutely astonishing naval story by this author, and that's why I like to say: "Sail On, Thomas Kydd"!' - 5 stars'A masterly piece of writing!' - 5 stars'End one and start another - they're addictive' - 5 stars'Read it - that's all I'll say' - 5 stars'Still excellent, still gripping' - 5 stars

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From the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Goodbye Man, discover Jeffery Deaver's gripping series that inspired the film starring Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington, and is now a major NBC TV series.How do you catch a killer who can reach you anywhere - without going near you?Detective Amelia Sachs is in pursuit when she hears the scream.Stopping to help a man trapped in a horrific accident, Sachs has to let a suspected murderer get away.But was it really coincidence? Did the killer make it happen?Sachs and Lincoln Rhyme are facing a new kind of opponent:Someone who can kill by remote control.Someone watching every move they make . . . 'A tightly plotted masterpiece' Sun 'Flawlessly constructed and paced' The Sunday Times 'The king of suspense is back and he's done it again' Glasgow Herald

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Young Donald Peter Gillies, a Lovat scout soldier lies in hospital in Gallipoli in 1916, blinded by the Turks. There he falls in love with his Queen Alexandra Corps nurse, Louise, and she with him. The story moves back and forth from their time at the field hospital to the west highlands of Scotland where Donald grew up. As they talk in the quiet hours he tells her the stories of the coast and glens, how his family lived and the fascinating life of a century ago: bagpiping, sheep shearing, celidhs, illegal distilling, his mother saving the life of the people of St Kilda, the navvies building the west highland railway and the relationship between the lairds and the people. Louise in turn tells her own story of growing up in the Welsh valley: coal mining, a harsh and unforgiving upbringing. They get cut off from the allied troops and with another nurse are forced to make their escape through Turkey to Greece, getting rescued by a Coptic priest and ending up in Malta. By this time their love is out in the open, but there is still another tragic twist to their story waiting on the way back to Donald’s beloved highland home . . .

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When her personal copy of the current Finance Act is found a few metres away from a body, young barrister Julia Larwood finds herself caught up in a complex fight against the Inland Revenue.Set to have a vacation away from her home life and the tax man, Julia takes a trip with her art-loving boyfriend. However, all is not what it seems. Could he in fact be an employee of the establishment she has been trying to escape from? And how did her romantic luxurious holiday end in murder?

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'Kanae Minato is a brilliant storyteller' Emily St John Mandel, author of Station ElevenWhen a group of young girls are approached by a stranger, they cannot know that the encounter will haunt them for the rest of their lives.Hours later, Emily is dead. The surviving girls alone can identify the killer. But not one of them remembers his face...Driven mad by grief, the victim's mother demands the girls find the murderer or else atone for their crimes. If they do neither, she will have her revenge. She will make them pay...From the critically acclaimed author of Confessions, Penance is a dark and disturbing tale of revenge that will leave you reeling.

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The sensational climax to David Morrell's acclaimed Victorian mystery trilogy. In 1855, the first murder on an English train causes a wave of fear and panic. There is no escape from a killer in a closed train carriage... and yet the killer can vanish into any station and be lost in the crowd.Notorious Opium-Eater Thomas De Quincy and his irrepressible daughter, Emily, are travelling on the train where the murder takes place. As they follow the clues through the fogbound London streets, they find themselves confronting their most ruthless enemy. Inspired by real events, Ruler of the Night transports readers to the darkest shadows of Victorian England, with a thrilling tale of murder, Empire and revenge.

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'Blazes with pace and wit - Crilley has produced a real page turner' Ed McDonald, author of BLACKWINGPerfect for fans of Ben Aaronovitch and Jim Butcher. The name's Gideon Tau, but everyone just calls me London. I work for the Delphic Division, the occult investigative unit of the South African Police Service. My life revolves around two things - finding out who killed my daughter and imagining what I'm going to do to the bastard when I catch him. I have two friends in my life. The first is my boss, Armitage, a fifty-something DCI from Yorkshire who looks more like someone's mother than a cop. Don't let that fool you. The second is the dog, my magical spirit guide. He talks. He's an alcoholic. And he's a mean drunk. Life is pretty routine - I solve crimes, I search for my daughter's killer. Wash, rinse, repeat. Until the day I'm called out to the murder of a ramanga - a low-key vampire. It looks like an open and shut case. There's even CCTV footage of the killer.Except... the face on the CCTV footage? It's the face of the man who killed my daughter. And that's just the beginning of the trouble I'm about to get into.

