Friday, March 04, 2022

Published 1-6 March 2022

I've expanded on my monthly listing. These are the 24 books published between 1 and 6 March 2022. Blurbs and covers taken from Amazon.


Anthology - The Perfect Crime (ed.s Maxim Jakubowski & Vaseem Khan)

Around the world in 22 murders…

MURDER

BLACKMAIL

REVENGE

From Lagos to Mexico City, Australia to the Caribbean, Toronto to Los Angeles, Darjeeling to rural New Zealand, London to New York – twenty-two bestselling crime writers from diverse cultures come together from across the world in a razor sharp and deliciously sinister collection of crime stories.

Featuring Oyinkan Braithwaite, Abir Mukherjee, S.A. Cosby, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, J.P. Pomare, Sheena Kamal, Vaseem Khan, Sulari Gentill, Nelson George, Rachel Howzell Hall, John Vercher, Sanjida Kay, Amer Anwar, Henry Chang, Nadine Matheson, Mike Phillips, Ausma Zehanat Khan, Felicia Yap, Thomas King, Imran Mahmood, David Heska Wanbli Weiden and Walter Mosley.


 Ani, Friedrich - Killing Happiness #2 Jakob Franck tr. Alexander Booth 

German author Friedrich Ani combines deep sorrow, human darkness, and breath-taking tension in his latest crime novel.


Happiness is extinguished completely one cold November night when eleven-year-old Lennard Grabbe fails to return home. Thirty-four days later, he is found to have been murdered, and former inspector Jakob Franck, the protagonist of Friedrich Ani’s previous novel The Nameless Day, is entrusted with delivering the most horrible news any parent could ever dream of, setting off a chain reaction of grief among family and friends.
 
As the special task force is unable to make any progress in the case and the family is unable to deal with the loss, Franck―driven by the need to bring them clarity but also by the painful memories of all the unsolved murder cases from when he was still on active duty―buries himself in witness statements and reports up to the point of exhaustion. He spends hours at the crime scene and employs his special technique of “thought sensitivity,” an abstract, intuitive process that may very well lead him to the “fossil”―that crucial piece of information he needs to solve the case.
 
Once again, Ani combines deep sorrow, human darkness, and breath-taking tension in a novel whose melancholy can hardly be surpassed.


Beaton, M C (with R W Green) - Death of a Laird (ebook only)  - a Hamish Macbeth Novella

When Sergeant Hamish Macbeth is sent to investigate reports that the wealthy new laird of the remote Naglar House has disappeared, north-west Scotland is hit by the worst storm in living memory.
 The road is washed away, phone lines are down, mobile reception is dead and his police radio is out of order. He is trapped with the laird's high-class house guests. Then he discovers the laird's body.

Forced to remain overnight at the house, he interviews each of the guests and pieces together an alarming picture of clandestine infidelity, vicious jealousy, deadly revenge, lust, greed and fear. It begins to look like all of the guests had good reason to want the laird dead, but which one of them actually did the deed?



Bishop, D V - The Darkest Sin #2 Cesare Aldo, Florence, 1536

Florence. Spring, 1537.

When Cesare Aldo investigates a report of intruders at a convent in the Renaissance city’s northern quarter, he enters a community divided by bitter rivalries and harbouring dark secrets.

His case becomes far more complicated when a man’s body is found deep inside the convent, stabbed more than two dozen times. Unthinkable as it seems, all the evidence suggests one of the nuns must be the killer.

Meanwhile, Constable Carlo Strocchi finds human remains pulled from the Arno that belong to an officer of the law missing since winter. The dead man had many enemies, but who would dare kill an official of the city’s most feared criminal court?

As Aldo and Strocchi close in on the truth, identifying the killers will prove more treacherous than either of them could ever have imagined . . .

The Darkest Sin is an atmospheric historical thriller by D. V. Bishop, set in Renaissance Florence and is the sequel to City of Vengeance.

