The Party


Lisa Hall - 2018
    But it turned into a nightmare.‘Compelling, addictive…brilliant’ B A ParisWhen Rachel wakes up in a strange room, the morning after a neighbour’s party, she has no memory of what happened the night before. Why did her husband leave her alone at the party? Did they row? Why are Rachel’s arms so bruised? And why are her neighbours and friends so vague about what really happened?Little by little, Rachel pieces together the devastating events that took place in a friend’s house, at a party where she should have been safe. Everyone remembers what happened that night differently, and everyone has something to hide. But someone knows the truth about what happened to Rachel. And she’s determined to find them.The Party is the gripping new novel from bestseller Lisa Hall.

Tenacity


J.S. Law - 2015
    Especially when a Royal Navy submarine officer kills himself on board, only days after his wife's brutal murder.Now Lieutenant Danielle Lewis, the Navy's finest Special Branch investigator, is two hundred metres below the surface.Interrogating the tight-knit all-male crew of HMS Tenacity. Trying to determine if there's a link.In the face of extreme hostility, justice must be served and only the most tenacious will survive.For Dan pressure is inside. Outside. Everywhere...Tense, dramatic, claustrophobic and brilliant, this is Headline's crime launch for 2015.

The Room


Jonas Karlsson - 2014
    When Bjorn is in his room, what his co-workers see is him standing by the wall and staring off into space looking dazed, relaxed, and decidedly creepy. Bjorn's bizarre behavior eventually leads his co-workers to try to have him fired, but Bjorn will turn the tables on them with help from his secret room. Debut author Jonas Karlsson doesn't leave a word out of place in this brilliant, bizarre, delightful take on how far we will go--in a world ruled by conformity - to live an individual and examined life.

Pulp


Charles Bukowski - 1994
    Opening with the exotic Lady Death entering the gumshoe-writer's seedy office in pursuit of a writer named Celine, this novel demonstrates Bukowski's own brand of humour and realism, opening up a landscape of seamy Los Angeles.

Dead Famous


Ben Elton - 2001
    and no evidence.Dead Famous is a killer read from Ben Elton – Reality TV as you've never seen it before.

Differently Morphous


Yahtzee Croshaw - 2018
    Which is making life for the Ministry of Occultism difficult, because magic is supposed to be their best kept secret.After centuries in the shadows, the Ministry is forced to unmask, exposing the country's magical history - and magical citizens - to a brave new world of social media, government scrutiny, and public relations.On the trail of the killer are the Ministry's top agents: a junior operative with a photographic memory (and not much else), a couple of overgrown schoolboys with godlike powers, and a demonstrably insane magician.But as they struggle for results, their superiors at HQ must face the greatest threat the Ministry has ever known: the forces of political correctness....Differently Morphous is the latest and greatest tale to emerge from the mind of writer (and narrator) Yahtzee Croshaw.

Cutting Right to the Chase Vol.2, (Chase Williams detective short stories 2)


Stefania Mattana - 2014
    Literally.A woman can sell her body also for a noble cause.Giancarlo Vestali chose his tie colour carefully as he knew what shade he would end up.A flower in a pool can make the difference between freedom and jail.Chase Williams wants to live a normal life in Tursenia, Italy. But it's not as easy as it appears.The saga of unusual crimes on which ex Scotland Yard detective Chase Williams stumbles every day continues. It's all about Chase's snooping abilities and his exceptional perceptiveness from which nothing escapes.10 detective short stories of 1000 words each, where proud prostitutes alternate with young lovers, sloppy drug dealers, hunting dogs, elderly people tired of living, amazing chefs and, as usual, Chase's neighbors who are always gossipy, fanatically religious and very nosey.10 open, shiny windows overlooking the less dramatic crime stories of Tursenia, a Medieval town in the heart of Italy, where a former detective like Chase Williams - now dedicated to living his placid office lifestyle - can get a run for his money. Anyone and everyone could be a criminal. And Chase well knows it.DISCLAIMER: Although the first volume of the Cutting Right to the Chase series is suitable to children and young adults, Cutting Right to the Chase Vol.2 is suitable for an older audience due to the graphic nature of some stories.

Who is Tom Ditto?


Danny Wallace - 2014
    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?