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Selected by the Sunday Times as one of the 40 best crime novels published 2015-2020Mumbai, murder and a baby elephant combine in a charming, joyful mystery for fans of Alexander McCall Smith and Rachel Joyce. On the day he retires, Inspector Ashwin Chopra discovers that he has inherited an elephant: an unlikely gift that could not be more inconvenient. For Chopra has one last case to solve...But as his murder investigation leads him across Mumbai - from its richest mansions to its murky underworld - he quickly discovers that a baby elephant may be exactly what an honest man needs.So begins the start of a quite unexpected partnership, and an utterly delightful series from the award-winning author of the Malabar House novels.

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Intrepid coroner Dr Siri is used to playing the lead in the dramas of his life. But this time his wife is centre stage. Madame Daeng is privy to a secret and it puts her in grave danger. And that's not all. When Siri whisks his wife away for a romantic weekend they walk straight into another mystery, meeting a woman who's been shot twice but is still clinging to life. Who would want to kill her and why? Dr Siri will have his work cut out to unravel this case, while keeping Madame Daeng away from those who want to harm her. But he soon discovers there's much more to his wife than meets the eye...

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'WALKER BRINGS TO LIFE A COMPLETE COMMUNITY AND THE CHIEF OF POLICE WHO IS ITS PROTECTOR, TEACHER AND FRIEND' - Literary ReviewIn rural Dordogne, Bruno, Chief of Police, knows that WW2 casts the longest shadow. Rare bank notes are found, linking to the famous Neuvic train robbery of 1944 in the sixth internationally-bestselling case for France's favourite cop.In the small town of St Denis, Bruno, can't get a moment's rest. Some rare bank notes have come to light that may have links to the legendary Neuvic train robbery in 1944. The investigation is fraught with issues. Bruno is also dealing with a wave of local burglaries, which have brought his old flame, Isabelle - and their complicated history - back to the town. Worse is to come. Tasked with piecing together these past crimes, Bruno now finds he has the more pressing matter of a body on his hands. He must now trace the links between past and present to restore peace in his beloved town of St Denis.

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THE RICHEST PRIZE IN RACING. THE PERFECT MOTIVE TO KILL.Jeff Hinkley, a British Horseracing Authority investigator, has been seconded to the US Federal Anti-Corruption in Sports Agency (FACSA) where he has been asked to find a mole in their organisation, an informant who is passing on confidential information to fix races. Jeff goes in search of answers, taking on an undercover role as a groom on the backstretch at Belmont Park racetrack in New York. But he discovers far more than he was bargaining for, finding himself as the meat in the sandwich between FACSA and corrupt individuals who will stop at nothing, including murder, to capture the most elusive and lucrative prize in the world – the Triple Crown.The Francis brand of thrillers are bigger and bolder for a new generation! Praise for Felix Francis: 'The Francis flair is clear for all to see' Daily Mail 'From winning post to top of the bestseller list, time after time' Sunday Times 'The master of suspense and intrigue' Country Life 'A tremendous read' Woman's Own

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'Alan Judd's special magic is to mix contemporary events as they break over our heads with the codes and crafts of the secret world on whose special traits he is always uncannily up to date' Peter Hennessy'Plotting in the best le Carré tradition' Mail on Sunday From the author of Legacy, now a major BBC Film, and The Kaiser's Last Kiss comes a brilliant new novel for fans of John le Carre and Charles Cumming Brexit looms and Charles Thoroughgood, Chief of MI6, is forbidden for political reasons from spying on the EU. But when an EU official volunteers the EU’s negotiating bottom lines to one of his officers, Charles has to report it. Whitehall is eager for more but as the case develops Charles realises that it may not be quite what it appears. At the same time, he finds he has a family connection with a possible terrorist whom MI5 want checked out. In both cases, Charles is forced to become his own agent, seeking what he really does not want to find. Authoritative and packed with in-depth knowledge, Accidental Agent is a gripping new spy thriller from a master of the genre. ‘Judd infuses his writing with insider knowledge’New Statesman 'Wonderful. One of the best spy novels ever' Peter Hennessey on Legacy 'Belongs to the classic tradition of spy writing' Guardian 'Judd has an infallible grasp of intelligence'Spectator