Black, Cara - Murder at the Porte de Versailles #20 Aimee Leduc, Paris

November, 2001: in the wake of 9/11, Paris is living in a state of heightened fear, with constant bomb alerts and ethnic tension high. For Aimee Leduc, November is bittersweet: the anniversary of her father s death and her daughter's third birthday fall on the same day. A gathering for family and friends is disrupted when a bomb goes off at the police laboratory - and Boris Viard, the partner of Aimee's friend Michou, is found unconscious at the scene of the crime, his fingerprints on the bomb fragments. Aimee doesn't believe Boris set the bomb. In an effort to prove him not guilty, she battles the police and his own lab colleagues, collecting conflicting eyewitness reports. When a member of the French secret service drafts Aimee to help investigate possible links to an Iranian Revolutionary guard and fugitive radicals who bombed Interpol in the 1980s, Aimee uncovers ties to a cold case of her father's. As Aimee scours the streets of Teheran-sur-Seine trying to learn the truth, she has to ask herself if she should succumb to pressure from Chloe's biological father and move them out to his farm in Brittany. But could Aimee Leduc ever leave Paris?

Black, P R - The Winter House

The dream home. The perfect nightmare...

Vonny and Seth dream of a place in the country, but they can barely scrape together a deposit for a flat. So when they enter a competition and win a huge, remote plot of land, they can't believe their luck. They start building the house of their dreams and look forward to a happy life together.

But then they discover an old suitcase – a suitcase filled with millions of pounds worth of heroin. Their idyllic existence comes crashing down around them. Because the original owner of the suitcase is coming for it...

All that stands between Vonny and Seth and their worst nightmare is the house they built. Will their dream home save them – or will the nightmare become reality?


Bowen, Rhys (with Clare Broyles) - Wild Irish Rose #18 Molly Murphy, PI, 1900s New York

New York, 1907: Now that she's no longer a private detective--at least not officially--Molly Murphy Sullivan is looking forward to a time of settled tranquility with friends and family. Back in New York, where her own story began, Molly decides to accompany some friends to Ellis Island to help distribute clothing to those in need. This journey quickly stirs up memories for Molly. When you're far from home and see people from your country, every face looks like a family member. <p/>That evening Molly's policeman husband, Daniel, is late returning home. He comes with a tale to tell: there was a murder on Ellis Island that day, and the main suspect is the spitting image of Molly. The circumstances are eerily similar to when Molly herself arrived on Ellis Island, and she can't help but feel a sense of fate. Molly was meant to be there that day so that she can clear this woman's name.



Broadribb, Steph - Death in the Sunshine #1 The Retired Detectives Club

Four ex-cops in a retirement paradise. Sure they’ll rest…when the killer is caught.

After a long career as a police officer, Moira hopes a move to a luxury retirement community will mean she can finally leave the detective work to the youngsters and focus on a quieter life. But it turns out The Homestead is far from paradise. When she discovers the body of a young woman floating in one of the pools, surrounded by thousands of dollar bills, her crime-fighting instinct kicks back in and she joins up with fellow ex-cops―and new neighbours―Philip, Lizzie and Rick to investigate the murder.

With the case officers dropping ball after ball, Moira and the gang take matters into their own hands, turning into undercover homicide investigators. But the killer is desperate to destroy all the evidence and Moira, Philip, Lizzie and Rick soon find themselves getting in the way―of the murderer and the police.

Just when they think they can finally relax, they discover that someone has infiltrated their ‘safe’ community. Can they hunt down the murderer and get back to retiring in peace? And after all the excitement, will they want to?


Bromfield, Malyn - Mr Pepys and the Primrose Hill Mystery

On 17th October, 1678, Sir Edmund Bury Godfrey, a justice of the peace, is discovered dead in a ditch at Primrose Hill, run through with his own sword.

Suicide or murder? This has been the historian's dilemma for three centuries.

