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Small Pleasures: Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction
By Clare Chambers. 2020
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2021'A WORD-OF-MOUTH HIT' Evening Standard 'A very fine book... It's witty and sharp…
and reads like something by Barbara Pym or Anita Brookner, without ever feeling like a pastiche'David Nicholls'Perfect'India Knight 'Beautiful' Jessie Burton'Wonderful'Richard Osman 'Miraculous'Tracy Chevalier 'A wonderful novel. I loved it'Nina Stibbe 'Effortless to read, but every sentence lingers in the mind' Lissa Evans 'This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. I honestly don't want you to be without it'Lucy Mangan'Gorgeous... If you're looking for something escapist and bittersweet, I could not recommend more' Pandora Sykes'Remarkable... Small Pleasures is no small pleasure'The Times'An irresistible novel - wry, perceptive and quietly devastating'Mail on Sunday'Chambers' eye for undemonstrative details achieves a Larkin-esque lucidity' Guardian'An almost flawlessly written tale of genuine, grown-up romantic anguish' The Sunday Times 1957, the suburbs of South East London. Jean Swinney is a journalist on a local paper, trapped in a life of duty and disappointment from which there is no likelihood of escape. When a young woman, Gretchen Tilbury, contacts the paper to claim that her daughter is the result of a virgin birth, it is down to Jean to discover whether she is a miracle or a fraud. As the investigation turns her quiet life inside out, Jean is suddenly given an unexpected chance at friendship, love and - possibly - happiness. But there will, inevitably, be a price to pay.Book of the Year for: The Times, Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard, Daily Express, Metro, Spectator, Red Magazine and Good HousekeepingDark Music: The gripping new thriller from the author of THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEB
By David Lagercrantz. 2022
A gripping new thriller from the bestselling author of THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEBThe launch of a new series…
inspired by Sherlock Holmes. A murder investigation brings together two unlikely allies in a race to uncover a shadowy international conspiracy.Professor Hans Rekke: born into a wealthy Stockholm family, world authority on interrogation techniques, capable of vertiginous feats of logic and observation . . . But he might just fall apart when the going gets tough, leading to substance abuse and despair.Micaela Vargas: community police officer, born to Chilean political refugees in a tough suburb, with two brothers on the shady side of the law.Vargas feels she has something to prove. She's tenacious and uncompromising, but she needs Rekke's unique mind to help her solve the case. Rekke has it all - wealth, reputation - but also a tendency to throw it all away. He needs Vargas to help him get back on an even keel so he can focus his mind on finding the killer before they're both silenced for good.Translated from the Swedish by Ian Giles(P) 2022 Quercus Editions Limited'If you're not a fan yet, why not?' VAL MCDERMID'A superb storyteller' PETER MAYA BIZARRE DISCOVERYAn unidentified cadaver is found…
in a freezer in an unoccupied luxury house. No-one seems to know or care who it is or who placed it there. When DS Alexandra Cupidi is handed the case, she can have no idea it will lead her to a series of murderous cover-ups and buried secrets. Namely the discovery of the skeleton of public-school boy, Trevor Wood, beneath a housing development.A HISTORIC CRIMEHis disappearance twenty five years earlier had almost passed unnoticed. But as evidence surfaces that his fate was linked to long suppressed rumours of sexual abuse, Cupidi, her teenage daughter Zoe and her friend Bill South find themselves up against powerful forces who will try to silence them. A BURIED LIFEDigging deep into the secrets that are held underground leads to Cupidi's realisation that crime and power are seldom far apart. There are dangerous connections between the two cases, which are complicated by Constable Jill Ferriter's dating habits, a secret liaison and the underground life of Trevor Grey's only friend.The most riveting and atmospheric DS Alexandra Cupidi novel so far, Grave's End confronts the crisis in housing, environmental politics, the protection given to badgers by the law. With meticulously mastered characters and a brooding setting, this third book in the series confirms William Shaw as one of the finest crime writers. (P)2020 Quercus Editions LimitedSet in darkness: an Inspector Rebus novel
By Ian Rankin, Sherry Conway Appel. 2000
Inspector John Rebus is assigned to a bogus task force for the new Scottish parliament. He contends with inexperienced--but noble…
class darling--Inspector Derek Linford, while determining whether a newly discovered corpse, a homeless man's suicide, and a murdered politician are connected. Some violence and some strong language. 2000Dark Music: The gripping new thriller from the author of THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEB
By David Lagercrantz. 2022
A gripping new thriller from the bestselling author of THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEB"A classic murder mystery . .…
. one Holmes himself would have loved to solve" Independent"A nerve-racking political thriller with the most exciting detective duo in a long time. Bring on their next case" Romy Hausmann, author of Dear Child"A rich, engrossing novel" Literary ReviewThe launch of a new series inspired by Sherlock Holmes. A murder investigation brings together two unlikely allies in a race to uncover a shadowy international conspiracy.Professor Hans Rekke: born into a wealthy Stockholm family, world authority on interrogation techniques, capable of vertiginous feats of logic and observation . . . But he might just fall apart when the going gets tough, leading to substance abuse and despair.Micaela Vargas: community police officer, born to Chilean political refugees in a tough suburb, with two brothers on the shady side of the law.Vargas feels she has something to prove. She's tenacious and uncompromising, but she needs Rekke's unique mind to help her solve the case. Rekke has it all - wealth, reputation - but also a tendency to throw it all away. He needs Vargas to help him get back on an even keel so he can focus his mind on finding the killer before they're both silenced for good.Translated from the Swedish by Ian GilesThe Wrong Goodbye
By Toshihiko Yahagi. 2004
A classic slice of Japanese hard-boiled noir paying homage to the master of the genre: Raymond ChandlerThe Wrong Goodbye pits…
homicide detective Eiji Futamura against a shady Chinese business empire and U.S. military intelligence in the docklands of recession Japan. After the frozen corpse of immigrant barman Tran Binh Long washes up in midsummer near Yokosuka U.S. Navy Base, Futamura meets a strange customer from Tran's bar. Vietnam vet pilot Billy Lou Bonney talks Futamura into hauling three suitcases of "goods" to Yokota US Air Base late at night and flies off leaving a dead woman behind. Thereby implicated in a murder suspect's escape and relieved from active duty, Futamura takes on hack work for the beautiful concert violinist Aileen Hsu, a "boat people" orphan whose Japanese adoption mother has mysteriously gone missing. And now a phone call from a bestselling yakuza author, a one-time black marketeer in Saigon, hints at inside information on "former Vietcong mole" Tran and his "old sidekick" Billy Lou, both of whom crossed a triad tycoon who is buying up huge tracts of Mekong Delta marshland for a massive development scheme. As the loose strands flashback to Vietnam, the string of official lies and mysterious allegiances build into a dark picture of the U.S.-Japan postwar alliance. Translated from the Japanese by Alfred Birnbaum(P)2021 Quercus Editions LimitedBlood Hunt: From the Iconic #1 Bestselling Writer of Channel 4’s MURDER ISLAND
By Ian Rankin. 1995
It begins with a phone call. Gordon Reeve's brother has been found dead in his car in San Diego. The…
car was locked from the inside, a gun was in his hand. In the US to identify the body Gordon realises that his brother has been murdered. What's more, it's soon obvious that his own life is in danger.Once back in Scotland he finds out his home has been bugged by professionals. But Reeve is a professional too. Ex-SAS, he was half of a two-man unit with someone he came to fear, then to hate. It looks like his nemesis is back...Read by James Frain(p) 2002 Orion Publishing GroupThe Wrong Goodbye
By Toshihiko Yahagi. 2004
A classic slice of Japanese hard-boiled noir paying homage to the master of the genre: Raymond ChandlerThe Wrong Goodbye pits…
homicide detective Eiji Futamura against a shady Chinese business empire and U.S. military intelligence in the docklands of recession Japan. After the frozen corpse of immigrant barman Tran Binh Long washes up in midsummer near Yokosuka U.S. Navy Base, Futamura meets a strange customer from Tran's bar. Vietnam vet pilot Billy Lou Bonney talks Futamura into hauling three suitcases of "goods" to Yokota US Air Base late at night and flies off leaving a dead woman behind. Thereby implicated in a murder suspect's escape and relieved from active duty, Futamura takes on hack work for the beautiful concert violinist Aileen Hsu, a "boat people" orphan whose Japanese adoption mother has mysteriously gone missing. And now a phone call from a bestselling yakuza author, a one-time black marketeer in Saigon, hints at inside information on "former Vietcong mole" Tran and his "old sidekick" Billy Lou, both of whom crossed a triad tycoon who is buying up huge tracts of Mekong Delta marshland for a massive development scheme. As the loose strands flashback to Vietnam, the string of official lies and mysterious allegiances build into a dark picture of the U.S.-Japan postwar alliance. Translated from the Japanese by Alfred BirnbaumBlood Hunt
By Ian Rankin. 1995