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'Beautifully written' S. A. Cosby Sometimes to find yourself, you have to go back to where you came from. You just might not like what you find. After failing in his new life, Luke decides to go home, back to the one place where he’d once felt he belonged. But that was a long time ago and now he has to face the life that he chose to run away from: The Combine. The gang that his uncle now leads, but which his father still runs from prison. Brutal, unforgiving . . . family. Reunited with his childhood friend Callie and tagging along on jobs with her and her boyfriend Pretty Baby, Luke soon discovers that he might have a place back home after all. When another gang try to encroach on their turf, The Combine and Luke must go to war to save all that they know. But in trying to be someone you’re not, can you ever find out who you really are? Family is everything and blood is love. Praise for Jordan Harper: ‘When I say The Last King of California subverts the stereotypical American Outlaw Mythos, it's the highest praise I can give it. No one is thinking deeper about what crime fiction is than Jordan Harper’ S. A. Cosby ‘Burns bright and fast’ Peter Swanson ‘Darkly irresistible’ Megan Abbott 'Urgent and beautiful' Lauren Beukes 'Fast-paced and gritty' Amy Engel 'Truly astounding' Robin Wasserman 'Easily one of the best things I'll read this year. Visceral and violent. An exploration o family and loyalty. Reads like poetry. Bravo!' Chris McDonald '[A] gripping and emotional journey . . . Authors paint pictures with words, and like the Mona Lisa or Van Gogh's Sunflowers, some of their books are instant masterpieces sure to inspire readers and elicit envy from fellow wordsmiths. The Last King of California is simply that good. Jordan Harper wields words like weapons . . . It is like poetry on the page' BoloBooks Top Read of 2022 'Blistering, brutal, with a big beating (black) heart, The Last King of California confirms Harper as one of the finest writers of noir today, with what's easily a best-of-the-year book' James. D. F. Hannah, Shamus-winning author of the Henry Malone novels

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Murphy's Law is the captivating first entry of Rhys Bowen's New York Times bestselling Molly Murphy series.Meet Molly Murphy, a resourceful young woman who lives by her own set of laws...Molly Murphy always knew she'd end up in trouble, just as her mother had predicted. So when she commits murder in self-defence, she flees her cherished Ireland for the anonymous shores of America. When she arrives in New York and sees the welcoming promise of freedom in the Statue of Liberty, Molly begins to breathe a little easier. But when a man is murdered on Ellis Island, a man Molly was seen arguing with, she becomes a prime suspect in the crime.If she can't clear her name, Molly will be sent back to Ireland where the gallows await, so using her Irish charm and sharp wit, she escapes Ellis Island and sets out to find the wily killer on her own. Pounding the notorious streets of Hell's Kitchen and the Lower East Side, Molly undertakes a desperate mission to clear her name before her deadly past comes back to haunt her new future.'Irish humour and gritty determination... with charm and optimism.' Anne Perry'Delightful... as ever, Bowen does a splendid job of capturing the flavour of early twentieth-century New York and bringing to life its warm and human inhabitants.' Publishers Weekly'Molly grows ever more engaging against a vibrant background of New York's dark side at the turn of the century.' Kirkus Reviews

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Yuletide overindulgence on the poison front ...During the dark, grey days of early December Agatha is obsessed by two things - the looming festivities, and her ex, James Lacey. In order to drive the latter from her thoughts, Agatha concentrates on planning the perfect Christmas for her friends. Even the murder of a Mrs Tamworthy, poisoned with hemlock, does little to distract her and yet it should, as Mrs Tamworthy had written to Agatha, telling her that one of her family wanted to see her dead before the year was out. So slightly guiltily (and belatedly), Agatha sets out to solve the case before the 25th rolls around ...Praise for the Agatha Raisin series: 'M.C. Beaton's imperfect heroine is an absolute gem' Publishers Weekly 'The detective novels of M.C. Beaton, a master of outrageous black comedy, have reached cult status' The Times 'Agatha Raisin is sharp, witty, hugely intelligent, unfailingly entertaining, delightfully intolerant and oh so magnificently non PC. M.C. Beaton has created a new national treasure' Anne Robinson

