For readers of Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell, and Jo Nesbo.      During a cold winter night in Stockholm a man is found walking alongside a railway bridge, suffering from hypothermia and legionella. After he's rushed to the hospital, it's discovered that, according to a death certificate, the man has been dead for over seven years. He is believed to be a victim of notorious serial killer Jurek Walter, who was arrested years ago by Detective Inspector Joona Linna and sentenced to a life of total isolation in forensic psychiatric care. As Joona Linna investigates where the "dead man" has been all these years, some unexpected evidence leads to the reopening of a cold case. Danger is imminent, and someone needs to get under the skin of the serial killer--fast--as they are running out of time.

    

    Twelve year-old Biddy has survived an intolerable life of indenture by remembering two things: adults can’t be trusted, and it’s best to be invisible. Due to an early trauma, she’s mute with no memory of her past. The man who holds her contract for indenture has evil plans for her, and he will stop at nothing to ensure his schemes come to fruition. Things look hopeless for Biddy until she meets two school teachers, Brenna and Emily. From that moment on, these three lives become intricately entwined. Biddy’s new champions take desperate measures to ensure her safety. Life and death choices are made and these accelerate into an unanticipated conclusion. As is often the case in life, what was wished for is granted in a most unexpected way. Victoria Murata has again embraced history to tell an enduring story of love and loss in our country’s not too distant past.

    Set in Carlisle - on the border between England and Scotland and much else besides - Call & Response introduces DS Samantha 'Pepper' Wilson and her North Division CID team. In this first episode Pepper struggles to cope with the madness and sadness of everyday policing, whist covering for an absent boss and adapting to a new Superintendent who's come straight from a supermarket's supply chain to British policing's chain of command. And matters take a serious turn when a case of 'revenge porn' is reported, involving members of a minority ethnic group, and one of Pepper's young DCs is assaulted, within spitting distance of Carlisle's shiny new Police HQ. Both cases are delicate and potentially inflammatory, and Pepper's short fuse is trimmed still more by the return to Carlisle of a dangerous career criminal with whom Pepper grew up, and whose reappearance could have dangerous implications for her, the city, and its now almost vanishingly 'thin blue line'.

    

    

     BUT NOT FORBORNE Clint Wolf is in a race against time--leaving little time for sleep--as he tries to find a missing teenager. Rose Murdock was supposed to board Bus 23 for school early one winter morning in Mechant Loup. However, when her mother returns home from work that evening and checks the answering machine, she realizes Rose never made it to school. While a frantic call to the police department finally sets things in motion, the sixteen-year-old student has already been missing for nearly twelve hours and Clint is acutely aware that the victim could be halfway across the country or even dead at that point. Wasting no time, the Mechant Loup Police Department--with assistance from members of the community and deputies with the Chateau Parish Sheriff’s Office--launches a full-scale search for the girl while Clint begins gathering evidence and interviewing potential witnesses. It isn’t long before Clint begins developing potential suspects, but finding enough evidence to make an arrest is another matter. As the hours turn into days and searchers find no trace of the student, Clint begins to wonder if he’ll ever find a bread crumb that will lead to Rose Murdock. Or--like Abigail--will this be yet another young girl he couldn’t save? BUT NOT FOREWARNED It’s Mardi Gras in Mechant Loup and a dog complaint pulls Clint Wolf away from the town’s yearly parade. Happy to be away from the bustling crowds, noise, and lights, he responds to the complaint and arrives just in time to stop a man from shooting a friendly German shepherd that posed no threat to anyone. After addressing the man heatedly, he attempts to return the dog to its home, but instead finds a seemingly empty house, an abandoned detective car, a set of keys on the ground, and a single drop of blood in the driveway. It’s unclear if anyone is home, as nearly all of the townspeople are attending the parade and no one will answer his persistent knocking, but Clint is determined to find the source of the blood. Finally, his attention is drawn to the neighboring property, where he locates an off-duty officer bound and gagged and barely clinging to life. As though things weren’t bad enough, Clint soon stumbles upon a ghastly murder scene that will shock even him to his core, and it will inject sheer terror into the hearts of the rest of the town’s citizens. The one person who might hold the key to the case is in a coma, leaving Clint to delve deep into the lives of the victims in hopes of finding the killer--or killers. Clint’s biggest fear is not solving the case--it’s wondering what he might do once he comes face to face with the killer. BUT NOT FOREBODING When four college students set out into the swamps in search of the elusive Louisiana black bear, they find more than they bargained for. Now, one of them is missing and the others are stranded without a boat in the alligator-invested wilderness. When one of the concerned parents calls the Mechant Loup Police Department, Clint and Melvin begin searching for the overdue group. Their search takes them deep into the swamps and late into the night, and it isn’t long before Clint develops a foreboding feeling of déjà vu. This dreaded feeling only grows more intense as the investigation progresses, and Clint is left wondering if this incident is connected to a case he worked nearly two decades ago. If Clint is not careful, he might find out...the hard way.

