The Dying Trade


Peter Corris - 1982
    Smoker, drinker, ex-boxer. And private investigator.The Dying Trade not only introduces a sleuth who has become an enduring Australian literary legend—the antihero of thirty-seven thrillers—but it is also a long love letter to the seamy side of Sydney itself.

The Bone Keeper


Luca Veste - 2018
    Your bones he'll keep. Twenty years ago, four teenagers went exploring in the local woods, trying to find to the supposed home of The Bone Keeper. Only three returned. Now, a woman is found wandering the streets of Liverpool, horrifically injured, claiming to have fled the Bone Keeper. Investigating officer DC Louise Henderson must convince skeptical colleagues that this urban myth might be flesh and blood. But when a body is unearthed in the woodland the woman has fled from, the case takes on a much darker tone. The disappeared have been found. And their killer is watching every move the police make.The brilliant new police procedural from Luca Veste, featuring series characters Murphy and Rossi - a guaranteed page-turner.

Three Women Disappear


James Patterson - 2020
    Way off. There were three women in the house with him that morning -- his wife, Anna; his maid, Serena; and his personal chef, Sarah. All three have reason to want him dead. And all three are missing. What's more, chef Sarah happens to be married to homicide detective Sean Walsh. Walsh may be a bad husband, but he's a good cop. And one with a ready audience: his vengeful ex-partner, who's in charge of the investigation; and Anthony's uncle, who has his own powerful hold over Walsh. Both are watching his every move. But even if Walsh can find the women and bring them in, it'll be their word against that of a dead man -- and none of them can be trusted.

The Fell Walker


Michael Wood - 2006
    A government minister is found dead at the foot of a Lake District mountain, adding to a sudden increase in the accident statistics. A lonely Scotsman leaves his isolated croft and travels to steamy Manila. These apparently unconnected events are the first sketches on a large canvas, soon to be smeared blood red by a brutal killer. Who is he? What is driving him? And why are his hideous crimes being ignored by the police? A small town journalist, Ben Foxley, starts to investigate. In the process, he is drawn into a world of technology and politics, love and obsession, and finally to a living nightmare - a terrifyingly personal race against time. Before beginning "The Fell Walker", allow yourself some quality reading time, for once you've picked it up, you'll not want to put it down.

The Cutting Crew


Steve Mosby - 2006
    Four months on, that group is in disarray. Sean has disappeared into the city's black heart and not returned, and Martin is separated from his job, his wife, and his friends. But then a simple note from his ex-partner forces him to re-enter an investigation he'd rather forget. "I found her," it says. The search leads him from one side of the city to the other in a downward spiral of violence and pain, and drags him into the orbit of the things that are really wrong with the city—the eight brothers rumored by legend to have control over everything.

Gone Woman


A.J. Rivers - 2019
    But when the truth is discovered, Mary’s life could be at stake… It’s the holidays and Mary Whitman has the perfect life. A beautiful home built just for her, and a blissful marriage to her adoring husband. But a terrible accident left her with no memories of her past and a lifelong illness. An illness that keeps her confined in her home. She's plagued by nightmares and haunted by a face of a woman and an empty nursery. As memories start to resurface of people she shouldn’t know and moments she shouldn’t have. Mary is left to wonder how lost she really is. When life with her perfect husband begins to unravel and she sees what seethes below the pristine surface. She begins to uncover the dark truth and learns that there might be more than just her memories that she must save. Will Mary be able to uncover the mysteries of her past? One thing is for certain… Some truths are far too sinister and may be best left buried.

Bound by Lies


Gretta Mulrooney - 2017
    The chief character is so well defined and so likeable. The story was intriguing and had plenty of twists and turns. ” Julia Corbett “Swift is a good character, suitable for people who like PD James, the story is believable and comes together well.” “Absolutely loved this book! Extremely well written with believable characters and lots of twists!” E. Boisvert “Excellent mystery, well drawn characters, and a great storyline.” Suki Anne Perfect for fans of Robert Galbraith, Paula Hawkins, P.D. James, or Ruth Rendell. IN THIS THREE-BOOK BOXSET: BOOK 1: THE LADY VANISHED A missing woman holds the key to a valuable inheritance Florence Davenport hires Swift to find her missing stepmother. There are no leads and no suspects, but if the body is found, Florence will inherit half of a very valuable house. BOOK 2: BLOOD SECRETS Fifteen years ago a teenage boy, Teddy Bartlett, went to a woods on the outskirts of London and was beaten to a pulp and left damaged for life. The police never found who did it or why he was targeted. Now, the boy’s father, recently returned from Australia, wants to find out what really happened to his son. He hires private detective Tyrone Swift to investigate the tragic crime. BOOK 3: TWO LOVERS, SIX DEATHS A man stabs his girlfriend to death. Then hangs himself, leaving a note confessing to the murder. Open and shut case? Not for detective Tyrone Swift Dominic Merrell’s estranged wife Georgie doesn’t believe that he could have done it. Detective Swift discovers that Dominic was a reliable, devoted husband and father for eighteen years until he met the beautiful, charismatic Lisa, who he left his wife for. No one can believe that Dominic was capable of murder. But if it wasn’t him, then who killed the seductive but chaotic Lisa? THE DETECTIVE Tyrone Swift is an ex-police detective who now works privately. He’s survived a stabbing and his fiancée running off with another man. Swift's personal life is complicated. He is still involved with his ex-wife Ruth. THE SETTING The streets of London with their vibrant mix of nationalities, cultures, and rich and poor are beautifully evoked. From the quiet suburbs with their veneer of happy family life, to the bustling centre with refugees struggling to survive, to exclusive penthouses where the rich can have anything they want delivered. THE AUTHOR Gretta is a critically acclaimed author of best-selling detective and literary fiction. 'Mulrooney has a real gift for dialogue, the words and phrases ring true and make her characters wonderfully real . . .