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When a three-year old girl is reported missing, DCI Andy Gilchrist is assigned the case. But Gilchrist soon suspects that the child's mother - Andrea Davis - may be responsible for her daughter's disappearance, or worse, her murder. The case becomes politically sensitive when Gilchrist learns that Andrea is the daughter of Dougal Davis, a former MSP who was forced to resign from Scottish Parliament after being accused of physically abusing his third wife. Now a powerful businessman, Davis demands Gilchrist's removal from the case when his investigation seems to be stalling. But then the case turns on its head when Gilchrist learns that a paedophile, recently released from prison, now lives in the same area as the missing child. The paedophile is interrogated but hours later his body is found on the beach with evidence of blunt force trauma to the head, and Gilchrist launches a murder investigation. As pressure relentlessly mounts on Gilchrist, he begins to unravel a dark family secret, a secret he believes will solve the fate of the missing child.Praise for T.F. Muir:'Rebus did it for Edinburgh. Laidlaw did it for Glasgow. Gilchrist might just be the bloke to put St Andrews on the crime fiction map.' Daily Record'A truly gripping read, with all the makings of a classic series.' Mick Herron'Gripping and grisly, with plenty of twists and turns that race along with black humour.' Craig Robertson'Gilchrist is intriguing, bleak and vulnerable... if I were living in St Andrews I'd sleep with the lights on.' Anna Smith

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Allotment wars! Lord Bellington, Carsely's biggest landholder, has enraged locals by saying he is going to sell off their allotments to make way for a new housing development. So when he turns up dead, poisoned by antifreeze, nobody mourns his passing.On another fine summer's day Agatha visits Carsley's allotments where everything looks peaceful and perfect: people of all ages digging in the soil and working hard to grow their own fruit and veg. Agatha feels almost tempted to take on a strip herself . . . but common sense soon prevails. She doesn't really like getting her hands dirty.She is introduced to three oldtimers who have just taken over a new strip; Harry Perry, Bunty Daventry and Josephine Merriweather are lamenting the neglected condition of the patch. But as Harry starts to shovel through the weeds and grass his spade comes across something hard so he bends down and tries to move the object. And then he starts to yell . . . The body is that of Peta Currie, a newcomer to the village - but who would want to murder her? Blonde and beautiful she's every local male's favourite. And then Lord Bellingham's son engages Agatha to do some digging of her own and very soon Agatha is thrown into a world of petty feuds, jealousies and disputes over land. It would seem that far from being tiny gardens of Eden, Carsley's allotments are local battlefields where passions - and the bodycount - run high!Praise for the Agatha Raisin series:'Sharp, witty, hugely intelligent, unfailingly entertaining, delightfully intolerant and oh so magnificently non-PC, M.C. Beaton has created a national treasure' Anne Robinson'M.C. Beaton's imperfect heroine is an absolute gem' Publishers Weekly'The Miss Marple-like Raisin is a refreshing, sensible, wonderfully eccentric, thoroughly likeable heroine' Booklist

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Irish immigrant Molly Murphy is contemplating giving up PI work for something a little less…exciting. Molly has had quite enough excitement recently, thank you very much. Especially from the handsome but deceptive NYPD captain Daniel Sullivan. She wants him out of her life for good. But when Daniel is accused of accepting bribes and lands himself in the Tombs, the notorious city jail, he begs Molly to help prove he was framed. After everything they've been through together, how can she turn him down? As Molly finds herself drawn further into Daniel's case, Molly begins to fear that his trouble is related to one of his investigations: catching a serial killer who is targeting prostitutes, known to the locals as the East Side Ripper . . .

