Who murdered the artist Umezawa, raped and killed his daughter, and then chopped up the bodies of six others to create Azoth, the supreme woman? With maps, charts, and other illustrations, this story of magic and illusion, pieced together like a great stage tragedy, challenges the reader to unravel the mystery before the final curtain. The Tokyo Zodiac Murders joins a new wave of Japanese murder mysteries being translated into English.Soji Shimada, author of over 100 mystery novels, is a designer, musician, and astrology writer.From the publisher: for more mystery from Japan, check out The Inugami Clan by Seishi Yokomizo.

    He burns to save the world’s largest nation from Communism. But on the cold, unforgiving Long March, amid horror and despair too great for Christianity to salve, Jakob becomes entangled with Mei-ling, a beautiful and fervent revolutionary. Powerful new emotions challenge and reshape his faith—and entrap him for life in the vast country’s tortured destiny.Once held hostage by Red Guards in Peking for more than two years, author Anthony Grey crafts a portrait of China as a land of great beauty and harshness, of triumph and tragedy, as he traces the path of China’s Communist party from its covert inception through purge and revolution in an epic novel that enhances the reader’s understanding of modern China.

    Even if that means marrying his daughter off to a rich American.Unfortunately for him, she is already in love with a penniless nobody named Alan Lavender — to the glee of Alan’s greedy uncle Guy.He’s been nosing into the Renfields’ murky past, and he says he’s uncovered a secret. Something so shocking it casts a shadow over Frank’s entire legacy.Tensions run high at the hall, until Guy Lavender turns up dead.A convenient coincidence for Frank?Detectives French and Edwards are on the case. But in a town full of secrets, the truth can be hard to find.And Guy’s won’t be the only body to fall before their work is done . . .Who will be next to die under the Renfields’ roof?

    Nobody except his former physician's assistant who hasassumed his identity.Serenity was to be a fresh start and the fulfillment of a vowmade years ago. Being a doctor there is supposed to be a quiet, non-descript job. But it is in this touristy, seaside town wheredrugs flow, insurance is defrauded and people are dying.As the mystery around these suspicious activities and deathsunfolds, so does the new doctor's false identity. If the pretendercan survive the allegations and keep the unconditional love he'sdiscovered, he just may find the serenity he was seeking.

    The secret informant is Reiko Watanabe, geisha mistress to the plot’s mastermind.Headstrong and outspoken, Reiko prefers a “modern” life to being a geisha and is horrified that her lover, the American-educated descendant of samurai, Masaru Ryusaki, has become a fascist firebrand. Together with his allies in the Imperial Army, Ryusaki plans to overthrow the civilian government and establish a military dictatorship.Torn between honor and duty, Reiko and Inspector Aizawa must forge an unlikely alliance in order to stay one step ahead of Ryusaki and a fanatical Army officer. All the while, they uncover a shadowy conspiracy that reaches into the upper echelons of government, international finance, and even around the Imperial Throne itself.Set during the intersection of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the Great Depression, Shadows of Tokyo brings the turbulent and dangerous world of prewar Japan to vivid life.Shadows of Tokyo is the first book in a noir historical thriller series set in pre-World War II Japan.

    But they lost touch and her dreams of a lasting love died. Now that she's back, Kaitlyn won't risk her heart again. But fate has other plans. She and Connor reconnect and he realizes the pendant makes her a target. As a government agent, Connor is conflicted between his duty protecting Kaitlyn and feelings he never got over. As the two race to find a centuries' old treasure, they discover first loves aren't easily forgotten.

