Book picks similar to
Dead Weight by John Francome
horses
thriller
racing
1
Sin Is the New Love
Abir Mukherjee - 2018
When her favourite author's autobiography lands on her table - which has confessions of his heinous crimes, illegal businesses and few eminent others as his partners in crime - she doesn't know if it's real or someone's trap. It could get her a big breakthrough, but little does she know that it would turn her world upside down completely. Her morbid curiosity pulls her into the depth of a conspiracy. She finds herself in the centre of various mishaps and murders, as if someone wants to lead the way. Driven by her childhood friend Samim's encouragement, and watched over by the ever so charming ACP Rathore, she has to jeopardize her life to find the brutal truth of her past. Touching, thrilling and deeply mysterious, Sin Is the New Love is the journey of a girl who stumbles upon the truth about her origin while chasing her dream.
The Thief Taker
Janet Gleeson - 2004
After her eyes had grown accustomed to the dark, she noticed a niche in the wall a yard from where she stood. She saw something there about the size of her fist. Agnes quietly picked it up. It was wrapped in a cloth and surprisingly heavy. . . a pistol, the hilt filthy with mud and dirt. Suddenly she heard the chinking sound of glasses nearby. There was no mistaking the voices now. Before she had time to call out, another door creaked open and the pair emerged from the darkness. Agnes Meadowes is cook to the Blanchards of Foster Lane, the renowned London silversmiths. Preparing jugged hare, oyster loaves, almond soup, and other delicacies for the family has given her a dependable life for herself and her son. But when the Blanchards' most prestigious commission, a giant silver wine cooler, is stolen and a young apprentice murdered, Theodore Blanchard calls on Agnes to investigate below stairs. Soon she is inside the sordid underworld of London crime, where learning the truth comes at a high price.
Ordinary Thunderstorms
William Boyd - 2009
There is a reward for his capture. A hired killer is stalking him. He is alone and anonymous in the huge, pitiless modern city. Adam has nowhere to go but down - underground. He decides to join that vast army of the disappeared and the missing that throng the lowest level of London's population as he tries to figure out what to do with his life and struggles to understand the forces that have made it unravel so spectacularly. His quest will take him all along the River Thames, from affluent Chelsea to the sink estates of the East End, and on the way he encounters all manner of London's denizens - aristocrats, prostitutes, priests and policewomen amongst them - and version after new version of himself.William Boyd's electric follow-up to Costa Novel of the Year Restless is a heart-in-mouth conspiracy novel about the fragility of social identity, the scandal of big business, and the secrets that lie hidden in the filthy underbelly of every city.
Look Behind You
Sibel Hodge - 2014
She escapes through deserted woods with her life, but no one believes her story.And when she suspects her husband is lying to her, Chloe is forced to retrace her past, following in her own footsteps to find the truth and stay alive.But who is following Chloe?Look Behind You. You never know who’s out there.
The Jack Reacher Cases: Complete Books #1, #2 & #3
Dan Ames - 2018
In this set of books, author Dan Ames has taken two of those characters from Child's books and expanded their stories to give them a life of their own.Book One: A HARD MAN TO FORGET: Former FBI agent Lauren Pauling met Jack Reacher in THE HARD WAY, the 10th Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child. Now, Pauling investigates the murder of a man with ties to Jack Reacher. She and her partner Michael Tallon quickly realize they're dealing with much more than a missing persons case, and soon they're in a deadly race to stop a terrifying act of mass murder. Book Two: THE RIGHT MAN FOR REVENGE: In this fast-paced, riveting thriller, former FBI agent and current private investigator Lauren Pauling receives a mysterious message saying Jack Reacher is dead. Soon, Pauling is on the hunt for a killer and the case quickly collides with Michael Tallon, who is looking into the disappearance of young woman. Pauling and Tallon are thrown into a sordid world of drug traffickers and professional killers.Book Three: A MAN MADE FOR KILLING: Former FBI agent Lauren Pauling is summoned to the home of a billionaire whose daughter has died in an accident. However, he feels her death was no accident. He also claims that Jack Reacher is working on the case, and has requested Lauren Pauling's help. Pauling finds herself on a mysterious island owned by the military, trying to track down a killer, and reconnect with Jack Reacher.
720 Heartbeats
Jaka Tomc - 2017
His worldview and his common sense are being defied by an adversary who seems to know everything about him.From the moment he discovers an obscure icon on his desktop, everyday life seems to unravel. Everything he holds dear appears to slip through his fingers and is about to disappear from his life. Unless he manages to make the right defining decisions while working on a challenging drug trafficking case from this point forward. Is knowledge true power?This gripping novel simultaneously plays with your imagination, the fringes of theoretical physics and philosophy. You will be devouring every word, absorbing page by page, positioned on the edge of your seat. Buckle up! "Tomc uses an intriguing story to question the impact of every decision a person can make." - Independent Book Review"The book is truly captivating and unique in the way it weaves genres together." - Literary Titan"You should expect to be impressed and pleasantly shocked." - Indie Book UprisingFinalist in the 2019 IAN Book of the Year Awards in the "Novella" category.Winner of 2018 Breakthrough Fiction Award in the Suspense/Thriller category.
