Severn House July-September 2023 Catalogue

About Us

Severn House is an imprint of Canongate Books dedicated to publishing the best genre fiction. Founded in 1974, Severn House began life as a publisher of hardback fiction for libraries. In 2017 we were acquired by Canongate Books, the British Book Awards’ Independent Publisher of the Year, 2021. We publish cosy crime, historical mysteries, thrillers, romance, urban fantasy, and more. Our authors include award winners and bestsellers like Simon Brett, Cynthia HarrodEagles, Candace Robb, Davis Bunn, Simon R. Green, David Hewson, Caro Ramsay, and Qiu Xiaolong.

Read on for more on our upcoming releases for July to September 2023. If you’d like any more information, please contact us at info@severnhouse.com or visit severnhouse.com

Now in Paperback

Anthony Award winning author Qiu

Xiaolong was born in Shanghai and moved to Missouri, to complete a PhD degree in comparative literature at Washington University St Louis. After the Tiananmen tragedy in 1989 he stayed on in St Louis where he still lives with his wife.

Qiu has sold over two million copies of his Inspector Chen mysteries worldwide and been published in twenty languages. The novels have all been adapted as BBC Radio 4 dramas. Qiu is also the author of a brand-new mystery series set in Tang dynasty China, featuring the legendary Judge Dee Renjie. On top of his fiction, he is a prize-winning writer of poetry and poetry critic.

Love and Murder in the Time of Covid

An Inspector Chen Mystery #13

QIU XIAOLONG

Former chief inspector Chen faces a tricky serial murderer case at the height of the Covid pandemic – and risks everything to expose the deadly effects of the Chinese Communist Party's so-called zero Covid policy to the world.

The Covid crisis is at its height in China. Ex-chief inspector Chen Cao is horrified by the way the Chinese Communist Party are using the pandemic as an excuse to put the Chinese people under blanket surveillance and by the soaring number of deaths caused not by Covid, but by the CCP's inhuman 'zero Covid' policy.

Chen is debating whether to translate the 'Wuhan File' – a diary of life during the Wuhan disaster smuggled to him by a close friend – and expose the CCP's secrets to the world when to his surprise he is summoned by a high-level party cadre to help investigate a series of murders near a local Shanghai hospital.

And as he works, determined to uncover the truth, no matter what, he risks everything by deciding to translate the Wuhan Files. For one thing is true in China: you must be absolutely loyal to the Party. Otherwise, you are considered absolutely disloyal, and the consequences are dark indeed . . .

C.

Dorsey is the author of the

and

Gone But Not Forgotten

C. MICHELE DORSEY

An elderly mother with dementia – and dark secrets. A daughter who’s desperate to know the truth – no matter what.

Ever since Olivia and her mother fled their home, back when she was just a child, Olivia's lived with her mother's secrets and mantras. Don't stand out. Don't make friends. And most important of all: Don't ask questions.

is

former adjunct law professor, and nurse who didn't know she could be a writer when she grew up. Now that she does, Michele writes constantly, whether on St John, outer Cape Cod, or anywhere within a mile of the ocean.

Gone But Not Forgotten is her first standalone thriller.

Olivia is now a twenty-nine-year-old law student. She lives in Boston in a beautiful home with the perfect husband. It's a good life. But she's always longed to know more about her family history, and now her beloved mother has dementia, she knows she probably never will.

That is, until her mother signs a check in a different name, the day before she dies, leaving Olivia an unexpected clue to her past – a clue that will lead her down a dark and deadly path.

Because someone doesn't want Olivia to know her real identity. Her husband, her mother's caregivers, even her best friend – can she trust they're who they say they are? The truth about Olivia's past may set her free - but only if she doesn't die first . . .

Rights: W/E 4 July 2023

Printed Paper Cased Fiction 240pp

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Printed Paper Cased £21.99 | $31.99

9781448310784

Michele

Sabrina Salter series

the Danny and Nora O'Brien series. Michele

a lawyer, mediator,

Eleanor Kuhns is a previous winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel competition for A Simple Murder. The author of eleven Will Rees mysteries, she is now a full-time writer after a successful career as the Assistant Director at the Goshen Public Library in Orange County, New York.

In the Shadow of the Bull

An Ancient Crete Mystery #1

ELEANOR KUHNS

In a world of Goddess worship, sacred snakes and sacrifice, human jealousy, resentment and betrayal still run wild . . .

Ancient Crete, 1450 BC. When her sister Arge drops to the floor in convulsions and then dies at her wedding, fifteenyear-old Martis, a young poet and bull leaper in training, is certain she was murdered.

The prime suspect is the groom, Saurus, a barbarian from the Greek mainland, but when Arge's Shade visits Martis, swearing Saurus is not her murderer, Martis vows to uncover the truth.

As Martis begins asking questions, she discovers that while her sweet sister Arge may have had no secrets, many of the people around Martis certainly do . . . but if the murderer is not Saurus, then who is it? The Egyptian lady who frequents the docks, one of Martis's other sisters, her father, or someone entirely different?

Martis is in a battle against time to save her sister's Shade from eternal unrest and uncover the killer before they strike again . . .

Veronica Heley is the author of the ever-popular Ellie Quicke mysteries, as well as the Abbot Agency series. False Name is the sixteenth Abbot Agency novel. Veronica is actively involved in her local church and community affairs. She lives in Ealing, West London.

False Name

An Abbott Agency Mystery #16

VERONICA HELEY

Bea's life is turned upside down when a man is left for dead outside her agency office in this gripping mystery.

Bea Abbot overhears three men plotting a murder outside her garage, only to discover the intended victim – a young man who appears to be a rough sleeper – has been left there to die in freezing weather. Somewhat reluctantly, she gives him sanctuary but finds him unwilling to disclose his name or talk about his ordeal.

Who is determined to kill the stranger, and why? As he begins to reveal his identity and the events that led to his being left for dead, Bea concludes that he's the target of a conspiracy to murder. The man's would-be killers aren't ready to give up yet. Can Bea uncover the truth before they strike again?

Rights: W/E 4 July 2023

Printed Paper Cased Fiction 224pp

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Printed Paper Cased £21.99 | $31.99

9781448311163

Jane A. Adams was born in Leicestershire and still lives there – even though it is too far from the sea. She teaches creative writing and writing skills, mentors other writers for various arts organizations and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Royal Literary Fund Associate Fellow. Her first book, The Greenway, was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey Award and for the Author's Club Best First Novel Award. When not writing she can often be found drawing racing dodos and armoured hares and the occasional octopus. As well as the Henry Johnstone series, Adams is the author of the highly acclaimed Naomi Blake and Rina Martin mystery series.

The Room with Eight Windows

A Henry Johnstone Mystery #9

JANE A. ADAMS

Henry Johnstone has retired from the police, but when he suddenly disappears his old colleague and friend, Inspector Mickey Hitchens, investigates.

December, 1930. Henry Johnstone has retired from his role as detective chief inspector at London's Scotland Yard and is staying at the home of the late Sir Eamon Barry on the south coast, cataloguing and inventorying his extensive library. Until he suddenly – and inexplicably – vanishes.

