Max


D.M. Mitchell - 2011
    Terrible things. My mind is in a whorl, confused as to what I should relate first. Where to begin? I must describe my cell. After all, it has become my world. Strange, that I who once had the entire globe to choose from, am now confined within a twelve feet by twelve feet boundary." So writes Philip Calder. He is being kept a prisoner, alone, on a remote Scottish island. His life is shrunk to the stifling confines of his small room, a courtyard surrounded by high walls, and the sterile company of two uniformed guards whom he ironically names Morcambe and Wise. He is only allowed a pen and paper to break the monotony. So he writes. He writes about how he came to be there, starting at the beginning, when Maxwell Stone first came into his world.He relates how his world was altered forever when Connie Stone and her ten year old son Max moved into the small mining town of Overthorpe. It's the 1960s, and Connie causes a stir amongst the locals, for wearing bright lipstick, short skirts, and, the worst of all, being a single mother. Calder is at once captivated by her. Philip becomes friends with her son, but it is a strange, volatile relationship. Max is unfathomable, unpredictable, often violent, and as they grow older both Philip and Max vie for one young woman's attention - Ruby. But it's Max's strange fascination with wanting to be Philip Calder, to have his life, his identity, that triggers a series of unpredictable events that will lead to Calder's imprisonment.Gavin Miller is a successful author. He is in possession of Calder's manuscript, having been handed it by the manager of a nursing home called Overton Hall. He knows he must destroy it, because in it is laid bare his own dark secret. In it lies the seeds of his own ruin and why he is irrevocably tied emotionally and physically to the enigmatic Mrs Randolf.But who exactly is Gavin Miller? Who is Mrs Randolf? What is the truth behind Philip Calder's bizarre imprisonment on a remote Scottish island?Max is a brooding novel that twists and turns through the decades to explore the dark workings of a troubled friendship, a diseased mind, and the jealousies and hatred that leads ultimately to madness, deceit and murder.

The Christmas Killer


Alex Pine - 2020
    But when he opens an early Christmas present left on his doorstep, he soon realises it is no gift. Inside is a gruesome surprise, and a promise – twelve days, twelve murders. Not long after, the first body is found, half frozen in the snow. As the blizzards descend, panic spreads through the remote Cumbrian village – there’s a killer amongst them, and with eleven more victims to go, anyone could be next…. Can James stop the killer before they strike again?The first in a new series, Alex Pine has written a dark, atmospheric crime novel, set in a snowed-in Cumbrian village, for fans of Val McDermid, Ross Greenwood and LJ Ross.

Played to Death


B.V. Lawson - 2014
    When a former client bequeaths Drayco a rundown Opera House in a Virginia seaside town, he figures he'll arrange for a quick sale of the place while nursing his battered soul in a peaceful setting near the shore. What he doesn't count on is finding a dead body on the Opera House stage with a mysterious "G" carved into the man's chest. With hopes for a quick sale dashed and himself a suspect in the murder, Drayco digs into very old and very dangerous secrets to solve the crime and clear his name. Along the way, Drayco must dodge a wary sheriff, hostility over coastal development, and the seductive wife of a town councilman - before the tensions explode into more violence and he becomes the next victim. Want to read a Scott Drayco novella for FREE? Sign up for BV’s Mysteries in Crimetime newsletter at bvlawson.com and receive a FREE copy of "The Maltese Moon Rock"! Scott Drayco Thrillers in order: PLAYED TO DEATH (A Shamus Award Finalist and Best Mystery, Next Generation Book Awards) REQUIEM FOR INNOCENCE DIES IRAE ELEGY IN SCARLET

Lockdown


Peter May - 2020
    'They said that twenty-five percent of the population would catch the flu. Between seventy and eighty percent of them would die. He had been directly exposed to it, and the odds weren't good.' A CITY IN QUARANTINE London, the epicenter of a global pandemic, is a city in lockdown. Violence and civil disorder simmer. Martial law has been imposed. No-one is safe from the deadly virus that has already claimed thousands of victims. Health and emergency services are overwhelmed. A MURDERED CHILD At a building site for a temporary hospital, construction workers find a bag containing the rendered bones of a murdered child. A remorseless killer has been unleashed on the city; his mission is to take all measures necessary to prevent the bones from being identified. A POWERFUL CONSPIRACY D.I. Jack MacNeil, counting down the hours on his final day with the Met, is sent to investigate. His career is in ruins, his marriage over and his own family touched by the virus. Sinister forces are tracking his every move, prepared to kill again to conceal the truth. Which will stop him first - the virus or the killers?

