The winners of the CWA Daggers 2022 were announced last night. Congratulations to all involved and how poignant to see Thalia awarded the Red Herring (in memoriam).
The shortlists can be found here.
Thursday, June 30, 2022
Published 23-30 June 2022
I've expanded on my monthly listing. These are the 25 books published between 23 and 30 June 2022. Blurbs and covers taken from Amazon.
Teenager Sally has just run away from a clinic where she to be treated for anorexia. She’s furious with everything and everyone, and wants to be left in peace.
Liss is in her forties, living alone on a large farm that she runs single-handedly. She has little contact with the outside world, and no need for other people.
From their first meeting, Sally realises that Liss isn’t like other adults; she expects nothing of Sally and simply accepts who she is, offering her a bed for the night with no questions asked.
That night becomes weeks and then months, as an unlikely friendship develops and these two damaged women slowly open up – connecting to each other, reconnecting with themselves, and facing the darkness in their pasts through their shared work on the land.
Achingly beautiful, profound, invigorating and uplifting, Tasting Sunlight is a story of friendship across generations, of love and acceptance, of the power of nature to heal and transform, and the goodness that surrounds us, if only we take time to see it…
How far would you go?
“In hindsight I think we should have stayed in Boston.”
“Thought you always wanted to be Mr. Hollywood.”
Larry Unger looked at McNulty. “Do you know how much they charge for location services in Los Angeles?”
Los Angeles, California
Titanic Productions has moved to Hollywood but the producer’s problems don’t stop with the cost of location services. When McNulty finds a runaway girl hiding at the Hollywood Boulevard location during a night shoot it brings back memories of his life in Crag View Orphanage.
He takes the girl under his wing but after somebody breaks into the compound looking for her she runs away again. Between the drug cartel that wants her back and a hitman who wants her dead, McNulty must try and find her again before California wildfires race towards her hiding place.
She has your back.
Two women are staying in Willowmead House.
One of them is running.
One of them is hiding.
Both of them are lying.
Emily made one bad decision, and now her career could be over. Her family home on the Cornish coast is the only place where she feels safe. But when she arrives, there's a stranger living with her father. Emily doesn't trust the beautiful young woman, convinced that she's telling one lie after another. Soon, Emily becomes obsessed with finding out the truth...
But should some secrets stay buried forever?
A Scottish journalist enters a dark online world in this unsettling novel of men, women, resentment, and rage . . .
Edinburgh reporter Frankie has finally been assigned a high-profile crime story about a series of sexual assaults, and relishes her big break. Her article focuses on the issue of women’s safety, which doesn’t seem to have improved much since the era of the Yorkshire Ripper.
When Frankie begins to face a torrent of abuse online, she discovers the phenomenon of incels—the men who are trying to stop her from covering the story. But she refuses to back down. What she doesn’t realise is that in this murky online world, one man is being goaded into a spectacular and shocking attack with Frankie as his main target . . .
Is it worse to deceive to your husband or the police?
Rikke is lying to them both.
When her upstairs neighbour Jørgen is found murdered, she's questioned alongside her husband. How can she admit that she and Jørgen were having an affair? Or explain to the police the complexity of her feelings? The hint of relief that he's dead. And what would they say if they knew she used a spare key to enter his apartment the morning after he was killed?
Rikke knows she can't hide the evidence of the affair from the police. And if she's caught in her lie, suspicion will turn to her.
With her perfect family life threatening to unravel, Rikke realises that finding the killer is the only way to put herself in the clear. So long as the killer doesn't get to her first.
Scene of crime officer Simon Croft has seen death before. Yet the death of a drug user leads him down a path he has never traveled.
A crime has been committed on the south coast of Sussex, and it’s going to take all of his skill to get this case solved. A murder with no suspects is always hard—but evidence is always left behind . . .
Then Simon’s attention is caught by two unassuming people, Bethany and Stevie, who seem to be hiding something. Now he has to deal with his personal life—while feeling the mounting pressure of a death that can’t be explained—in this gripping murder mystery that reveals the dark side of the seaside.
She was the only one who escaped. This time she might not be so lucky…
You thought you were safe. Until he moved in next door…
I haven’t lived here long. The house is small and a little rundown, but each piece of faded floral wallpaper I peel away feels like unwrapping the second chance I never thought I’d get. I’m finally free to wear what I want, and I don’t flinch when I accidently burn dinner. My new home is warm, and the kids are safe inside. Anywhere would feel idyllic after the nightmare marriage I’ve just escaped.
But then I see my ex-husband Craig stroll past my window and let himself into the house next door. Fear chokes me. How did he find me? Does he want me back, or to destroy me for good?
As the removals van pulls away, Craig tells me it’s just a coincidence, that we can all get along and be good neighbours. But at night I lie awake listening to the sound of laughter and lovemaking through the thin wall that separates us, wondering if his new girlfriend is safe. And in the morning, I rifle through his trash, trying to guess his next move. I know how crazy I look, but I’d do anything to protect my children.
Weeks later, when the night air fills with smoke, and this quiet street dances with blue and red flashing police lights, all the secrets behind our two closed doors will be revealed. But after everything that’s happened, will anyone believe I’m innocent?
Scarlett's aunt lived - and was brutally murdered - in the apartment upstairs. But Scarlett is determined that life should return to some kind of normal, even if that means living with just a ceiling between her and the scene of such a devastating crime. After all, this is her home. She's safe here. Isn't she?
Dee is busy balancing her job as a funeral director with organizing an event to mark the disappearance of her best friend, ten years ago. So she's got enough on her plate without worrying about the threatening messages that are appearing on her company's Facebook page.
When Scarlett approaches Dee about planning her aunt's funeral, an unexpected link between them emerges. Together, the two women could uncover secrets that have long been buried. Even while someone wants to stop them digging . . .
It was a puzzle with no solution. But he did not lose heart.'
