It's hard to sit still when your client is scheduled to die in 15 hours.... As he makes an 11th hour plea for mercy, lawyer Alex Sedaka is resigned to the fact that Clayton Burrows will be executed. Charged with the rape and murder of 18-year-old classmate Dorothy Olsen - a girl he mercilessly bullied and victimised at school - the case seems cut and dry. But then the victim's mother makes an astonishing offer - clemency in return for the whereabouts of her daughter's body before she herself dies of the terminal disease ravaging her body. On the other side of the Atlantic, a nurse watching Fox News recognises Dorothy's name. Does she hold the key to this case? Alex must now convince Clayton to come clean - but he still protests his innocence Is this another one of Clayton's games to or is he an innocent man about to be condemned to death? Prepare to be up all night with this race-against-the clock thriller for fans of Jeff Abbot, Simon Kernick and 24.

The first novel in a new series, featuring female PI Grace Cornish, from the acclaimed author of the Philip Fletcher series of theatrical mysteries There's something about Lewis. Something that women can't resist. And being a builder, he has easy access to the houses, and the beds, of the most attractive of his clients' wives. A natural playboy, but without the money, Lewis has two simple rules: never get involved and never stick around. But with Julie he finds himself breaking the code, and he continues seeing her long after the job on her house is done. There's something about Peter McGovern, too. But he's very different from Lewis. He's rich, for a start. And he's ugly. They do have something in common, though - Peter's wife, Julie - and when Lewis and McGovern meet by chance over a game of pool, the lives of the three of them can never be the same. And Grace? There's definitely something about Grace. A killer blonde with a dirty mouth, she's nobody's fool. So how come she ends up getting involved with both Lewis and McGovern, sparring in a dangerous game where it's never clear who is the victim and who is the hunter.

A dark psychological thriller that will hold the reader in its grip from beginning to end, Silent Playgrounds is the stunning follow-up to Danuta Reah's highly praised debut, Only Darkness. The path through the park runs from the centre of the city into the wilds of the countryside. At weekends the area is a playground for children and walkers, but during the week it is silent and deserted. When six-year-old Lucy gets lost there one day, her disappearance sparks a chain of events leading to the murder of a young woman. Lucy tries to warn the people she cares about of the danger: she knows that there are monsters lurking in the rambling park, and she knows that they are getting closer. What should be a straightforward investigation leads DI Steve McCarthy into a web of lies and evasions, where nothing is quite as it seems and everyone seems to be hiding something. With each step forward McCarthy faces new questions, and if he is to prevent an escalation in violence, he has to find some answers - fast.

From Australia's 'national literary institution' (Sydney Morning Herald), the latest mystery featuring homicide detective and family man Scobie Malone The time has come for Scobie Malone to leave the Homicide and Serial Offenders Unit of the Sydney police, and his last investigation could be the most bizarre case ever to cross his desk. Called in when a housemaid is found dead in a dotcom millionaire's penthouse, Scobie suspects he's dealing with a kidnap that's gone wrong. In fact, it couldn't have gone more wrong. The kidnappers thought they had grabbed the millionaire's girlfriend - how were they supposed to know he liked slipping into her designer dresses when she wasn't around? The plot thickens further when it is revealed that the dotcom bubble has burst, leaving the erstwhile millionaire in debt to the Yakuza and Scobie on the trail of some old adversaries. Throw in the ex-wife, a mistress or two, and the mother of all outlaws, and you have a case that would confound the greatest detective and entertain the most discerning of readers.

Steph Cha, a rising star who brings a fresh perspective as series editor, takes the helm of the new The Best American Mystery and Suspense, with best-selling crime novelist Alafair Burke joining her as the first guest editor."Crime writers, forgive the pun, are killing it right now creatively," writes guest editor Alafair Burke in her introduction. "It was difficult--painful even--to narrow this year's Best American Mystery and Suspense to only twenty stories." Spanning from a mediocre spa in Florida, to New York's gritty East Village, to death row in Alabama, this collection reveals boundless suspense in small, quiet moments, offering startling twists in the least likely of places. From a powerful response to hateful bullying, to a fight for health care, to a gripping desperation to vote, these stories are equal parts shocking, devastating, and enthralling, revealing the tension pulsing through our everyday lives and affirming that mystery and suspense writing is better than ever before. The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021includes JENNY BHATT- GAR ANTHONY HAYWOOD- GABINO IGLESIAS- AYA DE LEON- LAURA LIPPMAN DELIA C. PITTS- ALEX SEGURA- FAYE SNOWDEN- LISA UNGER and others

PI can mean many things, but can it really mean a balding, middle-aged lathe operator from a high rise in Luton? Joe Sixsmith thinks it can. His Aunt Mirabelle thinks you'd have to be crazy to hire him, and Joe's current clients certainly fit the bill. One's confessing to the brutal murder of his whole family; another thinks she's a witch. Next to them, the two heavies who believe Joe is hiding their illicit drugs seem almost normal. As Joe stumbles his way through bodies, gangsters and hostile police officers, he is protected by a combination of sheer luck and the help of a new lady friend. And soon it seems like he might just surpass everyone's expectations...

Edgar winner Lisa Scottoline returns to the courtroom with a taut and intriguing legal thriller where the search for justice turns into a fight to the death.

'Few writers in the genre today have Hill's gifts: formidable intelligence, quick humour, compassion and a prose style that blends elegance and grace' Sunday Times Joe Sixsmith is going west, though only as far the Llanffugiol Choral Festival in Wales. But his plans are interrupted when they happen upon a burning house with a mysterious woman trapped inside. Joe risks life and limb to rescue the woman, only to be roped in to the investigation by the police officer in charge. Suddenly surrounded by a bevy of suspicious characters, he soon realizes that this case is much more than just arson. Aided by little more than his acute instinct for truth, Joe moves forward over the space of a single weekend to uncover crimes which have been buried for years.