As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing...  more

As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours. Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a twelve-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox, his partner and closest friend, find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past.

Six months after the events of In the Woods, Detective Cassie Maddox is still trying to recover. She's transferred out of the murder squad and started a relationship with Detective Sam O'Neill, but she's too badly shaken to make a commitment to him or to her career. Then Sam calls...  more

Six months after the events of In the Woods, Detective Cassie Maddox is still trying to recover. She's transferred out of the murder squad and started a relationship with Detective Sam O'Neill, but she's too badly shaken to make a commitment to him or to her career. Then Sam calls her to the scene of his new case: a young woman found stabbed to death in a small town outside Dublin. The dead girl's ID says her name is Lexie Madison -- the identity Cassie used years ago as an undercover detective -- and she looks exactly like Cassie. With no leads, no suspects, and no clue to Lexie's real identity, Cassie's old undercover boss, Frank Mackey, spots the opportunity of a lifetime. They can say that the stab wound wasn't fatal and send Cassie undercover in her place to find out information that the police never would and to tempt the killer out of hiding. At first Cassie thinks the idea is crazy, but she is seduced by the prospect of working on a murder investigation again and by the idea of assuming the victim's identity as a graduate student with a cozy group of friends. As she is drawn into Lexie's world, Cassie realizes that the girl's secrets run deeper than anyone imagined. Her friends are becoming suspicious, Sam has discovered a generations-old feud involving the old house the students live in, and Frank is starting to suspect that Cassie's growing emotional involvement could put the whole investigation at risk. Another gripping psychological thriller featuring the headstrong protagonist we've come to love, from an author who has proven that she can deliver.

Death is reporter Jack McEvoy's beat: his calling, his obsession. But this time, death brings McEvoy the story he never wanted to write -- and the mystery he desperately needs to solve. A serial killer of unprecedented savagery and cunning is at large. His targets: homicide cops, each...  more

Death is reporter Jack McEvoy's beat: his calling, his obsession. But this time, death brings McEvoy the story he never wanted to write -- and the mystery he desperately needs to solve. A serial killer of unprecedented savagery and cunning is at large. His targets: homicide cops, each haunted by a murder case he couldn't crack. The killer's calling card: a quotation from the works of Edgar Allen Poe. His latest victim is McEvoy's own brother. And his last...may be McEvoy himself.

Every once in a while a new writer comes along with the voice, the passion, the originality, and the humanity to become a star. Such a writer is Stephen Booth, whose debut suspense novel Black Dog is already a bestseller in Britain. It's a long, hot summer in Northern England's Peak District,...  more

Every once in a while a new writer comes along with the voice, the passion, the originality, and the humanity to become a star. Such a writer is Stephen Booth, whose debut suspense novel Black Dog is already a bestseller in Britain. It's a long, hot summer in Northern England's Peak District, where police helicopters darken blue skies and drown out the sound of birdsong. Fifteen-year-old Laura Vernon, smart, sexy, and the keeper of many secrets, is missing. Possibly she has run off to London. Possibly she's dead. The police search, the wealthy parents wait by the phone. Detective Constable Ben Cooper quietly dreads the worst. When retired miner Harry Dickinson and his black Labrador find the body lying in the woods, Harry's strangely obstinate refusal to cooperate with the investigation raises more than a few eyebrows. What about the parents? Graham Vernon is a man who knows all about secrets. What are he and his glamorous wife holding back? Ben Cooper, who lives with a personal tragedy and who has known the villagers all his life, finds himself uneasily teamed with an ambitious newcomer, Detective Constable Diane Fry, who has her own secrets. As Ben and Diane begin a complicated dance of suspicion, attraction, and frustration, they discover that to understand the present, they must also understand the past. Loyalty, betrayal, friendship, family -- what do they mean, and what happens when loyalties clash? In the tradition of Reginald Hill, Minette Walters, Barbara Vine, and Peter Robinson, this richly textured, evocative, stylish novel marks the auspicious debut of a major crime-writing talent.

In a remote part of Northern England's Peak District stand the Nine Virgins -- ancient stone monoliths that harbor dark legends. Now, another figure has joined the circle: a young cyclist, her lifeless limbs arranged in a mocking dance. The killing eerily resembles an earlier attack that...  more

In a remote part of Northern England's Peak District stand the Nine Virgins -- ancient stone monoliths that harbor dark legends. Now, another figure has joined the circle: a young cyclist, her lifeless limbs arranged in a mocking dance. The killing eerily resembles an earlier attack that left a woman savagely disfigured. For Detectives Cooper and Fry, there are too many questions with no answers. Was there a prior connection between the two victims? What was the precious object that one of them carried? And who are the two mysterious drifters who practice strange rituals? All that Cooper and Fry know for certain is that innocent blood has been spilled on the barren moors -- and that the killing has only begun in the shadow of the Virgins....

It isn't the easiest way to commit suicide. Marie Tennent seems simply to have curled into a fetal position in the freezing snow out on Irontongue Hill and remained there until her body was frozen over. There's no one to observe her death but the foxes and the hares. Her body has...  more

It isn't the easiest way to commit suicide. Marie Tennent seems simply to have curled into a fetal position in the freezing snow out on Irontongue Hill and remained there until her body was frozen over. There's no one to observe her death but the foxes and the hares. Her body has bruises, though. Her death is tragic. Is it also suspicious? Marie's is not the only death the police have to investigate. What about the baby's body that is discovered in the burned-out hulk of a World War II bomber? And the unidentified man who is crushed by a snowplow? Snow and ice have left E Division depleted, and Detective Sergeant Diane Fry needs all the help she can get. But her colleague, Detective Constable Ben Cooper, is following a cold trail of his own. In the winter of 1945, a Royal Air Force bomber crashed on the same Irontongue Hill where Marie Tennent's body was found, killing everyone except pilot Danny McTeague, who disappeared with a large sum of money. Now his granddaughter, Alison Morrissey, has arrived from across the Atlantic to clear his name. As Fry and Cooper pursue their respective cases, they must also struggle to work together. Where there once was attraction, there now is distrust -- and perhaps something more. Work comes first...but life can intervene in strange ways. Already a star in his native Britain, author Stephen Booth brings emotional tension and genuine surprise to this elegantly crafted and supremely satisfying crime novel.

As rural England slowly emerges from the sorrow of World War I, a particularly vicious attack on a household in a small Surrey village leaves five butchered bodies and no explanation for the killings. Sent by Scotland Yard to investigate is Inspector John Madden, a man still recovering from his...  more

As rural England slowly emerges from the sorrow of World War I, a particularly vicious attack on a household in a small Surrey village leaves five butchered bodies and no explanation for the killings. Sent by Scotland Yard to investigate is Inspector John Madden, a man still recovering from his own war experience and from the deaths of his wife and child. The local police dismiss the slaughter as a botched robbery, but Madden detects the signs of a madman at work. With the help of beautiful Dr. Helen Blackwell, who introduces him to the new science of criminal psychology, Madden sets out to capture the killer, even as the murderer sets his sights on his next innocent victims.

With The New York Times Notable Book River of Darkness, Rennie Airth established himself as a formidable master of suspense. Now, in The Blood-Dimmed Tide, Airth returns with a macabre tale, filled with fascinating historical detail, of the social struggles of post–World War I Britain...  more

With The New York Times Notable Book River of Darkness, Rennie Airth established himself as a formidable master of suspense. Now, in The Blood-Dimmed Tide, Airth returns with a macabre tale, filled with fascinating historical detail, of the social struggles of post–World War I Britain and the looming menace of Hitler’s Germany. It is 1932, and former Inspector John Madden leads a quiet life in rural England with his wife and children—until a young village girl is savagely murdered. The crime catapults Madden into the grisly world of a brutal killer. Along with his former colleagues at Scotland Yard, Madden soon finds himself enlisting the help of the British secret service and the German police. Together they use the burgeoning science of criminal psychology in order to grasp the workings of the twisted mind of a cunning, sophisticated murderer—but can Madden prevent him from killing again?