Iced


Avery Daniels - 2020
    During a luncheon event she coordinated, a renowned celebrity pastor is killed next to the buffet. All eyes turn to her as the suspect. If she wants to stay out of jail or even keep her job, Julienne needs all the help she can get to solve the crime. She has her work cut out for her with a vengeful high school rival now reporter, the public demanding she be fired, plus family who knows what's best for her, and a boyfriend who doesn't understand her. She turns to friends and a new ally to uncover who wanted to put the pastor on ice. Julienne goes undercover and investigates a local swingers group as she follows the trail of clues before they go cold. Can she gather enough suspects and motives to convince the police to widen their investigation? Can she do it before the killer sets his murderous sights on her? Will her personal life ever be as simple as unveiling a murderer?

The Things We Do for Love


Alice Peterson - 2015
    . . January Wild loves her daughter, her dog Spud and her childhood home by the sea. Single parenting is tough, but January has no regrets. She has a job she loves, a happy home, and the support of her beloved grandfather. The arrival of a new boss, however, threatens to shake up January's safe world. Ward Metcalfe loves great sales results and a well-run office. Everyone at her office agrees: Ward is a soulless, corporate slave driver. Even Spud, the company mascot, dislikes him. A secret stands between them. Yet over time January realises first impressions aren't always right. Slowly she unravels more and more about her new boss, things she couldn't possibly have imagined, nor expected...

Lawson's Bend


Nicole Hurley-Moore - 2019
    At an end-of-year celebratory campout, several students from the local high school drown and Henrietta Bolton loses her best friend, Georgie, to the murky waters. Unable to accept this as an accident, Henny runs from the small country town vowing never to come back. Stephen Drake has never left. Instead, he's tried to settle down, working with his dad on their small farm. Stephen had dreams of a different life but after the night at the lake, nothing seemed important anymore. Years later, Henny is forced to return to Lawson's Bend when her beloved mother dies. Henny's plan is to finalise her mother's estate, sell the house and get the hell out of town as quickly as possible. But there is Stephen...Ever since they were kids Stephen has had a soft spot for Henny and it was he who saved her life that night amid the panic. Yet he never had the courage to tell her just how he felt. But now she's back in town, Stephen wonders if he has a second chance.

Felonious Monk


William Kotzwinkle - 2021
    Since killing somebody with a single punch is not a needed talent in a monastery, he spends his time praying, meditating, and taking his anger management medicine. But his meditations are interrupted by a legacy from his uncle, a crooked priest. Arriving in a New Age Arizona town to claim his inheritance, Brother Tommy meets a charismatic, smoking-hot cult leader who claims that women are being impregnated by alien beings while they sleep. Tommy's own sleep is disturbed--by cartel hitmen, Mafia bill collectors, and women intrigued by his vow of chastity. He loses his anger management medicine in time to deal with the hitmen, but the women present an uphill battle.William Kotzwinkle's quicksilver touch has produced an effervescent piece of entertainment filled with suspense, turns you won't see coming, and the humor for which he is famous.

Get Shorty


Elmore Leonard - 1990
    So when he chases a deadbeat client out to Hollywood, Chili figures he might like to stay. This town, with its dream-makers, glitter, hucksters, and liars—plus gorgeous, partially clad would-be starlets everywhere you look—seems ideal for an enterprising criminal with a taste for the cinematic. Besides, Chili’s got an idea for a killer movie, though it could very possibly kill him to get it made.

Revenge (aka The Stars’ Tennis Balls)


Stephen Fry - 2000
    The only thing that can be guaranteed is that it will be his next earth-movingly funny bestseller. And we are still pretty confidently saying it will not be about earthworm migration patterns in East Devon.This is the story of Ned Maddenstone, a nice young man who is about to find out just what hell it is to be one of the stars' tennis balls.  For Ned, 1978 seems a blissful year: handsome, popular, responsible and a fine cricketer, life is progressing smoothly for him, if not effortlessly. When he meets Portia Fendeman his personal jigsaw appears complete. What if her left-wing parents despise his Tory MP father? Doesn't that just make them star-crossed lovers? And surely, in the end, won't the Fendemans be won over by their happiness?  But, of course, one person's happiness is another's jealous spite. And spite is about to change Ned's life forever.  A promise made to a dying teacher and a vile trick played by fellow pupils rocket Ned from cricket captain to solitary confinement, from head boy to political prisoner. Twenty years later, Ned returns to London a very different man from the boy seized outside a Knightsbridge language college.  A man implacably focused on revenge. Revenge is a dish he plans to savour and serve to those who conspired against him, and to those who forgot him.

The Gun Seller


Hugh Laurie - 1996
    Within hours Lang is butting heads with a Buddha statue, matching wits with evil billionaires, and putting his life (among other things) in the hands of a bevy of femmes fatales, whilst trying to save a beautiful lady ...and prevent an international bloodbath to boot.