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A dead man dressed like a vicar is propped against a church wall, clutching the address of a dilapidated cottage that's abandoned - except for a human skeleton inside. Inspector Witherspoon's only prayer is to seek the counsel of his housekeeper and secret weapon, Mrs. Jeffries - who proves that a great crimesolver's work is never done.Praise for the Mrs Jeffries Mysteries:'It's murder most English all the way!' The Literary Times'Fascinating murder mystery . . . wit and style . . . a winning series. Mrs. Jeffries is the Miss Marple of Victorian Mystery' The Paperback Forum

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A New York Times Bestseller! For viewers of the hit Series I Am the Night and fans of the Root of Evil Podcast, the book that finally revealed the shocking identity of the Black Dahlia Killer—and the Police Corruption That Concealed It for So LongIn 1947, the brutal, sadistic murder of a beautiful young woman named Elizabeth Short led to the largest manhunt in LA history. The killer teased and taunted the police and public for weeks, but his identity stayed a mystery, and the murder remained the most tantalizing unsolved case of the last century, until this book revealed the bizarre solution.Steve Hodel, a retired LAPD detective, took up the case, reviewing the original evidence and records as well as those of a separate grand jury investigation into a series of murders of single women in LA at the time. The prime suspect had in fact been identified, but never indicted. Why? And who was he?In an account that will remind movie lovers of both LA Confidential and Zodiac, for the corruption it exposes and the insight it offers into a serial killer’s mind, Hodel demonstrates that there was a massive police cover-up. Even more shocking, he proves that the murderer, a true-life Jekyll and Hyde who was a highly respected member of society by day and a psychopathic killer by night, was his own father.This edition of the book includes new findings and photographs added after the original publication, together with a new postscript by the author.

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This title is set in Athens, 1913, the capital of a country on the brink of war. The new Greek prime minister, Venizelos, tired of the Ottoman overlords, has what he calls the Great Idea - a vision of a new Greece which unites all the Greek people scattered around the Mediterranean. Not such a great idea, in the view of other countries, among them Britain, which believes in letting sleeping dogs lie. And cats. Including the one recently poisoned in Athens and which belonged to the exiled former Sultan. Unfortunately, as is the way with the Balkans, rumours start flying around; one being that this was a sighting shot for the ex-Sultan himself. This, in the Balkans, could start a war and so Britain has to sit up and take notice. Something has to be done. Fast. And - please, urge the diplomats - low-key. The lowest key of all is to send out a police officer from Scotland Yard to investigate, and, as it happens, the Foreign Office has a person in mind: Seymour, of the CID, who has had some experience of this sort of thing before...

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'Gripping and gritty, this book will keep you hooked from the first page to the last.' Roberta KrayLiberty Chapman had a difficult childhood. The oldest of four kids, she tried to protect them from their violent father until one day he murdered their mother and got sent down.What was left of the family rattled through the care system, bouncing from foster placement to care home. Liberty would have probably ended up on drugs, or dead, or worse if it hadn't been for a ballsy solicitor who told her to get her act together.So that's what she did. She kept her nose clean, got an education.And look at her now. New name, new accent, new town. The past is far behind her and she's concentrating on her own legal career. She has a Porsche, a house in Hampstead... and then one morning her boss asks her to do a favour. He wants her to go to Leeds, to get an important client's son off an assault charge.But Leeds is in Liberty's past. And once she hits town, the past slaps her in the face... and pulls her back into what she worked so hard to leave behind.

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A chilling and atmospheric thriller set in a crumbling Victorian asylum, perfect for fans of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, The Silent Companions and The Strangers Diaries.

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Philip Mercer, a preeminent geologist with a taste for international intrigue and danger, rides an elevator two thousand feet into the earth at the Leister Deep Mine in Minnesota. Mercer is there to visit his old friend and mentor, Abraham Jacobs, who is leading a research team to the deepest section of the mine for a groundbreaking study on climate change. But as Mercer approaches, he is stunned to hear automatic gunfire in the massive underground chambers. By the time he finds his way to them, Abe Jacobs and the entire research team have been brutally attacked - and Mercer is left seeking not only answers but revenge.Mercer immediately retraces Jacobs's tracks, searching for clues to the secret project on which the distinguished scientist was working. Staying one step ahead of a highly trained team of assassins, Mercer follows a trail that leads from a harrowing close call in the Midwest to a nail-biting showdown in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan to a remote island in the middle of the Pacific. At stake is an extraordinary scientific discovery that could irrevocably alter the planet, centred on a cache of rare crystals called lightning stones - rumored to have been aboard Amelia Earhart's plane when it vanished on 2nd July 2 1937.

