Crime, Thriller & Mystery

Forensic dentistry; precise examination of ballistics; an expertise in apiology to identify the exact bee which killed the victim?
The detective’s role may be simple; solve the case and catch the culprit, but when the crime is fiendishly well-executed the application of the scientific method may be the only answer.
The detectives in this collection are masters of scientific deduction, employing principles of chemistry, the latest technological innovations and an irresistible logical brilliance in their pursuit of justice. With stories by early masters in the field such as Arthur Conan Doyle and L. T. Meade alongside fine-tuned mysteries from the likes of Edmund Crispin and Dorothy L. Sayers, The Measure of Malice collects tales of rational thinking to prove the power of the brain over villainous deeds.

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She is the last hope for people seeking justice.

True crime podcaster Rachel Krall has come to Neapolis, a small seaside town being torn apart by a devastating trial. A local golden boy – a swimmer destined for Olympic greatness – has been accused of raping the beloved granddaughter of the police chief.

Used to being recognised for her voice, not her face, Rachel is unsettled when she finds a note on her car windshield, begging for her help. Twenty-five years ago, Jenny Stills drowned. Her sister insists it was murder.

Rachel throws herself into covering the trial, but the letters keep coming. As the past and present start to collide, Rachel uncovers startling connections between the two cases. The truth will change the course of the trial, and the lives of everyone involved.

An absolutely gripping thriller, featuring a true crime podcaster. Perfect for fans of Ashley Flowers and Riley Sager.

Praise for The Night Swim:

‘A blistering plot and crisp writing make The Night Swim an unputdownable read’ Sarah Pekkanen author of The Wife Between Us

‘You get the courtroom drama, a front-row seat to an influential true crime podcast, and the uncovering of decades-long secrets buried within a small coastal town. Read this book, you won’t regret it!’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Expertly written’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘A slow burn, character driven thriller… horrifying, heartbreaking and brilliantly written. I can’t wait to read more books by this author’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I really enjoyed the dual timeline and thought using the different formats of podcast episodes, letters and first person narrative was very clever. This book tackles a lot of big issues within a gripping plot. Powerful reading.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader review

‘Gripping and heartbreaking with an undercurrent of unease running through it… I couldn’t bear to put it down. So tightly plotted you don’t see the twists coming!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader review

‘I absolutely loved it! If you love legal thrillers, secrets and podcasts, you need to read this.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader review

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Detective Matthew Venn returns in The Raging Storm, the next captivating novel in the Two Rivers series from Ann Cleeves, the number one bestselling author and creator of Vera and Shetland.

When Jem Rosco – sailor, adventurer and local legend – blows into town in the middle of an autumn gale, the residents of Greystone, Devon, are delighted to have a celebrity in their midst. The residents think nothing of it when Rosco disappears again; that’s the sort of man he is.

Until the lifeboat is launched to a hoax call-out during a raging storm and his body is found in a dinghy, anchored off Scully Cove, a place with legends of its own.

This is an uncomfortable case for DI Matthew Venn. He came to the remote village as a child, its community populated by the Barum Brethren that he parted ways with, so when superstition and rumour mix and another body is found in the cove, Matthew soon finds his judgement clouded.

As the stormy winds howl and the village is cut off, Venn and his team start their investigation, little realizing their own lives might be in danger. . .

Praise for the Matthew Venn series:

‘Matthew Venn is a keeper’ – David Baldacci

‘Had me hooked . . . a promising beginning to another fine chapter in the Ann Cleeves story’ – The Times

‘A triumph that cements Cleeves’ status as one of Britain’s best crime writers’ – Daily Express

‘Clever, compassionate and atmospheric’ – Elly Griffiths

‘Cleeves combines a flair for evoking sense of place with a thoughtful, complex plot’ – Mail on Sunday

‘A traditional mystery of the best sort’ – Guardian

What readers are saying about The Raging Storm:

‘Absolutely brilliant, Ann Cleeves at her best’

‘The twists and turns, challenging relationships within the community, mixed with a huge dose of superstitions surrounding routines around the sea, makes for a brilliant novel’

‘In my opinion, Ann Cleeves ranks among the top crime writers. She consistently delivers classic murder mysteries by balancing diverse characters and rich settings to create unique stories every time’

‘The setting in this is so integral to the plot that it could almost be a character in its own right’

‘Cleeves creates a strong sense of tension which pushes you on. The plot is a true mystery, littered with clues and red herrings, and the end is a brilliant revelation’

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A murdered crime writer. An idyllic Yorkshire town. Can DCI Oldroyd separate fact from fiction?