The Missing Ones


Patricia Gibney - 2017
    A white flour bag encased the little body. Three small faces watched from the window, eyes black with terror. The child in the middle spoke without turning his head. I wonder which one of us will be next?When a woman’s body is discovered in a cathedral and hours later a young man is found hanging from a tree outside his home, Detective Lottie Parker is called in to lead the investigation. Both bodies have the same distinctive tattoo clumsily inscribed on their legs. It’s clear the pair are connected, but how? The trail leads Lottie to St. Angela’s, a former children’s home, with a dark connection to her own family history. Suddenly the case just got personal. As Lottie begins to link the current victims to unsolved murders decades old, two teenage boys go missing. She must close in on the killer before they strike again, but in doing so is she putting her own children in terrifying danger? Lottie is about to come face to face with a twisted soul who has a very warped idea of justice. Fans of Rachel Abbott, Karin Slaughter and Robert Dugoni will be gripped by this page-turning serial killer thriller, guaranteed to keep you reading late into the night.

Talking to the Dead


Harry Bingham - 2012
    . . . At first, the murder scene appears sad, but not unusual: a young woman undone by drugs and prostitution, her six-year-old daughter dead alongside her. But then detectives find a strange piece of evidence in the squalid house: the platinum credit card of a very wealthy--and long dead--steel tycoon. What is a heroin-addicted hooker doing with the credit card of a well-known and powerful man who died months ago? This is the question that the most junior member of the investigative team, Detective Constable Fiona Griffiths, is assigned to answer.But D.C. Griffiths is no ordinary cop. She's earned a reputation at police headquarters in Cardiff, Wales, for being odd, for not picking up on social cues, for being a little overintense. And there's that gap in her past, the two-year hiatus that everyone assumes was a breakdown. But Fiona is a crack investigator, quick and intuitive. She is immediately drawn to the crime scene, and to the tragic face of the six-year-old girl, who she is certain has something to tell her . . . something that will break the case wide open.Ignoring orders and protocol, Fiona begins to explore far beyond the rich man's credit card and into the secrets of her seaside city. And when she uncovers another dead prostitute, Fiona knows that she's only begun to scratch the surface of a dark world of crime and murder. But the deeper she digs, the more danger she risks--not just from criminals and killers but from her own past . . . and the abyss that threatens to pull her back at any time.

The Appeal


Janice Hallett - 2021
    Another member is currently in prison for the crime. We have reason to suspect that they are innocent, and that there were far darker secrets that have yet to be revealed.We believe that the killer has given themselves away. It's there in writing, hidden in the emails, texts, and letters. In the events surrounding the charity appeal for little Poppy Reswick, and the question of whether that money was truly being used to fund her life-saving cancer treatment. Will you accept the challenge? Can you uncover the truth? Do you dare?

The Naturalist


Andrew Mayne - 2017
    So when mutilated bodies found deep in the Montana woods leave the cops searching blindly for clues, Theo sees something they missed. Something unnatural. Something only he can stop.As a computational biologist, Theo is more familiar with digital code and microbes than the dark arts of forensic sleuthing. But a field trip to Montana suddenly lands him in the middle of an investigation into the bloody killing of one of his former students. As more details, and bodies, come to light, the local cops determine that the killer is either a grizzly gone rogue… or Theo himself. Racing to stay one step ahead of the police, Theo must use his scientific acumen to uncover the killer. Will he be able to become as cunning as the predator he hunts—before he becomes its prey?

Dead Eyed


Matt Brolly - 2015
    But as the body count rises, Michael realises that his own links to the victims could mean that he is next on the killer’s list…The gripping first novel in a thrilling new crime series by Matt Brolly. Perfect for fans of Tony Parsons, Lee Child and Angela Marsons.

Dark Territory


Leo J. Maloney - 2018
    Maloney delivers a lightning-fast thriller that puts America’s top operatives on a collision course with Russia’s deadliest weapon . . .   DARK TERRITORY   The Trans-Siberian Railway is the longest rail line in the world. But for Dan Morgan’s daughter Alex, it could be the shortest trip of her life—and the last. After taking out a sadistic North Korean officer, she boards the train to make her escape. But she’s not the only passenger with a hidden agenda. Dan Morgan has two choices: save his daughter before fighter jets blow up the train. Or stop a madman from annihilating the world. Either way, this train ride is a one-way ticket toward disaster—and the last stop is World War III . . .   Praise for Leo J. Maloney and His Novels    “The new master of the modern spy game.” —Mark Sullivan   “Everything a thriller reader wants.”—Ben Coes   “Dan Morgan is one of the best heroes to come along in ages.” —Jeffery Deaver   ”Fine writing and real insider knowledge.”—Lee Child    “Everything a thriller reader wants.”—Ben Coes   “A ripping story!”—Meg Gardiner   “Rings with authenticity.”—John Gilstrap

Rage Against the Dying


Becky Masterman - 2012
    Small and blond, from a distance she looked vulnerable and slight. . . the perfect bait to catch a killer. But as Quinn got older, she realised she needed to find a protegee, a younger field agent to take her place. So Quinn trains a twenty-two year old and lets her loose in the field. The plan works. Until the Route 66 killer not only takes the bait, but kills the bait too.Years on, Quinn is trying to move past the fact that she has a young woman's death on her conscience. She's now the perfect Stepford Wife - until she gets a knock on her door. The girl's body has finally been discovered. Quinn is pulled back into the case and the more she learns about the killer the more she comes to believe, despite the overwhelming forensic evidence to hand, that they have the wrong man.