In a rocky cove in the bay of Hakata, the bodies of a young and beautiful couple are discovered. Stood in the coast's wind and cold, the police see nothing to investigate: the flush of the couple's cheeks speaks clearly of cyanide, of a lovers' suicide. But in the eyes of two men, Torigai Jutaro, a senior detective, and Kiichi Mihara, a young gun from Tokyo, something is not quite right. Together, they begin to pick at the knot of a unique and calculated crime...
Now widely available in English for the first time, Tokyo Express is celebrated around the world as Seicho Matsumoto's masterpiece - and as one of the most fiendish puzzles ever written.
A fatal shooting. A vulnerable eyewitness. DI Ruth Hunter and her partner, DS Nick Evans, must track down the killers before they find a key witness - a ten-year-old boy, Daniel.
Ruth and Nick are called to a fatal shooting at Chirk Castle, a well-known tourist spot in North Wales. The only witness to the murder is Daniel, the ten-year-old son of the victim. Ruth discovers that the victim was a small-time drug dealer and it seems that his killing might be linked to stolen drugs. However, when a local girl is also brutally murdered, Ruth has to change the focus of the investigation as it is clear that the murderers will go to any lengths to cover their tracks.
With the case now faltering, Ruth begins to suspect that the key to solving the murders actually lies in Daniel’s early childhood. Can she unlock the dark secrets of Daniel’s past before the killers catch up with him?
Kenna arrives in Sydney to surprise her best friend, shocked to hear she's going to marry a guy she's only just met. But Mikki and her fiancé Jack are about to head away on a trip, so Kenna finds herself tagging along for the ride.
Sorrow Bay is beautiful, wild and dangerous. A remote surfing spot with waves to die for, cut off from the rest of the world. Here Kenna meets the mysterious group of people who will do anything to keep their paradise a secret. Sky, Ryan, Clemente and Victor have come to ride the waves and disappear from life. How will they feel about Kenna turning up unannounced?
As Kenna gets drawn into their world, she sees the extremes they are prepared to go to for the next thrill. And everyone seems to be hiding something. What has her best friend got involved in and how can she get her away? But one thing is rapidly becoming clear about The Bay: nobody ever leaves.
Twenty years ago, Cyrus Haven's family was murdered and only he and his brother survived. Cyrus because he hid. Elias because he was the killer.
Now Elias is being released from a secure psychiatric hospital and Cyrus, a forensic psychologist, must decide if he can forgive the man who destroyed his childhood.
As he prepares for the homecoming, Cyrus is called to a crime scene in Nottingham. A man is dead and his daughter, Maya, is missing. Then a second woman is abducted. The only witness is Evie Cormac, a troubled teenager with a gift for knowing when people are lying.
Both missing women have dark secrets that Cyrus must unravel to find them - and he and Evie know how the past can come back to haunt you . . .
Nine hostages. Ten hours. One chance to save them all.
Lee James Connor has found his purpose in life: to follow the teachings of far-right extremist leader, Nicholas Farmer. So when his idol is jailed, he comes up with the perfect plan: take a local immigrant support group hostage until Farmer is released.
Grace Wheatley is no stranger to loneliness having weathered the passing of her husband, whilst being left to raise her son alone. The local support group is her only source of comfort. Until the day Lee James Connor walks in and threatens the existence of everything she's ever known.
Superintendent Alex Lewis may be one of the most experienced hostage negotiators on the force, but there's no such thing as a perfect record. Still haunted by his last case, can he connect with Connor - and save his nine hostages - before it's too late?
What would you do if your husband framed you for murder?
A hotel brimming with wealthy guests
You’ve been excited about this getaway for months – at last, a chance to reconnect with your husband at a secluded island resort. But when he unexpectedly calls you from the beach, you hear the urgency in his voice. Something is very wrong.
The beautiful waitress from the restaurant last night has been found lying dead in the sand. And the police want to question your husband about it.
Sure, you saw him glance at her over dinner a few times, but you know he didn’t have anything to do with the poor girl’s death. So why is he asking you to lie to the police that he was with you all night? And where did he go in those missing hours?
When he returns to your beautiful sea-view suite, things get heated and he accuses you of being jealous, just like he always does. Yes, the waitress was overly flirtatious with your husband, but you didn’t actually wish her any harm. Not really.
Can you trust the man you married… or are you the one who can’t be trusted?
London 1929. Very much not a land fit for heroes. Frenchie knows his occasional work for MI5 serves only the ruling classes. But he needs to feed his children. Scruples died in the trenches.
When Ramsay MacDonald, Britain's first Labour Prime Minister, is blackmailed by a former lover, Frenchie must go to Paris to buy her silence.
It is clear there are many people who would see MacDonald fall - the Conservatives, their friends in the press, even some of his own colleagues. But his own secret service? When Frenchie hears the other side of the story, everything changes.
The Prime Minister's Affair is another brilliant historical thriller from the author of Witchfinder, based on a real blackmail plot, hidden in the shadows.
A classic Japanese puzzle mystery from the author of The Honjin Murders, featuring Detective Kosuke Kindaichi.
Arenz, Ewald - Tasting Sunlight tr. Rachel Ward
Liss is in her forties, living alone on a large farm that she runs single-handedly. She has little contact with the outside world, and no need for other people.
From their first meeting, Sally realises that Liss isn’t like other adults; she expects nothing of Sally and simply accepts who she is, offering her a bed for the night with no questions asked.
That night becomes weeks and then months, as an unlikely friendship develops and these two damaged women slowly open up – connecting to each other, reconnecting with themselves, and facing the darkness in their pasts through their shared work on the land.
Achingly beautiful, profound, invigorating and uplifting, Tasting Sunlight is a story of friendship across generations, of love and acceptance, of the power of nature to heal and transform, and the goodness that surrounds us, if only we take time to see it…
Bartlett, Graham - Bad for Good #1 Detective Superintendent Jo Howe, Brighton
The murder of a promising footballer, son of Brighton’s highest-ranking police officer, means Detective Superintendent Jo Howe has a complicated and sensitive case on her hands. The situation becomes yet more desperate following devastating blackmail threats.
Howe can trust no one as she tracks the brutal killer in a city balanced on a knife edge of vigilante action and a police force riven with corruption.
