Crime & Thriller

FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SOMETHING IN THE WATER – MEMENTO MEETS SHARP OBJECTS IN THIS GRIPPING NEW THRILLER 'Fans of The Silent Patient will love it' CJ TUDOR 'Very clever, brilliantly compelling' BA PARIS ‘Original, ingenious and utterly gripping' JP DELANEY 'Had me racing through the pages’ SARAH VAUGHAN The past holds its power over them . . . He wants to remember.She needs to forget. A man is found barefoot and barely conscious on an empty Norfolk beach in the middle of January. He is unable to speak and without identification. Interest in the case is sparked immediately. At the hospital they see him as a medical mystery. The press calls him Mr Nobody, and everybody wants answers. Who is he? And what happened to him? When neuropsychiatrist Dr Emma Lewis is asked to find out, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. It also means returning to the small town in Norfolk she was forced to leave fourteen years ago. Pushing bad memories aside, she is determined to help her new patient. A man who doesn't remember, and a woman who remembers too much. He shouldn’t know anything about her. Especially not that. In this compelling new thriller, Catherine Steadman explores the human mind, moral dilemmas and hidden secrets. Her previous thriller, Something in the Water, was a Reese Witherspoon Bookclub pick in 2018 and a Richard & Judy Book Club pick in 2019. PRAISE FOR MR NOBODY 'An enjoyable, nail-biting ride' Observer ‘Original, ingenious and utterly gripping, with characters you’ll really care about as they race towards the brilliantly unexpected ending’ JP Delaney 'From the intriguing opening to the shocking ending, I loved it…' CJ Tudor 'Very clever, brilliantly compelling, another amazing read from Catherine Steadman' BA Paris ‘A highly imaginative tale tinged with Hitchcockian tension and kinetic pacing… Deliciously provocative… Delightfully compelling’ Washington Post 'Perfectly paced with an exciting race to the end, this is one clever novel' Woman’s Weekly

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'Brian McGilloway blends timeless values with ripped-from-the-headlines issues to produce some of the very best crime fiction being written today' Lee ChildA young man is found in a riverside park, his head bashed in with a rock. The only clue to his identity is an admission stamp for the local gay club. DS Lucy Black is called in to investigate. As Lucy delves into the community, tensions begin to rise as the man's death draws the attention of the local gay rights group to a hate-speech Pastor who, days earlier, had advocated the stoning of gay people and who refuses to retract his statement. Things become more complicated with the emergence of a far right group targeting immigrants in a local working-class estate. As their attacks escalate, Lucy and her boss, Tom Fleming, must also deal with the building power struggle between an old paramilitary commander and his deputy that threatens to further enflame an already volatile situation. Hatred and complicity abound in the days leading up to the Brexit vote in McGilloway's new Lucy Black thriller. Compelling and current, Bad Blood is an expertly crafted and acutely observed page-turner.'Set just before the Brexit vote, this book explores important questions of community and identity. McGilloway shies away from easy answers; instead he gives us a tense and beautifully-written crime novel that takes the reader into lives that aren't seen often enough' Ann Cleeves

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SHE PLANNED HER OWN FUNERAL. BUT DID SHE ARRANGE HER MURDER? Buried secrets, murder and a trail of bloody clues lie at the heart of Anthony Horowitz’s page-turning new detective series. If you enjoyed BBC’s Sherlock, you’ll LOVE The Word is Murder! A wealthy woman strangled six hours after she’s arranged her own funeral.A very private detective uncovering secrets but hiding his own.A reluctant author drawn into a story he can’t control.What do they have in common?'A real page-turner. I loved it!' ALED JONES (ITV, Weekend)'The beguiling whodunit plot is dispatched with characteristic elan as Horowitz blurs the line between fact and fiction' (Financial Times)“A very clever and inventive mystery" (Bookbag)"A perfect detective novel in a unique style complete with an excellent twist!" (Life Has a Funny Way of Sneaking Up On You)‘With its unorthodox protagonist, clever plotting, brilliantly imperfect characters, and escalating sense of urgency and intrigue, THE WORD IS MURDER is an instant crime classic that will keep you reading as fast as you can… one of the best and most compulsively readable mysteries of the year. Hugely satisfying on every level." (Written by Sime)'Will undoubtedly exhilarate not only crime and Horowitz fans but anyone who enjoys the sense of metafiction and fourth wall breaking found in books by authors like Lemony Snicket, Bret Easton Ellis and Martin Amis.' (Fiendfully Reading)'A very addictive read… go get yourself a copy, right now’ (Me and My Books)‘The Word is Murderis an appreciation of the crime fiction genre and all the greatest crime fiction writers. It's a homage to our favourite detectives and our favourite sidekicks. The Word is Murder follows the conventions of the thriller genre but it also feels new and original. I found this book refreshing, incredibly readable and actually, the word I want to use is delightful!’ Bibliomaniac blog‘Clever and engaging’ See Orange blog‘A rather intriguing mix of fact and fiction’ Bailey’s Blog‘This book has one of the most unique concepts of all the books I’ve ever read’ The Stacked Shelf blog

