A boy is found with his throat ripped out,
the blood drained from his body. It’s not the first
such killing, and the town knows who to blame:
the vampyr colony in the mountains.

But out-of-state detective Barbara Atkins think the evidence
doesn’t stack up. People are lying.
And Deadhart has a history of dark secrets.

The snow keeps falling, but so do the victims.
Time is running out for Barbara.
Is she hunting a cold-blooded murderer,
or a bloodthirsty monster?

And which does she fear most?

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?

Simon Ramsay, a successful and seemingly respectable businessman, receives an email with a photograph attached. If he doesn't come up with 50k, the sender will release it to the press, and his career will be over. In a state of panic he contacts his mistress, Laura Harrison. He tells her a blackmailer has managed to get his hands on a compromising photograph of them in bed together. Terrified of what her violent husband will do if he finds out about her affair, she enlists the services of a psychopath, Billy McAteer to deal with the blackmailer. It is a moment of madness, and the repercussions are disastrous. It falls to DCI Anderson and his sidekick to unravel the trail of death and destruction."

Gosford Park meets Groundhog Day by way of Agatha Christie and Black Mirror - the most inventive story you'll read this year.

'Utterly original and unique. I couldn't get it out of my head for days afterwards' Sophie Hannah

It is meant to be a celebration but it ends in tragedy. As fireworks explode overhead, Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house, is killed.

But Evelyn will not die just once. Until Aiden - one of the guests summoned to Blackheath for the party - can solve her murder, the day will repeat itself, over and over again. Every time ending with the fateful pistol shot.

The only way to break this cycle is to identify the killer. But each time the day begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is determined to prevent him ever escaping Blackheath...

Love thy neighbour or fear thy neighbour? For myself and Lauren, my 10-year-old daughter No3 Beech Close was to be our refuge after two years of hell nursing my sick mother. In need of a fresh start and wanting to distance ourselves from the bad memories of my mother's house we moved to Beech Close, a small cul-de-sac of six houses situated around a picture-perfect green. It seemed perfect but I had underestimated the secrets that this tightknit community shared. Within hours of moving in my next-door neighbour Valerie made it abundantly clear we were not welcome. I soon discovered that Valerie hadn't welcomed the previous occupant either and she'd since disappeared without a trace. Had I put myself and my daughter in danger moving to Beech Close? Which neighbours, if any could I trust? And how far would they go to keep their secret? Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty, Shari Lapena and Lisa Jewell

Lieutenant Eve Dallas encounters her toughest case yet when New York’s wealthiest couples are the targets of a calculated killer in Echoes in Death, a crime thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author J.D. Robb.

When the young woman―dazed, naked, and bloody―wanders in front of their car, Roarke slams on the brakes just in time, and Eve―still in glittering gown and heels―springs into action. It’s been a long night for the tired homicide cop, and it’s far from over.

Daphne Strazza is rushed to the ER, but it’s too late for Dr. Anthony Strazza. A brilliant orthopedic surgeon, he now lies dead amid the wreckage of his obsessively organized town house, his three safes opened and emptied. Daphne would be a valuable witness, but in her terror and shock, the only description of the perp she can offer is repeatedly calling him “the devil.”

While it emerges that Dr. Strazza was cold, controlling, and widely disliked―and that he treated Daphne like a trophy wife―this is one case where the evidence doesn’t point to the spouse as the first suspect. So Eve and her team must get started on the legwork, interviewing everyone from dinner-party guests to professional colleagues to caterers, in a desperate race to answer some crucial questions:

What does the devil look like? And where will he show up next?

What will it take to tell the truth when your life depends on a lie?

A year ago, a father and his fiancée were brutally stabbed in their opulent townhouse, sparking the most high-profile murder investigation in recent history. Blood spatter expert Doctor Claudia O’Sheil’s evidence put the killer behind bars – or so everyone believes. Since the trial, Claudia’s learned a horrific truth: her evidence and her testimony were wrong. And someone she knows made sure of it.

Now, as she takes the stage to give a career-defining speech before London’s elite, Claudia faces a devastating choice. Protect her children and her livelihood with her continued complicity or blow the whole conspiracy apart and reveal the truth: not only is the real murderer still out there, they’re in the audience.