    But where will it lead?BOOK 2: THE MISSING WIFELady Yvette, the beautiful wife of a local MP is found choked to death in a reservoir, robbed of her clothes and antique pearls. Inspector Angel is called in to investigate. But the evidence is scant and he has only his guile to rely on. Can he stop the choker before he strikes again?BOOK 3: THE MAN IN THE PINK SUITCelebrity art critic Frank P. Jones, aka “the Man in the Pink Suit”, shoots a wealthy industrialist. Jones strongly denies the charge, but he has the motive, the opportunity, a Walter PPK/S automatic, and no alibi. DI Angel must unravel the truth from the lies. Was Jones hypnotized, drugged, or is he simply a liar?BOOK 4: THE MORALS OF A MURDERERDuncan McFee is savagely murdered in a distillery where he was chairman. He’s found in one of the vats used to make gin. Yet none of the suspects is burly enough to have delivered the fatal blow. Detective Inspector Michael Angel is called in to unravel the mystery.BOOK 5: THE AUCTION MURDERSAt the auction of Lord Ogmore’s estate, a man is stabbed to death with a silver dagger. Before long, DI Angel finds himself on the trail of a serial killer who leaves behind no clues, no fingerprints and no DNA. Angel has only one eye-witness — and he’s blind. Will Angel solve his toughest case yet?BOOK 6: THE MISSING KILLERA masked man bursts into a quiet country club to confront a young couple. He says, “Your time is up. That girl is mine.” Then he kills one of them. Witnesses cannot identify him and DI Angel’s investigation seems doomed. Faced with vengeful gangsters, crooked police and mentally unstable young men, can Angel work it all out in time and walk away unscathed?BOOK 7: THE UMBRELLA MURDERSAn arsonist threatens to set fire to the luxury home of the local MP. DI Angel has two suspects. One has completely disappeared, the other is locked in a police cell. Will the umbrella man be able to execute his threat while still in police custody? DI Michael Angel must race against the clock to unravel this baffling mystery.

    Only a New York cop can win it.His claim to fame is finding guns on the bad guys, and Detective Second Grade Brian McKenna has just spotted the beard carrying a piece. What he doesn't know is that he's about to shoot his way into a war with a highly disciplined, well-armed enemy so treacherous, not even the NYPD knows they exist.Exiled from the bright lights of Manhattan for breaking one too many rules, pressured by his girlfriend to quit the job, this is McKenna's last chance to win back his reputation and make the coveted rank of Detective First Grade. But if his moves aren't swift and right, a new breed of criminal-- who has found a leader in an exotically beautiful and ruthless woman-- will own his city.From the savvy and experience of a cop who gave over 25 years of his life to the NYPD comes a stunning novel of undeniable authenticity and unrelenting suspense.

    His clients are all renegades from the asylum, including a transvestite entertainer with curious medical issues, a buxom deadbeat blonde, a doctor who refers his own patients to a malpractice lawyer, and the driver of a Mardi Gras float shaped like a giant crawfish pot. He also has his hands full with an ex-wife and three teenage daughters, who are experts in the art of wrapping Tubby around their little fingers. And somehow, between work and family, Tubby finds time to sample the highs and lows of idiosyncratic Crescent City cuisine, from trout meuniere amandine and French roast coffee with chicory to shrimp po-boys and homemade pecan pralines. Tubby is asked to take on a new client: Darryl Alvarez, the manager of a local nightclub, who has been caught unloading fifteen bales of marijuana from a shrimp boat. At their first meeting, Darryl entrusts Tubby with an ordinary-looking blue gym bag. But when Darryl is later found shot at the nightclub, Tubby realizes he must tighten his grasp on the gym bag - and its million-dollar contents. Tubby can't just give up the cash. But if he gets caught, he'll be in jail. And if the wrong people catch him, he'll wish he was.

    He’s lucky to even have a home and must keep his mouth shut and his ears open to stay in his uncle’s good graces. No one knows where his mother went or whether she’s coming back. Desperate to see her again, he must take matters into his own hands. From the farm, he embarks on a treacherous search that will take him to the squalid hideaways of Detroit and back again, through tawdry taverns, peep shows, and gambling houses.As he’s drawn deeper into an adult world of corruption, scandal, and murder, Jasper uncovers the shocking past still chasing his mother—and now it’s chasing him too.

    A sadistic serial killer has been abducting young innocents for his ritual horror and the authorities are clueless. Carl Engel is an enigma. The blunt Londoner has forged a thirty-year career as a private investigator amid the chaos of Thailand's political history. Struggling with advancing years and a decreasing workload he is approached by an elderly American with a lucrative missing persons case.The case descends into the sordid world of the elusive serial killer and a menacing web of political intrigue dating back to the Vietnam War. Carl must use his guile and experience to stay alive, find the killer and negotiate the dangerous military interests that lurk behind the scenes. Based on a real character Carl Engel lives in a world rarely seen by outsiders and hauls the reader on a pulsating ride to the explosive conclusion.