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An Amazon Charts bestseller. What would it take to make you intervene? When Ella Longfield overhears two attractive young men flirting with teenage girls on a train, she thinks nothing of it—until she realises they are fresh out of prison and her maternal instinct is put on high alert. But just as she’s decided to call for help, something stops her. The next day, she wakes up to the news that one of the girls—beautiful, green-eyed Anna Ballard—has disappeared. A year later, Anna is still missing. Ella is wracked with guilt over what she failed to do, and she’s not the only one who can’t forget. Someone is sending her threatening letters—letters that make her fear for her life. Then an anniversary appeal reveals that Anna’s friends and family might have something to hide. Anna’s best friend, Sarah, hasn’t been telling the whole truth about what really happened that night—and her parents have been keeping secrets of their own. Someone knows where Anna is—and they’re not telling. But they are watching Ella.

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Introduced by David MitchellIn a coastal village in medieval Japan, a young boy called Isaku battles to keep his family alive against the odds. With his father gone, Isaku is forced to grow up well before his time. He must learn how to catch fish, how to distil salt, and about all the mysteries of the vast churning sea, not least the legend of O-fune-sama, of ships wrecked offshore providing the village with unexpected bounty. When a ship founders on the rocks, Isaku and the villagers rejoice. Long have they prayed for the sea's gifts. But the cargo is not at all the blessing they had hoped for. At first mystifying, then terrifying, something dark is coming ashore and it's about to change their lives forever.

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This is SILENCE OF THE LAMBS meets Karen Rose...New York Times bestseller Brenda Novak's second novel in the Evelyn Talbot series, Hello Again, sees the return of psychiatrist Dr Evelyn Talbot in her purpose-built facility housing America's most terrifying psychopaths. Dr Evelyn Talbot has spent her life looking over her shoulder after her teenage boyfriend Jasper Moore kidnapped, tortured and left her for dead. She only just escaped with her life, he disappeared without a trace, and twenty-two years later Evelyn can still feel him lurking in the shadows. Studying the psychopathic minds at Hanover House - Alaska's first mental health facility for psychopaths - is how she will track him down.Lyman Bishop could be the perfect subject. Evelyn discovers he is just as intelligent and trustworthy as Jasper appeared, and he hardly seems like the man who has been convicted of kidnapping and murdering several women.But if Evelyn has learnt anything at all from her terrifying experience, it's that the most unassuming can be the most dangerous of all.Look for the other gripping novels in the Evelyn Talbot series - Hello Again, Face Off and the prequel novella, Hanover House, available now.

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A young mother resorts to smuggling cocaine into Iceland, as she struggles to keep custody of her son, with devastating results … First in the addictive, award-winning Reykjavik Noir Trilogy by the Queen of Iceland Noir. ***Longlisted for the CWA International Dagger*** ‘ Stylist, taut and compelling’ Daily Express ‘Snare will ensnare you’ Marie Claire ‘A taut, gritty, thoroughly absorbing journey into Reykjavik’s underworld’ Booklist –––––––––––––––––––––––– After a messy divorce, young mother Sonia is struggling to provide for herself and keep custody of her son. With her back to the wall, she resorts to smuggling cocaine into Iceland, and finds herself caught up in a ruthless criminal world. As she desperately looks for a way out of trouble, she must pit her wits against her nemesis, Bragi, a customs officer, whose years of experience frustrate her new and evermore daring strategies. Things become even more complicated when Sonia embarks on a relationship with a woman, Agla. Once a high-level bank executive, Agla is currently being prosecuted in the aftermath of the Icelandic financial crash. Set in a Reykjavík still covered in the dust of the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption, and with a dark, fast-paced and chilling plot and intriguing characters, Snare is an outstandingly original and sexy Nordic crime thriller, from one of the most exciting new names in crime fiction. –––––––––––––––––––––––– 'A tense thriller with a highly unusual plot and interesting characters' The Times ‘Tense, edgy and delivering more than a few unexpected twists and turns’ Sunday Times 'Sharp shocks of chapters hit with increasing energy ... a towering powerhouse of read and I gobbled it up in one intense sitting’ LoveReading ‘The intricate plot is breathtakingly original, with many twists and turns you never see coming. Thriller of the year’ New York Journal of Books 'This first novel of a planned trilogy is stylish, taut and compelling and a film adaptation is in the pipeline. With characters you can’t help sympathising with against your better judgement, Sigurdardottir takes the reader on a breathtaking ride’ Daily Express ‘Lilja Sigurdardottir delivers a diabolically efficient thriller with an ultrarealistic plot … We cannot wait for Sonja’s next adventure’ L’Express ‘A smart, ambitious, and hugely satisfying thriller. Striking in its originality and written with all the style and poise of an old hand. Lilja is destined for Scandi super stardom’ Eva Dolan ‘For a small island, Iceland produces some extraordinary writers, and Lilja is one of the best. Snare is an enthralling tale of love and crime that stays with you long after you have turned the last page’ Michael Ridpath ‘Zips along, with tension building and building … thoroughly recommended’ James Oswald ‘Crisp, assured and nail-bitingly tense, Snare is an exceptional read, cementing Lilja’s place as one of Iceland’s most outstanding crime writers’ Yrsa Sigurdardottir ‘Clear your diary. As soon as you begin reading Snare, you won’t be able to stop until the final page’ Michael Wood ‘Snare is a great read and the finale is both shocking and unexpected … a Wizard-of-Oz ending, without the laughs. Terrific and original stuff' European Literature Network