Bettany, Jane - Last Seen Alive #3 DI Isabel Blood, Derbyshire
When Anna Matheson fails to collect her son from the babysitter after a works party, the police are swiftly called. Anna is a stickler for time and a good mother – she would never abandon her baby. Her disappearance is totally out of character and DI Isabel Blood and her team soon suspect foul play.
CCTV footage shows Anna was last seen at precisely 11.11pm, as she collected her coat to leave the party. But the cameras outside the venue have failed to pick up her exit from the car park – how could she have vanished in plain sight?
Rumour has it that Anna was set to make big changes in the workplace, and Isabel can’t help but think someone wanted her out of the way.
Everyone at the party is a suspect, and all the clues point to murder…
Blackhurst, Jenny - The Girl Who Left
Twenty-five years ago, a local girl went missing. Now, another girl comes back…
When five-year-old Elsie Button was snatched from a garden in a sleepy town on the Welsh island of Anglesey, and a local man later confessed, it sent shockwaves through the tight-knit community. How could one of their own do such a thing? Especially when his own little girl was the same age – and the victim’s best friend.
Kathryn and her family left under the cloak of darkness one night, unable to bear the shame, and the anger of their neighbours. She hardly remembers that time. Now, she suffers the consequences of living under an assumed name, always looking over her shoulder. Her dad has not spoken a word to her since he went to prison. She is haunted by the question: why did he kill Elsie?
When another child is taken from the same garden, twenty-five years to the day of Elsie’s murder, Kathryn is determined that this time she’ll be on the right side. She’ll join the search and atone for her father’s deed, and maybe, just maybe, get the answers she wants. But she’s not prepared for the long memory of the locals, nor the risks of going back. Not everyone on the island wants the truth to come out, and they’ll go to extreme lengths to stop that from happening.
Campbell, Colin - Swing Gang #4 Vince McNulty
“Thought you always wanted to be Mr. Hollywood.”
Larry Unger looked at McNulty. “Do you know how much they charge for location services in Los Angeles?”
Los Angeles, California
Titanic Productions has moved to Hollywood but the producer’s problems don’t stop with the cost of location services. When McNulty finds a runaway girl hiding at the Hollywood Boulevard location during a night shoot it brings back memories of his life in Crag View Orphanage.
He takes the girl under his wing but after somebody breaks into the compound looking for her she runs away again. Between the drug cartel that wants her back and a hitman who wants her dead, McNulty must try and find her again before California wildfires race towards her hiding place.
Chaudhuri, A A - The Loyal Friend
And may stab you in it.
Wealthy, pampered Susan is living the perfect life in leafy Kingston. She’ll never let anyone see the darkness she’s concealing behind the diamonds and rosé.
Grace is new to the group, seemingly the perfect wife and mum. Yet no one knows the truth of what’s happening behind closed doors.
Loner Natalie hides the pain of her childhood behind a carefully ordered life. But how long can the past stay hidden?
Three unlikely friends, brought together for a weekly class run by beautiful, friendly, instructor, Jade.
But when Jade goes missing in mysterious circumstances, the group starts to unravel. And as their darkest secrets come to light, it seems that no one can be trusted. Even their closest friends…
Corry, Jane - We All Have Our Secrets
One of them is running.
One of them is hiding.
Both of them are lying.
Emily made one bad decision, and now her career could be over. Her family home on the Cornish coast is the only place where she feels safe. But when she arrives, there's a stranger living with her father. Emily doesn't trust the beautiful young woman, convinced that she's telling one lie after another. Soon, Emily becomes obsessed with finding out the truth...
But should some secrets stay buried forever?
Fitt, Heather J - Open Your Eyes
Edinburgh reporter Frankie has finally been assigned a high-profile crime story about a series of sexual assaults, and relishes her big break. Her article focuses on the issue of women’s safety, which doesn’t seem to have improved much since the era of the Yorkshire Ripper.
When Frankie begins to face a torrent of abuse online, she discovers the phenomenon of incels—the men who are trying to stop her from covering the story. But she refuses to back down. What she doesn’t realise is that in this murky online world, one man is being goaded into a spectacular and shocking attack with Frankie as his main target . . .
Flood, Helene - The Lover tr. Alison McCullough
Rikke is lying to them both.
When her upstairs neighbour Jørgen is found murdered, she's questioned alongside her husband. How can she admit that she and Jørgen were having an affair? Or explain to the police the complexity of her feelings? The hint of relief that he's dead. And what would they say if they knew she used a spare key to enter his apartment the morning after he was killed?
Rikke knows she can't hide the evidence of the affair from the police. And if she's caught in her lie, suspicion will turn to her.
With her perfect family life threatening to unravel, Rikke realises that finding the killer is the only way to put herself in the clear. So long as the killer doesn't get to her first.
Gee, Brian - Murder at the Seaside
A crime has been committed on the south coast of Sussex, and it’s going to take all of his skill to get this case solved. A murder with no suspects is always hard—but evidence is always left behind . . .
Then Simon’s attention is caught by two unassuming people, Bethany and Stevie, who seem to be hiding something. Now he has to deal with his personal life—while feeling the mounting pressure of a death that can’t be explained—in this gripping murder mystery that reveals the dark side of the seaside.
Goodwin, Sarah - The Thirteenth Girl
My name is Lucy Townsend.
I was born on Friday the thirteenth, and I was the thirteenth girl living in the big house. Unlucky for some.
But I was the fortunate one. I escaped. The only one who made it out alive.
And now, twenty years after that fateful night, the secrets of the past and what happened in that house are pulling me back.
I might not be so lucky this time…
Hayes, Samantha - The Ex-Husband
I haven’t lived here long. The house is small and a little rundown, but each piece of faded floral wallpaper I peel away feels like unwrapping the second chance I never thought I’d get. I’m finally free to wear what I want, and I don’t flinch when I accidently burn dinner. My new home is warm, and the kids are safe inside. Anywhere would feel idyllic after the nightmare marriage I’ve just escaped.
