A chance discovery in the village of Cullybackey Co. Antrim in 2006 reveals the documents relating to a previously unknown investigator of Ballymena Co. Antrim, one Brock Adair. Born in 1771 he and his colleague Charles Kinhilt, a solicitor from Cullybackey, conducted numerous investigations into crime in the Co. Antrim area and in the whole of Ireland. These were conducted prior to an established police force in Ireland. Charles Kinhilt had recorded the details of Brock Adair's investigations. He assisted Brock with these enquiries. Both Charles and Brock were educated locally in Ballymena and latterly at Trinity College Dublin. Brock Adair was called upon by the Local military commander Captain Dickey to assist with a number of enquiries. He gained a reputation of being an outstanding observer and investigator. This short story outlines the enquiries made by Brock Adair and Charles Kinhilt into the vicious murder of Florence McSorley in Meeting House Lane Ballymena in 1796. Brock investigates this vicious attack on the mother of two. It shocks the community. Will he be able to find the killer? This is one of a number of enquiries lead by Brock Adair.

From the bestselling author of The House at Riverton and The Forgotten Garden, Kate Morton brings us her trademark mix of secrets, lies, and intricately layered mysteries in The Clockmaker's Daughter. My real name, no one remembers. The truth about that summer, no one else knows. In the depths of a nineteenth-century winter, a little girl is abandoned in the narrow streets of London. Adopted by a mysterious stranger, she becomes in turn a thief, a friend, a muse, and a lover. Then, in the summer of 1862, shortly after her eighteenth birthday, she retreats with a group of artists to a beautiful house on a quiet bend of the Upper Thames . . . Tensions simmer and one hot afternoon a gunshot rings out. A woman is killed, another disappears, and the truth of what happened slips through the cracks of time. Over the next century and beyond, Birchwood Manor welcomes many newcomers but guards its secret closely - until another young woman is drawn to visit the house because of a family secret of her own . . . As the mystery begins to unravel, we discover the stories of those who have passed through Birchwood Manor since that fateful day in 1862. Intricately layered and richly atmospheric, it shows that, sometimes, the only way forward is through the past.

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...

'My father had spelt it out to me. Choice was a luxury I couldn't afford. This is your story, Red. You must tell it well . . .' A young girl known as Red, the daughter of a Cornish fortune-teller, travels with her father making a living predicting fortunes using the ancient method: the Square of Sevens. When her father suddenly dies, Red becomes the ward of a gentleman scholar. Now raised as a lady amidst the Georgian splendour of Bath, her fortune-telling is a delight to high society, but she cannot ignore the questions that gnaw at her soul: who was her mother? How did she die? And who are the mysterious enemies her father was always terrified would find him? The pursuit of these mysteries takes her from Cornwall and Bath to London and Devon, from the rough ribaldry of the Bartholemew Fair to the grand houses of two of the most powerful families in England. And while Red's quest brings her the possibility of great reward, it also leads into her grave danger . . . Laura Shepherd-Robinson's The Square of Sevens is an epic and sweeping novel set in Georgian high society, a dazzling story offering up mystery, intrigue, heartbreak, and audacious twists.

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.

The first in a sparkling new 1950s seaside mystery series, featuring sharp-eyed former nun Nora Breen.

After thirty years in a convent, Nora Breen has thrown off her habit and set her sights on the seaside town of Gore-on-Sea. Her fellow sister Frieda has gone missing and it's up to Nora to find her.

Nora's only clue is that Frieda was last seen at Gulls Nest boarding House. So she travels down, takes a room and settles in to watch and listen. Over dubious - and sometimes downright inedible - dinners, Nora gathers evidence about the other lodgers and what they knew about Frieda.

At long last, Nora has found the perfect outlet for her powers of observation and, well, nosiness. When one of the lodgers is found dead, Nora decides she must find the murderer. Not least because she suspects the victim knew Frieda. Could solving this mystery help her to understand what has happened to her friend?

'Laura Shepherd-Robinson is a brilliant, brilliant writer, up there with CJ Sansom and Andrew Taylor' - James O'Brien 'The queen of the historical crime novel' - CJ Tudor 'My father had spelt it out to me. Choice was a luxury I couldn't afford. This is your story, Red. You must tell it well . . .' A girl known only as Red, the daughter of a Cornish fortune-teller, travels with her father making a living predicting fortunes using the ancient method: the Square of Sevens. When her father suddenly dies, Red becomes the ward of a gentleman scholar. Now raised as a lady amidst the Georgian splendour of Bath, her fortune-telling is a delight to high society, but she cannot ignore the questions that gnaw at her soul: who was her mother? How did she die? And who are the mysterious enemies her father was always terrified would find him? The pursuit of these mysteries takes her from Cornwall and Bath to London and Devon, from the rough ribaldry of the Bartholemew Fair to the grand houses of two of the most powerful families in England. And while Red's quest brings her the possibility of great reward, it also leads into her grave danger . . . Laura Shepherd-Robinson's The Square of Sevens is an epic and sweeping novel set in Georgian high society, a dazzling story offering up mystery, intrigue, heartbreak, and audacious twists. Praise for Laura Shepherd-Robinson, author of Blood & Sugar and Daughters of Night 'A page-turner of a crime thriller . . . This is a world conveyed with convincing, terrible clarity' - C. J. Sansom, number one bestselling author of the Shardlake series 'The best historical crime novel I will read this year' - Antonia Senior, The Times 'Shepherd-Robinson would be advised to clear her shelves for future awards' - Financial Times 'Here's one where the pages turn all by themselves and the plot doesn't let you go' - Diane Setterfield, bestselling author of Once Upon A River

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?