Cold Land: A Mystery Thriller


John Oakes - 2017
    The agency has fallen on hard times and jumps at the chance to have a Texas Ranger in its ranks. Jake soon realizes the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is staffed with a collection of undesirables dumped from other state and local agencies, but he has no choice but to help chase down leads on a fraud investigation. An investigation that turns up a freshly murdered corpse. Partnering out of necessity with one of the BCA's odd ducks, Jake doggedly pursues answers in the stabbing death of a local fraudster. His search for truth takes him into rural Minnesota where nothing he encounters is as it first seems. After navigating newly released convicts, illicit affairs and a secretive family pretending to be Native Americans, Jake gets closer to the murderer than he even realizes. After infiltrating a heist teeming with potential suspects, Jake fits the pieces of the puzzle together. But just as he identifies the killer, one last under cover role has his mental state unraveling before his eyes. Cold Land is a slow-burning mystery with a thrilling conclusion, but is also a tale of loss, identity and the will to survive. Its gripping turns and vivid characters will leave you thinking long after the tale is told.

The Tiger Gets New Teeth


Amit Bagaria - 2021
    The NP had done remarkably well in elections in four states. It was the party’s heroic return. It was an even larger triumph for the Dalal family, who had survived several calls for their ouster from party leadership. The fireworks started at 11:59 and four bottles of champagne were uncorked, as the ‘Nationalists’ and few staff members watched the night sky from the garden below.BOOM. Huge explosions razed most of 10, Lokpath, the entire Dalal lineage reduced to body parts and blood splatter on the grass. Though the explosion was restricted to the property, the tremors would soon be felt throughout the country.Naresh Mistri was woken up at 1:08 a.m. His national security team had reached his residence. The PM saw the news on TV. Even BP’s staunchest supporters would suspect the party. First the dreadful electoral performance and now this! It could be the biggest threat to his political career. As the world’s gaze would firmly be on Mistri, would he lose his greatest asset of all, public opinion?The IB and RAW had more often than not failed to provide intelligence on such attacks. And there was no ‘national’ police force that could investigate and solve this crime and bring the culprits to justice quickly. No, the PM had to turn to someone else. He said, “I want ISSCO to investigate this.”Realising that India needed an agency like the USA’s FBI, Russia’s FSB, and UK’s MI5, which could work with surprise, speed, and intensity, Mistri had three months ago approved ISSCO, a covert, privately run but government-funded intelligence and security organisation. He had told ISSCO they were to do everything that IB, RAW, DIA, NIA, and NSG said couldn’t be done, and do it better, faster, and quieter.

The Thursday Murder Club / The Man Who Died Twice


Richard Osman
    

Line of Succession: The Price of Power


Michael Vandor - 2014
    Senator Kathleen Canfield has made history through her election as Vice President of the United States. Beautiful, full of vigor and wit, she has been anointed by the media as "the female JFK". However, as events propel her toward the presidency, elements in the government set in motion plans to ensure that she never reaches the Oval Office. Canfield's journey will ultimately take her to the White House during a time of world crisis (the Balkan conflict), where she will battle forces within her own administration and government to lead a nation from the brink of war. The price she must pay for the power of the presidency will be the life of a member of her very own family. Stylishly written, this political thriller delivers a unique flavor that crosses lines between Tom Clancy and Danielle Steel. Opening with an assassination attempt on the Vice President, the story is fast paced, steaming downhill from cover to cover.

Serpent of Old


T.R. Pearson - 2019
    When a decent, regular guy does his thieving neighbor a favor by driving him out to a long-neglected farm to steal an old panel truck, the two accidentally spark the ire of the hidden, quasi-occult residents of the place who prove eager to inflict Old Testament vengeance on just about every male within reach.  It's Me Too gone feral in a story of moral anxiety, misguided romance, and the age-old wages of sin.

A Poison That Leaves No Trace: With Mystery Jigsaw Puzzle (Bepuzzled Classics)


Sue Grafton
    Read the short story, assemble the 1,000-piece puzzle, and discover the hidden clues. Then solve the mystery by putting together the pieces in the story and in the puzzle. Slick, book-like packaging and high quality artwork make these puzzles a standout. Beware: the 1,000-piece puzzle is different from the cover!