As Claudia steps toward the microphone, she revisits that fateful night. What really happened? And what speech will Claudia give?

Missouri native Allen Eskens' "stunning small-town mystery" (New York Times Book Review) is a necessary exploration of family, loyalty, and racial tension in America and "a coming-of-age book to rival some of the best, such as Ordinary Grace" (Library Journal, starred review). In a small Southern town where loyalty to family and to "your people" carries the weight of a sacred oath, defying those unspoken rules can be a deadly proposition. After fifteen years of growing up in the Ozark hills with his widowed mother, high-school freshman Boady Sanden is beyond ready to move on. He dreams of glass towers and cityscapes, driven by his desire to be anywhere other than Jessup, Missouri. The new kid at St. Ignatius High School, if he isn't being pushed around, he is being completely ignored. Even his beloved woods, his playground as a child and his sanctuary as he grew older, seem to be closing in on him, suffocating him. Then Thomas Elgin moves in across the road, and Boady's life begins to twist and turn. Coming to know the Elgins -- a black family settling into a community where notions of "us" and "them" carry the weight of history -- forces Boady to rethink his understanding of the world he's taken for granted. Secrets hidden in plain sight begin to unfold: the mother who wraps herself in the loss of her husband, the neighbor who carries the wounds of a mysterious past that he holds close, the quiet boss who is fighting his own hidden battle. But the biggest secret of all is the disappearance of Lida Poe, the African-American woman who keeps the books at the local plastics factory. Word has it that Ms. Poe left town, along with a hundred thousand dollars of company money. Although Boady has never met the missing woman, he discovers that the threads of her life are woven into the deepest fabric of his world. As the mystery of her fate plays out, Boady begins to see the stark lines of race and class that both bind and divide this small town -- and he will be forced to choose sides. Best Book of the Year: Florida Sun-Sentinel and Library Journal Finalist for the Minnesota Book Award

Set in the 17th century against the backdrop of political and religious conflict, the second of Watt's John MacKenzie series is as historically rich and gripping as the last. MacKenzie investigates the murder of a woman accused of witchcraft and he must act quickly when the same accusations are made against the woman's daughter. Superstition clashes with reason as Scotland moves towards the Enlightenment. The 1600s are expertly recreated with a strong sense of history and place.

Bennie moet ’n ring koop. En nie sommer ’n hierjy-ring vir sy Alexa nie. Hoe op aarde moet hy nou dít bekostig?

Terwyl hy wag om te hoor of die bank sal help, word ’n naakte vroueliggaam op Sir Lowryspas gevind. Uitgestal langs die pad; dit lyk soos die werk van ’n reeksmoordenaar. Ongeïdentifiseerd word sy na die staatslykshuis gebring – waar sy bekend word, weens die bleikmiddel waarmee sy geskrop is, as die Gebleikte Lyk.

Kort daarna word sy Bennie en Vaughn se probleem toe daar besef word sy’s ’n buitelander: Alicia Lewis, ’n kunskenner op die spoor van ’n Fabritius-skildery wat kwansuis in die Kaap is – en hý was ’n Rembrandt-leerling van wie bloedweinig werke bekend is. ’n Onbekende Fabritius sou ’n gróót storie in die kunswêreld wees.

Dan vind Lithpel Davids die naam Billy de Palma in Alicia se skootrekenaar, en Vaughn weet dadelik daar’s gróót fout. Want hy ken vir Billy, en Billy is bad, bad news . . .