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'Outstandingly brilliant' Clare MackintoshDid she really see Melody?The stunning new pageturner from the Queen of Psychological Suspense. Pushed to breaking point, Cara Burrows abandons her home and family and escapes to a five-star spa resort she can't afford. Late at night, exhausted and desperate, she lets herself into her hotel room and is shocked to find it already occupied - by a man and a teenage girl.A simple mistake on the part of the hotel receptionist - but Cara's fear intensifies when she works out that the girl she saw alive and well in the hotel room is someone she can't possibly have seen: the most famous murder victim in the country, Melody Chapa, whose parents are serving life sentences for her murder.Cara doesn't know what to trust: everything she's read and heard about the case, or the evidence of her own eyes. Did she really see Melody? And is she prepared to ask herself that question and answer it honestly if it means risking her own life?******What people are saying about DID YOU SEE MELODY?'I was hooked!...there was a cracking ending!' GoodReads reviewer'Really good reading that moved at a fast pace and kept me engaged throughout. Highly recommended.' GoodReads reviewer'Oh superb. Excellent. All the other expletives. Ms Hannah still showing us how twisting a plot is done properly.' GoodReads reviewer

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Lord Peter Wimsey, wealthy, charming and charismatic, is one of the most famous amateur detectives of the golden age of crime. This Macmillan Collector's Library edition of Lord Peter Wimsey Investigates is introduced and edited by crime writer David Stuart Davies.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. The fifteen short stories in this lively and witty collection, Dorothy L. Sayers’s very best, celebrate the breadth of Peter Wimsey’s career as London’s most celebrated amateur sleuth. From the foppish man about town of 'In the Teeth of the Evidence', to the happily married man in 'The Haunted Policeman', to the father of three in 'Talboys', Wimsey kept that twinkle in his eye and the brilliance of mind that helped him spot a clue a mile off.

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On the shortest night of the year, thirteen people are due to film a prime time TV series but on the morning of Midsummer's Eve, the brightest star in Swedish television is found shot dead in a mobile control room. Newspaper reporter Annika Bengtzon is drawn into the investigation where she soon learns that one of the suspects is her best friend. As events unfold her personal life starts to take a turn for the worse. Meanwhile, there's a murderer on the loose - and a terrifying drama about to take place in the public eye.

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A brand-new collection of Sherlock Holmes stories from a variety of exciting voices in modern horror and steampunk, edited by respected anthologist George Mann. Stories are told from the point of view of famous associates of the great detective, including Lestrade, Mrs Hudson, Sherlock himself, Irene Adler, Langdale Pike, and of course, Professor Moriarty...

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In the middle of winter, a fire blazes through a dance studio. Seventeen young dancers die. Their promising careers cut short by a tragic accident. But where others see tragedy, DCI Katie Maguire sees murder. This is not the first fire to sweep through Cork. And in one recent case, the victims were dead before the fire was lit. Katie Maguire is determined to see justice done, unaware she's about to face her most chilling killer yet...

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One man's greatest victory.Rome's greatest defeat.A.D. 9: In the depths of the Teutoburg Wald, in a landscape riven by ravines, darkened by ancient oak and bisected by fast-flowing streams, Arminius of the Cherusci led a confederation of six Germanic tribes in the annihilation of three Roman legions. Deep in the forest almost twenty thousand men were massacred without mercy; fewer than two hundred of them ever made it back across the Rhine. To Rome's shame, three sacred Eagles were lost that day.But Arminius wasn't brought up in Germania Magna - he had been raised as a Roman. This is the story of how Arminius came to turn his back on the people who raised him and went on to commit a betrayal so great and so deep, it echoed through the ages.______________________________________________Don't miss Robert Fabbri's epic new series Alexander's Legacy