But then I see my ex-husband Craig stroll past my window and let himself into the house next door. Fear chokes me. How did he find me? Does he want me back, or to destroy me for good?
As the removals van pulls away, Craig tells me it’s just a coincidence, that we can all get along and be good neighbours. But at night I lie awake listening to the sound of laughter and lovemaking through the thin wall that separates us, wondering if his new girlfriend is safe. And in the morning, I rifle through his trash, trying to guess his next move. I know how crazy I look, but I’d do anything to protect my children.
Weeks later, when the night air fills with smoke, and this quiet street dances with blue and red flashing police lights, all the secrets behind our two closed doors will be revealed. But after everything that’s happened, will anyone believe I’m innocent?
Kara, Lesley - The Apartment Upstairs
Dee is busy balancing her job as a funeral director with organizing an event to mark the disappearance of her best friend, ten years ago. So she's got enough on her plate without worrying about the threatening messages that are appearing on her company's Facebook page.
When Scarlett approaches Dee about planning her aunt's funeral, an unexpected link between them emerges. Together, the two women could uncover secrets that have long been buried. Even while someone wants to stop them digging . . .
Kist, Heleen - What I Hid From You
She thought she was her own worst enemy ... until the real one came after her
Traumatised by the death of a patient in her chair, Glaswegian dentist Radha Bakshi succumbs to an addiction to Valium she can’t acknowledge, even to herself.
The pills take the edge off trying to be the consummate professional, perfect daughter, devoted wife and a not-too-embarrassing mother to her teenage son.
When increased scrutiny of her work forces her to find a new source of supply, she stumbles into the menacing clutches of blackmailing drug dealers.
A mistake that could cost her everything.
Lackberg, Camilla - Sweet Revenge - 2 Short Stories tr. Ian Giles
Women Without Mercy
Ingrid gave up her career to support her husband. Now he’s having an affair.
Birgitta is avoiding the doctor. No one can see the bruises her husband leaves.
Victoria left Russia to marry a man she met online. But he is nothing like she imagined.
Maybe the only way out is to commit three perfect murders…
Truth or Dare
Best friends Liv, Martina, Max and Anton are spending New Year’s Eve together.
But each of them is keeping a terrible secret.
When a game of truth or dare takes a dark turn, the shocking truth emerges.
Not everyone will live to see the chime of midnight…
To avoid disappointment, please note that these two novellas have been previously published separately
Matsumoto, Seicho - Tokyo Express tr. Jesse Kirkwood
In a rocky cove in the bay of Hakata, the bodies of a young and beautiful couple are discovered. Stood in the coast's wind and cold, the police see nothing to investigate: the flush of the couple's cheeks speaks clearly of cyanide, of a lovers' suicide. But in the eyes of two men, Torigai Jutaro, a senior detective, and Kiichi Mihara, a young gun from Tokyo, something is not quite right. Together, they begin to pick at the knot of a unique and calculated crime...
Now widely available in English for the first time, Tokyo Express is celebrated around the world as Seicho Matsumoto's masterpiece - and as one of the most fiendish puzzles ever written.
McCleave, Simon - The Chirk Castle Killings #12 DI Ruth Hunter
Ruth and Nick are called to a fatal shooting at Chirk Castle, a well-known tourist spot in North Wales. The only witness to the murder is Daniel, the ten-year-old son of the victim. Ruth discovers that the victim was a small-time drug dealer and it seems that his killing might be linked to stolen drugs. However, when a local girl is also brutally murdered, Ruth has to change the focus of the investigation as it is clear that the murderers will go to any lengths to cover their tracks.
With the case now faltering, Ruth begins to suspect that the key to solving the murders actually lies in Daniel’s early childhood. Can she unlock the dark secrets of Daniel’s past before the killers catch up with him?
Reynolds, Allie - The Bay
Sorrow Bay is beautiful, wild and dangerous. A remote surfing spot with waves to die for, cut off from the rest of the world. Here Kenna meets the mysterious group of people who will do anything to keep their paradise a secret. Sky, Ryan, Clemente and Victor have come to ride the waves and disappear from life. How will they feel about Kenna turning up unannounced?
As Kenna gets drawn into their world, she sees the extremes they are prepared to go to for the next thrill. And everyone seems to be hiding something. What has her best friend got involved in and how can she get her away? But one thing is rapidly becoming clear about The Bay: nobody ever leaves.
Robotham, Michael - Lying Beside You 3 #Cyrus Haven
Now Elias is being released from a secure psychiatric hospital and Cyrus, a forensic psychologist, must decide if he can forgive the man who destroyed his childhood.
As he prepares for the homecoming, Cyrus is called to a crime scene in Nottingham. A man is dead and his daughter, Maya, is missing. Then a second woman is abducted. The only witness is Evie Cormac, a troubled teenager with a gift for knowing when people are lying.
Both missing women have dark secrets that Cyrus must unravel to find them - and he and Evie know how the past can come back to haunt you . . .
Sutherland, John - The Siege
Lee James Connor has found his purpose in life: to follow the teachings of far-right extremist leader, Nicholas Farmer. So when his idol is jailed, he comes up with the perfect plan: take a local immigrant support group hostage until Farmer is released.
Grace Wheatley is no stranger to loneliness having weathered the passing of her husband, whilst being left to raise her son alone. The local support group is her only source of comfort. Until the day Lee James Connor walks in and threatens the existence of everything she's ever known.
Superintendent Alex Lewis may be one of the most experienced hostage negotiators on the force, but there's no such thing as a perfect record. Still haunted by his last case, can he connect with Connor - and save his nine hostages - before it's too late?
Taylor, C L - The Guilty Couple
Five years ago, Olivia Sutherland was convicted of plotting to murder her husband.
Now she’s finally free, Olivia has three goals. Repair her relationship with her daughter. Clear her name. And bring down her husband – the man who framed her.
Just how far is she willing to go to get what she wants? And how far will her husband go to stop her?