    He finds himself caught up in a world of abduction, conspiracy, exploitation and murder. Detective Jake Matthews must convince the young man's family that their son is dead in order to keep him alive. Meanwhile, six missing teenagers cause problems for a sinister organization led by a man who considers himself to be above the law. The story is set in 2038, when certain medical procedures have been developed, but not yet approved. Strange things occurring at a homeless boys shelter in Chicago change the lives of the Seager family forever. When so called friends become enemies and assailants turn into allies, it is difficult to know who to trust. This is the first book in the Finding Trilogy, a young adult fiction series.

     A SICK KILLER WHO THE POLICE CAN’T PUT AWAY Please note this book was originally published as “Desperate Measures.” They arrived at the landfill site to find uniformed officers conducting a rigorous fingertip search amongst the mouldering mounds. One area was cordoned off with yellow police tape. DS Mia Harvey cut a determined path towards it and found herself staring at the body of a young female crammed into a heavy-duty green-plastic refuse sack, chin touching knees, heels kissing buttocks. DCI Paul Wells is certain that Chris Lennox is the killer. With Lennox safely in the cells Wells' team prepares its case. But they can’t get enough evidence to charge him. Time runs out and they have to release him. Wells is desperate and his career is on the line. How can he and DS Mia Harvey prove that Lennox is their man? MEET DETECTIVE MIA HARVEY A DEDICATED POLICEWOMAN TRYING TO WIN PROMOTION IN A TOUGH WORLD Then, a second murder causes even more problems. Is there any chance that the DCI can finally get the result he wants before anyone else dies? A RACE AGAINST TIME TO BRING A KILLER TO JUSTICE DETECTIVE SERGEANT MIA HARVEY Works at Larchborough Police Station. She is in her late 20s, single and unattached. She would, however, relish a romantic relationship but always puts work first. She is the only child of the late Robin Harvey, former chief superintendent at the Larchborough Division. After his death, Mia swore to follow in his footsteps and make him proud. She tolerates her mother at best. She is professional, conscientious, and has great respect for her boss, DCI Paul Wells, but is not above going against his wishes should the need arise. She is close to her colleague, DC Jack Turnbull, but barely tolerates DI Nick Ford, with whom she clashes regularly. DETECTIVE CHIEF INSPECTOR PAUL WELLS 6’ 5" and gangly, Wells is a brash Cockney with a well-hidden soft centre. A family man who is besotted with his daughters, he dresses well but lacks the finesse to appear anything other than dishevelled. Wells doesn't care about saying the right thing, but he is a fair man, and a great leader for his team. DS MIA HARVEY THRILLERS Book 1: Desperate Book 2: Obsessed Book 3: Silent Grave Join the Joffe Books mailing list to hear about the next in the series

    A fiendish plot. A spectacular do-or-die climax.The five-day Ascot opening is the most fashionable event in England and, some say, around the world. But it's now 1900, and Royal Ascot is different. Even the newspapers will report that opening day is not quite the gala occasion to which the British Public has become accustomed.Yet none of them knows that among the glamorous crowds are powerful men who have come, not to watch the grand spectacle, but to create a ghastly event that will shock the world.Unless someone stops them.Enter Sherlock, Lucy, and the Baker Street team.A fast-paced and thrilling take on a classic Sherlock who-done-it, with unexpected twists and turns, two strong, feisty heroines, and a touch of romance. Holmes Picks a Winner stays faithful to the spirit of the beloved original series, while introducing more intriguing relationship dynamics.The third installment in a three-part 'season finale.