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A notorious mob boss may take Stephanie out if she doesn't take him down first...Stephanie Plum must up her game in Takedown Twenty, the hilarious twentieth adventure in the fiery Stephanie Plum series by bestselling author Janet Evanovich. The perfect read for fans of Harlan Coben and Lee Child. Praise for Evanovich's bestselling novels: 'Making trouble and winning hearts' (USA Today); 'Sharp dialogue, a little slapstick and a little romance' (The Sunday Times); 'Highly enjoyable... who can resist?' (Chicago Tribune). Someone is killing old women and leaving them in dumpsters, and Stephanie's risking the wrath of the local police by investigating behind their backs.And to top that, her latest bounty is the town's much-beloved vicious mobster, 'Uncle Sunny' Sunucchi.Stephanie doesn't mind (that much) that the local Godfather is her boyfriend Morelli's actual godfather - but since they are almost her in-laws, she could do with the Family not trying to kill her for a while...What readers are saying about Takedown Twenty:'Lively and funny. All the usual characters, with Stephanie getting into trouble both at work and with her love life''Janet Evanovich does it again, pure comedy. She never fails to deliver''I am often to be found howling with laughter with tears rolling down my face whenever I read one of Janet Evanovich's books!'

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The queen of the Victorian mystery, New York Times bestseller Anne Perry returns with the 32nd novel in the Inspector Pitt series MURDER ON THE SERPENTINE. Pitt is on a secret mission for the Queen, maybe his last...London, 1899: Head of Special Branch Commander Thomas Pitt is summoned to Buckingham Palace. In the twilight of her years, Queen Victoria is all too aware that the Prince of Wales will soon inherit her empire and must be beyond reproach. She tells Pitt she tasked her close friend and confidante, John Halberd, with investigating the Prince's friends, specifically Alan Kendrick, a wealthy playboy and betting man, but before he could report back, Halberd was found dead in a rowing boat on the Serpentine. The death has been ruled an unfortunate accident and the investigation closed, but the Queen is not convinced that all is as it seems and tasks Pitt with finding the truth. Forced to act alone in this most sensitive of investigations, Pitt finds himself embroiled in a plot that threatens not only the reputations of men, but also the safety and reputation of the Empire. . .

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From the author of the bestselling ATLANTIS comes a thrilling novel of buried secrets, age-old mysteries and a conspiracy surrounding the fabled Ark of the Covenant. 'What do you get if you cross Indiana Jones with Dan Brown? Answer: David Gibbins' Mirror586 BC The ancient world is in meltdown. The Babylonians have ravaged the Holy Land, and Jerusalem has fallen. In desperation, the temple priests look to the greatest navigators ever known to save their holiest of treasures.1943 A group of Allied codebreakers, under Churchill's direct command, work to stop a top-secret exchange between the Nazis and the Japanese. Yet even they know nothing of the ancient artefact hidden on board a ship whose fate they have just sealed.Present-day Marine archaeologist Jack Howard and his friend Costas undertake a dangerous dive hunting for Nazi gold in a wreck perched on the edge of the continental shelf. What they glimpse there leads Jack to piece together the truth of one of the greatest ancient voyages of discovery, one whose real purpose he could scarcely have imagined. Jack must fuse past and present as he never has done before in a terrifying final showdown on a desperate mission for humanity.

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L is for Lawless is the twelfth in the Kinsey Millhone mystery series by Sue Grafton.It was the week before Thanksgiving when Kinsey Millhone first heard the sad story of the late Johnny Lee, the World War II fighter pilot of whom, rather mysteriously, the military authorities have no record. His family are concerned – perhaps Kinsey could make a few calls, straighten things out? Then Johnny's apartment is ransacked. In the debris a hidden safe is uncovered – and in that safe is a mysterious key marked LAWLESS. That night Kinsey's on a plane to Dallas, at the start of a thrilling rollercoaster ride through Texas and Kentucky on the trail of long-buried treasure. Unfortunately there's a fire-raising psychopath on her tail . . . And she's going to be late for a very important wedding . . .

