The Department of Sensitive Crimes


Alexander McCall Smith - 2019
    There is nothing noir about the world of Ulf Varg, Detective Inspector in the Sensitive Crimes Department of the Criminal Investigation Authority for the city of Malmö, Sweden. Ulf is concerned with odd, but not too threatening crimes, such as a stab wound to the back of the knee caused by an unknown hand, young women who allow their desperation for a boyfriend to get the better of them, and peculiar goings-on in a spa on Sweden's south coast.Of course, Ulf is a Swedish detective, and Swedish detectives, by convention, lead lives beset with problems of one sort or another. For a start, there is his name: Ulf means “wolf” in modern Swedish, and Varg derives from the Old Norse word for “wolf”. But his character is far from vulpine: Ulf is a sympathetic, well-educated, and likeable man, with a knowledge of and interest in Scandinavian- and modern art. He has a dog named Marten, the only dog in Sweden capable of lip-reading (but only in Swedish). Martin becomes depressed and needs treatment. Dogs in Sweden are apparently particularly prone to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). But this is summer—so there must be something else going on.Ulf has a number of colleagues into whose lives we gain insight. There is Anna, married to an anaesthetist, but very fond of Ulf; Erik, whose sole interest is fishing; Carl, whose father is a famous Lutheran theologian who has written a book on Danish philosopher Kierkegaard; then there is Blomquist from the uniformed branch, who goes on and on about his health problems but seems to have extraordinary luck in investigations. There is also Ulf's psychotherapist, Dr. Svensson, whose observations on Ulf's life—and many other topics—enlightens...or possibly confuses.The Department of Sensitive Crimes is the first full-length novel in the Detective Varg series.

Papercuts


Colin Bateman - 2016
    Through World Wars and civil strife, it has never missed an issue, but now it's limping towards an inevitable doom and it looks like the owner has no choice but to shut it down - until London-based journalist Rob Cullen arrives on the scene. He believes that just perhaps, if he looks hard enough, he can find a way to resurrect it... what could possibly go wrong?Lured back to Northern Ireland for the first time in 20 years by the demise of his one-time mentor, the Guardian reporter can't resist fighting for the paper where he first made his name. After all, it has been a long time since Rob had a real story to get this teeth in to... and with the Bangor Express, that’s just what he's going to get.- See more at: http://headofzeus.com/books/Papercuts...

Sleeper agent


John Birmingham - 2021
    Since the car accident that wiped his memories, Cooper has been...a little foggy. Cooper doesn’t know how to do much, but one thing he instinctively seems to know about is strength training, and with his help, Gainesville High’s football team has just won the Mid-States final. With Cooper the hero of the hour, the whole town is getting ready to celebrate in style.When three strangers crash the party and decide to pick on the harmless-looking guy carrying a cooler full of sodas, they trigger something inside Cooper. Afterwards, the folks in Gainesville can never look at him in quite the same way. Is he really just a regular guy who suffered a brain injury in a car crash, or is he someone else? Or something else?As Cooper tries to come to terms with baffling new memories, he’s about to be plunged into a terrifying world of secret experiments and covert assassins that will test his new-found abilities to the limit.

The Blue House in Bishop


Sunanda J. Chatterjee - 2017
    Duke Wilcox is forced to recover in the house of his old college roommate, Dr. Sunil Samant. Haunted by his failed mission and failed marriage, Duke has lost his trust in women and yearns for a chance to redeem himself.Indian Police Inspector Alisha Raj has a passion for bringing criminals to justice. After leaving the police force with a broken heart, she agrees to an “arranged marriage” with Sunil. But it is an unusual proposal; Sunil asks Alisha to pretend to be his fiancée to please his dying mother.Alisha comes to Bishop to leave her past behind, only to fall hopelessly in love with Duke. But she is engaged to Sunil, whose mother is expected to visit any day. The attraction seems mutual, but Duke’s troubled past prevents him from opening his heart.Everything changes when a mysterious woman shows up with a baby, seeking Sunil’s help.But is this woman who she claims to be? Why is the FBI after her? And how is she involved with a Colombian Drug lord?A story of loyalty, camaraderie, and love, The Blue House in Bishop brings four strangers together in a fight for survival.