The horror has just begun... A brilliant thriller from the No.1 bestselling author of A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES.'No…
one writes more gripping stories than Rankin' TLSIt begins with a phone call. Gordon Reeve's brother has been found dead in his car in San Diego. The car was locked from the inside, a gun was in his hand. In the US to identify the body Gordon realises that his brother has been murdered. What's more, it's soon obvious that his own life is in danger.Once back in Scotland he finds out his home has been bugged by professionals. But Reeve is a professional too. Ex-SAS, he was half of a two-man unit with someone he came to fear, then to hate. It looks like his nemesis is back...The Breakers
By Claudie Gallay. 2008
In the storm-swept landscapes of Normandy's coastline lies a village that might just be at the ends of the earth.…
A woman has recently arrived to seek healing for some deep sorrow, and spends her days cataloguing migratory birds. On the day of a battering storm a stranger appears in the bar, arousing her curiosity. He stirs up suspicion in the village, looking for answers to apparently unanswerable questions about his family lost long years ago in an accident at sea. What actually happened? How was it that the lighthouse did not guide them safely to shore? The eccentric inhabitants of this desolate village seem riveted to old hatreds, determined to leave secrets buried. Gradually the bird-watcher succeeds in unravelling a tragedy at the heart of a community in which many are suffering still from the loss of people they have loved. And in the process finds her own peace. The Breakers is an immensely satisfying and evocative mystery of great depth. Claudie Gallay unpeels the emotions of her unforgettable characters with such subtlety that the reader is captivated.'If you're not a fan yet, why not?' VAL MCDERMID'A superb storyteller' PETER MAYA BIZARRE DISCOVERYAn unidentified corpse is found…
in a freezer in the garage of an unoccupied house. DS Alexandra Cupidi is handed a case that is made even colder by no-one seeming to know or care whose body it is.A HISTORIC CRIMEIt becomes clear there is a connection between the crime and a skeleton uncovered underneath a housing development of Trevor Grey, a boy who went missing twenty five years earlier.A BURIED LIFEDigging deep into secrets that have long been concealed brings Cupidi to face a deadly conspiracy to hide these crimes. Her investigation is complicated by a secret liaison, a political cover-up and the underground life of Trevor Grey's only friend.With meticulously realised characters and a brooding setting, Grave's End confronts the crisis in housing, environmentalism, historic cases of abuse and the protection given to badgers by the law. The third book in the DS Alexandra Cupidi series confirms William Shaw as one of our finest writers of crime fiction.The Breakers
By Claudie Gallay. 2008
In the storm-swept landscapes of Normandy's coastline lies a village that might just be at the ends of the earth.…
A woman has recently arrived to seek healing for some deep sorrow, and spends her days cataloguing migratory birds. On the day of a battering storm a stranger appears in the bar, arousing her curiosity. He stirs up suspicion in the village, looking for answers to apparently unanswerable questions about his family lost long years ago in an accident at sea. What actually happened? How was it that the lighthouse did not guide them safely to shore? The eccentric inhabitants of this desolate village seem riveted to old hatreds, determined to leave secrets buried. Gradually the bird-watcher succeeds in unravelling a tragedy at the heart of a community in which many are suffering still from the loss of people they have loved. And in the process finds her own peace. The Breakers is an immensely satisfying and evocative mystery of great depth. Claudie Gallay unpeels the emotions of her unforgettable characters with such subtlety that the reader is captivated.Empire of Wild: A Novel
By Cherie Dimaline. 2019
A #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLEROne of the most anticipated books of the summer for Time, Harper's Bazaar, Bustle and Publishers Weekly'Deftly…
written, gripping and informative. Empire of Wild is a rip-roaring read!' Margaret Atwood'Empire of Wild is doing everything I love in a contemporary novel and more. It is tough, funny, beautiful, honest and propulsive' Tommy Orange, author of There There 'Dimaline turns an old story into something newly haunting and resonant' New York Times'Close, tight, stark, beautiful - rich where richness is warranted, but spare where want and sorrow have sharpened every word. Dimaline has crafted something both current and timeless' NPR'Revelatory... Gritty and engaging, this story of a woman and her missing husband is one of candor, wit and tradition'Ms. Magazine Broken-hearted Joan has been searching for her husband, Victor, for almost a year - ever since he went missing on the night they had their first serious argument. One