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The hunt for a serial killer takes criminal profiler Emily Roys and true-crime writer Alexis Castells from London to Sweden, and back into the past, to Buchenwald Concentration Camp, in the first instalment an addictive, award-winning new series from the Queen of French Noir ***Winner of Balai de la Découverte and Nouvelle Plume d’Argent Awards*** ***International Number One Bestseller*** ‘Dark, oppressive and bloody, but it’s also thought-provoking, compelling and very moving’ Metro ‘Gustawsson’s writing is so vivid, it’s electrifying. Utterly compelling’ Peter James ‘A bold and intelligent read’ Laura Wilson, Guardian ___________________ Evil remembers… Falkenberg, Sweden. The mutilated body of talented young jewellery designer, Linnea Blix, is found in a snow-swept marina.Hampstead Heath, London. The body of a young boy is discovered with similar wounds to Linnea's.Buchenwald Concentration Camp, 1944. In the midst of the hell of the Holocaust, Erich Hebner will do anything to see himself as a human again. Are the two murders the work of a serial killer, and how are they connected to shocking events at Buchenwald? Emily Roy, a profiler on loan to Scotland Yard from the Canadian Royal Mounted Police, joins up with Linnea's friend, French true-crime writer Alexis Castells, to investigate the puzzling case. They travel between Sweden and London, and then deep into the past, as a startling and terrifying connection comes to light. ___________________ ‘A terrific, original duo’ The Times ‘Multi-layered, superbly plotted, brimming with mystery, tension and bone-chilling violence, and with two very different – but equally fascinating – lead female characters, Block 46 is not for the squeamish or faint-hearted … this is a book that has the power to shock and the artistry to impress long after the last page has turned’ Lancashire Post ‘Utterly compelling’ Woman’s Own ‘A bold and audacious debut from a very talented writer. Heralds the beginning of a thrilling new series’ R J Ellory ‘Viscerally brutal yet delicately beautiful, like blood spatter on fresh snow. An unbelievable debut’ Matt Wesolowski ‘A truly unique and chilling blend of Nordic Noir’s dark atmosphere … gritty, bone-chilling, and harrowing – it’s not for the faint of heart, and not to be missed’ Crime by the Book ‘A real page-turner, I loved it’ Martina Cole ’A great serial-killer thriller with a nice twist … first rate’ James Oswald ‘Cleverly plotted, simply excellent’ Ragnar Jónasson ‘A must-read’ Daily Express ‘There’s a touch of Hannibal Lector in this one, and the final plot twists are harsh and sudden. You’ll want to double check the door locks and keep a few extra lights on, as you read … the suspense is brutal’ Kingdom Books

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On the path to self-destruction after the death of his girlfriend, things take a turn for the worse, when child pornography is found on Varg Veum’s computer and he must battle to prove his innocence … the chilling new instalment in the award-winning Varg Veum series, by one of the fathers of Nordic Noir. ‘Mature and captivating’ Rosemary Goring, Herald Scotland ‘Moving, uncompromising’ Publishers Weekly _________________ Reeling from the death of his great love, Karin, Varg Veum’s life has descended into a self-destructive spiral of alcohol, lust, grief and blackouts. When traces of child pornography are found on his computer, he’s accused of being part of a paedophile ring and thrown into a prison cell. There, he struggles to sift through his past to work out who is responsible for planting the material … and who is seeking the ultimate revenge. When a chance to escape presents itself, Varg finds himself on the run in his hometown of Bergen. With the clock ticking and the police on his tail, Varg takes on his hardest – and most personal – case yet. Dark, emotive and compulsive, Wolves in the Dark is the absorbing, shocking next instalment in the addictive Varg Veum series, by one of the fathers of Nordic Noir. _________________ Praise for Gunnar Staalesen 'There is a world-weary existential sadness that hangs over his central detective. The prose is stripped back and simple … deep emotion bubbling under the surface – the real turmoil of the characters’ lives just under the surface for the reader to intuit, rather than have it spelled out for them’ Doug Johnstone, The Big Issue ‘Gunnar Staalesen is one of my very favourite Scandinavian authors. Operating out of Bergen in Norway, his private eye, Varg Veum, is a complex but engaging anti-hero. Varg means “wolf ” in Norwegian, and this is a series with very sharp teeth’ Ian Rankin ‘Staalesen continually reminds us he is one of the finest of Nordic novelists’ Financial Times ‘Chilling and perilous results — all told in a pleasingly dry style’ Sunday Times ‘Staalesen does a masterful job of exposing the worst of Norwegian society in this highly disturbing entry’ Publishers Weekly 'The Varg Veum series is more concerned with character and motivation than spectacle, and it’s in the quieter scenes that the real drama lies’ Herald Scotland 'Every inch the equal of his Nordic confreres Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbo' Independent ‘Not many books hook you in the first chapter – this one did, and never let go!’ Mari Hannah ‘With an expositional style that is all but invisible, Staalesen masterfully compels us from the first pages … If you’re a fan of Varg Veum, this is not to be missed, and if you’re new to the series, this is one of the best ones. You’re encouraged to jump right in, even if the Norwegian names can be a bit confusing to follow’ Crime Fiction Lover ‘With short, smart, darkly punchy chapters Wolves at the Door is a provocative and gripping read’ LoveReading ‘Haunting, dark and totally noir, a great read’ New Books Magazine ‘An upmarket Philip Marlowe’ Maxim Jakubowski, The Bookseller ‘Razor-edged Scandinavian crime fiction at its finest’ Quentin Bates