King Charles II had awarded Godfrey a knighthood for his bravery following the great plague and the fire of London. But is Godfrey all he appears to be? During his final days, Godfrey confesses to friends that he is master of a great secret and will be hanged. Titus Oates, arguably the most audacious liar history has ever known, had visited Godfrey claiming to have discovered a Jesuit plot to assassinate King Charles II and overthrow Parliament.

Following a £500 reward from the King for information about Godfrey's death, murderers are named and Samuel Pepys, Secretary of the Naval Office, discovers that he has an enemy who has accused him of orchestrating Godfrey's murder. He must seek the truth to save himself.

Readers will accompany Mr Pepys to coffee houses, taverns, palaces, to his home where his marriage is in crisis, to Newgate prison, and to the trials of men who are accused of murdering Godfrey.

Who lies and who is telling the truth? Who killed Edmund Godfrey?


Byeong-mo, Gu - The Old Woman With the Knife tr. Chi-Young Kim

Hornclaw is a sixty-five-year-old female contract killer who is considering retirement. A fighter who has experienced loss and grief early on in life, she lives in a state of self-imposed isolation, with just her dog, Deadweight, for company.

While on an assassination job for the 'disease control' company she works for, Hornclaw makes an uncharacteristic error, causing a sequence of events that brings her past well and truly into the present.

Threatened with sabotage by a young male upstart and battling new desires and urges when she least expects them, Hornclaw steels her resolve, demonstrating that no matter their age, the female of the species is always more deadly than the male.



Fields, Helen - One for Sorrow #7 DI Luc Callanach, Edinburgh

One for sorrow, two for joy

Edinburgh is gripped by the greatest terror it has ever known. A lone bomber is targeting victims across the city and no one is safe.
 
Three for a girl, four for a boy
DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach face death every day – and not just the deaths of the people being taken hostage by the killer.
 
Five for silver, six for gold
When it becomes clear that with every tip-off they are walking into a trap designed to kill them too, Ava and Luc know that finding the truth could mean paying the ultimate price.
 
Seven for a secret never to be told…
But with the threat – and body count – rising daily, and no clue as to who’s behind it, neither Ava nor Luc know whether they will live long enough to tell the tale…


Foley, Lucy - The Paris Apartment

Welcome to No.12 rue des Amants

A beautiful old apartment block, far from the glittering lights of the Eiffel Tower and the bustling banks of the Seine. Where nothing goes unseen, and everyone has a story to unlock.

The watchful concierge
The scorned lover
The prying journalist
The naïve student
The unwanted guest

There was a murder here last night.
A mystery lies behind the door of apartment three.

Who holds the key?


Ford, S J - The Choice

The Husband.
The Lawyer.
The Detective.
The Journalist.
The Murderer.
You are the jury.

When Jane Bell uncovered that her next-door neighbour planned to blow up their local primary school, she tried to get the police to listen to her. When they chose to do nothing, she took matters into her own hands.

Jane Bell saved the children. She is a hero. She stopped a terrorist attack. She murdered a man. Jane Bell committed a crime, and no matter what her reasons are surely she must face the legal repercussions of her actions.

Now several people follow Jane's case, each with their own thoughts on what happened. Is Jane the hero or the villain? It's up to you to decide.



Fowler, Christopher - Hot Water

She sees everything, but can never tell anyone… a wickedly compulsive thriller from the bestselling author of the Bryant & May series.

At a beautiful villa near Nice in the south of France, Hannah Carreras works as a maid. Under strict instructions never to speak to the guests, she blends into the background – but she sees everything. Including the mistress Summer, lounging by the pool awaiting the arrival of her married lover, Steve.

When Steve finally shows at the villa – with his family unexpectedly in tow – Summer has vanished. Steve claims he never saw her. But Steve’s wife is no fool: she knows there’s something going on. Whose tiny bikini lies by the pool? Whose perfume is in the bathroom?