In the Dark


Mark Billingham - 2008
    A gun is fired into a car which swerves on to the pavement, killing the person standing at a bus stop. It seems that a chilling gang initiation has cost an innocent victim their life. But the reality is far more sinister.

The Shape of Snakes


Minette Walters - 2000
    It takes hours for a black woman known as Mad Annie to die in the gutter. It will take 20 years for the woman who found her to shape her neighbors' racism, the indifference of the police, and her own rage into the truth.

Black Coffee


Charles Osborne - 1998
    But darkness brings death and Hercule Poirot has to untangle family strife, love and suspicious visitors tangle in order to clarify the murderer and prevent disaster.

Without Trace


Katherine John - 1991
    The costumed hitchhiker’s victim is a passing motorist. The murder, cold-blooded, brutal. Without motive.Doctors at the local hospital Tim and Daisy Sherringham are blissfully happy. The perfect couple.When an emergency call rouses Tim early one morning, he vanishes on the way from their flat to the hospital and Daisy is plunged into a nightmare of terror and doubt... This is a new release of a previously published edition.

The Dogs of Rome


Conor Fitzgerald - 2010
    On a hot summer morning, Arturo Clemente is sloppily murdered in his Roman apartment by a mysterious slasher. Though the murder appears amateurish, even random, Clemente is no ordinary victim. An animal rights activist campaigning against dogfighting, he is married to a prominent politician and sleeping with Manuela Fusco, the daughter of a dangerous crime boss. Police inspector Alec Blume has a favorite suspect, but the investigation is already being manipulated by both the Senate and the Fusco crime ring. As the details of the case continue to trickle out, Blume soon realizes he is being watched from on high—and that solving this crime may be the least of his worries. Angry, sleep-deprived, and unsure who to trust, Blume is losing control of his investigation. As the mob tightens its grip on the city, and with the killer still at large, Blume’s struggle for justice may cost more innocent lives. In this riveting debut novel, we are introduced to Blume, an American expatriate and seasoned police veteran. Intelligent yet sometimes petulant, instinctive yet flawed, Blume is a likable and trustworthy protagonist for this first installment of a gritty and promising series.

The Debt


Roberta Kray - 2006
    Now, 18 years later, Johnny Frank is coming out of jail with only one thing on his mind - to kill the man who put him there. But first he's going to make him suffer.

Dark Horse


Tami Hoag - 2002
    It is the story of an ex-cop, a missing girl, and a killer locked in a race where there can be only one winner—and the losers die trying. In a trailer in a Florida swamp, time is running out for eighteen year-old Erin Seabright. A pawn in a kidnapper's terrifying game for a ransom no one can pay, her last hope is a washed-up ex-cop who has already lost it all-not once, but twice.The wealthy world of the Palm Beach horse set seems a long way from a cop's world in the narcotics division. A lifetime ago, undercover sheriff's detective Elena Estes worked the mean streets and BackTop alleys, living by her wits and playing the long odds until she took one risk too many. Now Estes lives on the ragged edge of lost hope and self-hatred, hiding from the past and believing she doesn't deserve to have a future. But the past is about to come back with a vengeance, and the future is about to become a race between life and death.A young woman is missing and her twelve year-old stepsister comes to Estes for help. No one but serious, studious Molly Seabright seems concerned about what's happened to her troubled older sister. But Molly is convinced Erin is in danger. Estes has no P.I. license, no interest in a new career, and no desire to break her self-imposed exile. But the more she learns about the people Erin Seabright was involved with, the more her long-dormant cop instincts come back to life.One trip to the show grounds where Erin worked as a groom, and Estes is quickly pulled to the dark side of a glamorous sport. Behind the glittering, ultra-rich facade is an ultra-ruthless world of drugs, payoffs, and dirty deals. A world of dissolute playboys and crooked horse-dealers, of royalty and rabble, of rivals and enemies. An obscenely wealthy world where anything can be had for a price—including a life.And in that world stalks a killer who will lead Estes down a dark, twisted trail of decadence and deceit, mayhem and murder—from the gilded life of Palm Beach to the darkest corners of the Florida swamps, to a final show-down that could cost her everything. A race against time and evil. A race in which Estes is the dark horse—and no one is betting on her to win.

The Blackhouse


Peter May - 2011
    For Lewis-born Macleod, the case represents a journey both home and into his past.A SECRETSomething lurks within the close-knit island community. Something sinister.A TRAPAs Fin investigates, old skeletons begin to surface, and soon he, the hunter, becomes the hunted.