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Don't miss the latest book in the Arkady Renko series, THE SIBERIAN DILEMMA by Martin Cruz Smith, ‘the master of the international thriller’ (New York Times) – available to order now! 'One of those writers that anyone who is serious about their craft views with respect bordering on awe' Val McDermid 'Makes tension rise through the page like a shark's fin’ IndependentFrom the creator of the revered Arkady Renko series and bestselling author of Gorky Park comes a suspenseful World War II story set against the beauty, mystery and danger of occupied Venice.Venice, 1945. The war may be waning, but the city known as La Serenissima is still occupied and the people of Italy fear the power of the Third Reich. One night, under a canopy of stars, a fisherman named Cenzo finds a young woman’s body floating in the lagoon and soon discovers that she is still alive and in trouble. Born to a wealthy Jewish family, Giulia is on the run from the Wehrmacht SS. Cenzo chooses to protect Giulia – an act of kindness that leads them into the world of Partisans, Mussolini’s broken promises, and, everywhere, the enigmatic maze of the Venice Lagoon...Praise for Martin Cruz Smith 'The story drips with atmosphere and authenticity – a literary triumph' David Young, bestselling author of Stasi Child 'One of those writers that anyone who is serious about their craft views with respect bordering on awe' Val McDermid ‘Cleverly and intelligently told, The Girl from Venice is a truly riveting tale of love, mystery and rampant danger. I loved it’ Kate Furnivall, author of The Liberation ‘Smith not only constructs grittily realistic plots, he also has a gift for characterisation of which most thriller writers can only dream' Mail on Sunday 'Smith was among the first of a new generation of writers who made thrillers literary' Guardian 'Brilliantly worked, marvellously written . . . an imaginative triumph' Sunday Times ‘Martin Cruz Smith’s Renko novels are superb’ William Ryan, author of The Constant Soldier

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The first book in the Kay Scarpetta series, from No. 1 bestselling author Patricia Cornwell. Scarpetta is coming to the screen soon, starring Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis.'America's most chilling writer of crime fiction' The TimesA serial killer is on the loose in Richmond, Virginia. Three women have died, brutalised and strangled in their own bedroom. There is no pattern: the killer appears to strike at random - but always early on Saturday mornings. So when Dr Kay Scarpetta, chief medical officer, is awakened at 2.33 am, she knows the news is bad: there is a fourth victim. And she fears now for those that will follow unless she can dig up new forensic evidence to aid the police.But not everyone is pleased to see a woman in this powerful job. Someone may even want to ruin her career and reputation . . .If you're a fan of Patricia Cornwell's ground-breaking Kay Scarpetta series, don't forget to order her brand-new Scarpetta thriller, Unnatural Death.Praise for the groundbreaking series:'One of the best crime writers writing today' Guardian'Devilishly clever' Sunday Times'The top gun in this field' Daily Telegraph'Forget the pretenders. Cornwell reigns' Mirror'The Agatha Christie of the DNA age' Express

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Longlisted for the CWA John Creasy New Blood Dagger Award 2013 and shortlisted for CWA Endeavour Historical Dagger Award 2014 ‘She looked up at the terraced house, with the closed shutters and the big room at the end of the long unlit corridor where the man who smiled too much did his work. She climbed the steps and knocked on the door…’ Dublin 1934: Detective Stefan Gillespie arrests a German doctor and encounters Hannah Rosen desperate to find her friend Susan, a Jewish woman who had become involved with a priest, and has now disappeared. When the bodies of a man and woman are found buried in the Dublin mountains, it becomes clear that this case is about more than a missing person. Stefan and Hannah trace the evidence all the way across Europe to Danzig. In a strange city where the Nazi Party are gaining power, Stefan and Hannah are inching closer to the truth and soon find themselves in grave danger…

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The snow is thick, the phone line is down, and no one is getting in or out of Warbeck Hall. With friends and family gathered round the fire, all should be set for a perfect Christmas, but as the bells chime midnight, a mysterious murder takes place. Who can be responsible? The scorned young lover? The lord's passed-over cousin? The social climbing politician's wife? The Czech history professor? The obsequious butler? And perhaps the real question is: can any of them survive long enough to tell the tale?

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For the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Matthew Bartholomew series, Sphere is delighted to reissue all of the medieval monk's cases with beautiful new series-style covers.------------------------------------The winter of 1353 has been appallingly wet, there is a fever outbreak amongst the poorer townspeople and the country is not yet fully recovered from the aftermath of the plague. The increasing reputation and wealth of the Cambridge colleges are causing dangerous tensions between the town, Church and University. Matthew Bartholomew is called to look into the deaths of three members of the University of who died from drinking poisoned wine, and soon he stumbles upon criminal activities that implicate his relatives, friends and colleagues - so he must solve the case before matters in the town get out of hand...

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Four festive stories from P. D. James, the 'Queen of Crime'From a Christmas murder at a country house to an illicit affair and a questionable inheritance, P. D. James's trademark sparkling prose illuminates the secrets that lurk beneath the surface at enforced family gatherings. These puzzle-box mysteries are perfect cosy reading for the darkest days of the year!Including two early cases for Adam Dalgleish - star of the major TV series, DalgleishWhat readers are saying:'A sheer delight.' 5* reader review'Four of the best of P D James short stories. All set around Christmas and all expertly planned, written and executed!' 5* reader review'Perfect for a dark wintry evening.' 5* reader review'Very entertaining, and I loved it.' 5* reader review

