"Haunted by her past, which she keeps carefully hidden, London homicide detective Eve West has buried herself in her work for many years. But when she stumbles into the midst of a covert police operation, with catastrophic consequences, she is suspended from duty, her reputation in tatters. Help comes from an unexpected source when John Duran -- a murderer whom she put behind bars some years earlier -- offers to provide proof that she was set up. In return, she must investigate a possible miscar

Lured by the promise of a rare and elusive butterfly, the intrepid Veronica Speedwell is persuaded by Lord Templeton-Vane, the brother of her colleague Stoker, to pose as his fiance´e at a house party on a Cornish isle owned by his oldest friend, MalcolmRomilly. But Veronica soon learns that one question hangs over the party: What happened to Rosamund? Three years ago, Malcolm Romilly's bride vanished on their wedding day, and no trace of her has ever been found. Now those who were closest to he

When an old acquaintance reaches out to Stone Barrington requesting assistance, the job seems easy enough. She needs an expert in an esoteric field, someone with both the knowledge and careful dexterity to solve a puzzle. But the solution to one small problem blows the lid open on a bigger scandal going back decades.

When Jack Blackjack disobeys the orders of his spymaster, he enters dangerous waters in this lively Tudor mystery. London, 1555. Queen Mary is newly married to Philip II of Spain - and not everyone is happy about the alliance. The kingdom is divided between those loyal to Catholic Mary and those who support her half-sister, Lady Elizabeth. Former cutpurse turned paid assassin Jack Blackjack has more immediate matters to worry about. Having been ordered to kill a man, he determines to save him in

Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective city. Brand-new stories by: Michael Berg, Anneloes Timmerije, Murat Isik, René Appel & Josh Pachter, Simon de Waal, Hanna Bervoets, Karin Amatmoekrim, Christine Otten, Mensje van Keulen, Max van Olden, Theo Capel, Loes den Hollander, Herman Koch, Abdelkader Benali, and Wal

"When prosecco-loving Auntie Poldi retired to Sicily from Germany, she never dreamt her tranquil days would be interrupted by murder. But Sicily had other plans, and Poldi found herself honor-bound to solve the disappearance of her beloved (and cute) handyman. Now, she's finally ready for some peace and quiet--interrupted by romantic encounters with handsome Chief Inspector Montana, of course--when the water supply to her neighborhood is cut off and a dear friend's dog is poisoned, tell-tale sig

"Innkeeper Alison Kerby is determined to keep her mind, body, and soul focused on bringing high-spirited hospitality to her lodgers at the Haunted Guesthouse. She simply has no time for any more murder investigations, no matter what Paul Harrison, her resident ghost detective, says. But this time, the mystery comes looking for Alison. Workers unearth a 1977 Lincoln Continental buried in the sand behind Alison's guesthouse--and they discover a skeleton still belted in behind the steering wheel. P

"His victims are young, beautiful and viciously mutilated. He calls himself the Beijing Ripper. Li Yan, the head of Beijing's serious crime squad, has been put in the spotlight. His bosses, the media and the terror-stricken public are demanding a fast result. American pathologist Margaret Campbell is invited to perform an autopsy on one of the victims and her results send shockwaves through the investigation. Then Li begins receiving personal letters from the killer and his life and career start

A missing private investigator is found locked in a car hidden deep in the woods. Worse still - both for his family and the police - the body was in an area that had already been searched 10 years ago. Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke is part of a new inquiry, combing through the mistakes of the original case. There were always suspicions over how the investigation was handled, and now - after a decade without answers - it's time for the truth. Every officer involved must be questioned, and it

"Police Chief Tess O'Rourke thought she'd taken care of her small town's drug problem last year. But now Rogue's Hollow residents are up in arms over a contentious vote on legalizing the sale of marijuana within city limits. And when an eighteen-year-oldis found dead from a possible overdose, Tess wonders if the local pot farms might be involved and begins to fear that a new, deadlier drug supply chain has cropped up. As tempers flare and emotions boil over, Tess faces the possibility of losing

Modern & Contemporary Fiction (Post C 1945). 'Mensah' is a London crime novel with a difference. It is set in the deprived streets of Hackney amongst the African community, a stone's throw away from the affluent and gentrified parts of the borough and Islington. It pays homage to Raymond Chandler and introduces us to the charismatic Mensah, a black hero for our times. Mensah is the kind of man you go looking for when you have a problem. He will solve your problem for a price. He might cause mayh

The citizens of Melling are perfectly ordinary. Some might even consider them boring, but not Miss Maud Silver. It's been some years since she gave up work as a governess to become a detective, and her fascination with people has served her well during that time. Now, she's come to Melling to pay a long-postponed visit to an old school chum--but Miss Silver's vacations never last long. The town's prodigal son has returned, wealthy and not exactly nostalgic for his hometown. He intends to sell hi

"Ishmael Jones and his partner Penny have been despatched to assist a group of scientists who are investigating a mysterious black hole which has appeared on a Somerset hillside. Could it really be a doorway to another dimension, an opening into another world? When one of the scientists disappears into the hole, with fatal consequences, Ishmael must prove whether it was an accident or murder. But with no clues, no witnesses and no apparent motive, he has little to go on. Is there an alien predat

When Kate moves back home to care for her grandmother, she indulges her dream of opening up an ice cream shop, and ends up the prime suspect in her rival's murder.

