'I hate murders and I hate murderers, but I must admit that the discovery of a bearded corpse would give a fillip to my jaded mind.' Vivian Lestrange - celebrated author of the popular mystery novel The Charterhouse Case and total recluse - has apparently dropped off the face of the Earth. Reported missing by his secretary Eleanor, whom Inspector Bond suspects to be the author herself, it appears that crime and murder is afoot when Lestrange's housekeeper is also found to have disappeared. Bond and Warner of Scotland Yard set to work to investigate a murder with no body and a potentially fictional victim, as E C R Lorac spins a twisting tale full of wry humour and red herrings, poking some fun at her contemporary reviewers who long suspected the Lorac pseudonym to belong to a man (since a woman could apparently not have written mysteries the way that she did). Incredibly rare today, this mystery returns to print for the first time since 1935.

Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers and Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley are back in the next Lynley novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth George. When a police detective is taken off life support after falling into a coma, only an autopsy reveals the murderous act that precipitated her death. She'd been working on a special task force within North London's Nigerian community, and Acting Detective Superintendent Thomas Lynley is assigned to the case, which has far-reaching cultural associations that have nothing to do with life as he knows it. In his pursuit of a killer determined to remain hidden, he's assisted by Detective Sergeants Barbara Havers and Winston Nkata. They must sort through the lies and the secret lives of people whose superficial cooperation masks the damage they do to one another.

A vengeful killer is intent on his quest to shame the religious perpetrators of his childhood abuse in care and his betrayal in the theatre world. Young women snatched from the street are the instruments of his trade. DI Mike Kendrick seeks to stop the slaughter which threatens to wreak havoc with his troubled mind. His inner turmoil hides a secret that will test his sanity as he grapples with an adversary whose own secret could destroy him.

Evoking the golden age of crime, and for fans of Raymond Chandler and Agatha Christie, comes the second book in the Aloysius Archer series, A Gambling Man from one of the world's bestselling thriller writers, David Baldacci.

California, 1949. Aloysius Archer is on his way to start a new job with a renowned Private Investigator in Bay Town. Feeling lucky, he stops off at a casino in Reno, where he meets an aspiring actress, Liberty Callahan. Together, they head west on a journey filled with danger and surprises - because Archer isn't the only one with a secretive past.

Arriving in a town rife with corruption, Archer is tasked with finding out who is doing everything they can to disrupt the appointment of a top official. Then two seemingly unconnected people are murdered at a burlesque club. In a tight-lipped community, Archer must dig deep to reveal the connection between the victims.

As the final perilous showdown unfurls, Archer will need all of his skills to decipher the truth from the lies and finally, to prove she's a star in the making, will Liberty have her moment in the spotlight?

THEY'RE BAAAAACK.

Their first caper, "The Spellman Files," was a "New York Times" bestseller and earned comparisons to the books of Carl Hiaasen and Janet Evanovich. Now the Spellmans, a highly functioning yet supremely dysfunctional family of private investigators, return in a sidesplittingly funny story of suspicion, surveillance, and surprise.

When Izzy Spellman, PI, is arrested for the fourth time in three months, she writes it off as a job hazard. She's been (obsessively) keeping surveillance on a suspicious next door neighbor (suspect's name: John Brown), convinced he's up to no good -- even if her parents (the management at Spellman Investigations) are not.

When the (displeased) management refuses to bail Izzy out, it is Morty, Izzy's octogenarian lawyer, who comes to her rescue. But before he can build a defense, he has to know the facts. Over weak coffee and diner sandwiches, Izzy unveils the whole truth and nothing but the truth -- as only she, a thirty-year-old licensed professional, can.

When not compiling Suspicious Behavior Reports on all her family members, staking out her neighbor, or trying to keep her sister, Rae, from stalking her "best friend," Inspector Henry Stone, Izzy has been busy attempting to apprehend the copycat vandal whose attacks on Mrs. Chandler's holiday lawn tableaux perfectly and eerily match a series of crimes from 1991A--92, when Izzy and her best friend, Petra, happened to be at their most rebellious and delinquent. As "Curse of the Spellmans" unfolds, it's clear that Morty may be on retainer, but Izzy is still very much on the case...er, cases -- her own and that of every other Spellman family member.

(Re)meet the Spellmans, a family in which eavesdropping is a mandatory skill, locks are meant to be picked, past missteps are never forgotten, and blackmail is the preferred form of negotiation -- all in the name of unconditional love.

When the body of a young woman is discovered in a derelict cottage in Los Angeles, Robert Hunter is thrown into a nightmare case. The victim suffered a terrible death, and on the nape of her neck has been carved a strange double-cross: the signature of a psychopath known as the Crucifix Killer.

But that's impossible. Because two years ago, the Crucifix Killer was caught and executed. Could this therefore be a copycat killer? Or could the unthinkable be true? Is the real killer still out there, ready to embark once again on a vicious and violent killing spree, selecting his victims seemingly at random, taunting Robert Hunter with his inability to catch him?

Hunter and his rookie partner, Garcia, need to solve this case and fast.