The murder of a young Polish girl in wartime London puts John Madden on the trail of a ruthless hired killer  On a freezing London night in 1944, Rosa Novak is brutally murdered during a blackout. The police suspect she was the victim of a random act of violence and might have dropped the...  more

The murder of a young Polish girl in wartime London puts John Madden on the trail of a ruthless hired killer  On a freezing London night in 1944, Rosa Novak is brutally murdered during a blackout. The police suspect she was the victim of a random act of violence and might have dropped the case if former police investigator John Madden hadn't been the victim's employer.  Madden's old colleagues at Scotland Yard are working on it, but their scant clues lead them to Europe, where the ravages of the war halt their inquiries. Madden feels he owes it to Rosa to find her killer and pushes the investigation until he stumbles upon the dead girl's connection to a murdered Parisian furrier, a member of the Resistance, and a stolen cache of diamonds.

A detective and an FBI agent embark upon the most harrowing case of their careers as they attempt to track down an enigmatic killer in this relentlessly suspenseful thriller. The killer announces his heinous acts in advance with desperate phone calls and ties his crimes together with songs that...  more

A detective and an FBI agent embark upon the most harrowing case of their careers as they attempt to track down an enigmatic killer in this relentlessly suspenseful thriller. The killer announces his heinous acts in advance with desperate phone calls and ties his crimes together with songs that point to his victims; he then mutilates them and removes their faces. Set in Monte Carlo and featuring an international cast of intriguing characters, the hunt for the deranged perpetrator remains gripping and unsettling, possibly even more so, after the killer?s identity is revealed and the detectives must close in on their target before he strikes again. Written with richness and aplomb, this international bestseller presents a major talent to the American market for the first time, providing its audience with a memorably horrific thrill that may ultimately prove unshakable.

Eileen Dreyer takes you into the dark corners and intense moments of the worlds she knows best: the ER and the Office of the Medical Examiner in St. Louis... Molly Burke is a death investigator and trauma nurse for the city of St. Louis who has seen every type of atrocity and more than her...  more

Eileen Dreyer takes you into the dark corners and intense moments of the worlds she knows best: the ER and the Office of the Medical Examiner in St. Louis... Molly Burke is a death investigator and trauma nurse for the city of St. Louis who has seen every type of atrocity and more than her share of heartbreak. And she knows that no good deed goes unpunished. For years she tried to save the abused children who came through her ER. She's learned that she can save some kids, but others will be lost to their horrific families. Now, a child she once tried to save is all grown up. His life was unspeakable. His deeds are now unfathomable. And he wants Molly's attention. A killer has been created and he will stop at nothing to make sure Molly Burke won't ignore him now. To make matters even more complicated, Molly's brother asks her to watch his sixteen-year-old son, who seems to have left a string of "incidents" in his wake, forcing her to face the fact that no family is without its secrets. Breathtaking, tightly plotted, and compelling, Head Games is a tour-de-force thriller that looks into the depths of the human heart and mind.

In 1972, on the day of his sentencing, renowned artist and serial killer Marsden Hexcamp is shot dead in the courtroom. Members of his Mansonesque band of followers are imprisoned or simply disappear. Fast-forward more than thirty years: A suspected prostitute is found murdered in a candlelit...  more

In 1972, on the day of his sentencing, renowned artist and serial killer Marsden Hexcamp is shot dead in the courtroom. Members of his Mansonesque band of followers are imprisoned or simply disappear. Fast-forward more than thirty years: A suspected prostitute is found murdered in a candlelit motel room, the first in a series of horrors suggesting Hexcamp’s art remains alive and treacherous. Following a trail of beautiful--and profoundly disturbing--artwork, homicide detectives Carson Ryder and Harry Nautilus descend into the shocking world of the Death Collectors, people who spend vast sums to collect serial-killer memorabilia. As Ryder and Nautilus race to solve a thirty-year conspiracy, it becomes sadly evident that at the intersection of art and madness, death is beauty, tragedy a memento, and suffering suitable for framing.

The spine-chilling serial killer thriller featuring Carson Ryder -- the homicide detective with a hidden secret that could destroy his career. These brothers have murder in their veins. Detective Carson Ryder's sworn duty is to track killers down. He's never revealed the fact that his...  more

The spine-chilling serial killer thriller featuring Carson Ryder -- the homicide detective with a hidden secret that could destroy his career. These brothers have murder in their veins. Detective Carson Ryder's sworn duty is to track killers down. He's never revealed the fact that his brother, Jeremy, is one of America's most notorious killers -- now imprisoned. Secretly, Ryder has used Jeremy's homicidal insight to solve cases. He's made a career out of it. Now his brother's escaped and is at large in New York. With Jeremy the chief suspect in a series of horrifying mutilation-murders, a mysterious video demands Ryder be brought in to help. It looks like a straightforward manhunt. It couldn't be more different -- or more terrifying. A dangerous cat-and-mouse game develops between Jeremy, and the NYPD with Ryder in the middle, trying to keep his brother alive and the cops in the dark. But it's a game of life, death and deceit, a game with an unknown number of players and no clear way of winning!

Children are disappearing in Mobile, Alabama, the latest snatched from her own bedroom. There are no clues - and, as yet, no bodies. Homicide Detective Carson Ryder is called in to investigate the abduction of little LaShelle Shearing only to find the case getting tangled up in murky...  more

Children are disappearing in Mobile, Alabama, the latest snatched from her own bedroom. There are no clues - and, as yet, no bodies. Homicide Detective Carson Ryder is called in to investigate the abduction of little LaShelle Shearing only to find the case getting tangled up in murky departmental and civic politics. And with his partner Harry Nautilus fighting for his life after being viciously attacked, Carson is feeling increasingly isolated. Public rage is now reaching dangerous levels, and Ryder's bosses turn for help to ex-Detective Conner Sandhill whose uncanny ability to spot connections and details missed by others is legendary -- but who left the department under a cloud. Ryder and Sandhill form an uneasy alliance in the hunt for the missing children, a hunt which becomes all the more urgent for tragic personal reasons. But at the root of these disappearances is something truly evil -- and its source is closer to home than either could have imagined.

Martin Beck investigates one of the strangest, most violent, and unforgettable crimes of his career. The incendiary device that blew the roof off a Stockholm apartment not only interrupted the small, peaceful orgy underway inside, it nearly took the lives of the building's eleven...  more

Martin Beck investigates one of the strangest, most violent, and unforgettable crimes of his career. The incendiary device that blew the roof off a Stockholm apartment not only interrupted the small, peaceful orgy underway inside, it nearly took the lives of the building's eleven occupants. And if one of Martin Beck's colleagues hadn't been on the scene, the explosion would have led to a major catastrophe because somehow a regulation fire-truck has vanished. Was it terrorism, suicide, or simply a gas leak? And what if, anything, did the explosion have to do with the peculiar death earlier that day of a 46-year-old bachelor whose cryptic suicide note consisted of only two words: "Martin Beck"?

With its wonderfully observed lawmen (including the inimitable Martin Beck), its brilliantly rendered felons and their murky Stockholm underworld, and its deftly engineered plot, The Laughing Policeman is a classic of the police procedural and "must reading for anyone who claims to be [a...  more

With its wonderfully observed lawmen (including the inimitable Martin Beck), its brilliantly rendered felons and their murky Stockholm underworld, and its deftly engineered plot, The Laughing Policeman is a classic of the police procedural and "must reading for anyone who claims to be [a student] of the best detective fiction" (Saturday Review).

Someone is killing young girls in the once-peaceful parks of Stockholm -- killing them after having his way. The people of Stockholm are tense and fearful. Police Superintendent Martin Beck has two witnesses: a cold-blooded mugger who won't say much and a three-year-old boy who can't say...  more

Someone is killing young girls in the once-peaceful parks of Stockholm -- killing them after having his way. The people of Stockholm are tense and fearful. Police Superintendent Martin Beck has two witnesses: a cold-blooded mugger who won't say much and a three-year-old boy who can't say much. The dedicated work of the police force seems to be leading nowhere, and with each passing day, the likelihood of another murder grows. But then Beck remembers someone -- or something -- he overheard. A quietly relentless thriller, The Man on the Balcony juxtaposes the most inhuman of crimes with the humanity of the men who must solve it -- their perseverance, frustration, and horror -- resulting in a police procedural that is as moving and credible as it is enthralling.

In a country town, a woman is brutally murdered and left buried in a swamp. There are two main suspects: her closest neighbor and her ex-husband. Meanwhile, on a quiet suburban street a midnight shootout takes place between three cops and two teenage boys. Dead, one cop and one kid. Wounded, two...  more

In a country town, a woman is brutally murdered and left buried in a swamp. There are two main suspects: her closest neighbor and her ex-husband. Meanwhile, on a quiet suburban street a midnight shootout takes place between three cops and two teenage boys. Dead, one cop and one kid. Wounded, two cops. Escaped, one kid. Martin Beck and his partner Lenart Kollberg are called in to investigate. As Beck digs deeper into the murky waters of the young girl’s murder, Kollberg scours the town for the teenager, and together they are forced to examine the changing face of crime.

