After 5 years in exile his presence is required at the funeral of patriarch Joe Murston, and even though the last time Stu saw the Murstons he was running for his life, staying away might be even more dangerous than turning up.

    The vicious murder of a young child provides rookie journalist Paddy Meehan with her first big break when the suspect turns out to be her fiance's 11-year old cousin. Launching her own investigation into the horrific crime, Paddy uncovers lines of deception deep in Glasgow's past, with more horrific crimes in the future if she fails to solve the mystery. Infused with Mina's unique blend of dark humor, personal insights and social injustice, the story grips the reader while challenging our perceptions of childhood innocence, crime and punishment, and right or wrong.

     Detective Sergeant Joe Galbraith starts what seems like one more depressing investigation of the untimely death of a poor unfortunate who was in the wrong place, at the wrong time. As the investigation spreads across Scotland it reaches into a past that Joe has tried to forget, and takes him back to the Hebridean island of Harris, where he spent his childhood. Among the mountains and the stunning landscape of religiously conservative Harris, in the shadow of Ceapabhal, long buried events and a tragic story are slowly uncovered, and the investigation takes on an altogether more sinister aspect. In The Shadow Of The Hill skilfully captures the intricacies and malevolence of the underbelly of Highland and Island life, bringing tragedy and vengeance to the magical beauty of the Outer Hebrides.

    Ex-copper. Current man on the edge.Shunned by his old colleagues, and dividing his time between a dead-end job and the bottom of a whisky bottle, former Police Scotland Detective Superintendent Bob Hoon’s life is a mess.Then an old face from Hoon’s Special Forces days turns up asking for help: his teenage daughter has been missing for months, the police have drawn a blank, and he needs the kind of help that only Hoon can provide.And besides, Hoon owes him one.From the Highlands of Scotland, to the mean streets of London, Hoon’s relentless hunt for the girl will see him make new friends and encounter old enemies. Enemies who know what happened to the girl. And to hundreds more like her.But Hoon’s been given something that makes him dangerous, something he thought he’d long-since lost: a purpose.He may be a disgraced ex-copper, a barely-functioning alcoholic, and a borderline psychopath, but Bob Hoon still believes in justice.And he’s just the foul-mouthed **** to dish some out.

    Waldo Monk is 65 years old, a widower, and two months away from retirement after a lifetime at Roundly's pool-ball factory in Mattfield, Indiana. Enter Saifon, a twenty-something Lao-American girl with an attitude, who has come to the US under mysterious circumstances. She's just arrived at Roundly's, and it's Waldo's task to train her up for his job as pool-ball quality controller.Saifon hates just about everyone, and even though Waldo is tempted to strangle her at first, a friendship soon grows between them. Two personal disasters in Waldo's life lead to him 'adopting' Saifon instead. But Saifon's mission at the factory is to make enough money, by hook or crook, to get back to Laos - for she has sworn to discover the truth about her past.

    Why he has been away, and where he has been will soon become apparent, as well as why his heart is set on bloody revenge. Simon is soon recognized by figures from the past when he enters a pub and the locals make it known they don't want him around. But when Gloria Bartlett, the owner of the Bed and Breakfast in which he is staying, treats him compassionately, Simon quickly draws her into his plans. What follows is an exciting search for the truth about Simon’s past and a terrible murder of a family member. Yet when the couple get to the bottom of the mystery, they find that both of their lives are in jeopardy. TWIST OF TRUTH is set in the fictional Yorkshire town of Ramstone based in the heart of the moors. It explores the difficult emotional connections between people whose lives have been affected by crime. And as the protagonists get closer and closer to the truth, and the terrible secret that is revealed, it exposes the difference between revenge and justice.

    Peacock’s wife thinks he did it, the police think he did it, even Frank McAlpine said he did it, moments before he died. But Peacock knows he’s innocent, and he knows he’s going to work out who really killed Frank to clear his name. But commiting crimes are more in Peacock’s line of work, he doesn’t have the first clue about how to solve one. Luckily, though, he knows a man who does, a man who owes him a favour. A second Scottish noir writer, Ian Rankin, has featured Peacock as the main villain in one of his bestselling Rebus novels- A Question of Blood. And Peacock feels he was somewhat misrepresented, made out to be much more of a hardened criminal than he actually is. He’d been planning to seek compensation from Rankin, on a massive scale, but now he sees an opportunity for Ian to make things good. If Rankin can use his detective skills to work out who actually killed Frank McAlpine then Peacock is willing to drop the action for libel. The only questions are, will Rankin agree. And is he up to the job.

    A chocoholic grizzly bear, a talking Christmas tree, mince pie overdoses and a very bloody murder. Will poor old Saint Nick make it out alive? Sad, strange, funny and gruesome, this overlapping, multi-genre collection of tales has a little something for every reader. Curl up with a mulled wine and some fictional festive misery, and discover what Father Christmas really likes to drink when he wriggles down your chimney. Spoiler: it isn’t milk.