15-year-old Billy Davies is found dead in his father's shed. A pair of gardening shears thrust brutally into his chest. DI Hillary Greene tries to get to the bottom of this baffling crime. How had Billy come into contact with such a vicious killer? Who wanted him dead and why? The investigation reveals that the teenager was not such an innocent young man. Meanwhile, Hillary's career seems to have stalled. She's been passed over for promotion, and her reliable constable Tommy Lynch is to be transferred out. But Hillary won't let distractions get in the way of solving crimes. To catch this killer, Hillary will need to dig deep into the dark secrets of a small community. Set at prestigous, ancient Oxford University, drawing on the author's local knowledge of the university's history and the area, and expert research into police procedure. At the heart of the series is Hillary Greene, a hard-working detective who lives on a houseboat, has a reputation for getting the job done right. Her DCI, Philip 'Mellow' Mallow, has her back, even as she battles an ongoing internal investigation.

This is a story of the rich and the very poor. This is a story of an illegal auction with dire consequences. This is a story of murders past and present. This is a story of intertwined relationships and the silent ripples they leave behind, where love becomes a guiding force, revealing the lengths one will go to protect those they cherish.

Over twenty years ago, a young hunting guide in rural Kentucky was driving his boat in the early morning mist when his peaceful cruise was cut short by a scene so disturbing, he packed up and moved away. Nine women died early that morning, but it was linked to a similar crime in Texas, so the locals quickly wrote it off as having nothing to do with them.

Now, all these years later, when everyone has nearly forgotten about that grisly part of their past, one man's accidental death will bring everything back up to the surface. The locals who knew better can no longer claim it had nothing to do with them, and one woman, desperate to do whatever it takes to save her mother's life, will learn that nearly everyone in her life has been lying to her.

In Court Stevens's adult debut, she delves deep into the heart of a community, where some will learn that we don't always live to see the ripples we make, but we must make them all the same.

Their husbands are driving them mad, and murder is on their minds . . . but the men have a plan of their own.

Pam, Nancy and Shalisa once imagined retirement would mean setting aside their worries, picking up their margaritas, and lying back in a hot tub. Right up until their husbands lost all their savings in a reckless investment.

Now, collecting their husbands' life insurance is starting to sound more appealing than growing old with them. But enlisting the help of the local barber/hitman isn't merely the most daring thing the friends have ever done - it's also where the trouble really begins.

Because they don't realise their husbands have some tricks up their sleeves. And there's no turning back now . . .

From the first laugh to the final twist, The Retirement Plan is full of characters who will steal your heart while plotting their dark deeds.

’n Reeksmoordenaar jag by stormweer, en Rooi en Kassie moet hom vastrek. Die Hartedief kom met moord weg, en dan is Kassie se volle aandag ook nie eintlik by die saak nie, want hy is smoorverlief op ’n aanvallige mede-seëlversamelaar. Vlerksleep is nie vir sissies nie. Om sake vir hom en Rooi te vererger word hul baas daarvan verdink dat sy hul ondersoek in die wiele ry, en Kassie moet haar onskuld bewys. Intussen word Kaapse vroue vermoor wanneer daar onweer broei.

Newly appointed Chief Inspector Charlie Marlow is in charge of Torreston Police Station while Harriet Love is away. He is secretly relieved that nothing drastic happens as the days go by but the calm is shattered when a lorry driver is found dead in a lay-by with a skewer through his neck. Charlie has a murder on his hands and the team begins the investigation with Charlie doing his best to do things as he thinks his boss would do. Harriet, now the superintendent of the station, returns and Charlie hands over secretly happy that she is back. Complications set in when a young woman is found murdered in the same lay-by as the lorry driver and this is soon connected to a similar murder in the same place ten years go. When a second woman is murdered and again found in a lay-by it is a race against time to find the killer before he strikes again.

An old sanatorium. A terrifying murder. Six suspects and a case that never closed . . .

Akureyri, Northern Iceland, 1983.

High up in the most northern part of Iceland stands The Akureyri Sanatorium. Once a hospital dedicated to treating tuberculosis, it now sits haunted by the ghosts of its past.

One wing of the hospital remains open and houses six employees: the caretaker, two doctors, two nurses and a young research assistant.

Despite the wards closing decades ago they remain at the hospital to conduct research. But the cold corridors, draughty windows and echoey halls are constant reminders of the building’s dark history.

When one of the nurses, Yrsa, is found brutally murdered, they discover that death has never left this place – and neither did its secrets. None can escape this terrifying legacy.

Despite just five suspects the case is never solved and remains open for two decades. Until a young criminologist named Helgi Reykdal attempts to finally lay the ghosts of the hospital's past to rest . . .

What happens behind closed doors stays there. Doesn't it?

Rosie and Seb Kent are happily married, living in the sleepy seaside town of Waverly. Now that Seb has achieved his dream of becoming headmaster of the local school, their lives couldn't be any better.

Then she arrives.

Abi, a young, single mother, has come to Waverly for a fresh start. She plans to reinvent herself and give her children a new life. But then she sees Seb.

And nothing will ever be the same again . . .

As their complicated hidden past threatens to destroy them both, they try their hardest to keep it contained.

But in a small town, secrets don’t stay hidden for long, and soon, what should be their private business becomes a very public scandal.

How far will everyone – them, their families and the whole community – go to protect everything they hold dearest?