In his work as a Miami crime scene investigator, Dexter Morgan is not unaccustomed to seeing evil deeds?particularly because, on occasion, he commits them himself. Guided by his Dark Passenger (the reptilian voice inside him), he lives his outwardly normal life adhering to one simple rule: he...  more

In his work as a Miami crime scene investigator, Dexter Morgan is not unaccustomed to seeing evil deeds?particularly because, on occasion, he commits them himself. Guided by his Dark Passenger (the reptilian voice inside him), he lives his outwardly normal life adhering to one simple rule: he only kills very bad people. But Dexter?s happy existence is turned upside-down when he is called to a particularly disturbing crime scene at the university campus. Dexter?s Dark Passenger immediately senses something it recognizes, something utterly chilling, and the Dark Passenger?mastermind of Dexter?s investigative and homicidal prowess?goes into hiding. Dexter is alone for the first time in his life, and he realizes he?s being hunted by an adversary more sinister than anything he?s ever faced. Dexter must summon his sharpest investigative powers not only to pursue his enemy, but to locate?and truly understand?his Dark Passenger. It is nothing less than a search for his own dark soul?fueled by a steady supply of cream-filled donuts.

When a lonely old man is found murdered in his Reykjavik flat, the only clues are a cryptic note left by the killer and a photograph of a young girl's grave. Inspector Erlendur, who heads the investigation team, discovers that many years ago the victim was accused, though not convicted, of...  more

When a lonely old man is found murdered in his Reykjavik flat, the only clues are a cryptic note left by the killer and a photograph of a young girl's grave. Inspector Erlendur, who heads the investigation team, discovers that many years ago the victim was accused, though not convicted, of an unsolved crime. Did the old man's past come back to haunt him? As the team of detectives reopen this very cold case, Inspector Erlendur uncovers secrets that are much larger than the murder of one old man -- secrets that have been carefully guarded by many people for many years. As he follows a fascinating trail of unusual forensic evidence, Erlendur also confronts stubborn personal conflicts that reveal his own depth and complexity of character.  

Following the huge success of Silence of the Grave, Indridason has followed through with another spellbinding thriller — the third in the award-winning Reykjavik Murder Mysteries.At a grand Reykjavik hotel the doorman has been repeatedly stabbed in the dingy basement room he called home....  more

Following the huge success of Silence of the Grave, Indridason has followed through with another spellbinding thriller — the third in the award-winning Reykjavik Murder Mysteries.At a grand Reykjavik hotel the doorman has been repeatedly stabbed in the dingy basement room he called home. It is only a few days before Christmas and he was preparing to appear as Santa Claus at a children’s party. The manager tries to keep the murder under wraps. A glum detective taking up residence in his hotel and an intrusive murder investigation are not what he needs.As Erlendur quietly surveys the cast of grotesques who populate the hotel, the web of malice, greed and corruption which lies beneath its surface reveals itself. Everyone has something to hide. But most shocking is the childhood secret of the dead man who, many years before, was the most famous child singer in the country: it turns out to be a brush with stardom that would ultimately cost him everything. As Christmas Day approaches, Erlendur must delve deeply into the past to find the man’s killer.Voices is a tense, atmospheric and disturbing novel from one of Europe’s greatest crime writers.

When a skeleton is discovered half-buried in a construction site outside of Reykjavik, Inspector Erlendur finds himself knee-deep in both a crime scene and an archeological dig. Bone by bone, the body is unearthed, and the brutalizing history of a family who lived near the building site comes to...  more

When a skeleton is discovered half-buried in a construction site outside of Reykjavik, Inspector Erlendur finds himself knee-deep in both a crime scene and an archeological dig. Bone by bone, the body is unearthed, and the brutalizing history of a family who lived near the building site comes to light along with it. Was the skeleton a man or a woman, a victim or a killer, and is this a simple case of murder or a long-concealed act of justice? As Erlendur tries to crack this cold case, he must also save his drug-addicted daughter from self destruction and somehow glue his hopelessly fractured family back together.

In the wake of an earthquake, the water level of an Icelandic lake drops suddenly, revealing the skeleton of a man half-buried in its sandy bed. It is clear immediately that it has been there for many years. There is a large hole in the skull. Yet more mysteriously, a heavy communication device...  more

In the wake of an earthquake, the water level of an Icelandic lake drops suddenly, revealing the skeleton of a man half-buried in its sandy bed. It is clear immediately that it has been there for many years. There is a large hole in the skull. Yet more mysteriously, a heavy communication device is attached to it, possibly some sort of radio transmitter, bearing inscriptions in Russian.The police are called in and Erlendur, Elinborg and Sigurdur Oli begin their investigation, which gradually leads them back to the time of the Cold War when bright, left-wing students would be sent from Iceland to study in the “heavenly State” of Communist East Germany.The Draining Lake is another masterfully written Indridason mystery about passions and shattered dreams, the fate of the missing and the grief of those left behind.

Former London policeman Alan Banks relocated to Yorkshire seeking some small measure of peace. But depravity and violence are unfortunately not unique to large cities. His new venue, the quaint little village of Eastvale, seems to have more than its fair share of malefactors -- among them a...  more

Former London policeman Alan Banks relocated to Yorkshire seeking some small measure of peace. But depravity and violence are unfortunately not unique to large cities. His new venue, the quaint little village of Eastvale, seems to have more than its fair share of malefactors -- among them a brazen Peeping Tom who hides in night's shadows spying on attractive, unsuspecting ladies as they prepare for bed. And when an elderly woman is found brutally slain in her home, Chief Inspector Banks wonders if the voyeur has increased the awful intensity of his criminal activities. But whether related or not, perverse local acts and murderous ones are combining to profoundly touch Banks's suddenly vulnerable personal life, forcing a dedicated law officer to make hard choices he'd dearly hoped would never be necessary.

Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch--and there's always a...  more

Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch--and there's always a catch--is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues.

Drew Maclane was a star agent - until the day the killing had to stop. He withdrew and for six years lived the life of a hermit in a monastery. But someone has tracked him down, leaving a trail of corpses. Someone who knows all about him, who knows how to draw him back into that electrifying...  more

Drew Maclane was a star agent - until the day the killing had to stop. He withdrew and for six years lived the life of a hermit in a monastery. But someone has tracked him down, leaving a trail of corpses. Someone who knows all about him, who knows how to draw him back into that electrifying world where no one is as he seems, and where life's most horrifying and harrowing game is played....The Fraternity of the Stone"As cunningly woven as a spider's web."PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

They were orphans, Chris and Saul -- raised in a Philadelphia school for boys, bonded by friendship, and devoted to a mysterious man called Eliot. He visited them and brought them candy. He treated them like sons. He trained them to be assassins. Now he is trying desperately to have them...  more

They were orphans, Chris and Saul -- raised in a Philadelphia school for boys, bonded by friendship, and devoted to a mysterious man called Eliot. He visited them and brought them candy. He treated them like sons. He trained them to be assassins. Now he is trying desperately to have them killed. Spanning the globe, here is an astonishing novel of fierce loyalty and violent betrayal, of murders planned and coolly executed, of revenge bitterly, urgently desired.

One afternoon after school, nine-year-old Emilie doesn't come home. Her father finds the backpack from her late mother, that would never be abandoned willingly. A week later, a five-year-old boy goes missing. And then another child.  Meanwhile, Johanna Vik, a former FBI profiler with...  more

One afternoon after school, nine-year-old Emilie doesn't come home. Her father finds the backpack from her late mother, that would never be abandoned willingly. A week later, a five-year-old boy goes missing. And then another child.  Meanwhile, Johanna Vik, a former FBI profiler with a troubled past and a difficult young daughter, tries to overturn a decades-old false murder conviction. Police Commissioner Stubo lost his wife and daughter, has only his grandson left, and needs to solve the case. Johanna resists helping until the bodies return to their homes with notes "You got what you deserved".