Before long, the local police start asking questions, and the villa’s occupants have something to hide. Only Hannah, always listening, watching, saw broken glass and blood on the patio the day Summer disappeared. Only Hannah thinks she knows what lies are being told…



Gray, Alex - Echo of the Dead #19 DCI Lorimer & psychologist Solomon Brightman, Glasgow

After a stressful winter, DSI William Lorimer is enjoying some time away from Glasgow. He and his new friend, Daniel Kohi, have retreated to the wilds of the Scottish Highlands to unwind. But what awaits them is far from a holiday.


Despite its troubled history, the mountain village of Glencoe is now a popular resort, famed for its close-knit community, its breath-taking scenery and the warm welcome it offers weary travellers. So it's particularly shocking when two bodies are discovered in quick succession on the nearby peaks . . .

With a potential serial killer on the loose, Lorimer's Major Incidents Team are drafted in from Glasgow. It's clear that a dark secret lurks beneath the wild beauty of this place. But will Lorimer manage to root it out before the killer strikes again?


Leadbeater, David - The Vatican Secret #1 Joe Mason

An ancient relic. A deadly enemy. A secret he’ll protect with his life…

When ex-MI5 operative Joe Mason is sent to Rome to guard an elderly professor and his daughter, he thinks he’s in for an easy ride.

But on their first day in the Vatican secret archives, a masked assassin gains entry, shoots Joe’s client in cold blood and steals an ancient manuscript. Giving chase, Joe can’t imagine what could lie within those pages that would make someone willing to kill.

The search for answers leads Joe and his comrades in a race against time, across continents and into treacherous mountains. Only they have a hope of rescuing the Vatican Book of Secrets before a centuries-old enemy can succeed in bringing Rome – and the world as we know it – crashing down…


Leon, Donna - Give Unto Others #31 Commissario Guido Brunetti, Venice

The gifted Venetian detective returns in his 31st case - this time, investigating the Janus-faced nature of yet another Italian institution. Brunetti will have to once again face the blurred line that runs between the criminal and the non-criminal, bending police rules, and his own character, to help an acquaintance in danger.










Lynes, S E - The Baby Shower

She doesn’t know I’m there, watching her in the mirror. She slides her hand under her blouse. And then I see something impossible. She isn’t pregnant…

She bursts into my life like a storm, and nothing is the same again. She seems so perfect, with her lilting laugh and her beautiful face. One by one, I watch as my friends fall under her spell.

Only I seem to suspect something. Only I see that her smiles don’t reach her cold, furious eyes. And when I’m accused of things I didn’t do, when my home is vandalized, I know she’s behind it. But she only lets her mask slip when no one is looking, so if I say anything, I’ll look crazy.

So when the baby shower comes around I’m there, sitting on a velvet sofa in a posh hotel room, surrounded by balloons. We share gifts, we pour small glasses of champagne, and she beams, her bump just visible under her bright red shirt.

But that afternoon, I finally learn the unbelievable truth.

There is no baby…

MacRae, Molly - Argyles and Arsenic #5 The Highland Bookshop Mystery Series

In the latest novel in the beloved Highland Bookshop Mystery Series, a murder at a baronial manor leads to a poisonous game of cat and mouse--with the women of Yon Bonnie Books playing to win.

After 93 well-lived years, Violet MacAskill is ready to simplify her life. Her eccentric solution? She'll throw a decanting and decluttering party at her family home--a Scottish Baronial manor near the seaside town of Inversgail, Scotland. Violet sets aside everything she wants or needs, then she invites her many friends in to sip sherry and help themselves to whatever they want from all that's left.

Janet Marsh and Christine Robertson, two of the women who own Yon Bonnie Books in Inversgail, enjoy themselves at the party. Not everyone who attends has a good time, though. Wendy Erskine, director of the Inversgail museum, is found dead, and rumors swirl about food poisoning from a local food truck. Then Violet tells Constable Hobbs that a tin of rat poison is missing. And when Hobbs' own grandmother comes under suspicion for murder, he enlists the women from Yon Bonnie Books, and the race is on to find the murderer.