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Run by Mandasue Heller is a gritty story of Manchester's criminal underworld.After being cheated on by her ex, Leanne Riley is trying her hardest to get her life back on track, which isn't easy without a job and living in a bedsit surrounded by a junkie and a mad woman.On a night out with her best friend she meets Jake, a face from her past who has changed beyond all recognition. Jake is charming, handsome and loaded, a far cry from the gawky teenager he used to be. Weary of men, Leanne isn't easy to please, but Jake tries his best to break through the wall she's built around herself.But good looks and money can hide a multitude of sins. Is that good-looking face just a mask? And what's more, what will it take to make it slip, and who will die in the process . . . ?'Heller doesn’t mince words, her gritty plots create a Manchester underworld to rival Martina Cole’s raw and rough East End' – Peterborough Evening Telegraph

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An irresistible mystery set in 1890s Edinburgh, Kaite Welsh's THE WAGES OF SIN features a female medical student-turned-detective, and will thrill fans of Sarah Waters and Antonia Hodgson.'Historical fiction doesn't get much more delicious or original' Damian Barr'This powerful novel combines a disturbing look at late Victorian attitudes towards women and morality with a satisfying murder mystery' Sunday ExpressSarah Gilchrist has fled from London to Edinburgh in disgrace and is determined to become a doctor, despite the misgivings of her family and society. As part of the University of Edinburgh's first intake of female medical students, Sarah comes up against resistance from lecturers, her male contemporaries, and - perhaps worst of all - her fellow women, who will do anything to avoid being associated with a fallen woman...When one of Sarah's patients turns up in the university dissecting room as a battered corpse, Sarah finds herself drawn into Edinburgh's dangerous underworld of bribery, brothels and body snatchers - and a confrontation with her own past.What readers are saying about THE WAGES OF SIN:'Sarah Gilchrist is a brilliant lead character. Atmospheric and evocative. Well worth a read' 'A fascinating exploration of how women were treated in Victorian times, enveloped in a dark murder mystery. It kept me guessing and kept me wanting more. One of my favourite historical fictions ever' 'A punchy, feminist page-turner with a wonderful sense of atmosphere'

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You'll find plenty of bodies stretched out on a summer beach - but they're not usually dead...In a British seaside holiday resort at the height of the season, you would expect to find a promenade and a pier, maybe some donkeys, 'Kiss-Me-Quick' hats, candy floss and kids building sandcastles. You would not expect to find a naked corpse, punctured with stab wounds, lying on the sand.Chief Inspector George Gently is called in to investigate the disturbing murder. The case has to be wrapped up quickly to calm the nerves of concerned holidaymakers. No one wants to think that there is a maniac on the loose in the town but with no clothes or identifying marks on the body, Gently has a tough time establishing who the victim is, let alone finding the killer. In the meantime, who knows where or when the murderer might strike again?

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Hollywood certainly isn't your typical police precinct, but in Hollywood Moon, follow-up to Hollywood Station and Hollywood Crows, the cops of that surreal place seem called upon to deal with an even greater share of weirdness than normal. Drag queens in delicto flagrante behind dumpsters, dead hobos pushed around in wheelchairs, men in massage parlours receiving unspeakable injuries from Barbie dolls. That's not to say that the cops themselves don't have their own peculiarities: Hollywood Nate still dreams of movie stardom, but worries as he gets older that he's too good-looking to be a character actor. Then there's Aaron Sloane, forever lusting after his beautiful partner Sheila Montez, and Dana Vaughn, a tough no-nonsense cop who can't stand the fact that former chauvinist pig turned 'guardian angel' Lee Murillo won't stop following her around after she saved his life. But there's a darker side to all that weirdness - and when the enigmatic crook Dewey Gleason, known variously to his associates as 'Jacob Kessler' and 'Bernie Graham', hatches an audacious kidnap plan, without knowing that one of the hired help lives a double life as a serial sex attacker, things start to get very dangerous indeed.

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'One of the greatest anti-heroes ever written' LEE CHILDAs Berlin prepares for the 1936 Olympic Games, Bernie is caught between violently opposing factions in a story that comes full circle in 1950s' Cuba.Berlin 1934. The Nazis have been in power for just eighteen months but already Germany has seen some frightening changes. As the city prepares to host the 1936 Olympics, Jews are being expelled from all German sporting organisations - a blatant example of discrimination. Forced to resign as a homicide detective with Berlin's Criminal Police, Bernie is now house detective at the famous Adlon Hotel. Two bodies are found - one a businessman and the other a Jewish boxer. As Bernie digs to unearth the truth, he discovers a vast labour and construction racket designed to take advantage of the huge sums the Nazis are spending to showcase the new Germany to the world. It is a plot that finds its dramatic and violent conclusion twenty years later in pre-revolutionary Cuba.

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1635, Aberdeen. A girl lies dead in a frozen garden. A young man goes missing after a drunken brawl. A sinister cloaked figure watches from the shadows. The missing student, son of a Highland chief, is in Alexander Seaton's class. When the young man's companion turns up bruised and bloodied, suspicion mounts that he has murdered his friend. But Alexander is convinced that there's another explanation. Drawn ever deeper into the mystery, Alexander realises that the man in the shadows is known to him and that the strange events in the town are linked to his own past.