Because his lies run deeper than Olivia could ever have imagined – and this time it’s not her freedom that’s in jeopardy, but her life…
Tremayne, S K - The Drowning Hour
Surrounded by the Blackwater estuary, The Stanhope hotel sits on a beautiful remote island. Tonight is the grand reopening, and organiser Hannah watches the guests with pride.
Celebration leads to tragedy
But as drinking descends into debauchery, drunken revellers wade into the water, unaware of the treacherous tide at The Drowning Hour.
They are never seen again.
Fear becomes phobia
Tormented by a terror of water, Hannah is stuck on the island over winter. Whispers about That Night begin to circle.
Someone knows what really happened in The Drowning Hour – and Hannah isn’t safe…
Watson, Sue - The Resort
The beautiful waitress from the restaurant last night has been found lying dead in the sand. And the police want to question your husband about it.
Sure, you saw him glance at her over dinner a few times, but you know he didn’t have anything to do with the poor girl’s death. So why is he asking you to lie to the police that he was with you all night? And where did he go in those missing hours?
When he returns to your beautiful sea-view suite, things get heated and he accuses you of being jealous, just like he always does. Yes, the waitress was overly flirtatious with your husband, but you didn’t actually wish her any harm. Not really.
Can you trust the man you married… or are you the one who can’t be trusted?
Williams, Andrew - The Prime Minister's Affair
When Ramsay MacDonald, Britain's first Labour Prime Minister, is blackmailed by a former lover, Frenchie must go to Paris to buy her silence.
It is clear there are many people who would see MacDonald fall - the Conservatives, their friends in the press, even some of his own colleagues. But his own secret service? When Frenchie hears the other side of the story, everything changes.
The Prime Minister's Affair is another brilliant historical thriller from the author of Witchfinder, based on a real blackmail plot, hidden in the shadows.
Yokomizo, Seishi - Gokumon Island #2 Kosuke Kindaichi, PI tr. Louise Heal Kawai
Translated into English for the first time.
The rockbound and forbidding Gokumon Island was once a pirate stronghold. Now it is home to a clannish fishing community, dominated by two feuding families.
When Kosuke Kindaichi arrives bringing news of a death, it triggers a series of grotesquely staged murders. The scruffy detective attempts to untangle the island’s secrets and stop the killings, but a fresh mystery seems to greet him at every turn, and soon he falls under suspicion himself…
The fiendish Death on Gokumon Island is one the best-loved classic murder mysteries by the master of Japanese crime.
Friday, June 24, 2022
Published 13-22 June
I've expanded on my monthly listing. These are the 18 books published between 13 and 22 June 2022. Blurbs and covers taken from Amazon.
Carnival season is off to an explosive start in this thriller from the bestselling DI Nick Dixon crime series.
One terrifying ordeal too many…
A spate of burglaries cripples the city, putting the community and the police on high alert.
Despite dealing with a personal tragedy, DI Sara Ramsey is determined to end the perpetrator’s terrorising agenda, but it's going to prove an impossible task as the criminal is far worse than any she's ever encountered before.
Can she prevent the loss of yet more lives, and if so, at what cost to her personal life and her career?
One year ago, Leah's twenty-one-year-old niece, Amy, mysteriously drowned near her family-owned luxury resort on the shores of Lake Garda.
Now, returning to Italy for the first time since Amy's death, Leah is shocked to find her family seem to have erased all reminders of Amy. Despite the murky circumstances, they insist her death was an accident but Leah knows she must look deeper if she is to uncover the truth.
Meanwhile, in Derby, university counsellor Joanna is recovering from a surprising break-up when she is swept off her feet by a handsome bartender. But after she invites him into her home, Joanna is forced to accept that she doesn't know him as well as she thought.
What follows is a propulsive game of cat-and mouse as both women begin to realise that appearances can be deceptive - and that the darkest secrets often lie closest to home.
Kitty Underhay is playing doubles… with death.
Kitty Underhay is accompanying her fiancé, Matthew Bryant,and Bertie, his new cocker spaniel, on an outing to Torbay Country Club. However, the delightful day soon turns to disaster. Walking Bertie in the shaded grotto after an exhilarating archery demonstration, Kitty makes an unsporting discovery: the body of their host, Sir William Winspear, with an arrow in his back.
When the local inspector falls foul interviewing female witnesses, Kitty steps up to the mark. And she quickly discovers that Sir William had threatened one of the guests, dashing Russian dancer Ivan, who is dependent on him for patronage. When Kitty overhears a damning conversation between Ivan and his sister, the case seems clear. But the next day Ivan is disqualified as he is found face down in the pool…
The race is on for Kitty to find the real killer, but she must keep her head in the game if she is to outwit this cunning murderer. And when the final score comes in, will it be ‘killer: three, Kitty: zero’…?
In this exhilarating thriller from four million copy bestselling author Mark Edwards, Aidan’s spent years looking for his sister. Will he ever find her?
Matt and Liz may have retired from the police, but that doesn’t guarantee a quiet life.
A deserted building. A face in the window. A face that shouldn’t be there.
Photography student Toby Unsworth has found the perfect location for a night-time shoot. A cobbled street in the old part of Fenfleet. Later, when he looks at the images on his laptop, he thinks he sees a woman’s face in the window of an old, disused building. He asks his housemate Alex to come and take a look . . .
Two days later, Toby and Alex are dead. Carbon monoxide poisoning. An unfortunate accident. But Alex’s mother doesn’t believe it. She hires Matt and Liz to find out the truth.
Meanwhile, nine-year-old Simon is missing. He was staying with his Aunt Jessie in a cottage on the edge of the marsh. And his older sister Kellie is increasingly worried.
Matt and Liz’s investigations reveal that something very big and very dangerous has descended on the small market town of Fenfleet. And if they don’t get to the bottom of it, more deaths will follow.
EVERY SAINT HAS A PAST
To the unsuspecting eye Dee Stephens has a perfect life as the vicar's wife: a devoted marriage to her charismatic husband Reverend Vincent, an adoring congregation and a beautiful daughter.
EVERY SINNER HAS A FUTURE
But beneath the surface, Dee is suffocating. Vincent is in control, and he knows her every sin. Desperate, Dee escapes into a heady affair with Cal, an old schoolmate.