Mickey Hitchens, Henry's old partner-in-crime, now an inspector himself, investigates the house with his colleague, Sergeant Tibbs. The room Henry was staying in had eight unusual, curved windows, and the pair quickly uncover disturbing signs of a struggle, along with a blotter that has the name of a man who was murdered five years ago written on it. Is there a link between that case and Henry's disappearance? Can Mickey find his friend and bring him home safely, or is it already too late?

Davis Bunn's novels have sold in excess of eight million copies in twenty-six languages. He has appeared on numerous national bestseller lists, and his novels have been Main or Featured Selections with every major US bookclub. Recent titles have been named Best Book of the Year by both Library Journal and Suspense Magazine, as well as earning Top Pick and Starred Reviews from Publishers Weekly, RT Reviews, Kirkus Reviews and Booklist. Currently Davis serves as Writer-In-Residence at Regent's Park College, Oxford University. He speaks around the world on aspects of creative writing. Davis also publishes under the pseudonym of Thomas Locke.

The Rowan A Rowan Novel #1

DAVIS BUNN

A rowan tree with mysterious and unique powers is extending its grip over humanity, and investigative writer Valentina Garnier is caught up in a battle between supernatural forces and the federal government.

Prize-winning investigative writer Valentina Garnier loves a good story, so when she learns that CIA director Agnes Pendalon wants her to travel to Kunashir Island in Russia's easternmost province, she jumps at the chance. Top scientists, political aides, CIA agents and even the vice president's daughter have made mysterious trips to the island in recent weeks, and all have come back changed . . .

When Val arrives in Kunashir, she is mesmerized by a magical rowan tree and its leaves that turn to golden threads, encircling the visitors. Something incredible and transformational is happening in front of her . . . With the CIA determined to hunt down this unknown force and everyone affected by the rowan, is a new battle for the future of humanity about to commence?

Rights: W/E 4 July 2023

Printed Paper Cased Fiction 208pp

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Printed Paper Cased £21.99 | $31.99

9781448311125

Geri Krotow is an award-winning author of over thirty novels, including the Whidbey Island contemporary romance series and the Silver Valley PD romantic suspense series. A US Naval Academy graduate and former Naval Intelligence Officer, Geri left her Navy career after nine years to follow her heart and focus on her dream of becoming an author. When not writing or reading, Geri loves to knit and go on long walks with her beloved dogs. A native of Buffalo, New York, she relishes frequent return visits.

The Kielbasa Killer

A Kielbasa Queen Mystery #1

GERI KROTOW

Lydia Wienewski discovers that her family's ever-popular kielbasa isn't the only thing that's been pricked in the night when she finds a body in this entertaining and smartly written cozy.

Lydia Wienewski can't wait to open her dream PolishAmerican café and bakery in Cheektowaga. But while her father recovers from a stroke, Lydia helps manage the family business, Wienewski's Weiners & Meats, over the busy Easter holiday. She's soon preparing a huge amount of their famous kielbasa – and dealing with her father's rogue meat supplier, Louie McDaniel.

When Lydia finds Louie dead next to the kielbasa in the family's private smoker, her great-great-grandpa's antique sausage pricker sticking out of his neck, her problems are about to get much worse – especially as she seems to be the police's prime suspect! Who would commit such a terrible act? Lydia quickly enlists the help of her irrepressible grandma Mary to find out. Can the sleuthing duo catch the killer and prove Lydia's innocence before more grisly deaths occur?

Rights: W/E 4 July 2023

Printed Paper Cased Fiction 208pp

Other (trim 216 x 138) Printed Paper Cased £21.99 | $31.99

9781448311187

Lucy Burdette is the author of the popular Key West Food Critic mystery series. Her standalone thriller, Unsafe Haven, is also published by Severn House. Lucy's alter-ego, clinical psychologist Roberta Isleib, has published eight mysteries including the Golf Lover's mystery series and the Advice Column mysteries. Lucy's books and stories have been shortlisted for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. The Key Lime Crime won the bronze medal for popular fiction from the Florida Book Awards. She's a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, a past president of Sisters in Crime, and currently serves as the president of the Friends of the Key West Library.

The Ingredients of Happiness

LUCY BURDETTE

Is there a recipe for the perfect life?

Thirty-two-year-old 'happiness guru' Dr Cooper Hunziker has it all – a dream job as assistant psychology professor at Yale University, a soon-to-be published self-help book, The Happiness Connection, and the perfect man. But there's a problem. Cooper isn't happy.

Of course, it doesn't help that she's facing cut-throat competition for her tenure at Yale, an accusation of plagiarism that could cost her everything, or that her new book has irritated the department chairman, who assigns her to co-lead a happiness group at the New Haven Library.

As her friendship with the other women in the group flourishes, Cooper finds herself questioning her choices. Forced to face a life-changing betrayal and her own traumatic past, can she navigate a path to happiness with the help of a gargoyle's wisdom?

Rights: W/E 4 July 2023

Printed Paper Cased Fiction 272pp

Other (trim 216 x 138) Printed Paper Cased £21.99 | $31.99 9781448311149

Lynn Hightower is the internationally bestselling author of numerous thrillers including the Sonora Blair and Lena Padget detective series. She has won the Shamus Award for Best First Private Eye novel and a WHSmith Fresh Talent Award. Lynn lives in Kentucky, in a small Victorian cottage with a writing parlor.

The Beautiful Risk

LYNN HIGHTOWER

Her husband died in a plane crash on Mont Blanc. It was a tragic accident. These are the simple facts. Except someone’s not telling the truth . . .

After nine months of sorrow and grief, Junie Lagarde – a brilliant forensic accountant and passionate guitarist – is gradually accepting life without her beloved husband Olivier, a French safety consultant and climate-change expert, whom she lost in a tragic plane accident over Mont Blanc. If only she could have found her loyal hearing-dog Leo, who ran off in the terrifying aftermath of the crash, before she had to return home to America. But then Junie receives an unexpected call from France . . .

Capitaine Philippe Brevard, the man in charge of investigating Olivier's death, has seen recent CCTV footage which shows Leo being held by a man who closely resembles Olivier . . . right down to his distinctive jacket.

It's not Olivier. It can't be . . . can it? But who is the man – and what else is Capitaine Brevard hiding from her? Junie knows she must go to Chamonix, rescue her dog, and uncover the truth . . . but there are those who mean her harm, and soon Junie's learning dangerous secrets. Secrets that will shake her faith in her closest friends and put more than just her own life in the gravest of danger.

1 August 2023

Printed Paper Cased Fiction 256pp

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Printed Paper Cased £21.99 | $31.99

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Rights: W/E

The daughter of a law professor and a potter, Leslie Karst waited tables and sang in a new wave rock band before deciding she was ready for a 'real' job and ending up at Stanford Law School. It was during her career as a research and appellate attorney in Santa Cruz, California, that she rediscovered her youthful passion for food and cooking, and she once more returned to school – this time to earn a degree in culinary arts.