All over Oslo, celebrities are turning up dead in the most macabre of situations: a talk show host with her tongue cut out, a politician crucified with a copy of the Koran stuffed up her private parts, a literary critic stabbed in the eye. It's clear that the killer seeks some sort of...  more

All over Oslo, celebrities are turning up dead in the most macabre of situations: a talk show host with her tongue cut out, a politician crucified with a copy of the Koran stuffed up her private parts, a literary critic stabbed in the eye. It's clear that the killer seeks some sort of retribution, but for what? Adam Stubo and Johanna Vik, recently new parents, are reluctantly drawn into the investigation. As Stubo leads the inquiry, Johanna is exhausted by the new baby. But she is haunted by a pattern she discovers from a time long ago when she was in the FBI, a time she has tried to forget ... and time is running out to stop the killer from completing this chilling series of murders.

It's midsummer in the Shetland Islands, the time of the white nights, when birds sing at midnight and the sun never sets. Artist Bella Sinclair throws an elaborate party to launch an exhibition of her work at The Herring House, a gallery on the beach. The party ends in farce when one the...  more

It's midsummer in the Shetland Islands, the time of the white nights, when birds sing at midnight and the sun never sets. Artist Bella Sinclair throws an elaborate party to launch an exhibition of her work at The Herring House, a gallery on the beach. The party ends in farce when one the guests, a mysterious Englishman, bursts into tears and claims not to know who he is or where he's come from. The following day the Englishman is found hanging from a rafter, and Detective Jimmy Perez is convinced that the man has been murdered. He is reinforced in this belief when Roddy, Bella's musician nephew, is murdered, too. But the detective's relationship with Fran Hunter may have clouded his judgment, for this is a crazy time of the year when night blurs into day and nothing is quite as it seems.

Nothing seems beyond a doubt when Bree opens a cold-case file with clues too close for comfort. Arson. Theft. Murder. When Bree Nichols discovers a corpse in her own basement, a whirlwind investigation ushers an unbidden danger to all she holds dear. Without safe haven in her lighthouse home...  more

Nothing seems beyond a doubt when Bree opens a cold-case file with clues too close for comfort. Arson. Theft. Murder. When Bree Nichols discovers a corpse in her own basement, a whirlwind investigation ushers an unbidden danger to all she holds dear. Without safe haven in her lighthouse home -- or in the arms of a new love -- the young widow struggles to free her family from the tentacles of an age-old crime that strikes at the heart of Rock Harbor.  

A plane crash claimed the lives of her husband and son, but Bree Nichols and Samson, her search-and-rescue dog, won't rest until they've recovered the lost bodies--or combed every inch of the wilderness trying. Meanwhile, the quiet town of Rock Harbor is disturbed by a violent crime....  more

A plane crash claimed the lives of her husband and son, but Bree Nichols and Samson, her search-and-rescue dog, won't rest until they've recovered the lost bodies--or combed every inch of the wilderness trying. Meanwhile, the quiet town of Rock Harbor is disturbed by a violent crime. Bree soon discovers a personal stake in the solving of the murder, and in the course of her investigation, discovers links to her husband's plane crash. Could solving the crime bring her peace with her own loss? Or, more incredibly, reunite her family?

Part Irish, part Anishinaabe Indian, Corcoran "Cork" O'Connor is the former sheriff of Aurora, Minnesota. Embittered by his "former" status, and the marital meltdown that has separated him from his children, Cork gets by on heavy doses of caffeine, nicotine, and guilt....  more

Part Irish, part Anishinaabe Indian, Corcoran "Cork" O'Connor is the former sheriff of Aurora, Minnesota. Embittered by his "former" status, and the marital meltdown that has separated him from his children, Cork gets by on heavy doses of caffeine, nicotine, and guilt. Once a cop on Chicago's South Side, there's not much that can shock him. But when the town's judge is brutally murdered, and a young Eagle Scout is reported missing, Cork takes on a mind-jolting case of conspiracy, corruption, and scandal. As a lakeside blizzard buries Aurora, Cork must dig out the truth among town officials who seem dead-set on stopping his investigation in its tracks. But even Cork freezes up when faced with the harshest enemy of all: a small-town secret that hits painfully close to home.

Just recovered from a grave illness himself, Commander Adam Dalgliesh is called to the bedside of an elderly priest. When Dalgliesh arrives, Father Baddeley is dead. Is it merely his own brush with mortality that causes Dalgliesh to sense the shadow of death about to fall once more?

With Death in Holy Orders, P. D. James makes a triumphant return to the genre for which she is best known - the classic English detective story. The story is set in an Anglican theological college on a desolate stretch of the East Anglian coast. When the body of one of the students is found on...  more

With Death in Holy Orders, P. D. James makes a triumphant return to the genre for which she is best known - the classic English detective story. The story is set in an Anglican theological college on a desolate stretch of the East Anglian coast. When the body of one of the students is found on the shore, his wealthy father demands that Scotland Yard should reexamine the verdict of accidental death. Dalgliesh has visited St Anselm's in his boyhood and, as he is due for a holiday, agrees to pay a visit. As the weekend brings another murder, Dalgliesh soon finds himself embroiled in one of the most horrific and puzzling cases of his career...Death in Holy Orders is vintage P. D. James with sensitive evocation of place, a complex and credible mystery, respect for forensic detail and the tension a plot that never flags.

Meet Chet, the wise and lovable canine narrator of Dog on It, who works alongside Bernie, a down-on-his-luck private investigator. Chet might have flunked out of police school ("I'd been the best leaper in K-9 class, which had led to all the trouble in a way I couldn't remember...  more

Meet Chet, the wise and lovable canine narrator of Dog on It, who works alongside Bernie, a down-on-his-luck private investigator. Chet might have flunked out of police school ("I'd been the best leaper in K-9 class, which had led to all the trouble in a way I couldn't remember exactly, although blood was involved"), but he's a detective through and through. In this, their first adventure, Chet and Bernie investigate the disappearance of Madison, a teenage girl who may or may not have been kidnapped, but who has definitely gotten mixed up with some very unsavory characters. A well-behaved, gifted student, she didn't arrive home after school and her divorced mother is frantic. Bernie is quick to take the case -- something about a cash flow problem that Chet's not all that clear about -- and he's relieved, if vaguely suspicious, when Madison turns up unharmed with a story that doesn't add up. But when she disappears for a second time in a week, Bernie and Chet aren't taking any chances; they launch a full-blown investigation. Without a ransom demand, they're not convinced it's a kidnapping, but they are sure of one thing: something smells funny. Their search for clues takes them into the desert to biker bars and other exotic locals, with Chet's highly trained nose leading the way. Both Chet and Bernie bring their own special skills to the hunt, one that puts each of them in peril. But even as the bad guys try to turn the tables, this duo is nothing if not resourceful, and the result is an uncommonly satisfying adventure. With his doggy ways and his endearingly hard-boiled voice, Chet is full of heart and occasionally prone to mischief. He is intensely loyal to Bernie, who, though distracted by issues that Chet has difficulty understanding -- like divorce, child custody, and other peculiar human concerns -- is enormously likable himself, in his flawed, all-too-human way.

Set in a small town in Switzerland, The Pledge centers around the murder of a young girl and the detective who promises the victim?s mother he will find the perpetrator. After deciding the wrong man has been arrested for the crime, the detective lays a trap for the real killer?with all the...  more

Set in a small town in Switzerland, The Pledge centers around the murder of a young girl and the detective who promises the victim?s mother he will find the perpetrator. After deciding the wrong man has been arrested for the crime, the detective lays a trap for the real killer?with all the patience of a master fisherman. But cruel turns of plot conspire to make him pay dearly for his pledge. Here Friedrich Dürrenmatt conveys his brilliant ear for dialogue and a devastating sense of timing and suspense. Joel Agee?s skilled translation effectively captures the various voices in the original, as well as its chilling conclusion. One of Dürrenmatt?s most diabolically imagined and constructed novels, The Pledge was adapted for the screen in 2000 in a film directed by Sean Penn and starring Jack Nicholson. (02/04/2007)

The course of Frank Mackey's life was set by one defining moment when he was nineteen. The moment his girlfriend, Rosie Daly, failed to turn up for their rendezvous in Faithful Place, failed to run away with him to London as they had planned. Frank never heard from her again. Twenty years on,...  more

The course of Frank Mackey's life was set by one defining moment when he was nineteen. The moment his girlfriend, Rosie Daly, failed to turn up for their rendezvous in Faithful Place, failed to run away with him to London as they had planned. Frank never heard from her again. Twenty years on, Frank is still in Dublin, working as an undercover cop. He's cut all ties with his dysfunctional family. Until his sister calls to say that Rosie's suitcase has been found. Frank embarks on a journey into his past that demands he reevaluate everything he believes to be true.