    

     But as dawn breaks over tiny Blair County, a guilty verdict is the least of her concerns. The Texas justice system has taken dead aim at getting her off the case - even if it means taking dead aim at  the back of her head.And Samantha Tulley is in way over her head. Starting a career as a small town criminal attorney would be tough enough, but as a widowed mother with no income and very little in the bank, Sam never seems to catch a break. From court appointed clients who rarely show up for court to pro bono clients with seemingly unwinnable cases, every day is a new struggle to figure out the subtle intricacies and intrigues of the criminal justice system. And then suddenly the system turns against her, and Sam and her daughter are left running for their lives.Torn from the author's own case files, Resumed Innocent offers a revealing and sometimes frightening inside look at just how our fractured justice system works to punish the innocent and reward the wicked. And for the poor there simply is no justice at all.

    So a small island off the north coast of Scotland in a 16th century castle seems to be just the job.After all, two out of three isn’t bad. At first the place seems idyllic: The wild landscapes are breathtaking, the northern lights otherworldly and the fire-side talk, fuelled by good whisky and good Angus steak, is fascinating. Maybe a bit too fascinating when it leads to a forty year old mystery about a man murdered, shot with a .38 in a locked room in circumstances which are, quite simply, impossible. And when the island is cut off by a storm, and an identical murder is committed, well, what are two cold case cops on honeymoon to do…?Book 12: The Butcher of WhitechapelIt was the first time John Stone had been back to London for fifteen years. Last time had been on an exchange program between the NYPD and Scotland Yard: an exchange of skills and experience that was supposed to last six months, but went one for a year and a half. This time he was on honeymoon with his partner and wife, Carmen Dehan. And it seemed, as they prepared to return home, that history was repeating itself.Because, as they were leaving the hotel for the airport, the call came; the call that said they had to stay, the call that said the killer was back, the one he’d been searching for fifteen years ago, the one who haunted all his secret nightmares - the one that got away.So now he has to share his dark secrets, and his nightmares, with his new bride. Book 13: Little Dead Riding Hood An eighteen-year-old girl sets out one November night to walk five blocks down Gleason Avenue to her boyfriend’s house. He calls her and she tells him she’s on her way. It’s a walk that should take ten minutes, but she never arrives.When she does turn up, it’s five days later, washed up on the banks of the River Bronx, in Soundview Park, strangled to death.The detective who investigates the murder, a friend of the family, finds no forensic evidence, nothing of interest in her phone records, no witnesses to the abduction or the murder. Nothing. The case goes cold.Until her brother, Samuel, comes forward with new evidence he has found. And then the cases is handed to Detectives Stone and Dehan of the 43rd Precinct. They start asking the difficult questions, like how did she get into the river in the first place, and then the case starts heating up again…

    

    Multiple suspects. A serial killer is on the loose. Can Vishal apprehend the killer in book #2 of The Kanke Killings Trilogy?Kanke has had multiple murders and mayhem. The police are in a tizzy. There is a genius serial killer on the loose, threatening the hell out of the lives of every person at Ranchi. The police have a handful and they are at a dead end.Kanke has a psychiatric hospital. The hospital has a brilliant psychoanalyst who helps the police with the case. His Nurse, Eva Black, is a British citizen who travels from London to India and begins her work routine in Kanke.Would Eva find a mentor in Kanke? Can she find love and belonging in a new country? Can Eva help the police and the psychoanalyst with their investigations into the serial killing case? Can Amrita save Alka from her depression?Peek into the lives of the ordinary citizens of Ranchi and find out the unraveling mysteries of The Kanke Killings Trilogy – Book 2. Find it out for yourself because here is a surprising, secretive murder mystery, waiting for you to decipher by allowing your creative detective juices to flow with impunity, now.Served hot, easy, peasy! Hell, no!