'A fantastic read. Mind bending, gut wrenchingly tense and one of the most original stories I've read in years. It was an absolute treat' - John Marrs, author of The Vacation A New York Times Best Thriller Pick for 2022 Bestselling author Adam Hamdy returns with The Other Side of Night, an utterly unforgettable tale of love, loss and redemption. When disgraced former police officer Harriet Kealty discovers a plea for help in the margins of a second-hand book, she sets out to unravel a mystery that quickly leads her to confront some uncomfortable ties to her own life, including her ex-lover Ben. Following the deaths of his close friends, Ben became an adoptive father to their orphaned son Elliot. But Harriet suspects that Ben knows more about these deaths than he's willing to say... What starts as a simple investigation becomes something entirely different in this moving story that will open hearts and minds as it answers the question: what would you do for one more moment with someone that you love? What authors are saying: 'A big-hearted, big-brain, novel that you'll finish in three days and think about for the rest of the year. Wonderful.' - Stuart Turton, author of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle 'The pages almost turn themselves and when I was finished I couldn't stop thinking about the story's incredible twists, turns, and surprises' - James Patterson, author of the Alex Cross and Private series 'Remarkable' - Anthony Horowitz, author of The Twist of a Knife 'A strange, compelling, and ultimately moving head-spinner of a novel' - John Connolly, author of The Furies 'Absolutely brilliant. I was blown away' - Manda Scott, author of the Boudica series 'Mind-bending! This intriguing and thought-provoking thriller is a profound exploration of how far some are willing to go in the name of love. A fantastic twist you'll never see coming' - Liv Constantine, author of The First Shot 'A brilliant meta-thriller with huge ideas and even greater heart' - Steve Cavanagh, author of The Accomplice 'An utterly satisfying read' - Ryan Gattis

Irma Mulder land terug op Suid-Afrikaanse grond vanuit Hollywood na haar 13 maande se verfilming van ’n televisie-speurreeks — en dit voor dooiemansdeur...

Geen geliefde op die lughawe wat haar inwag en bly is om haar te sien nie en ook by haar huis is dit duidelik dat haar vriendin en huissitter, Zelma, vele dae laas daar was...

Nog hou die verrassings nie op nie. Sy het ’n e-pos ontvang van walglike Gary Hoise wat sy voor haar vertrek, warmplek toe verwens het — en nou vra hy dringend haar hulp. Uit die plaaslike koerante lees sy opskrifte van mense wat spoorloos verdwyn het en Gary is die een wat haar op hoogte bring. Ook dat Hugo van Zyl aanbeweeg het en sy nie meer sy meisie is wat hy vurig van afskeid geneem het nie.

Gary is ook nie meer die ongeskikte dronklap nie en stem in om hom te help met die ondersoek na die vermiste mense, party selfs kinders, want dit kom voor asof die polisie nie juis hond haaraf maak nie. Met die strydbyl begrawe, vorm hulle ’n formidabele span en ontdek gruwels wat niemand sal glo nie, tensy hulle eie oë dit sien...

'It is past the half-hour. My time is coming nearer with every tick of the clock.' Horace Manning, scientist, recluse and 'closed book' even to his friends is found dead in his study at 4am, following a dinner in honour of his daughter Helen's engagement. An ivory-handled carving knife rests between his shoulder blades as the houseguests gather about to witness the awful crime. The telephone line has been sabotaged; a calculated murder has been committed. Rewinding twelve hours, the events of the afternoon and evening unfold, along with a multitude of motives from a closed cast of suspects and clues until the narrative reaches 4am again - then races on to its riveting conclusion at 4pm (twice round the clock). First published in 1935, this is a lively and unpretentious mystery thriller and a true lost gem of the Golden Age of crime writing.

Detective Inspector Nikki Galena has nothing left to lose. She's seen a girl die in her arms and her daughter will never leave the hospital again - she will stop at nothing to avenge her daughter. Through her pain she's toughened up, particularly on criminals, and now she's been given one final warning: make it work with her new sergeant, DS Joseph Easter, or she's out. While DI Nikki Galena battles her own demons, the town is being terrorised by gangs of violent thugs, all wearing identical hideous masks. When a talented young female student goes missing on the marsh, Nikki and Joseph find themselves joining forces with a master criminal in their efforts to save her. They need to look behind the masks, but when they do, they find something more sinister and deadly than they ever expected . . .

They don’t know where they are. They don’t know how they got there. And they have absolutely no idea who is after them or what this nameless, faceless villain wants. The only thing that’s clear is that, after ten years of covers and chemistry, secrets and lies, these two rival spies have been sucked into their greatest mission yet – and now they’re going to have to team up to stay alive. If they don’t kill each other first.

The Blonde Who Came in From the Cold is an action-packed, second-chance rom-com about two rival spies who must join forces in order to stay alive,