EVERY CONFESSION HAS A PRICE
But is Cal the saviour she thinks he is? What dark secrets does he harbour? And to what lengths will Vincent go to when he uncovers the truth?
When the call comes in about Lucy, a seventeen-year-old girl murdered after the secret party she held in her parents’ home, Detective Lottie Parker is first on the scene. As she picks her way through the smashed glasses and the blood spatter on the perfect cream carpet, she is horrified to see Lucy’s angelic face, silvery-blue eyes forever closed.
As Lottie breaks the news to Lucy’s heartbroken parents and the devastated partygoers, she discovers that hours before her death Lucy had revealed a terrible secret about her friend Hannah. And when Lottie finds Lucy’s bloodstained clothing hidden in Hannah’s bedroom, she has no option but to bring the shy, frightened girl into custody.
But Hannah claims to have no memory of the night Lucy died and Lottie begins to question her guilt. Then a fifteen-year-old boy who also attended the party is pulled from the canal. And as Lottie investigates, she discovers something shocking. Her own son Sean was at the party. Why did he lie to her? Is her beloved child a witness or a suspect… or is he now in the killer’s sights?
The fate of the allied forces lies in the hands of Joanna and the Watsons in the next Daughter of Sherlock Holmes mystery from USA Today bestselling author Leonard Goldberg.
During a critical stage in World War One, the Governor-General of South Africa journeys to London for a meeting of The Imperial War Conference. Days prior to the conference, the Governor-General is scheduled to have an audience at Buckingham Palace at which time a most precious blue diamond will be presented to King Edward as a symbolic gesture of the colonies' resolute and never-ending allegiance to England.
In England’s East Midlands, a harried police detective juggles multiple cases that soon reveal the depths of human depravity . . .
DI Tim Yates has been following up for months on reports of missing farm machinery—with no success—when a local farmer and philanthropist is physically assaulted. Could this be a lead? If so, it doesn’t take Yates very far, since the victim, Jack Fovargue, refuses to accept any help.
Meanwhile, there’s a more urgent case to attend to—a decapitated body has been found in the Fossdyke Canal. This may be the first clue that finally connects a series of recent disappearances: a paper girl out on her rounds; a prostitute abducted off the street; an immigrant woman who vanished after stepping off a bus. After frogmen find two more corpses in the canal, and Yates’s researcher wife notes a similarity to a long-ago case someone is already in prison for, the situation starts becoming as murky as the canal itself . . .
To save your child you must open The Box...
Ed Truman's family is falling apart. His daughter Ally is being targeted by an alt-right incel organisation, Men Together. His house is being picketed, former clients are accusing him of sexual assault, his son won't speak to him. And then Ally disappears.
Frantic, Ed suspects that Men Together have abducted her. But before he can go to the police, his DNA is found on the body of a young woman. Suddenly he's the subject of a nationwide manhunt, led by the tenacious DCI Jackie Rose. Ed finds himself on the run with Ally's friend, Phoenix, who claims to know where Ally is. But what is the truth? Is Ed a violent sexual predator? Or is he the victim of a ruthless conspiracy? The answers are in The Box. But not everyone who goes in, comes out alive...
A series of grotesque murders across London forces Pennance into a race against time. But what if his partner is the killer?
With a reputation for solving bizarre crimes, Detective Inspector Jonah Pennance, recently transferred to the National Crime Agency, is brought in to investigate the mysterious death of celebrity fund manager, Grady Carnegie – choked to death, his body arranged and ready for a wake.
Then a second corpse turns up under identical circumstances – that of washed-up investigative reporter, Stan Thewlis. However, there's no obvious connection between the two men.
Soon, Pennance’s partner, Sergeant Simone Smithson, comes under suspicion for the murders – the evidence seems overwhelming. To save her, Pennance must determine what role the shadowy organisation Blackthorn plays and who is in the background, pulling all the strings…
Set in a Tokyo flat over the course of one night, Aki and Hiro spend one last night together before going their separate ways. Each believes the other to be a murderer and is determined to extract a confession before the night is over. Who has been killed and why? Which one is the killer? In an intense battle of wills over the course of a night, the true nature of the pair’s relationship and the chain of events leading up to this night are gradually revealed in this gripping psychological thriller that keeps the reader in suspense to the very end.
The thriller--buried in a literary whodunit--explores the mysteries of romantic love, memory and attaining self-knowledge. Like the best Japanese crime writing, it is an unflinching foray into the darker recesses of the soul, quietly suspenseful and elegantly constructed.
The beam shines around the dark room, lighting up the woman in sky-blue pyjamas lying on the couch. But she doesn’t wake under the bright glow, she isn’t sleeping at all…
A weekend at a squire’s country home was intended to be a relaxing visit for Jane Eyre and her husband Edward Rochester. Jane looked forward to meeting the squire’s bride and the artist who’d been hired to paint portraits of the newlyweds. However, the household is anything but joyous! The squire’s new marriage has infuriated those who hoped to inherit his holdings. Then their host turns up dead. A tweeny—a maid who assisted both the Cook and the housemaids—is immediately blamed for the crime. The girl is an easy scapegoat, but Jane and Edward refuse to believe she killed her master, the kind man who took her off the streets of London and gave her a job. Can the Rochesters find the real killer? Or can they at least save the tweeny from a gruesome fate? Jane Eyre is not about to let an innocent, friendless girl be hanged for murder!
He went missing when you were sixteen. Was it all your fault?
Boyd, Damien - Carnival Blues #12 DI Nick Dixon
Detective Chief Inspector Nick Dixon arrives late for Bridgwater’s winter carnival. He’s come to see the squibbing, the traditional firework display that brings the town’s November festivities to a dramatic close. But when the squib of Avalon Carnival Club president Richard Webb is lit, it explodes, engulfing him in flames.
Dixon knows he’s just witnessed a killer making a very public statement. And he can’t help feeling it’s only the beginning.