    The science of forensics is in its infancy but a few detectives – Trevor Welles among them – recognize that they are dealing with a different sort of killer, a “modern criminal” who chooses his victims at random. If Jack is to be caught, he won’t be caught with Scotland Yard’s normal methods of deduction for there is no logic to this madness. The question is no longer “Why was the victim killed?” but rather “How was the victim killed?” For the first time in the history of detection, science is trumping deductive reasoning.When a twist of fate puts Trevor in charge of the case, he hastily assembles Scotland Yard’s first forensics team: Davy Mabrey, the first bobby on the scene of the grisliest of the murders, whose working class common sense proves an invaluable asset, Rayley Abrams, a cautious intellectual whose future at the Yard is marginalized due to his Jewish heritage, Tom Bainbridge, a medical student with aristocratic connections and a secret drinking problem, and Emma Kelly, sister of the Ripper’s last victim who has a troubled past and a gift for linguistics. The team finds an unlikely ally in the form of Queen Victoria herself, who takes an unusual level of interest in the Ripper case and secretly funds the unit. But will they stop Jack in time to spare Leanna Bainbridge, the young heiress with whom Trevor has fallen madly and improbably in love?While City of Darkness takes place in London, its sequel, City of Light, will travel to Paris on the eve of the Exposition Universalle, the ultimate World’s Fair which debuted Edison’s phonograph, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and the Eiffel Tower The third book, City of Silence, will take place in St. Petersburg where Victoria’s beloved granddaughter Alexandria is on the verge of marrying the young czar Nicolas, much to her grandmother’s dismay. Throughout the series the Scotland Yard forensics team, which serves as a sort of Victorian-era CSI, will circle the world to investigate high-profile cases, most often at the urging of the Queen.

    Everyone but newly appointed yoriki Sano Ichiro.Despite the official verdict and warnings from his superiors, the shogun's Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People suspects the deaths weren't just a tragedy; they were murder. Risking his family's good name and his own life, Sano will search for a killer across every level of society determined to find answers to a mystery no one wants solved. No one but Sano...As subtle and beautiful as the culture it evokes, Shinju vividly re-creates a world of ornate tearooms and gaudy pleasure-palaces, cloistered mountaintop convents and deathly prisons. Part love story, part mystery, Shinju is a tour that will dazzle and entertain all who enter its world.

     Londoner Larry Dunne divides his time between writing bad avant-garde poetry, working in a Bloomsbury bookshop, arguing with his upper-class girlfriend Pamela and putting the world to rights in a dive off the Strand named Joe’s Club in honour of Stalin. Until one day he applies for a job in Hungary, where he imagines he will at last breathe the purer air of an ideal Socialist State and enjoy universal fellowship and equality. Off he goes to Budapest, to find that the State runs on envy, paranoia and two-stroke. And soon, despite the attractions of an elegant Hungarian ballerina, Larry wants nothing more than to get back to cosy Bohemian London. Not so easy, when a neighbour is stabbed to death with a fencing sabre. On the run from ultra-clever investigator Major Nagy, Larry realises he might be in Budapest for a very, very long time. Unless the murderer is caught. A man in a long grey coat stood there. At the sight of Larry he clicked his heels together, extended a hand, announced that he was Major Nagy and strode past Larry into his apartment. Larry was rooted to the spot. ‘What is it? Has something happened?’ ‘Indeed you may say it has, Mr Dunne. A body has been found in an apartment in this block, and it is necessary to ask you some questions.’ ‘A body? What kind of body?’ ‘A dead body, Mr Dunne. This is the only kind I am interested in.’ ‘No, I mean, whose body? And how, has someone had a heart attack?’ ‘Not at all, Mr Dunne. Please sit down. This is a case of murder.’ Originally published as LOSING LARRY by Elizabeth Pewsey