Now retired from the law, Leslie spends her time cooking, cycling, gardening, enjoying cocktail hour promptly at five o'clock, and of course writing. She and her wife and their Jack Russell mix split their time between Santa Cruz and Hilo, Hawai'i.

1 August 2023

Printed Paper Cased Fiction 224pp

A Sense for Murder

A Sally Solari Mystery #6

LESLIE KARST

Chef Sally Solari has – to her own bewilderment – built a reputation as a talented sleuth who keeps tripping over dead bodies. But getting mixed up in the curious case of a cookbook killer threatens to be the final chapter in not just her investigating career . . . but her life.

It's the height of tourist season in Santa Cruz, California, and Sally Solari has her hands full, both juggling crowds of hungry diners at her French-Polynesian restaurant Gauguin, as well as appeasing her father, who's distressed at the number of homeless people camped out in front Solari's, the family's Italian seafood restaurant out on the historic fisherman's wharf.

Nevertheless, when Sally gets the opportunity to volunteer at a farm-to-table dinner taking place at the hip new restaurant and culinary bookshop Pages and Plums, she seizes the chance. Not only is it a fundraiser for an organization aiding the homeless and seniors, but up for auction at the event is a signed boxset of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Sally's hero, the renowned chef Julia Child.

But then the Pages and Plums dining room manager turns up dead – the locked cabinet containing the precious books now empty – and the irrepressible Sally once again finds herself up to her neck in a criminal investigation. She may have a sense for murder, but can Sally outwit a devious killer with a taste for French cooking before the villain makes mincemeat of her, too?

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9781448309054

Rights: W/E

David Hewson is a former journalist with The Times, The Sunday Times and the Independent. He is the author of more than thirty novels, including his Rome-based Nic Costa series which has been published in fifteen languages, his Amsterdam-based series featuring detective Pieter Vos, and the brand-new Venetian mystery series. He has also written three acclaimed adaptations of the Danish TV series, The Killing. He lives near Canterbury in Kent.

The Borgia Portrait A Venetian Mystery #2

DAVID HEWSON

A noble family, a legendary painting, a cursed palazzo. The new Venetian mystery from master storyteller David Hewson.

When Arnold Clover is recruited by Lizzie Hawker to help her look into her family inheritance, he cannot begin to guess the journey he is about to embark on.

Lizzie's mother, an Italian countess, disappeared thirty years ago, presumed dead. Her father, a famous, some say infamous, music promoter, has just died and now the family home Ca' Scacchi, a leaning palazzo in Dorsoduro, has fallen to her. When her mother vanished so too did a priceless painting, supposedly an erotic portrait of Lucrezia Borgia, which has captivated men for generations.

When a body is discovered in a hidden crypt beneath the checkerboard courtyard of the palazzo, other secrets are unearthed with it. Lying with the body is a document, a story of an episode in Casanova's colourful life, and within it a set of clues that might lead to the location of the painting. But it quickly becomes apparent that Lizzie and Arnold are not the only ones interested in finding the painting.

The search for the lost Lucrezia quickly becomes a race through the secret history of Venice, one with potentially deadly consequences.

1 August 2023

Printed Paper Cased Fiction 320pp

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Printed Paper Cased £21.99 | $31.99 9781448306572

Rights: W

Caro Ramsay was born and brought up in Glasgow, and now lives in a village on the west coast of Scotland. She is an osteopath, acupuncturist and former marathon runner, who devotes much of her time to the complementary treatment of injured wildlife at a local rescue centre. She is the author of thirteen Anderson & Costello thrillers, one standalone novel of psychological suspense and the brand-new DCI Christine Caplan thriller series.

In Her Blood A DCI Christine Caplan Thriller #2

CARO RAMSAY

'Girl A' was convicted of murdering three people when she was a child. Now she's missing and a man is dead. The clock is ticking for Scottish detective DCI Christine Caplan to bring her to justice –but the truth may be darker than even she fears . . .

When a body is discovered in the water at Connel Bridge, the police assume it's an open-and-shut case of suicide. But when DCI Christine Caplan is called in to take a closer look, she discovers that darker truths lurk beneath the surface, and suspicion begins to turn to a young woman recently out of care.

Known only as Girl A, her identity remains anonymous, protected under law. Her violent past includes an allegation of the murder of a younger sibling, so the timing of this new death seems too coincidental. Then a vigilante sets her home on fire and she flees, so the 'child killer' is now on the loose – and at risk herself.

As Caplan launches a search for the elusive teenager, looking for connections between her and the dead man, she turns to Girl A's past for answers. And when she gets them, she realizes the truth may be even more sinister.

1 August 2023

Printed Paper Cased Fiction 256pp

Other (trim 216 x 138)

Printed Paper Cased £21.99 | $31.99

9781448306763

Rights: W

Agatha Award-winning G.M. Malliet is the acclaimed author of two traditional mystery series and a standalone novel set in England. The first entry in the DCI St. Just series, Death of a Cozy Writer, won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel and was nominated for Macavity and Anthony Awards. The Rev. Max Tudor series has been nominated for many awards as have several of her short stories appearing in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and The Strand Although now residing in the US, she lived many years in England, which inspires most of her stories.

Death in Print A St. Just Mystery #5

G.M. MALLIET

A celebration in Oxford for university tutor and bestselling author Jason Verdoodt, attended by DCI St. Just and his fiancée Portia, is a night to remember . . . for all the wrong reasons.

University of Oxford tutor and bestselling author Jason Verdoodt has it all: acclaim, women, money . . . and an enemy or two. When he's found dead at the bottom of the stairs during a celebratory reception at St Rumwold's College, many wonder if seething jealousy of his literary success has turned someone's mind to murder.

Detective Chief Inspector Arthur St. Just becomes inescapably drawn into an investigation that takes him down the historic streets of Oxford and into the hallowed halls of its university. Alongside his fiancée, crime fiction writer Portia De'Ath, he uncovers several motives for murdering the celebrated but insufferable Jason – whose next novel may be a threat to many in his orbit – and no shortage of suspects who are nursing a grudge from the first novel. Has someone decided to write revenge into the plot?

Amanda Allen wrote her first book at the age of sixteen – a vast historical epic starring all her friends as the characters, written secretly during algebra class. She's never since used algebra, but her books have been nominated for many awards, including the RITA Award, the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award, the GDRW Bookseller’s Best Award, the National Readers Choice Award, and the Holt Medallion. She lives in Santa Fe with two rescue dogs, a wonderful husband, and far too many books and royal memorabilia collections.

Death Comes to Santa Fe

A Santa Fe Revival Mystery #3

AMANDA ALLEN

Former New York darling turned amateur sleuth Madeline Vaughn-Alwin is once again thrown into a colourful yet deadly web of secrets, lies and soirees to die for!

It's the week of Fiesta in Santa Fe and Maddie is looking forward to enjoying the celebrations. But as 'Old Man Gloom' Zozobra goes up in flames, so too do Maddie's hopes for a carefree life. Human remains are found in the dying embers of Zozobra, and then Maddie and her dashing beau Dr David Cole find a body washed up in the arroyo at the edge of town.