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M is for Malice is the thirteenth in the Kinsey Millhone mystery series by Sue Grafton.'M' is for Malek Construction, the $40 million company that grew out of modest soil to become one of the big three in California. 'M' is for Malek family: four sons now nearing middle age who stand to inherit a fortune – four men with very different temperaments and needs, linked only by blood and money. Eighteen years ago, one of them – angry, troubled and in trouble – went missing. 'M' is for Millhone, now hired to trace that missing black sheep brother. And, in brutal consequence, 'M' is for murder . . .

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A must-have book for Faye Kellerman's many fans. The collection contains: One never-before-published short mystery, THE GARDEN OF EDEN, featuring Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus, who investigate the death of a next-door neighbourTwo Decker-Lazarus short mysteries: BULL'S EYE, the debut of Cindy Decker; and A WOMAN OF MYSTERY, in which Rina Lazarus, aided by Peter Decker, solves the mystery of a student with missing memory Nine crime/mystery short stories, including MUMMY AND JACK, which Faye co-wrote with her son, JesseAnd several bonus short works: two stories about family relationships and two essays drawn from Faye's personal life

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D is for Deadbeat is the fourth in the Kinsey Millhone mystery series by Sue Grafton.My name is Kinsey Millhone. I’m a private investigator . . . female, single and self-employed, with a constitutional inability to work for anyone else. I’m a purist when it comes to justice, but I’ll lie at the drop of a hat. Inconsistency has never troubled me . . . It was late October, the day before Halloween. He introduced himself as Alvin Limardo. The job he hired Kinsey to do seemed easy enough . . . until his cheque bounced. His real name was Dagett. John Dagett. Ex-con. Inveterate liar. Chronic drunk. And dead. The cops called it an accident – death by drowning. Kinsey wasn’t so sure. The man, it seemed, had a lot of enemies . . .

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PLAY DIRTY. PLAY TO WIN.From the top ten bestselling author Jessie Keane comes a gripping thriller featuring two women who will do anything to win the man they love.Josh Flynn is the king of the bare-knuckle gypsy fighters. His reputation is un-blemished; his fist a deadly weapon.Claire Milo has always loved Josh, they were destined to be together from the day they met. Two gypsy lovers with their whole lives ahead of them. If only Josh would find a different way of earning a living instead of knocking the living daylights out of another man in the boxing ring. One day, she knew something really bad was going to happen. She could feel it . . . Shauna Everett always wanted what she couldn’t have, and nobody, especially Claire Milo was going to stand in her way. She’s had her eye on Josh Flynn for years and she knew just how to get him. If it meant playing dirty, then so be it. What had she got to lose?In a world ruled by violence, crime and backstreet brawls, only one woman will win in Jessie Keane's Fearless, but how low is she prepared to go to achieve that goal?

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At the time of his death, Erle Stanley Gardner was the best-selling American author of the 20th century, and world famous as the creator of crusading attorney Perry Mason. Gardner also created the hardboiled detective team of Cool and Lam, stars of 29 novels published between 1939 and 1970 -- and one that's never been published until now.Lost for more than 75 years, THE KNIFE SLIPPED was meant to be the second book in the series but shelved when Gardner's publisher objected to (among other things) Bertha Cool's tendency to "talk tough, swear, smoke cigarettes, and try to gyp people." But this tale of adultery and corruption, of double-crosses and triple identities -- however shocking for 1939 -- shines today as a glorious present from the past, a return to the heyday of private eyes and shady dames, of powerful criminals, crooked cops, blazing dialogue, and delicious plot twists.

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For the very first time, famous associates of the Great Detective - clients, colleagues, and of course, villains - tell their own stories in this collection of brand-new adventures. Follow Inspector Lestrade as he and Sherlock Holmes pursue a killer to rival Jack the Ripper; sit with Mycroft Holmes as he solves a case from the comfort of the Diogenes Club; take a drink with Irene Adler and Dr Watson in a Parisian cafe; and join Colonel Sebastian Moran on the hunt for a supposedly mythical creature...