It is the summer of 1950 -- and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later,...  more

It is the summer of 1950 -- and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath. For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. "I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life."

This dazzling crime-fiction debut ? a dark, haunting, compassionate story of the hunt for a killer motivated by love ? will be the international publishing event of the season.This brilliant debut mystery has it all: characters so realistic they rise off the page; a devious plot that delivers...  more

This dazzling crime-fiction debut ? a dark, haunting, compassionate story of the hunt for a killer motivated by love ? will be the international publishing event of the season.This brilliant debut mystery has it all: characters so realistic they rise off the page; a devious plot that delivers both psychological depth and emotional heights; exceptionally fine, deft writing; a stunning cross-Canada manhunt; a detective like no other; and the promise of more mysteries in the series.The first homicide that Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef, acting chief of the Port Dundas police, has had to investigate in almost three years is that of cancer patient Delia Chandler, a woman who once had an affair with Hazel?s father. When a few days later, and three hundred kilometres away, the mutilated body of an MS sufferer is found, painted in Chandler?s blood, Micallef realizes that someone is killing the terminally ill, and not for mercy?s sake. Hobbled by a bad back and a skeptical police bureaucracy, Inspector Micallef takes it upon herself to coordinate a nationwide manhunt for the killer; a man, she soon learns, who can save a life as dramatically as he can end one ? a man with God on his mind, grief in his heart, and a desperate need to kill.This thrilling psychological tale stands alongside the best contributions to the genre by Barbara Vine (aka Ruth Rendell), Minette Walters, and Patricia Highsmith.The Calling is being published simultaneously in the U.S. by Harcourt and in the U.K. by Transworld.Excerpt from Chapter 1 of The CallingPresently Delia closed her eyes. He listened to her breathing ? low, long, soughing breaths. He lifted an eyelid, but she was profoundly asleep. . . . His eye fell on a leather knife-sheath, and he took it out and held the weight of it in the palm of his hand. He wrapped his fingers around the knife handle, and the sound it made as he drew the blade from its hiding place was like a voice, like a word whispered: an utterance. It said taketh, and he did.From the Hardcover edition.

Three years ago, David Hunter moved to rural Norfolk to escape his life in London, his gritty work in forensics, and a tragedy that nearly destroyed him. Working as a simple country doctor, seeing his lost wife and daughter only in his dreams, David struggles to remain uninvolved when the corpse...  more

Three years ago, David Hunter moved to rural Norfolk to escape his life in London, his gritty work in forensics, and a tragedy that nearly destroyed him. Working as a simple country doctor, seeing his lost wife and daughter only in his dreams, David struggles to remain uninvolved when the corpse of a woman is found in the woods, a macabre sign from her killer decorating her body. In one horrifying instant, the quiet summer countryside that had been David’s refuge has turned malevolent -- and suddenly there is no place to hide. The village of Manham is tight-knit, far from the beaten path. As a newcomer, Dr. Hunter is immediately a suspect. Once an expert in analyzing human remains, he reluctantly joins the police investigation -- and when another woman disappears, it soon becomes personal. Because this time she is someone David knows, someone who has managed to penetrate the icy barrier around his heart. With a killer’s bizarre and twisted methods screaming out to him, with a brooding countryside beset with suspicion, David can feel the darkness gathering around him. For as the clock ticks down on a young woman’s life, David must follow a macabre trail of clues -- all the way to its final, horrifying conclusion.

Lincoln Rhyme was once one of the nation's most brilliant criminologists, a genius in the field of forensics. Now an accident has left him physically crippled and emotionally stunted. But he's about to be dragged into the most explosive case of his already distinguished career. A...  more

Lincoln Rhyme was once one of the nation's most brilliant criminologists, a genius in the field of forensics. Now an accident has left him physically crippled and emotionally stunted. But he's about to be dragged into the most explosive case of his already distinguished career. A diabolical killer known as the Bone Collector has been stalking unsuspecting prey on the streets of New York, and it will take all of Rhyme's investigative skills to stop him. With beautiful police detective Amelia Sachs at his side, Rhyme must uncover a labyrinth of clues to prevent the next grisly crime. But a race against the clock becomes a terrifying battle of wits as Rhyme is drawn, step by chilling step, into the mind of a monstrous madman who won't stop until he has stripped life down to raw bone.

A peaceful Minnesota town, where crime is something that just doesn't happen, is about to face its worst nightmare. A young boy disappears. There are no witnesses, no clues--only a note, cleverly taunting, casually cruel. Has a cold-blooded kidnapper struck? Or is this the reawakening of a...  more

A peaceful Minnesota town, where crime is something that just doesn't happen, is about to face its worst nightmare. A young boy disappears. There are no witnesses, no clues--only a note, cleverly taunting, casually cruel. Has a cold-blooded kidnapper struck? Or is this the reawakening of a long-quiet serial killer? A tough-minded investigator on her first, make-or-break case... A local cop who fears that big city evils have come to stalk his small-town home... Together they are hunting for a madman who knows no bounds, to protect a town that may never feel safe again.

Widowed Inspector Peter Diamond is being pursued by a secret admirer as he pursues a serial killer. Delia Williamson, a mother of two young girls who works as a waitress, is first reported missing by her own mother. She is found in a public park, hanged from the crossbar of a children's...  more

Widowed Inspector Peter Diamond is being pursued by a secret admirer as he pursues a serial killer. Delia Williamson, a mother of two young girls who works as a waitress, is first reported missing by her own mother. She is found in a public park, hanged from the crossbar of a children's swing set. There seems to be no reason for her to have committed suicide, and the postmortem reveals that she was murdered. Her present partner, her ex-husband, and a traveling salesman who dined at her table in the restaurant where she worked, are all suspects. Then her former husband is found in a cave, also hanged. A remorse suicide? Diamond doesn't think so. When a well-to-do couple is found dead, both hanged, a suicide pact is suggested. Diamond is dubious; too many couples are dying by the same method. Before he can figure out what is going on, one more person will die. Peter Lovesey has been honored with the British Crime Writers' Association Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement, as well as with American prizes, such as the Edgar Award. He is an acknowledged master of the mystery form. This is his tenth Peter Diamond mystery set in Bath, England.

Dr. Siri Paiboun, one of the last doctors left in Laos after the Communist takeover, has been drafted to be national coroner. He is untrained for the job, but this independent 72-year-old has an outstanding qualification for it: curiosity. And he doesn't mind incurring the wrath of the Party...  more

Dr. Siri Paiboun, one of the last doctors left in Laos after the Communist takeover, has been drafted to be national coroner. He is untrained for the job, but this independent 72-year-old has an outstanding qualification for it: curiosity. And he doesn't mind incurring the wrath of the Party hierarchy as he unravels mysterious murders, because the spirits of the dead are on his side.

The national coroner of Laos, Dr. Siri Paiboun, is no respecter of persons or party; at his advanced age he can afford to be independent. With the assistance of his helpers, the mentally retarded Mr. Geung and Nurse Dtui ("Fatty")-who has dubbed him "Super Spirit Doc"-he...  more

The national coroner of Laos, Dr. Siri Paiboun, is no respecter of persons or party; at his advanced age he can afford to be independent. With the assistance of his helpers, the mentally retarded Mr. Geung and Nurse Dtui ("Fatty")-who has dubbed him "Super Spirit Doc"-he elucidates the causes of mysterious deaths. But he also communes with the deposed king, whose special channel to the occult has left him, and attends a conference of shamans called by the Communist government to give the spirits an ultimatum: obey party orders or get out. Colin Cotterill was born in London in 1952. He has taught in Australia, the United States and Japan and has lived in Thailand, on the Burmese border, and in Laos. For the last several years he has worked for UNICEF and local non-governmental agencies to prevent child prostitution and to rehabilitate abused children. He lives in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.