Soon identified as Ricardo Montoya, a wealthy businessman and head of one of the most affluent families in Santa Fe . . . the plot starts to thicken. While his beautiful wife Catalina and her complicated children seem less than heartbroken at his untimely demise, and with many disgruntled locals crawling out of the woodwork, Maddie is surrounded by suspects.

With the celebrations of Fiesta continuing around them, Maddie and her 'Detection Posse' get busy infiltrating the best parties and hobnobbing with old and new faces – but can they bring the murderer to justice before they strike again?

The author of more than thirty mysteries, including the long-running, much-loved Dorothy Martin mystery series, Jeanne M. Dams lives in South Bend, Indiana, with a varying population of cats.

Music and Murder

An Oak Park Village Mystery #2

JEANNE M. DAMS

Spirited female sleuth Elizabeth Fairchild is drawn into Chicago's growing jazz scene – and murder – in this compelling 1920s mystery.

July, 1926. When Elizabeth Fairchild's beau, Fred Wilkins, suggests going to Chicago's Sunset Club to see Louis Armstrong, the world's best trumpeter, in action, she faces a dilemma. The burgeoning jazz scene in the city is proving to be controversial, associated with gangsters and scandal. Even her dear friend Susannah refers to jazz as 'the devil's music'.

Intrigued, Elizabeth brushes her fears aside and visits the club with Fred, but an explosion causes panic – the Ku Klux Klan are intent on blowing up the club as part of a race war being waged in the city, and murder soon follows. Elizabeth has made herself a target, but she has a plan to save the club. The only problem is it involves jazz afficionado and the Sunset Club's owner, the country's most notorious criminal, Al Capone

5 September 2023

Printed Paper Cased Fiction 224pp

Other (trim 216 x 138)

Printed Paper Cased £21.99 | $31.99

9781448311224

Rights: W/E

Chris Nickson is the author of ten previous Tom Harper mysteries, seven highly acclaimed novels in the Richard Nottingham series, and five Simon Westow mysteries. He is also a wellknown music journalist. He lives in his beloved Leeds.

Rusted Souls A Tom

Harper Mystery #11

CHRIS NICKSON

Retirement beckons for Chief Constable Tom Harper. Can he stop a spiralling crime spree involving love letters, robbery and murder before he hangs up his boots for good?

Leeds, 1920. Chief Constable Tom Harper of Leeds City Police has just six weeks left in the role before his wellearned retirement. But although his distinguished career is coming to an end, the crime and mayhem on the city's streets shows no sign of stopping.

Council leader Alderman Thompson is being blackmailed. He wants Harper to find the love letters he sent to a young woman called Charlotte Radcliffe and return them quietly, while elsewhere, masked robbers are targeting jewellery shops in the city. As events threaten to spiral out of control, Harper uncovers disturbing links between Alderman's predicament and the crime spree. Can he restore justice and order to the streets of Leeds one last time?

5 September 2023

Printed Paper Cased Fiction 224pp

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Printed Paper Cased £21.99 | $31.99

9781448311798

Rights: W/E

John Keyse-Walker practiced law for thirty years, representing business and individual clients, educational institutions and government entities. He is an avid salt- and freshwater angler, a tennis player, kayaker and an accomplished cook. He lives in Florida with his wife. Sun, Sand, Murder, the first book in the Teddy Creque mystery series, won the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award.

Reefs, Royals, Reckonings

A Teddy Creque Mystery #4

JOHN KEYSE-WALKER

Constable Teddy Creque has to get to the bottom of a murder committed during a British royal reception in this lively and atmospheric mystery set in the sunny Caribbean.

When Constable Teddy Creque is assigned to the security detail at a grand reception on the little island of Tortola for Princess Portia and her husband Lord Sutherland, he's prepared for a British royal night out. He's less prepared for an evening of dreary small talk about bond prices and tax havens. But at least the event is going smoothly, he tells himself . . . That is, until it's cut dramatically short by a shot ringing out from the direction of the garden.

Anxious that one of the royals is in danger, Teddy springs into action. He has to get the royal pair to safety, but first he has to find them. And they're not the only ones missing –where is his superior, Deputy Commissioner Howard Lane?

Soon, in the depths of the tropical darkness, Teddy has his answer – and is confronted by his worst nightmare. Plunged into his most high-profile investigation yet, Teddy knows he has to solve this case fast . . . or heads will roll.

5 September 2023

Printed Paper Cased Fiction 224pp

Other (trim 216 x 138)

Printed Paper Cased £21.99 | $31.99

9781448311248

Rights: W/E

Mary Miley grew up in New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Virginia, and worked her way through the College of William and Mary in Virginia as a costumed tour guide at Colonial Williamsburg. As Mary Miley Theobald, she has published numerous nonfiction books and articles on history, travel and business topics. As Mary Miley, she is the award-winning author of the Roaring Twenties mysteries and the Mystic's Accomplice mysteries series. When she's not home writing, she can be found in the fields or bottling factory at Valley Road Vineyards, the Virginia winery she (and a few friends) own, where everything she does would have been illegal in the Roaring Twenties.

5 September 2023

Printed Paper Cased Fiction 224pp

Murder

Off Stage A Roaring Twenties Mystery #5

MARY MILEY

Welcome to Broadway – and to an unthinkable crime! Former theatre starlet turned amateur sleuth Jessie Beckett gets mixed up in murder when an on-stage shooting turns all too real.

New York, 1926. It's not like Jessie Beckett goes around looking for murders to solve, but the vaudeville star turned movie script girl has a natural talent for it. After a lifetime on stage, she's sensitive to details that other people miss.

So when leading theatre star Allen Crenshaw is shot live on stage during a performance of hit Broadway show Rules of Engagement – a horrified Jessie watching from the second row – she knows she has to act fast before Allen's co-star, the beautiful Norah Rose, goes down for murder. After all, it was Norah who fired the fateful bullet . . . even if the shooting was all part of the show.

Jessie investigates those closest to Allen – the presence of her theatre companion, the superstar Adele Astaire, opening doors wherever they go – and finds only enemies. With the suspects for the disliked actor so numerous, can she uncover the truth in time to save Norah – or will the killer silence her too?

Rights: W/E

Sandra Balzo built an impressive career as a public relations consultant before authoring the successful Maggy Thorsen coffeehouse mysteries, the first of which, Uncommon Grounds, was published to stellar reviews and nominated for an Anthony and Macavity Award. She is also the author of the Main Street Murders mystery series published by Severn House.

Any Pot in a Storm A Maggy Thorsen Mystery #16

SANDRA BALZO

Trouble is brewing for coffeehouse owner Maggy Thorsen when she's caught up in a storm – and murder — at a writers' retreat.

Coffeehouse owner Maggy Thorsen has reluctantly travelled north with her business partner, Sarah Kingston, to cater for a weekend writers' retreat at Payne Lodge log cabin. The remote location deep in the Wisconsin forest is the perfect setting for mystery writing workshops . . . and murder.