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Sometimes information can be the most dangerous weapon.When the man he worked for abruptly exits the business, Quarry finds himself in the crosshairs as a rival tries to take over. But what does Quarry have that the new man wants? And how did the beautiful blonde in the swimming pool become a target?NOW A CINEMAX TELEVISION SERIES!The longest-running series from Max Allan Collins, author of Road to Perdition, and the first ever to feature a hitman as the main character, the Quarry novels tell the story of a paid assassin with a rebellious streak and an unlikely taste for justice. Once a Marine sniper, Quarry found a new home stateside with a group of contract killers. But some men aren't made for taking orders - and when Quarry strikes off on his own, God help the man on the other side of his nine-millimeter...

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It is normal to see bodies on the set of an adult film. But when they're dead bodies and the cast and crew discover they're trapped in a house with a serial killer Quarry hass got his work cut out for him. NOW A CINEMAX TELEVISION SERIES! The longest-running series from Max Allan Collins, author of "Road to Perdition," and the first ever to feature a hitman as the main character, the Quarry novels tell the story of a paid assassin with a rebellious streak and an unlikely taste for justice. Once a Marine sniper, Quarry found a new home stateside with a group of contract killers. But some men aren't made for taking orders and when Quarry strikes off on his own, God help the man on the other side of his nine-millimeter...

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Matt Helm was aware of Bultman-a legendary assassin, the leader of a group of fanatical revolutionaries, an ambitious criminal-but he had no business taking him down. Until now. Bultman blows up a restaurant on the Florida coast full of innocent people, including Helm's son. Now, it's very personal.

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There is a saying in Russian jails. Ne ver ne boysya ne prosi: don't trust, don't fear, don't beg. Don't trust because life here will always disappoint you. Don't fear because whatever you're scared of, you are powerless to prevent it. And don't beg because nobody ever begged their way out of a Russian prison cell.The plan was to attach a Greenpeace pod to Gazprom's platform and launch a peaceful protest against oil being pumped from the icy waters of the Arctic. However, heavily armed commandos flooded the deck of the Arctic Sunrise and the Arctic Thirty began their ordeal at the hands of Putin's regime. Told in the activists' own words and for the first time, this is a dramatic and inspiring story of incarceration and the ensuing emotional campaign to bring the protestors home.

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THE TRUTH BEHIND THE BBC’S THREE GIRLS The UK was shocked to its core in May 2012 when a gang of nine men was convicted of the systematic sexual abuse of disadvantaged teenage girls in the Rochdale area. The crimes included counts of rape, aiding and abetting rape, sexual assault and trafficking girls within the UK for sexual exploitation. Yet many childcare experts reckoned these crimes were just the tip of an iceberg of wide scale exploitation occurring across the country. The Deputy Children’s Commissioner Sue Berelowitz said in June 2012 that there ‘isn't a town, village or hamlet in which children are not being sexually exploited’. When this book went to press, a gang of men similar to those convicted in Rochdale stood trial for similar crimes in Oxford. Award-winning journalist Kris Hollingtontells the inside story of some of the most shocking and heartbreaking crimes of recent years, focusing on the Rochdale case but also analysing recent cases in the London area that echo the brutality of organised slavery. He seeks to expose how the British justice system is failing to protect children in the 21st century and to answer the question: ‘What is happening in Britain that means young vulnerable girls can be exploited in this way?’ It is a scandal that cannot be ignored.

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No.1 New York Timesbestselling author Brad Thor returns with his hottest and most action-packed thriller yet! And don't miss FREE FALL: A Prelude to Hidden Order, available for free download now!The most secretive organization in America operates without any accountability to the American people. Hiding in the shadows, pretending to be part of the United States government, its power is beyond measure. Control of this organization has just been lost and the future of the nation thrust into peril. When the five candidates being considered to head this mysterious agency suddenly go missing, covert counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath is summoned to Washington and set loose on the most dangerous chase ever to playout on American soil. But as the candidates begin turning up murdered, the chase becomes an all-too-public spectacle, with every indicator suggesting that the plot has its roots in a shadowy American cabal founded in the 1700s. With the United States on the verge of collapse, Harvath must untangle a web of conspiracy centuries in the making and head off the greatest threat America has ever seen. This is thriller writing at its absolute best, where the stakes have never been higher, nor the line between good and evil so hard to discern.

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