Lynchpin: The Best Laid Schemes of Mice and Men


Siddharth Maheshwari - 2021
    A sinister plan, of a shrewd calculating mastermind, has set the wheels of doom in motion. He is now pulling the lynchpins across the country and making it fall into disarray. He is using everyone in his path to achieve his goals. Within thirty days he intends to control the nation’s soul. As chaos grips the country, it’s a race against time for DSP Ranbir Roy of the Intelligence Bureau and Inspector Vikram Aditya Singh to stop him before anarchy dooms the country. The pieces are set, the board is laid out but what happens when your own pawns move against you? What will be the end game?

The Two Towns


J.J. Salkeld - 2014
     It is DC Jane Dixon's first week on Kendal's CID team. Her new boss, DI Andy Hall, gives her an open file to review, and it's a far from straightforward case. A woman has died in suspicious circumstances in a Windermere caravan park, and although her husband is suspected there's not a shred of solid evidence against him. Can Jane move the case forward, or will a cold-blooded killer really get away with murder? The rest of the team is busy too, because a vulnerable teenager from a troubled family has gone missing from home. There's nothing to suggest that the boy has been abducted, so what could have caused him to run away from home? DS Ian Mann, a tough ex-military man, and DC Ray Dixon are both heavily involved in the investigation. This story introduces key members of the investigative team, as well as many of the themes that are developed in the full-length Lakeland Murders novels: including a strong sense of place, and an understanding that while justice usually prevails it is rarely complete, or completely fair. Reader reviews for the full-length novels in the Lakeland Murders series include: 'Well developed, realistic, relatable characters, great plot, believable detailed scenes, good action sequences. Recommend to those that appreciate British detective novels. Always devour Lakeland murder mysteries.' 'Love J J Salkeld's books, his understanding of police procedure, his ability to draw his characters out into real people is, I believe, up there with the best of them and it is good to find crime stories set in Cumbria for a change.' 'Salkeld is good. Not just as a writer of gripping detective stories; but even more for his feisty exposure of the lunacies of institutions, hierarchies, and power. A refreshing and enlightening anarchist - much needed in these jaded, compliant and consumptive times.'

Reputations: A Madeleine Porter mystery


John Nixon - 2019
    Inevitably, the conversation turns to family history and Margaret says that she knows very little about her late husband's background. Madeleine offers to help but Margaret is determined to do it for herself, but says she will keep Madeleine informed. A few weeks after they return from the holiday, Madeleine and Ian are shocked to hear of the murder of their new friend in her own home. Struggling to come to terms with this, the following day they receive a package from Margaret, which includes an old newspaper cutting giving details of the murder of an elderly couple in 1966. Margaret has scrawled on the cutting 'Peter didn't do this'. What is the connection between the two events, or isn't there one? Why was Margaret so sure about her husband and was she right? Madeleine and Ian are asked by Bernard Livesey, a friend of Margaret's, to continue her work into Margaret's husband's background, but in doing so, will her own reputation be compromised? Her friend, Peter Duffy, now promoted to Chief Inspector, is striving unsuccessfully to solve his first case since his promotion, but he realises he needs Madeleine's skills to untangle the web of complex family relationships, which is the key to the case.

Sidekick to Deadline by John Sandford


Dave Eagle - 2014
    If you have not yet bought Virgil Flowers Deadline, make sure to purchase it before buying this unofficial Sidekick. Welcome to Trippton, Minnesota, where life moves at a leisurely pace ... until your dog gets stolen, someone decides to start cooking meth next door, or the school board votes on a motion to murder you. Sandford’s beloved sleuth takes on three intertwining mysteries in Deadline, a fun and intriguing addition to the Virgil Flowers series. With this Sidekick, you’ll: • Discover some fascinating hidden gems and trivia about the novel • Spend some more time with the characters you’ve come to know and love • Learn what you might have missed on your first read • Explore possible alternate endings and imagine ideas for sequels • Get a chance to discuss the book with other readers on our Facebook forum Sidekicks are entertaining and insightful reading companions, filled with delightful commentary and thought-provoking questions. Readers have raved that Dave Eagle’s Sidekicks "really put you in touch with the many layers of the novel," "keep you entertained," and are "perfect if you want a vivid understanding of the story." Designed to be read side by side with the novels they complement, they’ll give you even more reasons to love some of today’s best books.