Maggy's no fan of the outdoors, but forest bugs are the least of her worries when lightning strikes the lodge during a storm and she and Sarah discover the body of the retreat's organiser, editor of the local newspaper and president of the Brookhills Writers' Club, Kate McNamara. It seems that Kate had annoyed many of the retreat's attendees, but who hated her enough to plot her murder?

Mike Ripley has twice won the Crime Writers' Association's Last Laugh Award, and is the author of twenty-four comedy thrillers and historical novels. He writes a hugely respected monthly review column for Shots Magazine entitled Getting Away With Murder and is also the author of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, a 'reader's history' of the heyday of British action and spy thrillers, 1953-75, which won the H.R.F. Keating Award for non-fiction in 2017.

Mr Campion's Memory

An Albert Campion Mystery #11

MIKE RIPLEY

Albert Campion must dig deep into his memory to solve this latest mystery involving king of construction, Sir Lachlan McIntyre.

London, 1972. Albert Campion's nephew Christopher, an aspiring public relations guru, needs his uncle's help with a client. Construction magnate Sir Lachlan McIntyre enjoyed a meteoric rise after the Second World War and is in line for a life peerage, but his reputation is in jeopardy as he becomes the prime suspect for a murder.

Journalist David Duffy was curiously more interested in McIntyre's youthful years before the war than his rags-toriches story. Not long after the pair exchanged verbal blows, Duffy was shot dead in his car close to the motorway and McIntyre's home. Why was Campion's name included on a list discovered in Duffy's notebook under the heading 1932? What happened forty years ago, and could it be linked to Duffy's death? Campion must dig deep into his memory to get to the bottom of the mystery, but can he prove McIntyre's innocence, or is he just digging himself into trouble?

5 September 2023

Printed Paper Cased Fiction 272pp

Rights: W

NOWINPAPERBACK

Jeri Westerson was born and raised in Los Angeles. As well as fifteen Crispin Guest medieval mysteries, she is the author of three paranormal series and several historical novels. Her books have been nominated for the Shamus, the Macavity and the Agatha awards.

Courting Dragons A King’s Fool Mystery #1

JERI WESTERSON

Introducing Will Somers, the king's jester but nobody's fool in this exuberant, intriguing and thoroughly entertaining mystery set in Tudor England – the first in a new series from the author of the critically acclaimed Crispin Guest Medieval Noir series.

London, 1529. Jester Will Somers enjoys an enviable position at the court of Henry VIII. As the king's entertainer, chief gossip-monger, spy and loyal adviser, he knows all of the king's secrets – and almost everyone else's within the walls of Greenwich Palace.

But when Will discovers the body of Spanish count Don Gonzalo while walking his trusted sidekick Nosewise in the courtyard gardens, and a blackmail note arrives soon after demanding information about the king, is one of his own closely guarded secrets about to be exposed? Trouble is afoot at the palace. Are the king's enemies plotting a move against him? Will must draw on all his wit and ingenuity to get to the bottom of the treacherous and deadly goings-on at the court before further tragedy strikes . . .

27 July 2023

Trade Paperback Fiction 224pp

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9781448309894

Rights: W/E

Sally Spencer worked as a teacher both in England and Iran – where she witnessed the fall of the Shah. She now lives on the Costa Blanca with her partner, one cat, two dogs and innumerable fruit trees. Having once been an almost fanatical mah-jong player, she is now obsessed with duplicate bridge.

As well as the DCI Monika Paniatowski mysteries, Spencer is also the author of the successful Chief Inspector Woodend mysteries, the Inspector Blackstone series and the Jennie Redhead series.

The Final Beat of the Drum

A DCI Monika Paniatowski Mystery #15

SALLY SPENCER

DCI Monika Paniatowski is forced to think the unthinkable: could a good friend and long-standing colleague be guilty of murder?

On the day of her official retirement from the Force, DCI Monika Paniatowski looks at the two men and one woman who are no longer her team and thinks: Whatever the future holds, I will always be proud of you. She raises a toast. And just like that, her career as a homicide detective is over.

Then, fifteen years later, Monika's former sergeant, Kate Meadows, makes a terrible mistake.

Monika doesn't hesitate when Kate turns to her for help. She owes her, and she can hardly let her old friend go down for a crime she didn't commit.

But as Monika gets deeper into the investigation, she's forced to ask herself the unthinkable: is Kate really innocent, or is she helping her old friend get away with murder?

27 July 2023

Trade Paperback Fiction 240pp

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9781448307074

Rights: W

Davis Bunn‘s novels have sold in excess of eight million copies in twenty-six languages. He has appeared on numerous national bestseller lists, and his novels have been Main or Featured Selections with every major US bookclub. Recent titles have been named Best Book of the Year by both Library Journal and Suspense Magazine, as well as earning Top Pick and Starred Reviews from Publishers Weekly, RT Reviews, Kirkus Reviews and Booklist. Currently Davis serves as Writer-In-Residence at Regent’s Park College, Oxford University. He speaks around the world on aspects of creative writing. Davis also publishes under the pseudonym of Thomas Locke.

Forbidden DAVIS BUNN

In this sequel to Island of Time, a young renegade wizard flees the corrupt power structure controlling global magic, only to become embroiled in a conflict pitting supernatural forces against the federal government.

All wizard Chad Hagan wants is a quiet life.

A loner, a runaway, and a failed apprentice Talent, Chad was kicked out of one Institute of Magic for fighting, then fled another when the head wizard's vice caused the death of his closest friend. He may want a quiet life but when he meets Kara Sedgewick, he realizes that is not an option . . .

Kara has spent twenty years living a lie. Her mother was a gifted healer with powerful magical abilities, but not her. Or so the Institutes were led to believe. . . As Chad and Kara get close, they discover that their magical gifts, if combined, are dangerously powerful. And if they decide to forge this forbidden alliance, they could topple a system that has become rife with vicious infighting and sleaze.

But this seems like a dangerous, if not impossible task. Can they face the Institutes and their global network of magical force and triumph?

Trade

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9781448310111

Rights: W/E

Simon Brett worked as a producer in radio and television before taking up writing full-time. He is the author of more than 100 books, including the much-loved Fethering mysteries, the Mrs Pargeter novels and the Charles Paris detective series, as well as the Decluttering mysteries. In 2014, he was awarded the Crime Writers' Association's prestigious Diamond Dagger for sustained excellence and contribution to crime writing, and in the 2016 New Year's Honours he was awarded an OBE 'for services to literature'.

Waste of a Life

A Decluttering Mystery #3

SIMON BRETT

Ellen Curtis is about to have her own life thrown into chaos in this third lighthearted decluttering mystery!

Declutterer Ellen Curtis has been working to bring order into the life of Cedric Waites, a recluse in his eighties who hasn't left his house or let anyone inside it since his wife died. On one of her regular visits, Ellen finds the old man dead.

Sad but, given his age, perhaps not unexpected. Nothing to get worked up about . . . until the police raise the suspicion that Cedric might have been poisoned! The cause seems to be something he ate, and as Ellen cleared away the old man's food containers, she is under suspicion. As is Dodge, who works for Ellen and has unhelpfully done a runner . . .