After his suspicions are confirmed at the Burnham-on-Sea carnival forty-eight hours later, the race is on to find the killer before the next event in a nearby town.
Can Dixon stop the killings before any more lives are lost? And can he do it with police Professional Standards investigators breathing down his neck?
Comley, M A - Crossing The Line #16 DI Sarah Ramsey
A spate of burglaries cripples the city, putting the community and the police on high alert.
Despite dealing with a personal tragedy, DI Sara Ramsey is determined to end the perpetrator’s terrorising agenda, but it's going to prove an impossible task as the criminal is far worse than any she's ever encountered before.
Can she prevent the loss of yet more lives, and if so, at what cost to her personal life and her career?
Cooper, Helen - The Other Guest
Now, returning to Italy for the first time since Amy's death, Leah is shocked to find her family seem to have erased all reminders of Amy. Despite the murky circumstances, they insist her death was an accident but Leah knows she must look deeper if she is to uncover the truth.
Meanwhile, in Derby, university counsellor Joanna is recovering from a surprising break-up when she is swept off her feet by a handsome bartender. But after she invites him into her home, Joanna is forced to accept that she doesn't know him as well as she thought.
What follows is a propulsive game of cat-and mouse as both women begin to realise that appearances can be deceptive - and that the darkest secrets often lie closest to home.
Dixon, Helena - Murder at the Country Club #9 Miss Underhay
Kitty Underhay is accompanying her fiancé, Matthew Bryant,and Bertie, his new cocker spaniel, on an outing to Torbay Country Club. However, the delightful day soon turns to disaster. Walking Bertie in the shaded grotto after an exhilarating archery demonstration, Kitty makes an unsporting discovery: the body of their host, Sir William Winspear, with an arrow in his back.
When the local inspector falls foul interviewing female witnesses, Kitty steps up to the mark. And she quickly discovers that Sir William had threatened one of the guests, dashing Russian dancer Ivan, who is dependent on him for patronage. When Kitty overhears a damning conversation between Ivan and his sister, the case seems clear. But the next day Ivan is disqualified as he is found face down in the pool…
The race is on for Kitty to find the real killer, but she must keep her head in the game if she is to outwit this cunning murderer. And when the final score comes in, will it be ‘killer: three, Kitty: zero’…?
Edwards, Mark - No Place to Run
Two years ago, on a trip to Seattle to visit her brother Aidan, fifteen-year-old Scarlett vanished into thin air. After years of false leads and dead ends, Aidan has almost given up hope. But then a woman sees a girl running for her life across a forest clearing in Northern California. She is convinced the girl is the missing Scarlett. But could it really be her?
Heading south, Aidan finds a fire-ravaged town covered in missing-teenager posters. The locals seem afraid, the police won’t answer any questions and it looks like another dead end―until a chance meeting with returned local Lana gives Aidan his first clue. But as they piece together what happened, Lana and Aidan make deadly enemies. Enemies willing to do anything to silence them.
Only one thing matters now: finding Scarlett―even if it kills him.
Ellis, Joy - Trick of the Night #5 Matt Ballard
A deserted building. A face in the window. A face that shouldn’t be there.
Photography student Toby Unsworth has found the perfect location for a night-time shoot. A cobbled street in the old part of Fenfleet. Later, when he looks at the images on his laptop, he thinks he sees a woman’s face in the window of an old, disused building. He asks his housemate Alex to come and take a look . . .
Two days later, Toby and Alex are dead. Carbon monoxide poisoning. An unfortunate accident. But Alex’s mother doesn’t believe it. She hires Matt and Liz to find out the truth.
Meanwhile, nine-year-old Simon is missing. He was staying with his Aunt Jessie in a cottage on the edge of the marsh. And his older sister Kellie is increasingly worried.
Matt and Liz’s investigations reveal that something very big and very dangerous has descended on the small market town of Fenfleet. And if they don’t get to the bottom of it, more deaths will follow.
England, Caroline - The Sinner
To the unsuspecting eye Dee Stephens has a perfect life as the vicar's wife: a devoted marriage to her charismatic husband Reverend Vincent, an adoring congregation and a beautiful daughter.
EVERY SINNER HAS A FUTURE
But beneath the surface, Dee is suffocating. Vincent is in control, and he knows her every sin. Desperate, Dee escapes into a heady affair with Cal, an old schoolmate.
EVERY CONFESSION HAS A PRICE
But is Cal the saviour she thinks he is? What dark secrets does he harbour? And to what lengths will Vincent go to when he uncovers the truth?
Gibney, Patricia - The Guilty Girl #11 Detective Lottie Parker
As Lottie breaks the news to Lucy’s heartbroken parents and the devastated partygoers, she discovers that hours before her death Lucy had revealed a terrible secret about her friend Hannah. And when Lottie finds Lucy’s bloodstained clothing hidden in Hannah’s bedroom, she has no option but to bring the shy, frightened girl into custody.
But Hannah claims to have no memory of the night Lucy died and Lottie begins to question her guilt. Then a fifteen-year-old boy who also attended the party is pulled from the canal. And as Lottie investigates, she discovers something shocking. Her own son Sean was at the party. Why did he lie to her? Is her beloved child a witness or a suspect… or is he now in the killer’s sights?
Goldberg, Leonard - The Blue Diamond #6 Daughter of Sherlock Holmes series
During a critical stage in World War One, the Governor-General of South Africa journeys to London for a meeting of The Imperial War Conference. Days prior to the conference, the Governor-General is scheduled to have an audience at Buckingham Palace at which time a most precious blue diamond will be presented to King Edward as a symbolic gesture of the colonies' resolute and never-ending allegiance to England.
The flawless blue diamond, with its magnificent luster, weighs nearly 3000 carats which renders it one of the world's largest and most valuable gems. On the Governor-General's arrival, he is ensconced at the fashionable Windsor Hotel under the tightest security, with his entire entourage and formidable security team occupying the entire penthouse floor. All entrances and exits are locked down and closely guarded, and no one is allowed entrance after 6 PM.