Hitman Anders and the Meaning of It All


Jonas Jonasson - 2015
    Then his life takes an unexpected turn when he meets a female Protestant vicar (who also happens to be an atheist), and a homeless receptionist at a former brothel which is now a one-star hotel. The three join forces and concoct an unusual business plan based on Hitman Anders’ skills and his fearsome reputation. The vicar and receptionist will organize jobs for a group of gangsters, and will attract customers using the tabloids’ love of lurid headlines.The perfect plan—if it weren’t for Hitman Anders’ curiosity about the meaning of it all. In conversations with the vicar, he turns to Jesus and, against all odds, Jesus answers him! The vicar can’t believe what’s happening. When Hitman Anders turns to religion, the lucrative business is in danger, and the vicar and the receptionist have to find a new plan, quick.Fast-paced and sparky, the novel follows these bizarre but loveable characters on their quest to create a New Church, with all of Sweden’s gangsters hunting them. Along the way, it explores the consequences of fanaticism, the sensationalist press, the entrepreneurial spirit and straightforward human stupidity—and underlying all of it, the tenuous hope that it’s never too late to start again.

The Death of Danny Daggers


Haydn Wilks - 2015
    The last few days of summer.Danny Daggers is about to die. He just doesn’t realise it yet.A Leeds University student with a very popular YouTube channel, Danny Daggers is taking his alcohol-downing stunts on tour. He’s about to find out that not everyone’s a fan.Ji Eun is a Korean student doing work experience at the South Wales Post.Rory Gallagher is the alcoholic veteran journo who’s mentoring her.Carnage in Cardiff might be just what they need to begin and revive their respective careers.Tom and Joseph work at one of Cardiff’s many call centres.Tom is fed up of working boring jobs and living for the weekend.Joseph is just happy to have a job.Then there’s the Amstell brothers.Simon’s just escaped from prison. And he happens to be the father of Joseph’s girlfriend’s son.And his brothers happen to be psychopaths.These stories collide and intersect over a frantic few days of heavy drinking, drugs and ultraviolence, set against a backdrop of dystopian modern Britain.

Plague


Gregg Luke - 2019
    Mitch has uncovered a startling pattern: dramatic environmental changes always occurred prior to devastating outbreaks, and current climate change may be such a catalyst. But before his plane lands, Mitch’s journey takes a terrifying turn. He is intercepted by a woman who represents a dangerous faction whose interest in Mitch’s research opposes his mission to save lives. To secure Mitch’s cooperation, his research assistant is being held hostage. With so many lives on the line, Mitch embarks on a turbulent trip around the world, uncovering pieces of the puzzle until he ultimately holds the key to prevent — or precipitate — global devastation. Unless he can find a way to stop the lunatics behind his abduction, a plague the likes of which the world has never known will be unleashed.

Killing It


Asia Mackay - 2018
    But woe betide anyone who ever tells Alexis Tyler 'you can't'.She will have it all. Or she'll die trying . . .And yes, she damn well will be home for bath time.

Up to No Good


Marsha Cornelius - 2016
    Because she and her husband, Brian, work together, they have little to talk about. And the heat between the sheets has definitely cooled. Her only diversion these days seems to be the usual neighborhood gossip. She likes to think she's inquisitive. Brian says she's a snoop.Lately, her nosy nature has escalated. She's gotten it into her head that a house down the road might be used to make adult films. Her clues? The blinds are always drawn, and there are never any garbage cans at the curb. She’s determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, but if her snooping keeps uncovering unexpected dirt, it may very well be the last thing she ever does.

An American Family (#1)


Jackson Paul Baer - 2018
    In the wake of this news, he struggles to cope, to be a good father to his daughter and college-bound son, and to reclaim something of an ordinary life even as he conceals his troubled past.After the FBI makes an arrest, and his wife is presumed dead, Isaac begins to move on. Yet will his secrets catch up with him? Has he conquered his vices for good? And what of the FBI's theory that the case isn't completely resolved, after all?Evolved Publishing presents the first book in the "An American Family" series, contemporary suspense thrillers that explore one family's trials and tragedies.