The Camel Club. It's where the most influential businessmen and politicians wine, dine, and often change the course of history--and where ruthless mercenaries spy unseen, recording every last bit of information to sell to the highest bidder. But when Harry Stone--homeless man and conspiracy...  more

The Camel Club. It's where the most influential businessmen and politicians wine, dine, and often change the course of history--and where ruthless mercenaries spy unseen, recording every last bit of information to sell to the highest bidder. But when Harry Stone--homeless man and conspiracy theorist extraordinaire--witnesses a gruesome murder, secrets begin to unravel. Stone steals a piece of evidence from the scene that links the Club's founders to the murder of a high-profile government official, and they'll do anything to get it back. Secret Service Agent W. Frank Churchill begins investigating Stone as a murder suspect, but soon, with the help of defense attorney Kate Monroe, he unearths a shocking truth: One man is using the Camel Club for his own terrible devices--and to achieve his horrific goals, he must kill Stone...and anyone else who gets in his way.

Meadowbank was England's most exclusive school for young ladies, a haven untouched by scandal in the many years of its serene existence -- until murder shocked its hallowed halls. The motive was clear: a desert sheik's fortune in spectacular jewels. Now Hercule Poirot, the...  more

Meadowbank was England's most exclusive school for young ladies, a haven untouched by scandal in the many years of its serene existence -- until murder shocked its hallowed halls. The motive was clear: a desert sheik's fortune in spectacular jewels. Now Hercule Poirot, the sharp-eyed and debonair Belgian detective, must unmask the ruthless killer -- a cold-blooded and desperate impostor fighting for her life!

Long a renowned crime writer in France, Pierre Magnan has won numerous prizes and has a huge popular following in his native country. Now, with this mouth-watering series debut, Magnan introduces the celebrated Commissaire Laviolette to U.S. readers. In Banon, a small, peaceful village in upper...  more

Long a renowned crime writer in France, Pierre Magnan has won numerous prizes and has a huge popular following in his native country. Now, with this mouth-watering series debut, Magnan introduces the celebrated Commissaire Laviolette to U.S. readers. In Banon, a small, peaceful village in upper Provençe, the local community’s principal source of income is the cultivation and sale of truffles. Tourists rarely venture into this remote region, but a small group of outsiders have chosen to set up home on the outskirts of the village. When one of them is found dead in the freezer of a local hotel, and when more bodies are discovered in a family vault in the cemetery, it takes all of Commissaire Laviolette’s considerable resources to unravel crimes whose origins can be traced to age-old secrets and superstitions. Brimming with delectable food, eccentric suspects, and the passion of Provençe, Death in the Truffle Wood is an exceptional U.S. debut for the highly lauded Pierre Magnan.

Fired from the police for insubordination, Peter Diamond is reduced to working as a security guard at Harrods. There he finds a tiny Japanese girl after the store closes. He must identify her in order to save her life.

Former Israeli intelligence operative Gabriel Allon is drawn back into the game to take on a cunning terrorist on one last killing spree, a Palestinian zealot who played a dark part in Gabriel's past. And what begins as a manhunt turns into a globe-spanning duel fueled by both political...  more

Former Israeli intelligence operative Gabriel Allon is drawn back into the game to take on a cunning terrorist on one last killing spree, a Palestinian zealot who played a dark part in Gabriel's past. And what begins as a manhunt turns into a globe-spanning duel fueled by both political intrigue and deep personal passions ...

When the badly decayed body of an elderly woman is unearthed, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Lapslie and his sergeant, Emma Bradbury, are called in on the case. The body provides only two mysterious clues to the identity of the murderer: someone with a deadly knowledge of household plants used...  more

When the badly decayed body of an elderly woman is unearthed, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Lapslie and his sergeant, Emma Bradbury, are called in on the case. The body provides only two mysterious clues to the identity of the murderer: someone with a deadly knowledge of household plants used shears to clip the fingertips off the corpse's right hand. But this dearth of evidence is not Lapslie's only problem. He's just returned to the force after a year of relative isolation, trying to avoid the worst symptoms of his synasethsia, a neurological condition that causes him to "taste" sound and that makes his life as complicated as any crime he's been charged with solving. Now he's flooded again--not only with the convolution of senses that can drive him nearly mad but also with the increasing convolutions of the case. The murder appears to be the work of a serial killer, and the investigation is leading in a direction that could be extremely detrimental to Lapslie's career--if not to his very life. Razor-sharp, viscerally descriptive, mesmerizingly eerie and entertaining--and with one of the most clever, ruthless, and sympathetic villains to appear in ages--Still Waters is a stunning start to an exciting new series.

A police captain is murdered in his hospital room and Martin Beck faces one of the greatest challenges in his professional life when his investigations unearths evidence of police corruption and brutality.

Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef is having a bad year. After major back surgery, she has no real option but to move into her ex-husband's basement and suffer the humiliation of his new wife bringing her meals down on a tray. As if that weren't enough, Hazel's octogenarian mother...  more

Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef is having a bad year. After major back surgery, she has no real option but to move into her ex-husband's basement and suffer the humiliation of his new wife bringing her meals down on a tray. As if that weren't enough, Hazel's octogenarian mother secretly flushes Hazel's stash of painkillers down the toilet. It's almost a relief when Hazel gets a call about a body fished up by tourists in one of the lakes near Port Dundas. But what raises the hair on the back of Micallef's neck is that the local paper has just published the first installment of a serialized story featuring such a scenario. Even before they head out to the lake with divers to recover the body, she and DC James Wingate, leading the police detachment in Micallef's absence, know they are being played. But it's not clear who is pulling their strings and why, nor is what they find at the lake at all what they expected. It's Micallef herself who is snared, caught up in a cryptic game devised by someone who knows how to taunt her into opening a cold case, someone who knows that nothing will stop her investigation. Inger Ash Wolfe, a pseudonym used by Russell Smith.  

Blood is thicker than water - and far more deadly ! A woman is lured to a remote spot in the Scottish Highlands and strangled almost to the point of death. As she begs for mercy, her tormentor begins to carve her face, before burying her alive. In Edinburgh, unorthodox young lawyer Brodie...  more

Blood is thicker than water - and far more deadly ! A woman is lured to a remote spot in the Scottish Highlands and strangled almost to the point of death. As she begs for mercy, her tormentor begins to carve her face, before burying her alive. In Edinburgh, unorthodox young lawyer Brodie McLennan becomes tangled up in the case. When it emerges that Brodie was the last person to see the victim and crucial evidence is found at her flat, she must fight to clear her name - and save her own skin. Meanwhile in an asylum in Inverness, a deranged patient writes the name Brodie over and over in her own blood! As another mutilated body is discovered bearing the same ritualistic markings, Brodie is running scared from unknown forces, eager to see blood on her hands!

Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels is having a bad week. Her live-in boyfriend has left her for his personal trainer, chronic insomnia has caused her to max out her credit cards with late-night home shopping purchases, and a frightening killer who calls himself "The Gingerbread...  more

Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels is having a bad week. Her live-in boyfriend has left her for his personal trainer, chronic insomnia has caused her to max out her credit cards with late-night home shopping purchases, and a frightening killer who calls himself "The Gingerbread Man" is dumping mutilated bodies in her district. Between avoiding the FBI and its moronic profiling computer, joining a dating service, mixing it up with street thugs, and parrying the advances of an uncouth PI, Jack and her binge-eating partner, Herb, must catch the maniac before he kills again... and Jack is next on his murder list. Whiskey Sour is full of laugh-out-loud humor and edge-of-your-seat suspense, and it introduces a fun, fully drawn heroine in the grand tradition of Kinsey Millhone, Stephanie Plum, and Kay Scarpetta.

Grant Stevens, a mid-level manager for the Bureau of Reclamation, only wanted to build dams. He never imagined he would be swept into a desperate race against an environmental terrorist bent on restoring the Colorado River by blowing up the dams. Left temporarily in charge of the Bureau, Grant...  more

Grant Stevens, a mid-level manager for the Bureau of Reclamation, only wanted to build dams. He never imagined he would be swept into a desperate race against an environmental terrorist bent on restoring the Colorado River by blowing up the dams. Left temporarily in charge of the Bureau, Grant must react when the first dam is attacked. He faces the unthinkable task of mitigating the massive flood roaring down the Colorado. The flood will eventually threaten the mighty Hoover Dam, and if Hoover fails, the other dams downstream will fall like dominos. Working with the FBI, Grant uses his engineering skills, river knowledge, and plenty of gut instinct in an attempt to outmaneuver the terrorist. The chase will lead all the way downstream to the Gulf of California in a cat and mouse game where the stakes are high and the potential for destruction is enormous.

