Three impossible crimes

Two unlikely detectives

One deadly voyage

It's 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world's greatest detective, is being transported from the Dutch East Indies to Amsterdam, where he is set to face trial for a crime that no one dares speak of.

But no sooner is the ship out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. Strange symbols appear on the sails. A figure stalks the decks. Livestock are slaughtered. Passengers are plagued with ominous threats, promising them three unholy miracles. First: an impossible pursuit. Second: an impossible theft.

Then: an impossible murder.

With Pipps imprisoned in the depths of the ship, can his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes solve the mystery before the ship descends into anarchy?

A beguiling historical mystery from the award-winning author of the dazzling The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.

"An intriguing medieval mystery featuring sleuthing monk Brother Athelstan"
February, 1381. A ruthless killer known as the Ignifer Fire Bringer is rampaging through London, bringing agonising death and destruction in his wake. He appears to be targeting all those involved in the recent trial and conviction of the beautiful Lady Isolda Beaumont, burned at the stake for the murder of her husband. As the late Sir Walter Beaumont was a close friend of the Regent, John of Gaunt orders Sir John Cranston and Brother Athelstan to investigate.
In the dead man s possession was a copy of the mysterious Book of Fires, containing the secret formula of a devastating weapon, the so-called Greek Fire. The manuscript has since disappeared, and Gaunt is desperate for it not to fall into the hands of the Upright Men, who are busy plotting the Great Revolt.
Was Isolda really guilty of murder? Who is the terrifying Fire Bringer and what does he want? Brother Athelstan is about to tackle his most challenging, and potentially dangerous, case yet."

An intriguing medieval mystery featuring Brother Athelstan February, 1381. London lies frozen in the grip of one of the bitterest winters on record. The ever-rising taxes demanded by the Regent, John of Gaunt, are causing increasing resentment among the city's poor. When the seething unrest boils over into a bloody massacre at a splendid Southwark tavern, The Candle Flame, in which nine people, including Gaunt's tax collectors, their military escort and the prostitutes entertaining them, are brutally murdered, the furious Regent orders Brother Athelstan to get to the bottom of the matter. For not only has Gaunt's treasure trove been stolen, he has reason to believe a French spy is active along the Thames, carefully recording for his masters in the Louvre the state of English war cogs. And a professional assassin, Beowulf, who has sworn vengeance against Gaunt and his minions, also stalks the shadows. Once again, Athelstan must enter the murky world of murder, where the darkness constantly shifts and no one is who or what they seem.

Ancient Roman sleuth Marcus Corvinus uncovers a treasonous plot in this witty and intriguing new mystery November, AD 40. When a wealthy consul's wife asks Corvinus to investigate the death of her uncle, killed by a block of falling masonry during renovations on his estate in the Vatican Hills, a sceptical Corvinus is inclined to agree with the general verdict of accidental death. But his investigations reveal clear evidence of foul play, as well as unearthing several skeletons among the closets of this well-to-do but highly dysfunctional family. Who could have wanted Lucius Surdinus dead? His vengeful ex-wife? His ambitious mistress? His disillusioned elder, or his estranged younger, son? Or does the key to the mystery lie in the dead man's political past? But when Corvinus's investigations draw him to the attention of the emperor, a dangerously unpredictable Caligula, his prospects of surviving long enough to solve the mystery look slim to say the least.

June, 1604. When the emaciated body of a vagrant is found on the edge of the moor, it's the verdict of physician Gabriel Taverner that the man died of natural causes - but is all as it seems? Who was the dead man, and why had he come to the small West Country village of Tavy St Luke's to die cold, sick and alone? With no one claiming to have known him, his identity remains a mystery. Then a discovery found buried in a nearby field throws a strange new light on the case . and in attempting to find the answers, Gabriel Taverner and Coroner Theophilus Davey unearth a series of shocking secrets stretching back more than fourteen years.

"Shaber does a fine job portraying the plight of alien residents in wartime Washington, besides conveying the hectic atmosphere of a city whose resources are stretched to the limit by an influx of new workers" Publishers Weekly Starred Review When a body is discovered in a Washington bar, Government girl Louise Pearlie is forced into a role of lies and deception. On a bitterly cold night in December 1943, Government girl Louise Pearlie and her friend Joe Prager are enjoying a quiet drink in the Baron Steuben Inn when a bloodstained body is discovered behind the bar. Although the victim had been a regular customer, no one seems to know anything about him. When it turns out there is a link to Louise's top-secret work at the OSS, she is ordered to find out as much as possible about the murder while keeping the connection secret from those involved, including the investigating police detective. Although Louise has been trained to keep secrets, the constant deception takes its toll - especially when she discovers that she's not the only customer at the Steuben that night with something to hide. Will Louise's silence result in an innocent man being arrested for murder?

May, 1588. With Elizabeth I s court rocked by stories of an imminent invasion and one of his key undercover agents missing, Sir Francis Walsingham despatches Kit Marlowe to the Isle of Wight off the south coast: the first line of defence against the approaching Spanish Armada.
Lodging at Carisbrooke Castle with the Isle of Wight s Governor, Sir George Carey, Marlowe finds the Islanders a strange and suspicious lot, with their own peculiar customs and dialect. But is there reason to doubt their loyalty to the Crown? And is the Island really haunted, as some believe? Of one thing Marlowe is certain: it s no ghost behind the series of violent and inexplicable deaths which plague the region. But will he have time to uncover the truth and expose the killer before the might of the Armada descends?"

Killer twists. Heroes to believe in. Trust Baldacci. Private Investigator and WWII veteran, Aloysius Archer, returns to solve a new case in Hollywood in Dream Town, a riveting thriller from international number 1 bestselling author, David Baldacci. All that glitters . . . 1952, Los Angeles. It is New Year's Eve and PI Aloysius Archer is dining with his friend and rising Hollywood actress Liberty Callahan when they're approached by Eleanor Lamb, a screenwriter who would like to hire him, as she suspects someone is trying to kill her. Murder and mystery A visit to Lamb's Malibu residence leaves Archer knocked unconscious after he stumbles over a dead body in the hallway; and Lamb seems to have vanished. With the police now involved in the case, a close friend and colleague of Lamb's employs Archer to find out what's happened to the screenwriter. The City of Angels - or somewhere much, much darker? Archer's investigation takes him from the rich, glamorous and glitzy LA to the seedy, dark side of the city, and onward to the gambling mecca of Las Vegas, just now hitting its stride as a hot spot for celebrities and a money-making machine for the mob. In a place where cops and crooks work hand in hand, Archer will cross paths with Hollywood stars, politicians and notorious criminals. He'll almost die several times, and he'll discover bodies and secrets from the canyons and beaches of Malibu and the luxurious mansions of Bel Air and Beverly Hills to the narcotics clubs of Chinatown. With the help of Liberty and his PI partner Willie Dash, Archer will risk everything and leave no stone unturned in finding the missing Eleanor Lamb, and in bringing to justice killers who would love nothing better than to plant Archer six feet under.