A famous writer is found murdered at the Victorian baths in the Yorkshire town of Harrogate. In a crime worthy of one of his novels, Damian Penrose, who was appearing at the town’s crime writing festival, has been ruthlessly strangled. But with no trace of the murderer and no apparent means of escape, how did the killer simply vanish from the scene of the crime?

There’s only one mind capable of unlocking this mystery: DCI Jim Oldroyd. But as he and his team quickly discover, while Penrose was popular with the reading public, he had made plenty of enemies. Feuds over money, accusations of plagiarism, a string of affairs…His route to the top left a trail of embittered rivals—and suspects. But which of them was willing to commit murder?

When Penrose’s shocking death proves to be just the first of many, it becomes clear to Oldroyd that he is dealing with a calculating criminal hell-bent on revenge. He must find and bring them to justice. Before the truth becomes more chilling than fiction…

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It’s summer, and Edinburgh’s iconic Royal Mile is heaving with visitors. But a series of brutal murders, targeted at the city’s gay community, is causing widespread unease. Meanwhile, public discontent with the ruling Nationalist party has spilled on to the streets, whilst a loud-mouthed far-right challenger is stoking the fire of anti-English sentiment. But for private investigator Maggie Bainbridge, it’s business as usual, commissioned by charismatic politician Jack Urquhart to find out if his partner is having an affair. As for her fiancé DCI Frank Stewart, he’s reluctantly investigating the bizarre claim of a beautiful CIA spook that shady enemies of the state are secretly orchestrating this outbreak of civil mayhem. In Scotland? Surely not! But as the body-count starts to mount, and the awful truth slowly emerges, Maggie has to take drastic action to protect herself and the ones she loves.
The Royal Mile Murders is a fiendishly-twisty character-driven murder mystery, perfect for fans of Rachel McLean, Ann Cleeves and LJ Ross.

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From the No.1 bestselling author of The Last Protector and The Ashes of London comes the next book in the phenomenally successful series following James Marwood and Cat Lovett during the time of King Charles II.

Over 1 Million Andrew Taylor Novels Sold!

A Times Best Paperback of 2022

Two young girls plot a murder by witchcraft. Soon afterwards a government clerk dies painfully in mysterious circumstances. His colleague James Marwood is asked to investigate – but the task brings unexpected dangers.

Meanwhile, architect Cat Hakesby is working for a merchant who lives on Slaughter Street, where the air smells of blood and a captive Barbary lion prowls the stables. Then a prestigious new commission arrives. Cat must design a Poultry House for the woman that the King loves most in all the world.

Unbeknownst to all, at the heart of this lies a royal secret so explosive that it could not only rip apart England but change the entire face of Europe…

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False crawl? Nesting season? Turtle monitors? Jewel Mantelle is just beginning to get used to the humidity in her new Southern home on Sophia Island when Turtle Season opens way too early. At least it’s too early according to her friends with Turtle Trackers. Is it a true Sea Turtle nest found on a stormy April morning? Not likely when a body is eventually discovered buried where the eggs should be. Jewel has enough on her plate to worry about false turtle nest since she’s trying to clean up the old house her husband inherited in the historic downtown of Sophia Beach. A project her disinterested husband is too busy working out of town to worry with so she invites a local young woman to move into the Mantelle Mansion to help. However, when the body is found to have close ties to one of Jewel’s new friends, the lunch group starts trying to figure out what happened. Between college kids partying on the beach, a senator’s illegitimate child, a lost sketch pad, and warring turtle factions it’s a miracle Jewel even had time to try biscuits and gravy. But she did… and she’s a fan.