Grass


Cathy MacPhail - 2009
    Painted in giant whitewashed letters: 'SHARKEY IS A GRASS'. I hadn't a clue who Sharkey was, but I knew one thing. 'Sharkey's a dead man,' I said. Leo knows the value of never grassing and that you never grass on your friends. Everybody, too, knows the gang leaders in town. And you don't grass on them. Not unless you don't value your life - like Sharkey. And then Leo is unlucky enough to witness the murder of one gang leader by another, a man called Armour. Leo is petrified as he realises what he is witnessing and even more petrified when he realises that Armour has seen him. Sure that he is drawing his own last breath, Leo silently says goodbye to his family and everybody he knows. But all Armour does is wink at Leo, very slowly, and leave the scene of the crime. Leo draws a long breath of relief. He has got away with it. But he hasn't - not really. Leo will live to regret that wink and realise that Armour has an insidious hold on him and his family,which will test his family relationships, and his very sense of what is right and wrong. It will take bravery, luck and sheer daring to extricate himself from Armour's deadly web.A riveting and hard-hitting new novel from Cathy MacPhail.

The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte


Lesley Truffle - 2017
    and pastry. The witty new novel from the author of Hotel du Barry, for fans of Jonas Jonasson.In the winter of 1912 on the wild West Coast of Tasmania, Wolfftown's most notorious heiress and murderess, Sasha Torte, tells the tale of her own spectacular downfall.Forsaken by her parents and raised by criminals and reprobates, Sasha becomes a world-famous pastry chef at the tender age of seventeen. Entanglement with the disreputable Dasher brothers leads to love, but also to a dangerous addiction.Behind bars in Wolfftown's gaol, Sasha sips premium champagne as she recalls a life of seduction, betrayal, ghosts, opium and an indiscreet quantity of confectionary - and plots her escape.The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte: revenge, redemption and pastry, is a novel of dastardly deeds, intrepid protagonists, dark villains, wild gangs, luxurious hotels … and murder.

Gumrah: 11 Short Teen Crime Stories


Ira Trivedi - 2016
    Ltd this book holds tales revolving around adolescent crime, deceit, treachery and bad judgement. In ‘Soulmate’, a case of sibling rivalry leads to disastrous consequences, while in ‘Heartbreak’, the dark side of the nicest of people is exposed. ‘Naaz’ reveals how cultural differences can sometimes lead to danger and ‘Double MMS’ shows a college girl’s stabs at popularity going horribly awry.Written by bestselling author Ira Trivedi, Gumrah: 11 Short Teen Crime Stories is a must-read, with every story revealing the consequences of wrong choices. Like the show, the message of the book, aimed especially at the younger generation, is: ‘Be aware, be prepared, be safe!’

Sealfinger


Heide Goody - 2021
    She's got bigger things to worry about - keeping on top of her job at DefCon4 Security Services isn't easy - particularly since her manager is a cactus and no one will tell her what her job actually is.But when the ghost-spotting client goes missing and only Sam suspects foul play, she is compelled to dig deeper.Aided by her retired stage magician father and the owner of the most outlandish junk shop on the sea front, Sam dives into a mystery involving psychotic seals, unexploded air force munitions, DIY foot surgery and a corpse that just won't quit.

Murder in Room 305


Gary C. King - 1994
    King spins a gripping real-life tale of a woman caught in a deadly web of lust and violence...a riveting story of love gone horribly, tragically wrong. Kathryn Ann Martini graduated from Yale with a bright future in the banking business. Young, beautiful and ambitious, she had everything going for her. Until she met Michael David Lissy, the sleazy proprietor of a scuba diving school who was a coke addict that consorted with pimps, prostitutes and other known criminals. Burned out and broke, he had nothing going for him. Then he met Kathryn...a match made in hell.On July 6, 1984, the raped and mutilated body of Kathryn Martini Lissy was found at the Valley River Inn in Eugene, Oregon. Soon afterward, police arrested Michael David Lissy, Kathryn's husband of one year. A few months earlier, Lissy had taken out a large insurance policy on Kathryn's life, naming him as sole beneficiary. Then he hired an underworld assassin to stalk and kill his wife. After one of the most sensational trials in Eugene's history, Lissy was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.Notice to readers: This book was previously published as Web of Deceit.