But where do they begin? Are there clues in the "Shocking Stockings" exhibit at the museum? Will the antique scrapbook pasted full of trivia about arsenic and bygone poisoners offer a solution? Or does the answer lie closer to home--is one of Violet's friends truly toxic? Poisonous games are afoot in Inversgail and the women of Yon Bonnie Books are playing to win.


Patis, Vikki - Return to Blackwater House

Rebecca Bray has moved on from a childhood she desperately wants to forget.


She has everything she's ever wanted - the perfect fiancé, a loving stepdaughter, a career she's proud of, and now the house of her dreams.

But when the family move to the Cornish village where Rebecca grew up, everything she wanted to bury from those years starts to claw at the surface.

Then, when her stepdaughter goes missing at a New Year's Eve party, Rebecca must finally face the ghosts of her past - or Ava might never come home safely...



Pearce, Biba - The South Bank Murders (ebook only) #5 Rob Miller, Police, London

His mentor slain. A detective out for revenge. A criminal mastermind always one step ahead.


Detective Rob Miller is at home with his crying newborn son when he gets the news. His friend and mentor retired Chief Superintendent Lawrence has been shot dead. Lawrence had always been his rock.

Rob is devastated. An hour ago Lawrence had called to ask him to meet, but Rob couldn’t go because he was on daddy duty.

Now he will hunt down the killer — but his boss thinks he’s too emotionally involved.

This time it’s personal, but it’s not the only murder Rob’s got on his plate.

The body of a young man is found on the south bank of the Thames near the London Eye with an unusual stamp on his wrist. Are the two killings related?

Then a suspect has their throat slashed in custody and another body bearing the same stamp turns up.

Rob knows this is not the work of some amateur criminal, but someone with terrifying reach — and the name they keep hearing is the Wolf.

His baby won’t sleep. His partner needs him. Can he be there for them and bring a killer to justice?

Phillips, Louise - They All Lied

When Nadine Fitzmaurice, a manager in an insurance company, gets a distressed phone call from her eighteen-year- 
old daughter, Becca, telling her she's killed someone, Nadine's life is turned upside down.

Now Becca is being held against her will and, determined to save her daughter, Nadine finds herself dragged into the underworld of organised crime - and under the scrutiny of Detective Sergeant Wren Moore.

But the more Nadine gets sucked in by those holding Becca, elements of her past, and a 'TRUTH or DARE' game that went terribly wrong years before, come to the surface.

Eighteen years earlier, teenager, Evie Nolan went missing. She never came home.
One day Becca was there, and now she is gone too. But can Nadine help her daughter before it's too late?

Sullivan, Tim - The Patient #3 DS Cross, Bristol

No fingerprints. No weapon. No witnesses. Can DS Cross prove it was murder?

DS George Cross can be rude, difficult, and awkward with people. But his unfailing logic and dogged pursuit of the truth means his conviction rate is the best on the force. Now, this unusual detective is met with an even more unusual case.

When a young woman is found dead, the Bristol Crime Unit is quick to rule it a suicide: the woman had a long history of drug abuse. But her mother is convinced it was murder: her daughter had been clean for years and making strides in a new therapy programme.

As an outsider himself, DS Cross is drawn to cases involving the voiceless and the dispossessed. He is determined to defy his bosses and re-open the investigation, even if it costs him his career. Soon he is mired in a labyrinth of potential suspects, but can he solve the case before his superiors shut it down for good?


Vaughan, Sarah - Reputation

Emma Webster is a respectable MP.

 
Emma Webster is a devoted mother.
 
Emma Webster is innocent of the murder of a tabloid journalist.
 
Emma Webster is a liar.
 
#Reputation: The story you tell about yourself. And the lies others choose to believe…

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