Crime writer sleuth Donald Langham is faced with the classic locked-room conundrum in this engaging historical mystery July, 1955. Donald Langham has interrupted his romantic break in rural Suffolk with the delectable Maria Dupre to assist a fellow writer. Alastair Endicott has requested Langham's help in discovering what's happened to his father, Edward, who seems to have disappeared without trace from inside his locked study. Before he vanished, the elder Endicott had been researching a book on the notorious Satanist Vivian Stafford. Could the proposed biography have something to do with his disappearance? Does local resident Stafford really possess supernatural powers, as some believe? As Langham and Dupre question those around them, it becomes clear that there have been strange goings-on in the sleepy village of Humble Barton. But is the village really haunted - or does someone merely want it to look that way? With a further shocking discovery, the case takes a disturbing new twist.

The daring exploits of Fantmas in his attempts to get possession of the King of Hesse-Weimar's famous diamond.

First in a brand-new Victorian mystery series featuring steward Matthew Rowsley and housekeeper Mrs Faulkner as an engaging detective duo. Newly appointed as land agent to the youthful Lord Croft, Matthew Rowsley finds plenty to keep him busy as he attends to his lordship's neglected country estate. But he's distracted from his tasks by the disappearance of a young housemaid. Has Maggie really eloped with a young man, as her mother attests - or is the truth rather more sinister? What's been going on behind the scenes at the grand country estate . and where has his lordship disappeared to? Teaming up with housekeeper Mrs Faulkner to get to the bottom of the matter, Matthew uncovers a number of disturbing secrets, scandals and simmering tensions within the household. Something rotten is going on at Thorncroft - and it's up to Matthew and Mrs Faulkner to unearth the truth.

October, 1940. Bombs are falling on Stratford when air-raid warden Sylvia Parks sees a house with a light shining like a beacon to the enemy aircraft overhead, violating the strict blackout regulations. With no answer at the door she manages to break in, only to discover the body of a young woman - and she's been strangled with a stocking. For Detective Inspector John Jago, the scene brings back memories of the gruesome Soho Strangler, who murdered four women in the mid-1930s but has never been caught. Is there a connection? As the investigation develops, it leads him into a web of family jealousies, violence, robbery and the underworld of political terrorism.

1914. When war in Europe is declared, a young American cartographer, Michael Clifton, is compelled to fight for his father's native country, and sets sail for England to serve in the British Army. Three years later, he is listed as missing in action. 1932. After Michael's remains are unearthed in a French field, his devastated parents engage London investigator Maisie Dobbs, hoping she can find the unnamed nurse whose love letters were among their son's belongings. It is a quest that leads Maisie back to her own bittersweet wartime love - and to the discovery that Michael Clifton may not have died in combat. As a web of intrigue and violence threatens to ensnare the dead soldier's family and even Maisie herself, she must cope with the impending loss of her mentor and the unsettling awareness that she is once again falling in love.

1895. Former Scotland Yard detective Daniel Wilson, famous for working the notorious Jack the Ripper case, and his archaeologist sidekick Abigail Fenton are summoned to investigate the murder of a young woman at the Manchester Museum. Though staff remember the woman as a recent and regular visitor, no one appears to know her and she has no possessions from which to identify her. When the pair arrive, the case turns more deadly when the body of a second woman is discovered hidden in the depths of the museum. Seeking help from a local journalist, Daniel hopes to unravel this mystery, but the journey to the truth is fraught with obstacles and the mistakes of the past will not be forgotten ...

DI Herbert Reardon is drawn into a world of secrets and lies when a body is discovered at a girls' boarding school. 1930. When a body is discovered on the premises of the newly-established Maxstead Court School for Girls, Detective Inspector Herbert Reardon is called in to investigate. His wife Ellen having just accepted a job as French teacher, Reardon is alarmed to find the school a hotbed of scandalous secrets, suppressed passions, petty jealousies and wanton schoolgirl cruelty. As he pursues his enquiries, it becomes clear that the dead woman was not who - or what - she claimed to be. Who was she really - and why is Reardon convinced that more than one member of staff is not telling him the whole truth? Then a pupil goes missing - and the case takes a disturbing new twist .

A 'Canterbury Tales' medieval mystery As Chaucer's pilgrims shelter for the night in a well-stocked tavern, it's the physician's turn to enthral his fellow travellers with a terrifying tale of mystery and intrigue. When Brother Anselm and his novice Stephen are summoned to the Church of St Michael's, Candlewick, to perform an exorcism, little are they prepared for the horror that awaits. The demons and apparitions that plague the church would appear to have been summoned by an infamous sorcerer known as the Midnight Man. But what has he unwittingly unleashed - and why? Is someone using the haunting as the perfect cover for their murderous intent? And is there any link with the sudden disappearances of a number of young women in the area? The answers lie in the past and an unresolved wickedness from many decades before. But before Anselm can get to the truth, he must uncover the identity of the mysterious Midnight Man.