Death Master


Anna-Marie Morgan - 2012
    Her sobs flecked his shirt with tears, which now flowed freely, their salty water aggravating the wounds accumulated on her naked flesh over the endless days she had been held captive. The end must be near now and she was so sure that it must end. She tried in vain one last time to wrench free her hands, but the bindings held firm. Knees, so long on the floor, would not have held her up anyway - had she tried to run. He was calm; she was wretched. Instinctively, she pulled her thighs to her abdomen to protect her unborn child. His hands tightened, her eyes widened - pleading. His pressure did not relent and slowly everything faded…After months of mental and physical therapy, Yvonne Giles, an Oxford DI, is back at work and that's just how she likes it. So when she is asked to hunt the serial killer responsible for taking apart young women, the DI jumps at the chance but hides the fact that she is suffering debilitating flashbacks. The victims appear to meet their murderer willingly, telling their families they're going on vacation. No one sees them again until their macabre death scenes. A quirk of the killer's signature is the food and wine stains he leaves on the backs of the girls.Yvonne is told to work with Tasha Phillips, an in-her-face, criminal psychologist. The DI's previous experience of working with a profiler involved having a case thrown out by the Crown Prosecution Service for reasons of entrapment. She's not enamoured with the idea of working with one again. Tasha has a lot to prove. The DI has a lot to get over.A tentative link with a 20 year-old cold case brings her closer to the truth, but leaves her staring her own mortality directly in the face...

Dead Inside


Noelle Holten - 2019
    Then a fourth domestic abuser is brutally murdered. And he is Lucy’s husband.Now the finger of suspicion points at Lucy and the police are running out of time. Can Maggie and her team solve the murders before another person dies? And is Lucy really a cold-blooded killer?

Blood Orchids


Toby Neal - 2011
    On a routine patrol she finds two murdered teenagers—one of whom she’d recently busted. With its echoes of her own past, the murdered girl’s harsh life and tragic death affect Lei deeply. She becomes obsessed—even as the killer is drawn to Lei's intensity, feeding off her vulnerabilities and toying with her sanity.Despite her obsession with the case and fear that she's being stalked, Lei finds herself falling in love for the first time. Steaming volcanoes, black sand beaches and shrouded fern forests are the backdrop to Lei's quest for answers—and the stalker is closer than she can imagine, as threads of the past tangle in her future. Lei is determined to find the killer—but he knows where to find her first.

Still Waters: Secrets Always Have a Way of Rising to the Surface


Linda Kavanagh - 2013
    But she didn't. Now she's burdened with a terrible secret - something so awful that she must constantly live in fear, since its disclosure could destroy her marriage, her career, and turn her own son against her.As the star of Bright Lights, a soap that airs nightly on TV, Ivy has achieved fame and fortune, and led a charmed life, adored by millions of fans. Her husband Danny is managing director of one of the country's leading supermarket chains, and their son Joseph is at university.And all this time, her secret has lain hidden beneath the waters of the lake in the Lincolnshire village where she grew up. As a regular visitor to Willow Haven, where Ivy and Danny's families still live, she must regularly confront the scene where terrible things happened many years earlier. The demons are never far away, and the tragic legacy of her teenage years has always been on her mind. Will she ever be able to forget what happened? Or will her past destroy her future?Ivy soon discovers that being a celebrity can be a double-edged sword. Her worst nightmare comes true when someone discovers the secret she's been hiding all those years. And their whispered phone calls make it clear that they're keen to ensure she suffers. Now she must face terror of a different kind as this unseen enemy twists the knife. Who is this person and what do they want? Terrified, she flees to South Africa, where her brother Owen lives, hoping that this person can't find her there. But there is no escape, even six thousand miles from home. Ivy must now battle for all she holds dear, maybe even her own life...Linda Kavanagh is a former journalist. She has worked for various newspapers and magazines, and as a travel and health columnist, she has travelled extensively. She lives in Dublin, but commutes regularly to the UK and the USA. She is the author of the top-five bestselling novels Hush Hush, Love Child, Love Hurts, Time After Time, and had her first Number One bestseller with Never Say Goodbye. Still Waters is her new novel. To find out more, please visit her website, www.lindakavanagh.com