Sarah Blair, the less-culinarily-talented of twin sisters, must discover who killed her ex-husband when suspicion falls on her twin.

"It's summertime in Winsome. Washington Acres is abloom, Megan is preparing for the grand opening of their wood-fired pizza farm, and things with Megan's beau, handsome Dr. Finn, are getting as hot as the August temperatures. But when Megan's ne'er-do-well father arrives in Pennsylvania with his high-maintenance Italian wife, Sylvia, and announces they're staying at the new yoga retreat center a town away, a sweet occasion sours. Eager to secure pieces for her Milan boutique, Sylvia finagles a

"Taylor O’Brian, founder of “Off the Beaten Path”, takes small groups on wine country tours of romantic Sonoma County. Friends are everything in the tour business, so Taylor is happy to guide investors to the winery owned by her friend Tim Slade. But vintage turns to vinegar when an FDA inspector is found floating face down in one of Tim’s vats of squished grapes. Tim is arrested on suspicion of murder, and Taylor and her friends rally to prove his innocence. But it’s not an easy task, especiall

Staying in character can be murder when Cat Latimer and the members of her writers' retreat head for a ghost town ... Cat and the members of her writers' retreat have just arrived in Outlaw, Colorado, an "Old West" tourist town complete with inhabitants dressed up as famous figures from history. But this authentic slice of Americana takes a murderous turn when a college student masquerading as a 19th-century saloon girl becomes history herself. Was she the intended target? Or did she take a hit

A vehicle crammed with dozens of dead Chinese immigrants is found in southern Texas. Pathologist Margaret Campbell must put aside her horror, and find out why. Detective Li Yan - an even more unwelcome memory for Campbell - has arrived stateside to investigate a link in the case to a lucrative trade in illegal labourers. Li and Campbell will soon find that the crime scene hides another secret: a biological time bomb linking traffickers, politicians and migrants in Beijing, Washington and Texas -

Christy Barritt Rock and roll may never die, but the King is definitely dead ... again. To pay off some bills, crime scene cleaner Gabby St. Claire takes a job doing mold remediation, but she finds a surprise in the dilapidated home's crawlspace: Elvis, dead as a doornail and still wearing his blue suede shoes. How could she possibly keep her nose out of a case like this? A sequel to the popular novel Hazardous Duty.

Nothing lasts in Sydney, especially good fortune: lives are upturned, shops are sold, roads dug up, trees and houses knocked down, premiers discarded, and entire communities relocated in the name of that economic mantra--growth and progress. Just when you think the traffic can't get any worse and the screech of the 747s descending over your roof can't get any louder, along comes a wild electrical storm that batters the buildings and shakes the power lines and washes the garbage off the streets a

Photographer Sarah Bain and her friends Lord Hugh Staunton and sometime street urchin Mick O'Reilly are private detectives with a new gig--photographing crime scenes for London's Daily World newspaper. The Daily World is the latest business venture of their sole client, Sir Gerald Mariner, a fabulously wealthy and powerful banker. One cold, snowy January morning, Sarah, Hugh, and Mick are summoned to the goriest crime scene they've ever encountered. A pub owner named Harry Warbrick has been foun

"Boston expat Maura Donovan came to Ireland to honor her grandmother’s last wish, but she never expected to stay in provincial County Cork--much less to inherit a house and a pub, Sullivan’s, in the small village of Leap. After a year-long struggle to stay in the black, Sullivan’s is finally thriving, and Maura has even brought back traditional Irish music to the pub. With a crop of new friends and a budding relationship with handsome Mick Nolan, Maura’s life seems rosier than ever--but even in

"A peaceful Shaker community is rocked by a series of bizarre accidents, but is there more to them than first appears? Fresh from facing allegations of witchcraft and murder, travelling weaver Will Rees, his heavily pregnant wife Lydia and six adopted children take refuge in Zion, a Shaker community in rural Maine. Shortly after their arrival, screams in the night reveal a drowned body ... but is it murder or an unfortunate accident? The Shaker Elders argue it was just an accident, but Rees beli

Brady Coyne goes to Montana in search of some golden leopards stolen during a brutal robbery from his invalid friend in Cape Cod, but the hunter soon becomes the quarry amid the treacherous terrain.

An impulse purchase at an auction turns out to be deadly trouble when Sarah Byrne makes a television appeal for information about a document found hidden in a framed embroidery.