Meanwhile, a rival declutterer is out to sabotage Ellen's reputable business, her two grown-up children are back home and in crisis, and she has a potential love interest. Ellen's life has taken on a chaotic turn of its own! Can she uncover the killer and bring order back to her own life?

Married with three grown-up children, six grandchildren and a ginger cat called Douglas, he lives in an Agatha Christiestyle village on the South Downs.

Rights: W/E 27 July 2023

Trade Paperback Fiction 192pp

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9781448307937

Tamar Myers was born in what was then the Belgian Congo in 1948, where her parents were American-Mennonite missionaries to a tribe of headhunters. She moved to the USA at the age of fifteen. On her mother's side, Tamar is descended from one of the first Amish families to settle in America in 1738. She is the author of more than forty mysteries and many short stories.

Meat Thy Maker

A Pennsylvania-Dutch Mystery #24

TAMAR MYERS

Sausages to kill for . . . The competition to go into business with Hernia's finest sausage makers is getting hotter than Magdalena Yoder's frying pan in this sizzling culinary cozy.

Schmucker Brothers' Sausages are the talk of the town. The good folk of Hernia are obsessed with the delectable meaty treats, and the prospect of going into partnership with the brothers is proving equally irresistible to investors far and wide, including Magdalena Yoder's current guests at the Penn-Dutch Inn – grocery store chain CEOs Christine Landis and Kathleen Dooley, restaurant owner Terry Tazewell, and Mr Duckworth Limehouse.

All four are in town to pitch a business deal to the Schmuckers. But after a visit to the brothers' pork factory, one of the would-be investors is found slaughtered back at the inn, and Mags must catch a murderer intent on turning her guests juicy pork dreams to rashers! Could there be more to the Schmuckers' sausages than meets the eye?

27 July 2023

Trade Paperback Fiction 224pp

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9781448310081

Rights: W/E

Priscilla Masters is the author of the popular DI Joanna Piercy series, as well as the successful Martha Gunn novels and a series of forensic psychiatrist mysteries featuring Dr Claire Roget. She lives near the Shropshire/Staffordshire border. A retired respiratory nurse, Priscilla has two grown-up sons and two grandsons.

Undue Influence A Florence Shaw Mystery

PRISCILLA MASTERS

#1

Where's Nora Selleck? Nurse Florence Shaw investigates when a mysterious stranger walks into her patient's life – and then she disappears . . .

Nurse Florence Shaw is worried about her patient and friend, elderly widow Nora Selleck. When she encounters Nora in the market town of Stone seeming confused, Florence decides to pay her a visit in more familiar surroundings. But at Nora's house she meets Ben Evans, a mysterious young stranger who has befriended Nora. Who is Ben, and why is he encouraging Nora to miss her surgery appointments?

Florence doesn't trust Ben. She's sure he doesn't have Nora's best interests at heart and is a threat to her vulnerable patient. But no one else, not even Nora's doctor, shares her concern. Until, one day, Nora suddenly disappears . . .

27 July 2023

Trade Paperback Fiction 224pp

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9781448310074

Rights: W/E

Agatha Award-winning G.M. Malliet is the acclaimed author of the DCI St. Just series, the Rev. Max Tudor series and a standalone novel set in England. Her books have been nominated for many awards, as have several of her short stories appearing in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and The Strand. The Augusta Hawke series is her first set in the US, where she and her husband now live.

Invitation to a Killer

An Augusta Hawke Mystery #2

G.M. MALLIET

Crime writer turned sleuth, Augusta Hawke finds herself drawn into her second mystery when a celebrity doctor is found dead at a party she is attending!

Callie Moore is no ordinary aspiring writer. Notorious wife of a Washington lobbyist, Callie believes no publicity is bad publicity and that publishing her scandalous memoirs will help her achieve her heart's desire: a diplomatic posting. She just needs crime novelist Augusta Hawke to be her ghostwriter.

It's hard to say no to Callie, but Augusta does agree to attend her dinner party. The guest list is impressive, and it's Augusta's chance to meet celebrity doctor Doc Burke. But before Augusta really gets a chance to chat with the famous humanitarian, the evening ends in his untimely death.

Signs point to a heart attack, but Augusta isn't convinced. Especially when his niece tells Augusta about the mystery woman who claimed the doctor's remains.

Augusta decides to host a writers' retreat and invite all the suspects, most of whom are connected in some way with writing. Isn't that what Agatha Christie would do? But the remote lodge soon becomes snowed in and the group starts to crack when it becomes clear the killer may not be finished killing. Can Augusta flush out the culprit before anyone else gets hurt?

31 August 2023

Trade Paperback Fiction 240pp

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9781448308255

Rights: W/E

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles was born and educated in London and had a variety of jobs in the commercial world before becoming a full-time writer. She is the author of the internationally acclaimed Bill Slider mysteries and the historical Morland Dynasty series. She lives in London, is married with three children and enjoys music, wine, gardening, horses and the English countryside.

Before I Sleep

A Detective Inspector Slider Mystery #24

CYNTHIA HARROD-EAGLES

The clock is ticking for DCI Slider when a woman goes missing. Can he find her –and does she even want to be found?

Felicity Holland is missing.

She left her handsome West London house to go to her weekly pottery class and didn't come back. She's a mature, sensible woman with a stable home life and a happy marriage – no reason to abscond. Her distraught husband is convinced she must have been snatched.

DCI Bill Slider and his team know that when a woman goes missing, you have to move fast if there's to be a hope of finding her alive. But with no evidence of foul play – nothing to go on at all – where do you even start looking?

The clock is ticking. But as Slider tries to retrace the last known movements of Felicity Holland, he is led ever further down a dark and twisted path into the secret past of this beautiful, enigmatic woman.

31 August 2023

Trade Paperback Fiction 256pp

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9781448306213

Rights: W

Alys Clare lives in the English countryside where her novels are set. She went to school in Tonbridge and later studied archaeology at the University of Kent. She is also the author of the Hawkenlye, Aelf Fen and Gabriel Taverner historical mystery series.

The Man in the Shadows A World’s End Bureau Mystery #3

ALYS CLARE

Private investigators Lily Raynor and Felix Wilbraham tackle a puzzling miscarriage of justice and the curious case of a missing child, in the new, gripping World's End Bureau Victorian mystery.

London, August 1881. After a difficult few months, the World's End Investigation Bureau is thriving. Affairs, sex scandals, divorces . . . Lily Raynor is delighted to have so much work for herself and her capable assistant, Felix Wilbraham, but she can't help wishing for a case that doesn't involve the rich, over-indulged – and not terribly moral – upper classes. It's a wish she soon has cause to regret.

The Reverend James Jellicote arrives at the Bureau, seeking help on behalf of an elderly Jewish refugee who fled the pogroms in Russia. Yelisaveta and her young grandson arrived safely in London, only for the unspeakable to happen: eleven-year-old Yakov disappeared, without a trace. The case is impossible to refuse, but seems equally impossible to solve.