Virgil Flowers -- tall, lean, late thirties, three times divorced, hair way too long for a cop's -- had kicked around for a while before joining the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. First, it was the army and the military police, then the police in St. Paul, and finally Lucas...  more

Virgil Flowers -- tall, lean, late thirties, three times divorced, hair way too long for a cop's -- had kicked around for a while before joining the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. First, it was the army and the military police, then the police in St. Paul, and finally Lucas Davenport had brought him into the BCA, promising him, "We'll only give you the hard stuff." He'd been doing the hard stuff for three years now -- but never anything like this. In the small town of Bluestem, where everybody knows everybody, a house way up on a ridge explodes into flames, its owner, a man named Judd, trapped inside. There is a lot of reason to hate him, Flowers discovers. Years ago, Judd had perpetrated a scam that'd driven a lot of local farmers out of business, even to suicide. There are also rumors swirling around: of some very dicey activities with other men's wives; of involvement with some nutcase religious guy; of an out-of-wedlock daughter. In fact, Flowers concludes, you'd probably have to dig around to find a person who didn't despise him. And that wasn't even the reason Flowers had come to Bluestem. Three weeks before, there'd been another murder -- two, in fact -- a doctor and his wife, the doctor found propped up in his backyard, both eyes shot out. There hadn't been a murder in Bluestem in years -- and now, suddenly, three? Flowers knows two things: This wasn't a coincidence, and this had to be personal. But just how personal is something even he doesn't realize, and may not find out until too late. Because the next victim... may be himself.

Linnett Ridgeway has almost everything: youth, beauty, brains, and money. Then her best friend Jackie brings her handsome fiance, Simon Doyle, to visit and asks Linnett to give him a job. Now Linnett and Simon are on their honeymoon, a cruise up the Nile. When Linnett is killed, Jackie is the...  more

Linnett Ridgeway has almost everything: youth, beauty, brains, and money. Then her best friend Jackie brings her handsome fiance, Simon Doyle, to visit and asks Linnett to give him a job. Now Linnett and Simon are on their honeymoon, a cruise up the Nile. When Linnett is killed, Jackie is the obvious suspect, but she couldn't have done it. It seems like an insolvable crime, until the famous detective Hercule Poirot starts to investigate. Death on the Nile deserves its reputation as one of Christie's best travel mysteries.

Family secrets, mob hitmen, and a father's shadowy legacy. It has been seven years since Frank Temple III joined the rest of the world in learning his father's bloody secret: The U.S. marshal maintained a covert career as a contract killer, a double-life that ended in suicide to avoid...  more

Family secrets, mob hitmen, and a father's shadowy legacy. It has been seven years since Frank Temple III joined the rest of the world in learning his father's bloody secret: The U.S. marshal maintained a covert career as a contract killer, a double-life that ended in suicide to avoid prosecution and prison. The shocking revelation triggered years of anonymous drifting for Frank, time spent running from his legacy and struggling to believe that the father he'd loved so dearly was entirely in the wrong. After all, the victims hadn't been innocents. And Devin Matteson, the man who'd lured his father into the killing game only to later give him up to the FBI, is probably the darkest of the lot. Those are troubling thoughts, and Frank tries to stay away from them. But when an old family friend calls to say that Matteson is returning to the isolated Wisconsin lake that was once sacred ground for their families, it's a homecoming Frank knows he can't allow. His arrival in town reveals a situation far from the expected, though. While Matteson is nowhere to be found, his old cabin is indeed occupied---by a strange, beautiful woman and a nervous man with a gun. When a pair of assassins from Miami arrive on their heels, Frank knows Matteson can't be far behind. And while the wise move would be to call in the police and get out of town fast, that just doesn't feel right. After all, contract killer or not, Frank's father was at heart a teacher. And his son excelled at the lessons.

A journey to Florida's coast becomes an inescapable nightmare in the newest supernatural thriller from international bestseller Michael Koryta. Arlen Wagner has seen it in men before--a trace of smoke in their eyes that promises imminent death. He is never wrong. When Arlen awakens on...  more

A journey to Florida's coast becomes an inescapable nightmare in the newest supernatural thriller from international bestseller Michael Koryta. Arlen Wagner has seen it in men before--a trace of smoke in their eyes that promises imminent death. He is never wrong. When Arlen awakens on a train one hot Florida night and sees death's telltale sign in the eyes of his fellow passengers, he tries to warn them. Only 19-year-old Paul Brickhill believes him, and the two abandon the train, hoping to escape certain death. They continue south, but soon are stranded at the Cypress House--an isolated Gulf Coast boarding house run by the beautiful Rebecca Cady--directly in the path of an approaching hurricane. The storm isn't the only approaching danger, though. A much deadlier force controls the county and everyone living in it, and Arlen wants out--fast. But Paul refuses to abandon Rebecca to face the threats alone, even though Arlen's eerie gift warns that if they stay too long they may never leave.

Police Detective Harry Hole has made a terrible mistake. An embarrassment in the line of duty has pulled him off his usual beat. Reassigned to mundane surveillance tasks, he reluctantly agrees to monitor neo-Nazi activities in Oslo. But as Hole is drawn into an underground world of illegal...  more

Police Detective Harry Hole has made a terrible mistake. An embarrassment in the line of duty has pulled him off his usual beat. Reassigned to mundane surveillance tasks, he reluctantly agrees to monitor neo-Nazi activities in Oslo. But as Hole is drawn into an underground world of illegal gun trafficking, brutal beatings, and sexual extortion, he soon learns that he must act fast to prevent an international conspiracy from unfolding. Trapped in the crosshairs of the man with all the answers, Harry Hole plunges headlong into a mystery with roots deep in the past. His investigation takes him back to Norway's darkest hour -- when members of the young nation's government collaborated with leaders of Nazi Germany. Dredging up a painful history of denial, Hole turns his attention to the Norwegian troops who fought for Adolf Hitler on the Eastern front. Branded by their countrymen as traitors, the soldiers who survived the brutal Russian winter -- the hunger, fear, cold, grenades, and snipers -- returned home as scapegoats of a nation's atonement. Sixty years later, old grudges and betrayals appear to have been laid to rest, until Hole realizes that someone has begun to pick off the surviving soldiers one by one. With only his troubled, guilt-ridden conscience as a guide, Hole must move quickly through the traps and mirrors of a twisted criminal mind. But as his sanity slips in a slow burn of anger and alcohol, his mistakes continue to pile up. And if he fails to quicken the pace, Norway's darkest hour since World War II just might lie in the future. In a tightly woven plot that takes readers from the icy steppes of the Russian front to a seemingly peaceful springtime in modern-day Oslo, Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbo delves into a sinister national history with uncommon bravery.

At first the prisoner scratches at the walls until her fingers bleed.  But there is no escaping the room. With no way of measuring time, her days, weeks, months go unrecorded. She vows not to go mad. She will not give her captors the satisfaction. She will die first. Copenhagen...  more

At first the prisoner scratches at the walls until her fingers bleed.  But there is no escaping the room. With no way of measuring time, her days, weeks, months go unrecorded. She vows not to go mad. She will not give her captors the satisfaction. She will die first. Copenhagen detective Carl Morck has been taken off homicide to run a newly created department for unsolved crimes. His first case concerns Merete Lynggaard, who vanished five years ago. Everyone says she's dead. Everyone says it's a waste of time. He thinks they're right. The voice in the dark is distorted, harsh and without mercy. It says the prisoner's torture will only end when she answers one simple question.  It is one she has asked herself a million times: WHY is this happening?  

Inspector Singh is back, but this time on secondment to Bali. A bomb has exploded and Singh has been sent to help with anti-terrorism efforts. But there's a slight problem: he knows squat about hunting terrorists. He's much better suited to solving murder! So when a body is discovered in...  more

Inspector Singh is back, but this time on secondment to Bali. A bomb has exploded and Singh has been sent to help with anti-terrorism efforts. But there's a slight problem: he knows squat about hunting terrorists. He's much better suited to solving murder! So when a body is discovered in the wreckage, killed by a bullet before the bomb went off, Singh should be the one to find the answers - especially with the help of a wily Australian copper by his side. But simple murders are never as simple as they seem - and this one has far-reaching global consequences ...