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*An Instant Sunday Times Bestseller and a gripping standalone thriller with a riveting reveal about a disastrous MI5 mission in Cold War Berlin. A dazzling entry-point to Mick Herron’s writing and an unmissable read for Slough House fans*

‘Pure class’ Ian Rankin

‘I doubt I’ll read a more enjoyable novel all year’ Paula Hawkins

‘Pitch-perfect’ Lee Child

‘Terrific’ The Times

‘Never has a work of popular fiction delighted me more’ The Spectator

‘A thriller of immense brilliance’ Sunday Times

Two years ago, the Monochrome inquiry was set up to investigate the British secret service. Monochrome’s mission was to ferret out misconduct, allowing the civil servants seconded to the inquiry, Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, unfettered access to confidential information in the service archives.

But with progress blocked at every turn, Monochrome is circling the drain . . . Until the OTIS file appears out of nowhere.

What classified secrets does OTIS hold that see a long-redundant spy being chased through Devon’s green lanes in the dark? What happened in a newly reunified Berlin that someone is desperate to keep under wraps? And who will win the battle for the soul of the secret service – or was that decided a long time ago?

Spies and pen-pushers, politicians and PAs, high-flyers, time-servers and burn-outs . . . They all have jobs to do in the daylight. But what they do in the secret hours reveals who they really are.

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The gripping new thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling phenomenon, VOX

‘Shocking, emotive, urgent and original’ Chris Whitaker

’A non-stop thrill ride’ Jeffery Deaver

’Queen of the “what if” thriller. Unflinching, unguessable and unputdownable’ Simon Lelic

’Thrilling, topical and timely … I ripped through this in a few days’ Louise Swanson

’Provocative, inventive and compulsively page-turning’ David Koepp

The one decision you can’t take back

Prosecutor, Justine Boucher has only asked for the death penalty once, in a brutal murder case.

In doing so, she put her own life on the line. Because, if the convicted are later found innocent, the lawyer who requested the execution will be sentenced to death.

Justine had no doubt that the man she sent to the chair was guilty.

Until now.

Presented with evidence that could prove his innocence, Justine must find out the truth before anyone else does.

Her life depends on it.

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When it comes to saving yourself, who will you betray?

Louise has a shadowy past that she wants to break free from and when she develops an unlikely friendship with Isabelle, her neighbour, she finally finds the family she’s always yearned for.

But Louise knows more about Isabelle than her new friend realises, more specifically about her imprisoned husband – and the circumstances behind his arrest.

Louise is faced with a choice: to continue lying to her only friend or tell the truth and ruin any chance she has of starting over…

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Kyiv, 1919. The Soviets control the city, but White armies menace them from the West. No man trusts his neighbour and any spark of resistance may ignite into open rebellion.

When Samson Kolechko’s father is murdered, his last act is to save his son from a falling Cossack sabre. Deprived of his right ear instead of his head, Samson is left an orphan, with only his father’s collection of abacuses for company.

Until, that is, his flat is requisitioned by two Red Army soldiers, whose secret plans Samson is somehow able to overhear with uncanny clarity. Eager to thwart them, he stumbles into a world of murder and intrigue that will either be the making of him – or finish what the Cossack started.

Inflected with Kurkov’s signature humour and magical realism, The Silver Bone takes inspiration from the real life archives of crime enforcement agencies in Kyiv, crafting a propulsive narrative that bursts to life with rich historical detail.

Translated from the Russian by Boris Dralyuk

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A teenage suicide. A murdered pharmacist. A missing girl. Is the obvious connection the right one?

When a boy leaps to his death from a bridge in the northern town of Umeå, Sweden, police discover drugs scattered in the snow near his body. The town has seen a dramatic increase in narcotic use among its youth, but nobody knows where the pills are coming from.

Relocating from Stockholm with her teenage daughter, Detective Charlotte von Klint expected Umeå to be a quiet backwater, a snow-covered change of pace from fighting the criminal underworld of the capital. But when a pharmacist is found brutally murdered in her apartment, and a young girl and her dealer boyfriend vanish without a trace after a party, suddenly Umeå doesn’t seem so benign. And the boy on the bridge doesn’t feel like an isolated incident.

Is the dealer the perpetrator? Or just another victim? And can it be a coincidence that a shadow from Charlotte’s past, Syndicates boss Tony Israelsson, has recently been released from prison and is reportedly headed for Umeå?

As the snow deepens and the body count rises, Charlotte and her boss, local cop Per Berg, find themselves in a deadly pursuit, with time rapidly running out.

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