Despite the extreme precautions, the famous diamond is stolen from the Governor-General's suite in the middle of the night, with no clues left behind. With Scotland Yard baffled, Joanna and the Watsons are called in to investigate the theft and it becomes clear that the crime is not simply the work of a master thief, but one that could greatly aid the Germans and turn the tide of war in their favor. Time is of the essence and the blue diamond must be recovered before it begins its travels which could cause irreparable damage to the allied war plans.
Isaac, Jane - One Fatal Secret
Sometimes your enemies are closer than you think…
Nicole Jameson has always been proud of her husband, Ethan. He’s built a successful career in finance, and his employers, the Harrisons, treat them like family. They’re a firm who look after their own, and even gave a loan to the company chauffeur, Conrad, to fund his pilot licence.
When the two men are returning from a business trip, the worst possible thing happens – their plane crashes into the sea. No survivors are expected to be found. Nicole is heartbroken, much like Conrad’s wife, Ania. She never warmed to Nicole, but now they share a bond of grief.
When evidence is found that Conrad took drugs shortly before the plane departed with him at the controls, the two women begin to wonder if all is not what it seems. But when they ask questions about events leading up to the crash, unsettling occurrences suggest it wasn’t a good idea. Sinister-looking men follow them, the Harrisons are increasingly cagey, and the women wonder if there is not more to this than a tragic accident.
But are the most dangerous people the ones they have already allowed to get too close…?
James, Christina - The Canal Murders #10 Detective Inspector Tim Yates, South Lincolnshire Fens
DI Tim Yates has been following up for months on reports of missing farm machinery—with no success—when a local farmer and philanthropist is physically assaulted. Could this be a lead? If so, it doesn’t take Yates very far, since the victim, Jack Fovargue, refuses to accept any help.
Meanwhile, there’s a more urgent case to attend to—a decapitated body has been found in the Fossdyke Canal. This may be the first clue that finally connects a series of recent disappearances: a paper girl out on her rounds; a prostitute abducted off the street; an immigrant woman who vanished after stepping off a bus. After frogmen find two more corpses in the canal, and Yates’s researcher wife notes a similarity to a long-ago case someone is already in prison for, the situation starts becoming as murky as the canal itself . . .
Malakin, Dan - The Box
Ed Truman's family is falling apart. His daughter Ally is being targeted by an alt-right incel organisation, Men Together. His house is being picketed, former clients are accusing him of sexual assault, his son won't speak to him. And then Ally disappears.
Frantic, Ed suspects that Men Together have abducted her. But before he can go to the police, his DNA is found on the body of a young woman. Suddenly he's the subject of a nationwide manhunt, led by the tenacious DCI Jackie Rose. Ed finds himself on the run with Ally's friend, Phoenix, who claims to know where Ally is. But what is the truth? Is Ed a violent sexual predator? Or is he the victim of a ruthless conspiracy? The answers are in The Box. But not everyone who goes in, comes out alive...
Nixon, Keith - Dead Money #2 Jonah Pennance
With a reputation for solving bizarre crimes, Detective Inspector Jonah Pennance, recently transferred to the National Crime Agency, is brought in to investigate the mysterious death of celebrity fund manager, Grady Carnegie – choked to death, his body arranged and ready for a wake.
Then a second corpse turns up under identical circumstances – that of washed-up investigative reporter, Stan Thewlis. However, there's no obvious connection between the two men.
Soon, Pennance’s partner, Sergeant Simone Smithson, comes under suspicion for the murders – the evidence seems overwhelming. To save her, Pennance must determine what role the shadowy organisation Blackthorn plays and who is in the background, pulling all the strings…
Onda, Riku - Fish Swimming in Dappled Sunlight tr. Alison Watts
The thriller--buried in a literary whodunit--explores the mysteries of romantic love, memory and attaining self-knowledge. Like the best Japanese crime writing, it is an unflinching foray into the darker recesses of the soul, quietly suspenseful and elegantly constructed.
Phifer, Helen - Sleeping Dolls #6 Detective Morgan Brookes
When a concerned neighbour reports a woman missing, Detective Morgan Brookes squeezes through the stiff front door to find the woman dead. At first, the case appears unsuspicious, but something about the scene unsettles Morgan. Every clock in the house has been stopped, every mirror covered, and the woman seems physically unharmed except for one missing lock of hair.
Shirley Kelly was loved by her friends and hated by her ex-husband and his new wife, but they have an iron-clad alibi, and Morgan is certain that the scene-staging holds a vital clue. She’s devastated to be proved right when another woman is killed, and her home arranged in the same way. The only difference is that the second victim has been stabbed, using a knife from Shirley’s own kitchen…
The team can’t find a connection between the two women, but Morgan is sure that there is a deadly pattern to the killer’s actions. She hunts through each woman’s past until she finds the link: years ago, they both worked for a woman called Evelyn Reynolds, before tragedy struck her young family. But what has made them targets now? Morgan knows this twisted case is far from over, can she find the final clue before the clock stops for the next name on the killer’s list?
Slan, Joanna Campbell - Death of a Gentleman #4 Jane Eyre
Wilkinson, Kerry - The Boyfriend
Trembling with shock, Jodie picks up the old T-shirt. She hasn’t seen it for twenty years. Her boyfriend had been wearing it – her Ben – the day he went missing. The last time anyone saw him alive.
After her dad’s funeral, all Jodie wants is to clear out her childhood home as quickly as possible and get back to life with her son. But a terrifying discovery changes everything she knew about her kind, loving father.
Her boyfriend Ben went missing when they were just teenagers. His parents still stare out the window desperately waiting for him to come home. So how did the T-shirt he was wearing when Jodie saw him walk away from their last date end up in her father’s attic?
The search for answers leads Jodie to an old family friend who knows all her father’s secrets. She can’t shake his questions about her older brother, and the real reason their dad left everything to Jodie, not him. But when a stranger begins to follow her around their little town, and a deadly fire breaks out in her home, it’s clear someone will do anything to stop Jodie finding the truth about Ben's disappearance. Has Jodie unknowingly put her own son in terrible danger?
Worrall, Patrick - The Partisan
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