Safe House
Chris Ewan - 2012
The doctors and police, however, insist that he was alone at the scene. The shock of the accident must have made him imagine Lena, especially since his description of her resembles his late sister, Laura.Convinced that Lena is as real as he is, Rob teams up with Rebecca Lewis, a London-based PI who has a mysterious connection to Laura—and learns that even a close-knit community like the Isle of Man can hide dangerous secrets that will not stay safe forever.
Dick Francis's Damage
Felix Francis - 2014
Could it have something to do with the reason the trainer was banned in the first place—the administration of illegal drugs to his horses?Then many more horses test positive for prohibited stimulants, and someone starts making demands, threatening to completely destroy the integrity of the racing industry. In order to limit the damage to the sport, it’s critical that Jeff find the perpetrator . . . but he’ll soon learn he’s up against someone who will stop at nothing to prevail.
Pascoe's Ghost and Other Brief Chronicles of Crime
Reginald Hill - 1979
A female journalist faces skepticism from the police when she reports an assault, and finds she may have to confront the attacker herself. A family man wonders what sort of trouble the previous occupants of his new house were mixed up in—and finds some clues that were left behind in the move. These stories—and four more—from the author of the series starring Inspector Peter Pascoe and Superintendent Andrew Dalziel take us on a tour of the shadowy corners of Yorkshire, England, from a stormy churchyard to a gloomy attic, with tales of lust, greed, envy, and, of course, murder.
The Charmer
Mandasue Heller - 2005
An orphan since 11, she thought she would never again have a family or security. Then she meets handsome, charming Joel Parry, and he just happens to need a place to stay. Before long, Joel has moved into Maria’s new house and has begun spending her money. But Joel is deep in Manchester’s drug scene, and his terrifying past is about to catch up with him—and the naïve girl who trusts him.
Abyss
Sabarna Roy - 2011
It is essentially a racy crime thriller full of gritty suspense. Act one builds up slowly to result in a crescendo of conflicts between personalities and ideas finally to end with an unnatural death before the interval. Is it a suicide or a murder? Act two evolves through a series of incisive interrogations to unravel the truth, which is deeply disturbing and affecting. As the play unfolds into a very well crafted situational thriller, underneath is the debate about using land for agriculture or for industry, the ethics of a working author and the nexus of a modern state all wonderfully enmeshed into its storyline and the personal lives of its subtly etched out characters. The highpoints of the play are its central conflict between a mother and her daughter and its female sleuth – Renuka.
Unforgotten
Clare Francis - 2008
His client Tom Deacon is claiming damages for post-traumatic stress after a car accident in which he witnessed the death of his young daughter by fire. The case is going well, it seems certain Tom will win the compensation that will enable him to pick up the pieces of his shattered life. Then Hugh receives an anonymous letter that throws him into an impossible dilemma. To stay on the case is unethical, to withdraw will threaten its success, and Tom Deacon, revealing himself in an entirely new light, makes it clear that such treachery will not be forgiven. For Hugh the dilemma is intensified by the contrast between their lives: Tom tormented by flashbacks, jobless, with a broken marriage and two children he hardly sees; Hugh with what he regards as a blessed existence, a rewarding life as a jobbing solicitor and an intensely happy marriage to Lizzie, with whom he has two adopted children, Lou away on her gap year, and fragile, sensitive Charlie who seems to have overcome his personal demons. Then one night Hugha s life changes for ever.His happiness is snatched away, and he, like Tom, must face a lifetime of troubling memories.
Gallowglass
Barbara Vine - 1990
'I saved your life,' he told the homeless youngster, 'so your life belongs to me now'. Sandor began to tell him a fairy-tale: an ageing prince, a kidnapped princess chained by one ankle, a missed rendezvous. But what did this mysterious story have to do with Sandor's preparations? Joe had only understood his own role: he was a gallowglass, the servant of a Chief...
A Demon in My View
Ruth Rendell - 1976
. .In A Demon in My View, Ruth Rendell creates a character as frightening as he is fascinating. Mild-mannered Arthur Johnson has never known how to talk to women. And his loneliness has perverted his desire for love and respect into a carefully controlled penchant for violence. One floor below him, a scholar finishing his thesis on psychopathic personalities is about to stumble—quite literally—upon one of Arthur's many secrets. Haunting and intelligent, A Demon in My View shows the startling results of this chilling alchemy of two very disparate minds—one pathological and the other obsessed with pathology.
Nowhere to Run
Jack Slater - 2017
A dead body. A killer on the loose. Returning to Exeter CID after his son’s unsolved disappearance Detective Sergeant Peter Gayle’s first day back was supposed to be gentle. Until a young girl is reported missing and the clock begins to tick.Rosie Whitlock has been abducted from outside her school that morning. There are no clues, but Peter isn’t letting another child disappear.When the body of another young victim appears, the hunt escalates. Someone is abducting young girls and now they have a murderer on their hands. Time is running out for Rosie, but when evidence case relating to his own son’s disappearance is discovered the stakes are even higher…
Looking for more from DS Peter Gayle? Don’t miss his next case in:
No Place to Hide What reviewers are saying about NOWHERE TO RUN ‘a lot of suspense and tension as the story twists and turns.’ - Carol (Goodreads)