In Johannesburg, prosperous whites live behind gates; when they exit their cars to open the gates, car-jackings are common. But seldom is the victim killed, much less shot twice, like Annette Botha. Piet Botha, the husband of the wealthy woman, is the primary suspect in his wife's...  more

In Johannesburg, prosperous whites live behind gates; when they exit their cars to open the gates, car-jackings are common. But seldom is the victim killed, much less shot twice, like Annette Botha. Piet Botha, the husband of the wealthy woman, is the primary suspect in his wife's murder. PI Jade de Jong fled South Africa ten years ago after her father was killed. Now back in town, she offers to help her father's former assistant, Superintendent David Patel, with his investigation of this case. Under apartheid, Patel, of Indian descent, could never have attained his present position. But he is feeling pressure from his “old line” boss with respect to this investigation and fears lingering prejudice is at work. As Jade probes into this and other recent car-jacking cases, a pattern begins to emerge, a pattern that goes back to her father's murder and involves a vast and intricate series of crimes for profit.

When wealthy Pamela Jordaan hires PI Jade de Jong as a bodyguard after her husband Terrance disappears, Jade thinks keeping an eye on this anxious wife will be an easy way to earn some cash. But when a determined shooter nearly kills them both and Jade finds Terrance horrifically tortured and...  more

When wealthy Pamela Jordaan hires PI Jade de Jong as a bodyguard after her husband Terrance disappears, Jade thinks keeping an eye on this anxious wife will be an easy way to earn some cash. But when a determined shooter nearly kills them both and Jade finds Terrance horrifically tortured and barely alive, she realizes that she has been drawn into a wicked game.   At the same time, her relationship with police superintendent David Patel is on the rocks, and things only get more complicated when his son is kidnapped and his wife is blackmailed. It soon becomes clear that the kidnapping and the attempted killings of Pamela and her husband are tied to a human trafficking ring that stretches from Johannesburg to London.

When P.I. Jade de Jong invites Superintendent David Patel on a scuba diving holiday in St. Lucia, she hopes the time away will rebuild their conflicted relationship. Jade?s dreams are soon shattered when David calls off their affair, forcing her into the arms of environmentalist Craig Niewoudt....  more

When P.I. Jade de Jong invites Superintendent David Patel on a scuba diving holiday in St. Lucia, she hopes the time away will rebuild their conflicted relationship. Jade?s dreams are soon shattered when David calls off their affair, forcing her into the arms of environmentalist Craig Niewoudt. But the next morning, romantic issues are put aside when a scuba diving instructor, Amanda Bolton, is found brutally stabbed to death. Amanda is a most unlikely candidate for murder?a quiet and intelligent woman who until a few months ago pursued a high-powered career as an air traffic controller. She had few acquaintances and no lovers. The only loose end is a postcard in her room from Jo?burg-based Themba Msamaya, asking how she is doing ?after 813 and The Fallen.? Jade and David put their differences aside and start the deadly hunt.

Denver homicide detective Cliff Janeway may not always play by the book, but he is an avid collector of rare and first editions. After a local book scout is killed on his turf, Janeway would like nothing better than to rearrange the suspect's spine. But the suspect, local lowlife Jackie...  more

Denver homicide detective Cliff Janeway may not always play by the book, but he is an avid collector of rare and first editions. After a local book scout is killed on his turf, Janeway would like nothing better than to rearrange the suspect's spine. But the suspect, local lowlife Jackie Newton, is a master at eluding the law, and Janeway's wrathful brand of off-duty justice costs him his badge. Turning to his lifelong passion, Janeway opens a small bookshop -- all the while searching for evidence to put Newton away. But when prized volumes in a highly sought-after collection begin to appear, so do dead bodies. Now, Janeway's life is about to start a precarious new chapter as he attempts to find out who's dealing death along with vintage Chandlers and Twain's. 

Six severed arms are discovered, arranged in a mysterious circle and buried in a clearing in the woods. Five of them appear to belong to missing girls between the ages of eight and eighteen. The sixth is yet to be identified. Worse still, the girls' bodies, alive or dead, are nowhere to be...  more

Six severed arms are discovered, arranged in a mysterious circle and buried in a clearing in the woods. Five of them appear to belong to missing girls between the ages of eight and eighteen. The sixth is yet to be identified. Worse still, the girls' bodies, alive or dead, are nowhere to be found. Lead investigators Mila Vasquez, a celebrated profiler, and Goran Gavila, an eerily prescient criminologist, dive into the case. They're confident they've got the right suspect in their sights until they discover no link between him and any of the kidnappings except the first. The evidence in the case of the second missing child points in a vastly different direction, creating more questions than it answers. Vasquez and Gavila begin to wonder if they've been brought in to take the fall in a near-hopeless case. Is it all coincidence? Or is a copycat criminal at work? Obsessed with a case that becomes more tangled and intense as they unravel the layers of evil, Gavila and Vasquez find that their lives are increasingly in each other's hands.

Lucas Davenport has seen many terrible murder scenes. This is one of the worst. In the small Minnesota town of Deephaven, an entire family has been killed -- husband, wife, two daughters, dogs. There's something about the scene that pokes at Lucas's cop instincts -- it looks an...  more

Lucas Davenport has seen many terrible murder scenes. This is one of the worst. In the small Minnesota town of Deephaven, an entire family has been killed -- husband, wife, two daughters, dogs. There's something about the scene that pokes at Lucas's cop instincts -- it looks an awful lot like the kind of scorched-earth retribution he's seen in drug killings sometimes. But this is a seriously upscale town, and the husband was an executive vice president at a big bank. It just doesn't seem to fit. Until it does. And where it leads Lucas will take him into the darkest nightmare of his life.

It is only the beginning of May but in Oslo a brutal heat wave has coincided with an alarming increase in violent crime. In the latest instance, police investigator Hanne Wilhelmsen is sent to a macabre crime scene on the outskirts of town. An abandoned shed is covered in blood. On one wall an...  more

It is only the beginning of May but in Oslo a brutal heat wave has coincided with an alarming increase in violent crime. In the latest instance, police investigator Hanne Wilhelmsen is sent to a macabre crime scene on the outskirts of town. An abandoned shed is covered in blood. On one wall an eight-digit number is written in blood. There is no body -- nor any sign of a victim. Is it a kid’s prank or foul play? Is it even human blood? As more bloody numbers are found in isolated locations throughout Oslo, Hanne’s colleague Håkon Sand makes a startling discovery: the digits correspond to the filing numbers of foreign immigrants. All are female, all are missing. Is there a serial killer on the loose in Oslo? How does the killer have access to immigrant data? Meanwhile, as the trail heats up, the victim of a horrific unsolved rape case and her father have each decided to take justice into their own hands. Hanne and Håkon soon discover that they aren’t the only ones on the hunt for the killer.

"If I'd blinked, I would have missed it. But I didn't, and I saw something fall from the rear deck of the opposite ferry: a small, wide-eyed human face, in one tiny frozen moment, as it plummeted toward the water." When she witnesses a small child tumbling from a ferry into...  more

"If I'd blinked, I would have missed it. But I didn't, and I saw something fall from the rear deck of the opposite ferry: a small, wide-eyed human face, in one tiny frozen moment, as it plummeted toward the water." When she witnesses a small child tumbling from a ferry into Lake Champlain, Troy Chance dives in without thinking. Harrowing moments later, she bobs to the surface, pulling a terrified little boy with her. As the ferry disappears into the distance, she begins a bone-chilling swim nearly a mile to shore towing a tiny passenger. Surprisingly, he speaks only French. He'll acknowledge that his name is Paul. Otherwise, he's resolutely mute. Troy assumes that Paul's frantic parents will be in touch with the police or the press. But what follows is a shocking and deafening silence. And Troy, a freelance writer, finds herself as fiercely determined to protect Paul as she is to find out what happened to him. She'll need skill and courage to survive and protect her charge and herself.

The serial killer isn't on trial. He's on the jury. Hollywood actor Robert Soloman stands accused of the brutal stabbings of his wife and her lover, but he is desperately pleading that he had nothing to do with it. This is the trial of the century, and the defence want Eddie Flynn on...  more

The serial killer isn't on trial. He's on the jury. Hollywood actor Robert Soloman stands accused of the brutal stabbings of his wife and her lover, but he is desperately pleading that he had nothing to do with it. This is the trial of the century, and the defence want Eddie Flynn on their team. The biggest case Eddie has ever tried before, he decides to take it on despite the overwhelming evidence that Robert is guilty. As the trial starts, Eddie becomes sure of Robert's innocence, but there's something else he is even more sure of - that there is something sinister going on in the jury box. Because of this, he is forced to ask: what if the killer isn't on the stand? What if he's on the jury?