Catch as Catch Can (Merseyside Crime, #1)


Malcolm Hollingdrake - 2021
    Together with new colleague Skeeter Warlock, Decent quickly discovers there’s a sinister link between them all, one that will bring them face-to-face with some uncomfortable home truths.Catch as Catch Can is the first in the Merseyside Crime Series from Malcolm Hollingdrake – bestselling author of the Harrogate Crime Series.

Murderer's Fete


Roger Keevil - 2011
    Throw into the mix a celebrated author, a dodgy solicitor, and a sponging relative, and Constable and Copper really have their work cut out!'MURDERER'S FETE' WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2012 UNDER THE TITLE 'FETED TO DIE'

Inspector Maigret Omnibus 2 (Maigret Boxset)


Georges Simenon - 2015
    . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories' Guardian 'A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness' Independent

It Was You


Jade Lee Wright - 2018
    Everything I did, I did for her..."When Regan Pen discovers that her long-term boyfriend has been cheating on her with over eight women, she packs her bags and leaves the sunny island in Spain that she had called home for a year. She returns to South Africa where she is given the chance to start over in life. Reassemble herself. Now is her time to be selfish. Find a new career, get a home of her own. Become whoever she wants to be... but when her best friend, Peyton, is brutally murdered, Regan is forced to put her life on hold to take responsibility for her friends thirteen year old daughter, Harley. As the police battle to solve the murder of Peyton and her unborn child, Regan becomes convinced that her Godchild is not the sweet, innocent little girl everyone seems to think she is. Could Harley have been so consumed by her jealousy and fear of not being the epicenter of her mothers universe that it lead to murder? If so, is Regan safe in her own home?

Slow Light (Eddie Flynn Book 4)


Michael Donovan - 2018
    EDDIE FLYNN NOVEL FROM MICHAEL DONOVAN Cheating husbands. P.I. Eddie Flynn doesn't judge. He just brings back the evidence for a fee and lets the client do the judging. Not that the present fee is much. Young mother Lisa Elland can barely afford the bargain basement charge for a quick check on her husband. But pay she will: even bad news is better than not knowing whether she still has a marriage. And for Flynn the job is a nice filler before he shuts up shop for Christmas. But there's a problem. You can't catch a guy cheating until you find him. And Ray Elland isn't findable. He's disappeared completely with just an overnight bag and a sleazy excuse. He's nowhere to be found. No-one has seen him or heard from him. It's like he doesn't exist. And Flynn's quick investigation has hit the rocks. Then complications arise. Flynn is being followed. He's being threatened. And Lisa has stopped answering her phone. The quick investigation has just turned into a nightmare... The fourth P.I. Eddie Flynn novel from award-winning crime author Michael Donovan. WHAT BOOK REVIEWERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE EDDIE FLYNN SERIES... "Masterful... If you haven't been introduced to Eddie Flynn yet, be prepared." RED CITY REVIEW "A chilling thriller crafted with a fluid narrative style ... wild nightmarish scenes..." BOOKPLEASURES "A wonderful debut novel in a hugely competitive market" CUCKOO REVIEWS" Good old fashioned detective work. A slick, dynamic mystery. "KIRKUS REVIEWS" [With] more competition than ever in the crime-writing genre, Donovan's novel is a real winner..." LYTHAM ST ANNES EXPRESS "Brilliantly absorbing. Escapism at its best." POSTCARD REVIEWS "Humour ... violent confrontations ... well recommended. "EUROCRIME" Short chapters ... a brilliant use of format ... the [book] will haunt your days and nights" CUCKOO REVIEWS "Great concise writing style... fast paced action ... Donovan makes you feel as though you are uncovering the truth." NEWBOOKSMAG