    But she’s about to cross a line.Several hundred miles away in the shallow waters of a Hebridean island, a body is found. It’s been in the water long enough to make identification tricky, but it’s clear this is no accidental death.Erykah knows she’s about to make a choice you can’t reverse – but she’s lived with secrets most of her life and she thinks she’s ready. The trouble is, there are far worse secrets than her own about to emerge.If she’s going to keep her head above water, Erykah must leave behind her comfortable life and start breaking rules.

    But I am gone.Please carry on as normal.Love always,HayleyHas Hayley gone or hasn’t she? Is she coming back? If she has gone, but is coming back, when is she coming back? And what is he supposed to bloody do in the meantime? And what if she’s never coming back??Trying to work out what’s happening to his confusing life, Tom tries to track Hayley down. In doing so, he stumbles across a strange and eccentric group of people with an irregular and highly-addictive hobby. Next, he’s being followed, but he’s not sure by whom. And then he also almost loses his job at the radio station in the now infamous ‘Jam Nazi’ episode, which of course, you know about.Above all, Tom is trying to work out who everyone is. Because who is Hayley? Who is this new girl following him around the supermarket?And who, for that matter, is TOM DITTO?

    A scheming bastard in and out of school, Diller screws, drinks, snorts, cons and kills his way through the Lanarkshire underworld and attempts to survive the attention of his local drug-lord, Hondo, who's less than impressed by Diller's growing debt and status; He's also having a busy week at school.A brutal and wickedly funny novella inspired by The Prodigy's 'Smack my Bitch Up' music video.Contains strong language and graphic violence throughout.

    Her brothers have given her the task of deciding what to do with their parents’ farm, which is slowly falling into disrepair. Imogen will not be rushed into passing judgement on the place. When she starts to carry out some research into the history of Kilduggan Farm, she inadvertently sets off a chain of events that ends in tragedy. Suddenly, Imogen and her psychologist husband, Hugh, find themselves faced with a seemingly insoluble puzzle. How can it be possible that an unexplained death in the present day can match, in every detail, an unsolved case from 40 years ago?As the past begins to catch up with Imogen, she realises that she must strive to discover the truth about her family, even if it means that nothing will ever be the same again…This is an intricately plotted novel, cleverly interwoven with subtle clues and the occasional red-herring. It will keep you guessing and the pages turning, right up until its final, shocking conclusion.Aoife's Chariot is the first novel in the Imogen and Hugh Croft Mysteries Series. It is an absorbing family saga, full of mystery and suspense. Husband and wife sleuths Imogen and Hugh Croft are first introduced to readers in this tense genealogical mystery with deathly consequences.

    Relatively GuiltyCredit may be crunching all around but crime is booming and to add to busy caseload come instructions in a homicide. A policeman with a caved-in skull, his young wife found clutching the blood-stained murder weapon; it all looks pretty open and shut until Robbie detects the faint whiff of a defence and closes in on a witness who might cast a precious doubt on proceedings. So why is it, the nearer he gets to the truth and a possible acquittal, that Robbie’s murder client becomes more and more eager to opt for a life sentence?In the midst of these hectic trial preparations, complications arise in Robbie’s personal life. His love life may not be DOA but it’s in a high dependency unit, his brother, a former soccer legend, has carelessly killed the daughter of a Glasgow gangster and has a price on his head while Robbie finds himself in the dock on a counterfeiting charge that looks set to end his career in the law.If only his life were as simple as that of the folk of the Vendee where Robbie’s search for his elusive witness takes him and where, on the salt marshes of the Loire estuary, he hears the tale of the mythical Twinfish and suddenly everything seems a whole lot clearer.

    Her wealthy industrialist father has died unexpectedly, leaving her a half-share in a ruined whisky distillery and the task of scattering his ashes on a Munro. After discovering her fiancé playing away from home, she cancels their lavish Christmas wedding at St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh and heads for the only place she feels safe - Eilean na Sgairbh, a windswept island on Scotland’s west coast - where the cormorants outnumber the inhabitants, ten to one. When she arrives at her family home - now a bed and breakfast managed by her left-wing, firebrand Aunt Esme, she finds a guest in situ - BRODIE. Issy longs for peace and the chance to lick her wounds, but gorgeous, sexy American, Brodie, turns her world upside down. In spite of her vow to steer clear of men, she grows to rely on Brodie. However, she suspects him of having an ulterior motive for staying at her aunt’s Bed and Breakfast on remote Cormorant Island. Having been let down by the men in her life, will it be third time lucky for Issy? Is she wise to trust a man she knows nothing about - a man who presents her with more questions than answers? As for Aunt Esme, she has secrets of her own . . .

    Newson is not the only member of the Class of take back '88 who has been raking over the ashes of the past. As his old class begins to reassemble in cyberspace, the years slip away and old feuds and passions burn hot once more.Meanwhile, back in the present, Newson's life is no less complicated. He is secretly in love with Natasha, his lovely but very attached sergeant, and failing comprehensively to solve a series of baffling and peculiarly gruesome murders. A school reunion is planned and as history begins to repeat itself, the past crashes headlong into the present. Neither will ever be the same again.In Past Mortem, Ben Elton - previous winner of The Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award for Popcorn - delivers both a heart-stopping thriller and a killer comic romance.