London, 1716. Revenge is a dish best served ice-cold...The city is caught in the vice-like grip of a savage winter. Even the Thames has frozen over. But for Jonas Flynt - thief, gambler, killer - the chilling elements are the least of his worries... Justice Geoffrey Dumont has been found dead at the base of St Paul's cathedral, and a young male sex-worker, Sam Yates, has been taken into custody for the murder. Yates denies all charges, claiming he had received a message to meet the judge at the exact time of death. The young man is a friend of courtesan Belle St Clair, and she asks Flynt to investigate. As Sam endures the horrors of Newgate prison, they must do everything in their power to uncover the truth and save an innocent life, before the bodies begin to pile up. But time is running out. And the gallows are beckoning... A totally enrapturing portrayal of eighteenth-century London, and a rapier-like crime thriller, perfect for fans of Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Antonia Hodgson and Ambrose Parry.

First Published as Fifth Column. September, 1940. As the Blitz takes its nightly toll on London and Hitler prepares his invasion fleet just across the Channel in occupied France, Britain is full of talk about enemy agents. Suspicion is at an all time high and no one is sure who can be trusted. In Canning Town, rescue workers are unsettled when they return to a damaged street and discover a body that shouldn't be there. When closer examination of the corpse reveals death by strangling, Detective Inspector John Jago is called upon to investigate. But few seem to really care about the woman's death - not even her family. As Jago digs deeper he starts to uncover a trail of deception, betrayal, and romantic entanglements.

The Palace Pier Theatre. Brighton. 1933. Renowned murder mystery playwright Bertie Carroll turns real life detective when his leading lady is shot and killed on stage, in full view of an unsuspecting audience. Once the curtain falls and the applause subsides, the horrible truth begins to dawn on the cast of suspects backstage. But as motives, secrets and old rivalries begin to come to light, the murderer is still waiting in the wings. With the help of Chief Detective Hugh Chapman, an old friend from school, Bertie must put his amateur sleuthing skills to the test to unravel the ultimate whodunnit. The debut novel from Jamie West is set in and around The Palace Pier Theatre in Brighton, a lost theatre, lovingly recreated.

Christopher Urswicke must unmask the traitor lurking amongst Margaret Beaufort's supposedly loyal followers in this gripping medieval mystery. October, 1471. Edward IV sits on the English throne; the House of York reigns supreme. With her young son, Henry Tudor, in exile in France, Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, shelters deep in the shadows, secretly plotting for the day when Henry can be crowned the rightful king. But as her supporters are picked off one by one, it becomes clear that a traitor lurks within Margaret's household. When one of her most loyal henchmen, Jacob Cromart, is murdered in St Michael's Church, where he had claimed sanctuary, Margaret orders her sharp-witted clerk, Christopher Urswicke, to find out who has betrayed her. How could a man be killed inside a church where the doors are all locked, with no sign of an intruder or weapon? If he is to protect Margaret's remaining supporters from suffering a similar fate, Urswicke must solve a baffling mystery where nothing is as it first appears.

***BEST CRIME BOOKS OF 2021 - THE TIMES/SUNDAY TIMES*** ***CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH - THE TIMES*** 'Savage, beautiful, mesmeric...a very special book.' CHRIS WHITAKER, AUTHOR OF WE BEGIN AT THE END 'Extraordinary...a career-defining performance.' THE TIMES/SUNDAY TIMES 'This is crime writing of the highest quality' DAILY MAIL SOHO, 1935. SERGEANT LEON GEATS' PATCH. A snarling, skull-cracking misanthrope, Geats marshals the grimy rabble according to his own elastic moral code. The narrow alleys are brimming with jazz bars, bookies, blackshirts, ponces and tarts so when a body is found above the Windmill Club, detectives are content to dismiss the case as just another young woman who topped herself early. But Geats - a good man prepared to be a bad one if it keeps the worst of them at bay - knows the dark seams of the city. Working with his former partner, mercenary Flying Squad sergeant Mark Cassar, Geats obsessively dedicates himself to finding a warped killer - a decision that will reverberate for a lifetime and transform both men in ways they could never expect. 'A stirringly ambitious novel that pairs the scope of James Ellroy's LA CONFIDENTIAL with the psychological depth of Graham Greene's BRIGHTON ROCK. Extraordinary.' A. J. FINN 'A tour de force. A brilliant marriage of tension and rich detail.' HARRIET TYCE 'An epic, brutal, blockbuster of a crime novel. It's the best film noir you've never seen complete with a love story that might just rip your heart out.' TREVOR WOOD 'An enthralling tale that takes you into the seamy heart of Soho's past. Written in Nolan's visceral, muscular prose, it is a joy to read.' LESLEY KARA 'A rich, ambitious, masterpiece of a crime novel' OLIVIA KIERNAN 'Poetic and tragic...but also vibrant, with a great depth of world and character' JAMES DELARGY Praise for Dominic Nolan: 'Nolan is set to become Britain's Michael Connelly' DAILY MAIL 'This powerhouse novel is not for the fragile-hearted...one hell of a debut' HEAT 'A smart, distinctive debut' SUNDAY MIRROR