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NOW A MAJOR NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIESHOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO FIND THE ONE?A No. 1 ebook bestseller and featured on Simon Mayo's Radio 2 book club. Perfect for fans of BEHIND HER EYES and BLACK MIRROR.One simple mouth swab is all it takes. A quick DNA test to find your perfect partner - the one you're genetically made for.A decade after scientists discover everyone has a gene they share with just one other person, millions have taken the test, desperate to find true love. Now, five more people meet their Match. But even soul mates have secrets. And some are more shocking - and deadlier - than others..._____________________________With over 3000 5* reviews, this is what real readers are saying about this addictive, page-turning thriller:'I just couldn't stop reading''Brilliant twists that I didn't see coming''One of the most gripping stories I've read for a long while''I was hooked and didn't want it to end'(Note: Previously published as A Thousand Small Explosions)

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The New York Times Bestselling master of suspense is back with a riveting thriller, as reward seeker Colter Shaw plunges into the woods and races the clock in a case where nothing is quite what it seems. The Times Book of the Month (November 2022) THERE ARE TWO FUNDAMENTAL RULES OF SURVIVAL.#1: NEVER BE WITHOUT A MEANS OF ESCAPE.Allison Parker is on the run with her teenage daughter, Hannah, and Colter Shaw has been hired by her eccentric boss, entrepreneur Marty Harmon, to find and protect her. Though he’s an expert at tracking missing persons—even those who don’t wish to be found—Shaw has met his match in Allison, who brings all her skills as a brilliant engineer designing revolutionary technology to the game of evading detection.#2: NEVER BE WITHOUT ACCESS TO A WEAPON.The reason for Allison’s panicked flight is soon apparent. She’s being stalked by her ex-husband, Jon Merritt. Newly released from prison and fueled by blinding rage, Jon is a man whose former profession as a police detective makes him uniquely suited for the hunt. And he’s not alone. Two hitmen are also hot on her heels—an eerie pair of thugs who take delight not only in murder but in the sport of devising clever ways to make bodies disappear forever. Even if Shaw manages to catch up with Allison and her daughter, his troubles will just be beginning.SHAW IS ABOUT TO DISCOVER RULE #3:NEVER BELIEVE ANYTHING.As Shaw ventures further into the wilderness, the truth becomes as hard to decipher as the forest’s unmarked trails…and peril awaits at every turn.

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For all readers of Robert Harris, William Boyd and John le Carre, The Suicide Club is a First World War spy thriller set in Occupied Belgium in 1917, and tells the dark, disturbing and untold story of the shadow espionage battle fought behind the lines. Andrew Williams is 'in the front rank of English thriller writers' (Daily Mail) and his novels possess 'a richness of characterisation and intelligence that few thrillers can match' (Sunday Times). August 1917. Britain is mired in bloody stalemate on the Western Front and questions are being asked in government about the leadership of the army. Soldier spy Sandy Innes is summoned from his undercover work in Belgium by the new Secret Service to investigate. Officially transferred to Field Marshal Haig's headquarters in France to prepare agents for the next big push, his secret mission is to spy on Haig's intelligence chiefs. At GHQ, no one is interested in Innes's inside knowledge. Instead, he is attached to an advance assault group dubbed 'The Suicide Club'. His fellow intelligence officers have little faith in the top secret information being fed to Haig by their superior, and as Innes digs deeper he begins to suspect treachery. The stakes could not be higher: the fate of hundreds of thousands of British soldiers.In a tense race against time, against the background of political machinations in government and at GHQ, Innes must survive membership of The Suicide Club, and then risk all by going back behind enemy lines to uncover the truth.

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Betrayal, family loyalties, secrets: not all gangsters live in the east end. Two families run this part of Manchester: the Johnsons and the Bennetts. With the head of the Johnson family banged up, the Bennetts have made their move. But power comes at a price… Now Charlie Johnson is out of prison and he wants his empire back. But the Bennetts have had a taste of the money and the control. Charlie’s sons want to strike now and destroy their rivals but Charlie wants to wait. He has a personal score to settle. Charlie’s wife Janey hates that her controlling husband is home from prison and is hatching a plan to leave him, but she knows he won’t let her go easily – not with the secrets she carries. She needs allies – and through her daughter and her passionate affairs, she may have found the way out she needs. But for all of them, getting what they want will mean risking everything.

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*****Part of the bestselling John Shakespeare series of Tudor spy thrillers from Rory Clements, winner of the Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award*****'[Clements] does for Elizabeth's reign what CJ Sansom does for Henry VIII's' Sunday Times**********1592. England and Spain are at war, yet there is peril at home, too. The death of her trusted spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham has left Queen Elizabeth vulnerable. Conspiracies multiply.The quiet life of John Shakespeare is shattered by a summons from Robert Cecil, the cold but deadly young statesman who dominated the last years of the Queen's long reign, insisting Shakespeare re-enter government service. His mission: to find vital papers, now in the possession of the Earl of Essex.Essex is the brightest star in the firmament, a man of ambition. He woos the Queen, thirty-three years his senior, as if she were a girl his age. She is flattered by him - despite her loathing for his mother, the beautiful, dangerous Lettice Knollys who presides over her own glittering court - a dazzling array of the mad, bad, dangerous and disaffected. When John Shakespeare infiltrates this dissolute world he discovers not only that the Queen herself is in danger - but that he and his family is also a target. With only his loyal footsoldier Boltfoot Cooper at his side, Shakespeare must face implacable forces who believe themselves above the law: men and women who kill without compunction. And in a world of shifting allegiances, just how far he can trust Robert Cecil, his devious new master?