And troubles don't come alone. Soon, Lily and Felix have another impossible puzzle on their hands. Hop-picker Abel Spokewright was hanged last year for murder, but his brother Jared is determined to clear his name. If Abel didn't kill cheerful, pretty dairymaid Effie, though, who did? Only one thing's certain: the murderer isn't going to be happy about having the past raked up . . .

31 August 2023

Trade Paperback Fiction 256pp

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9781448307494

Rights: W/E

A.J. Cross is a forensic psychologist with over twenty years' experience in the field. She lives in Birmingham with her jazz-musician husband. As well as the Will Traynor series, she is the author of five Kate Hanson Cold Case mysteries.

Reflections of Deviance A Will Traynor Forensic Mystery #4

A. J. CROSS

Rich. Successful. Dead . . . The mysterious death of Marion Cane leads criminologist Will Traynor into a deeply challenging and disturbing new case.

Marion Cane swapped a successful city career in New York and London for a quiet retirement in a wealthy village on the outskirts of Birmingham. So why was she found dead in her new home two years later?

Marion's death was thought to be due to natural causes, until an anonymous note leads Superintendent John Heritage of West Midlands Police to ask DCI Bernard Watts and PC Chloe Judd to make enquiries. But when they arrive in Newton Heights, one of the villagers mysteriously vanishes. Still reeling from his own devastating news, criminologist Will Traynor is brought in to assist the team with an increasingly complex and disturbing investigation. Can Traynor push his own demons aside to see through distorted versions of reality, dangerous secrets and dark lies in his pursuit of the truth?

31 August 2023

Trade Paperback Fiction 240pp

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9781448308026

Rights: W/E

Peter Colt is a 1996 graduate of the University of Rhode Island with a BA in Political Science and a twenty-four-year veteran of the Army Reserve with deployments to Kosovo and Iraq as an Army Civil Affairs officer. He is currently a police officer in Rhode Island. He is married with two sons and two perpetually feuding cats.

The Ambassador

An Andy Roark Mystery #4

PETER COLT

A retired ambassador's life is in Andy Roark's hands in this explosive, fast-paced mystery featuring the Vietnam veteran turned private investigator.

Boston, 1985. Private Investigator – and former Special Forces operative – Andy Roark knows he doesn't fit in with the regular clientele at the Harvard Club, and that's fine by him. He's at the elegant bar for one reason only: to meet with the former ambassador of Laos. Ambassador Gordon Stevenson has a job for him . . . and Roark's here to turn it down.

So what if Stevenson's been getting death threats? After what he did during the Vietnam war, the lives lost under his incompetent command, Roark's almost tempted to cheer his would-be assassin on. But then Roark finds out why he's been headhunted for the job. The FBI believe one of Roark's old army comrades is behind the threats, and only a fellow Green Beret can hunt the culprit down.

Too many of Roark's brothers in arms are dead. If he can save an old friend from making a terrible mistake, he has no choice but to set his feelings aside and take the case. But old grudges and dark secrets are at play, and Roark soon finds it's not just the ambassador's life that's in danger – it's his own.

31 August 2023

Trade Paperback Fiction 272pp

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9781448307913

Rights: W/E

Simon R. Green was born in Bradfordon-Avon, Wiltshire, where he still lives. He is the New York Times bestselling author of more than seventy science fiction and fantasy novels, including the Nightside, Secret Histories and Ghost Finders series, the Ishmael Jones mysteries, and the Gideon Sable series.

What Song the Sirens Sang

A Gideon Sable Novel #3

SIMON R. GREEN

The tables are turned on legendary master thief Gideon Sable when a priceless magical artifact is stolen from him, in this fast-paced supernatural heist thriller.

You can find everything you've ever dreamed of in the strange, old magical shop known as Old Harry's Place. The problem is, not all dreams are kind.

Gideon Sable – legendary master thief, conman and welldressed rogue – and his partner in crime Annie Anybody don't want to be shopkeepers, but when the enigmatic Harry decides to retire, he blackmails the pair into taking the store on.

Before the grand reopening can happen, however, a menacing stranger arrives – with a rare and deadly item for them to appraise. A small piece of rock, with an unnerving aura, which 'Smith' claims contains the last echoes of the legendary sirens' song. Before they can find out more, however, Smith vanishes . . . leaving only the stone.

Some valuables are more trouble than they're worth. But before Gideon and Annie can work out if they've been set up, the stone is stolen from its impregnable hiding place. How? And why? Gideon only knows one thing for certain: no one steals from him and gets away with it . . .

31 August 2023

Trade Paperback Fiction 192pp

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9781448305766

Rights: W/E

Despite completing a Fine Arts degree, all Betty Hechtman ever wanted to be was a writer. She wrote a weekly column in her college newspaper and later wrote magazine and newspaper pieces, along with short stories and a prize-wining screenplay. Betty had her first novel published in 2006. Since then she has had over twenty books published across two cozy mystery series centered on another one of her loves – yarn craft. She lives with her family in Southern California.

Sentenced to Death

A Writer for Hire Mystery #4

BETTY HECHTMAN

Who knew being a writer for hire could be so dramatic? Join Veronica in her fourth adventure as writer-turned-sleuth!

When writer for hire Veronica Blackstone is asked to write the copy for The Friends of Hyde Park's annual house and garden tour, she never expects to get involved in a violent death. But that's exactly what happens when famous author Landon Donte is found dead in his study during a dinner to highlight the tour.

With his career on the wane, and apparently having deleted his last manuscript, it looks as though Landon committed suicide. But Veronica isn't so sure. She discovers that lefthanded Landon was killed by someone right-handed and becomes convinced someone murdered him.

It's true that Landon had many enemies: his rival and neighbor, bestselling romance author R.L. Lincoln; his putupon assistant, Brad; even his own daughter! But are any of them capable of murder? Veronica is determined to uncover the truth!

31 August 2023

Trade Paperback Fiction 224pp

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9781448308231

Rights: W/E

Linda Broday is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over thirty historical western romance novels and short stories. A third generation Texan, she finds lots of inspiration for her fictional cowboys on the West Texas short grass plains.

Writing is her passion and drives her to keep penning stories that focus heavily on children and family. In her family, she's the storyteller, the one who records ancestral history. Linda comes from a long line of poor but prideful people and she's happy with that. It's her legacy.

Winning Maura's Heart

The Hangman’s Daughters: Book One

LINDA BRODAY

A handsome stranger on her doorstep!

Texas, 1876. Maura Taggart is an outcast. She is the daughter of a hangman and tainted by association – no reputable man would ever want her as his wife. And now she is homeless, along with her sister and the group of children in their care. But Maura has grit. She finds a nearby mission where the nuns agree to take them in and set up an orphanage. But trouble is just around the corner . . .

The Calhoun brothers are identical twins but on opposite sides of the law. Cutter is a deputy Marshal, Jonas an outlaw. When Cutter attempts to break his brother out of a notorious gang, they are shot, and Maura finds one of them wounded, close to the mission – but which brother is it?