hung-over morning in a Walmart parking lot in a little town near Georgian Bay, she is drawn to a revival tent where the local Métis have been flocking to hear a charismatic preacher. By the time she staggers into the tent the service is over, but as she is about to leave, she hears an unmistakable voice.She turns, and there is Victor. Only he insists he is not Victor, but the Reverend Eugene Wolff, on a mission to bring his people to Jesus.With only two allies - her Johnny-Cash-loving, 12-year-old nephew Zeus, and Ajean, a foul-mouthed euchre shark with deep knowledge of the old Métis ways - Joan sets out to remind the Reverend Wolff of who he really is. If he really is Victor, his life and the life of everyone she loves, depends upon her success.Inspired by traditional Métis legends, Cherie Dimaline has created a propulsive, stunning and sensuous novel.Cold Blood, Hot Sea
By Charlene D'Avanzo. 2016
"Charlene D'Avanzo is a marine ecologist who has written a first crime novel that makes her scientific specialty exciting... The…
central character, Mara Tusconi, is a Maine oceanographer who thinks there's something fishy (pardon the pun) about the death of a colleague on board a research ship."-THE TORONTO STAR"Cold Blood, Hot Sea showcases the effects of climate change on a particular industry, presenting a range of opinions and attitudes, [and conveys] a global problem on a personal level. Cold Blood, Hot Sea will make for great beach reading, but it also has meat on its bones, with rich characterizations and an intriguing mystery at its core."-FOREWORD REVIEWS"An oceanographer fears she was the target of an accident at sea that kills one of her colleagues. Are climate change doubters at work?...[Cold Blood, Hot Sea combines] niche material about Maine life and oceanography."-KIRKUS REVIEWS"The central premise is a new one, and forms an excellent basis for the mayhem and dramatic situations we demand in our murder mysteries. Five out of five stars."-ATLANTIC COASTAL KAYAKER"Sleuths will have to figure out who done it, but the real crime is the backdrop here: the endless heating of a fragile planet."-BILL MCKIBBEN, author of Eaarth"Cold Blood, Hot Sea is a cli-fi mystery that both entertains and bores deep into the heart of the issues. The author knows her science, too." -DAN BLOOM, editor, The Cli-Fi Report"Artfully mixing scientific detail with her characters' personal struggles, Charlene D'Avanzo creates a tense story that makes it clear: When profits are favored over health of the planet, we are all at risk."-JOEANN HART, author of FloatA thrilling contribution to the new wave of cli-fi hitting the shelves, Cold Blood, Hot Sea pits climate change scientists against big energy conspirators. When a colleague is killed aboard the research vessel Intrepid, oceanographer Mara Tusconi believes it's no accident. As she investigates, Mara becomes entangled in a scheme involving powerful energy executives with much to lose if her department colleagues continue their climate change research. Mara's career-and life-is on the line, threatened by intrigue as big and dark as the ocean.Marine ecologist and award-winning environmental educator Charlene D'Avanzo studied the New England coast for forty years. As a scientist, D'Avanzo sees firsthand the effects of climate change, and as a college professor, she knows the importance of storytelling in bringing ideas to life. Today she uses mysteries to immerse readers in Maine waters' stunning beauty and grave threats. An avid sea kayaker, D'Avanzo lives in Yarmouth, Maine. Cold Blood, Hot Sea is her first novel.Baghdad Central
By Elliott Colla. 2014
Baghdad Central is a noir debut novel set in Baghdad in September 2003 The US occupation of Iraq is…
a swamp of incompetence and self-delusion The CPA has disbanded the Iraqi army and police as a consequence of its paranoid policy of de-Ba athification of Iraqi society Tales of hubris and reality-denial abound culminating in Washington hailing the mess a glorious mission accomplished Inspector Muhsin al-Khafaji is a mid-level Iraqi cop who deserted his post back in April Khafaji has lived long enough in pre- and post-Saddam Iraq to know that clinging on to anything but poetry and his daughter Mrouj is asking for trouble Nabbed by the Americans and imprisoned in Abu Ghraib Khafaji is offered one way out-work for the CPA to rebuild the Iraqi Police Services But it s only after United States forces take Mrouj that he figures out a way to make his collaboration palatable and even rewarding Soon he is investigating the disappearance of young women translators working for the US Army The bloody trail leads Khafaji through battles bars and brothels then finally back to the Green Zone where it all began This is a first novel by Elliott Colla an American writer totally immersed in Middle Eastern affairs He is a professor of Arabic literature at Georgetown University and a well-known translator from the Arabic of local fiction and poetry He lives between Washington DC and the Middle East