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Traitor's Blood, the first in The Civil War Chronicles, Michael Arnold's acclaimed series of historical thrillers, sees battle-scarred hero Captain Stryker, 'the Sharpe of the Civil War', confront his nemesis. 'Stands in comparison with the best of Cornwell' Yorkshire PostOnce seen in the heat of battle, Captain Stryker is never forgotten. A hardened veteran of the wars in the Low Countries, he has come home to England to seek revenge on the man who left him for dead and scarred him for life.Stryker is driven by loyalty rather than conviction to serve King Charles's cause. He has no truck with aristocracy, preferring the company of a handful of trusted men, including sometime actor Lancelot Forreseter and his foul-mouthed sergeant, Skellen. But when the existence of a dangerous spy at the heart of the Royalist establishment is discovered, it is Stryker whom Prince Rupert chooses to capture the man before he realises the game is up.Lightly armed and with only a handful of men, Stryker must journey across a country riven by bitterness and beset by marauding bands of soldiers in a race against time. But unbeknown to Stryker, someone else is also closing in on his quarry, someone whom Stryker has sworn to kill: Captain Eli Makepeace, his nemesis, the man who nearly destroyed him . . .

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'BRINGS ALL THE BEAUTY OF DEEPEST FRANCE VIBRANTLY ALIVE' - Irish Independent on SundayBruno, Chief of Police's beloved Dordogne town of St Denis is tearing itself apart. Can he keep it together in the gripping eighth instalment in this internationally bestselling series? St Denis may be picturesque and sleepy, but it has more than its fair share of murder and mystery, as Bruno knows all too well. When Bruno is invited to the 90th birthday of a powerful local patriarch - a war hero with high-level political connections in France, Russia and Israel - he encounters a family with more secrets than even he had imagined. When one of the other guests is found dead the next morning and the family try to cover it up, Bruno knows it's his duty to prevent the victim from becoming just another skeleton in their closet. Even if his digging reveals things Bruno himself would rather keep buried.Meanwhile, very modern battles are being fought in St Denis between hunters defending their traditions and environmentalists protecting local wildlife. Neither side, it seems, is above the use of violent tactics. At the centre of it all, Bruno must use all his cunning and character to protect his community's future from its present - and its past.

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Banned from the Valley of the Kings, Amelia Peabody and her distinguished husband have returned to England with their 19-year-old son Ramses and their foster daughter, Nefret. Ramses is secretly in love with Nefret and plans to flee to Germany to avoid temptation. Then a mysterious visitor changes the plan for the whole family. Set in the Sudan, this is another exciting adventure which follows the Peabody family as they confront all the forces against them armed only with a crumbling map and an important letter...

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In Amelia's seventh adventure, she and Emerson take passage on a boat travelling up the Nile, enjoying a second honeymoon while they search for Nefertiti's tomb. On the other hand, they might be heading towards murder. An exotic slave woman, a Siamese cat and a den of conspirators unite to snatch away Amelia's happiness unless she reveals a certain secret...and at the remote dig in Amarna what she uncovers is a shocking present-day peril: the loss of treasures far more precious than any antiquity - her husband's love or both their lives!

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As civil war between Caesar and Pompey engulfs the Roman world, Gordianus the Finder receives an anonymous message informing him of the death of his son Meto who has been acting as a double agent for Caesar. The search for Meto's fate brings Gordianus to the besieged seaport of Massilia, which is stubbornly holding out against Caesar's troops. As famine and slaughter threaten the blockaded city, Gordianus is drawn into the intrigues of exiled Romans and duplicitous Massilians. His only friend in the city, Hieronymous, has been made the doomed scapegoat elected by city officials to bear the sins of the populace and save them all from annihilation. Meanwhile, Gordianus is constantly frustrated in his efforts to find out what happened to his son - and when he witnesses the fall of a young woman from a precipice outside the city called the Sacrifice Rock, then the plot begins to thicken...

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In this, the first book of its kind, Kate Kray, who married gangster Ronnie Kray, peers into the minds of the top twenty worst killers in criminal history and, sparing no detail, reveals the awful truth of their abominable acts. The extreme nature of their violence and their shocking lack of remorse makes for uncomfortable, yet fascinating reading. From obsessive sexual predators and extreme sadists, to cannibals and head hunters, each type of psychopath is examined, their crimes against life told with grim, yet necessary, frankness. Kate offers true insight into the deeply worrying motivations of what come to seem closer to monsters than humans, begging the question of whether such individuals can themselves be viewed as victims of a troubled past, or merely as exponents of pure evil. But be warned, these stories are not for the faint-hearted...

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