As the stranger regains his strength under Maura's care an attraction between them grows, but there's a question over his identity. Can he be trusted and why has his presence brought danger to their door? With the orphanage under threat can Maura trust this handsome stranger both with their safety and with her heart?

28 September 2023

Trade Paperback Fiction 256pp

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9781448310326

Rights: W/E

Paul Doherty studied History at Liverpool and Oxford Universities and is now a head teacher in Essex. He is the author of more than eighty historical mysteries including the Brother Athelstan, Hugh Corbett and Canterbury Tales medieval mystery series.

Dark Queen Wary A Margaret Beaufort Tudor Mystery #4

PAUL DOHERTY

With an imposter prince claiming he is Henry Tudor, Margaret Beaufort must play the game of kings very carefully in this richly-imagined medieval mystery.

1472. Edward IV reigns triumphant over England and his rivals, the Lancastrians. But he is uneasy, for one true claimant remains: the young Henry Tudor, son of Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond. Henry's continued existence worries Edward, so he hatches a plan to bring a cuckoo into the nest – an imposter prince is presented to Margaret Beaufort as her son.

Margaret is no fool and knows she must play this game of kings carefully . . . When she is invited to George Neville's beautiful home 'The Moor' to help investigate some mysterious and gruesome murders she knows dark forces are at play. Whispers of a shadowy figure called Achitophel hang over the house's occupants, like the impenetrable mist that descended on the battle of Barnet the previous year and secured the crown for Edward. And as the body count increases, Margaret suspects there is a link to that fateful battle and the murderer who seems relentless in his thirst for blood . . .

Can Margaret protect her life as well as her true son's claim to the throne?

28 September 2023

Trade Paperback Fiction 224pp

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9781448310302

Rights: W

Award-winning author John KeyseWalker practiced law for thirty years, representing business and individual clients, educational institutions and government entities. He is an avid saltand freshwater angler, a tennis player, kayaker and an accomplished cook. He lives in Florida with his wife.

Bert and Mamie Take a Cruise A

Bert & Mamie Mystery #1

JOHN KEYSE-WALKER

All aboard the good ship SS Columbus for an African adventure to die for . .

February, 1939. Mamie Mason isn't enthusiastic when Bert, her husband of thirty years, persuades her to join him on an African cruise. Bert might be pining for adventure, but Mamie's perfectly content with her comfortable life in Hills Corners, Ohio.

But once the couple board the glamorous SS Columbus, Mamie has to admit – as much as it pains her – that Bert was right. Swimming in the pool, dancing under the stars, their own bedroom steward to serve their every whim . . . Mamie settles in and prepares to thoroughly enjoy all the sights that Africa has to offer, in the company of a motley collection of eccentric first-class passengers.

Then Mamie witnesses something shocking – and her vacation takes a twist that neither she nor Bert could ever have predicted. Far from home, with a killer in their midst, the couple's only choice is to turn detective. But surrounded by Nazis, spies and passengers with secrets, how can they uncover the killer – enjoy their vacation of a lifetime – and make it back to Ohio alive?

28 September 2023

Trade Paperback Fiction 224pp

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9781448310173

Rights: W/E

Barbara Hambly, though a native of Southern California, lived in New Orleans for a number of years while married to the late science fiction writer George Alec Effinger. Hambly holds a degree in medieval history from the University of California and has written novels in numerous genres.

One Extra Corpse

A Silver Screen Historical Mystery #2

BARBARA HAMBLY

Hollywood intrigue, glamor . . . and murder: Enter the roaring twenties in this thrilling Silver Screen historical mystery, starring two very different female sleuths.

May, 1924. It's been seven months since young British widow Emma Blackstone arrived in Hollywood to serve as companion to Kitty Flint: her beautiful, silent-movie star sister-in-law. Kitty is generous, kind-hearted . . . and a truly terrible actress. Not that Emma minds; she's too busy making her academic parents turn in their graves with her new job writing painfully historically inaccurate scenarios for Foremost Studios, in between wrangling their leading lady out of the arms of her army of amorous suitors.

So when one of Kitty's old flames, renowned film director Ernst Zapolya, calls Emma and tells her it's imperative he meet with Kitty that morning, she's not surprised. Until, that is, he adds that lives depend on it. Ernst sounds frightened But what can have scared him so badly – and what on earth does cheerful, flighty Kitty have to do with it?

Only Ernst can provide the answers, and Kitty and Emma travel to the set of his extravagant new movie to find them. But the shocking discovery they make there only raises further questions . . . including: will they stay alive long enough to solve the murderous puzzle?

28 September 2023

Trade Paperback Fiction 256pp

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9781448310319

Rights: W/E

Susan C. Shea spent more than two decades as a non-profit executive before beginning her first critically praised mystery series in 2010, featuring a professional fundraiser for an artmuseum. In 2017, she debuted a new mystery series set in France, for St. Martin's Minotaur Books. She's a regular on 7 Criminal Minds blog, a past secretary of the national Sisters in Crime board and a past board member of the Northern California chapters of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.

She lives in Marin County, California, where two cats pretty much rule the house!

Murder Visits a French Village

A Château in Burgundy Mystery #1

SUSAN C. SHEA

Ariel Shepard begins to suspect that her French village life will be anything but peaceful! Can she solve a suspicious murder and make her château in Burgundy the perfect new home?

Ariel Shepard is devastated by the sudden loss of her husband, but nothing could have prepared her for inheriting the rundown French château they'd visited on their honeymoon four years ago. With finances tight she has no choice but to swap her Manhattan apartment and city lifestyle for a renovation project in a peaceful French village.

When Ariel hires an expert to help her uncover the legacy of her beautiful ruin, life only becomes more complicated. Christiane, the historian, is found dead in the moat, and although the local police aren't suspicious, Ariel is. She joins two other ex-pats, Pippa and Katherine, to investigate, but with plenty of workmen – and errant tools – around the château, many people had the means, but who had the motive? Why would anyone want to kill a historian?

28 September 2023

Trade Paperback Fiction 224pp

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9781448310500

Rights: W/E

JULY

The Room with Eight Windows JANE A. ADAMS

The Rowan DAVIS BUNN

The Ingredients of Happiness LUCY BURDETTE

Gone But Not Forgotten C. MICHELE DORSEY

False Name VERONICA HELEY

The Kielbasa Killer GERI KROTOW In the Shadow of the Bull ELEANOR KUHNS

Love and Murder in the Time of Covid QIU XIAOLONG

AUGUST

A Sense for Murder LESLIE KARST

Death Comes to Santa Fe AMANDA ALLEN Death in Print G.M. MALLIET

The Beautiful Risk LYNN HIGHTOWER

The Borgia Portrait DAVID HEWSON In Her Blood CARO RAMSAY

SEPTEMBER

Any Pot in a Storm SANDRA BALZO

Mr Campion’s Memory MIKE RIPLEY

Murder Off Stage MARY MILEY

Music and Murder JEANNE M. DAMS

Reefs, Royals, Reckonings JOHN KEYSE-WALKER

Rusted Souls CHRIS NICKSON