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Clearing the dark
by Hania Allen
When it comes to murder, there's no such thing as a coincidence... When DI Dania Gorska is called to investigate the shooting of a young man on a Dundee street, the nail hammered into his forehead suggests that local gangster, Archie McLellan has left his calling card. Clues point to his involvement in an illegal replica firearms venture, a scam that may include other members of the infamous McLellan family. The chance discovery of human remains buried in the grounds of Breek House, once owned by the McLellans, convinces Dania the two cases must be related. But who was the mysterious tenant of Breek House at the time the bodies were put into the ground? Identifying them is complicated, as all the teeth have been removed - post mortem, to prevent identification? Or was the back room at Breek House used by the McLellans as a torture chamber? As Dania moves closer to discovering what went on at Breek House she disturbs dangerous secrets from the past which threaten the lives of those in the present...
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Plague pits & river bones
by Karen Charlton
London, 1812: Treacherous gangs roam the capital, and not even the Palace of Westminster is safe. When Detective Stephen Lavender is called in to investigate a highway robbery and a cold-blooded murder, both the cases take a dangerous and disturbing personal twist. And when Lavender's trusted deputy, Constable Ned Woods, finds a mysterious severed foot washed up on Greenwich Beach, they soon realise that these ancient bones are more sinister than they first appeared. With Bow Street Police Office undermanned and in disarray, it will take all of Lavender and Woods's wit and skill, and some help from Lavender's spirited wife, Magdalena, to unmask the fiend behind the mayhem, restore peace and justice to the beleaguered city and solve the tragic mystery of the severed foot. But will they do so in time to foil a plot that threatens to plunge the country into chaos?
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Smoke and ashes
by Abir Mukherjee
India, 1921. Haunted by his memories of the Great War, Captain Sam Wyndham is battling a serious addiction to opium that he must keep secret from his superiors in the Calcutta police force. When Sam is summoned to investigate a grisly murder, he is stunned at the sight of the body - he's seen this before. Last night, in a drug addled haze, he stumbled across a corpse with the same injuries. It seems like there's a deranged killer on the loose. Unfortunately for Sam, the corpse was in an opium den and revealing his presence there could cost him his career. With the aid of his quick-witted Indian Sergeant, 'Surrender-not' Bannerjee, Sam must try to solve the two murders, all the while keeping his personal demons secret, before somebody else turns up dead.
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In safe hands
by J. P. Carter
When nine children are snatched from a nursery school in South London, their distressed parents have no idea if they will ever see them again. The community in the surrounding area in shock. How could this happen right under their noses? No one in the quiet suburban street saw anything - or at least that's what they're saying. But DCI Anna Tate knows that nothing is impossible, and she also knows that time is quickly running out. It's unclear if the kidnappers are desperate for money or set on revenge, but the ransom is going up by one million pounds daily. And they know that one little boy in particular is fighting for his life. It's one of the most disturbing cases DCI Anna Tate has ever worked on - not only because nine children are being held hostage, but because she's pretty sure that someone close to them is lying...
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The department of sensitive crimes
by Alexander McCall Smith
Using his renowned wit and warmth, Alexander McCall Smith brings a unique perspective on Scandinavian crime. Equal parts hilarious and heartening, The Department of Sensitive Crimes is a tour de farce from a literary master.The detectives who work in Malmo Police's Department of Sensitive Crimes take their job very seriously. The lead detective, Ulf Varg, prioritizes his cases above even his dog's mental health. Then there are detectives Anna Bengsdotter, who keeps her relationship with Varg professional even as she realizes she's developing feelings for him...or at least for his car, and Carl Holgersson, first to arrive in the morning and last to leave, who would never read his colleagues' personal correspondence--unless it could help solve a crime, of course. Along with an opinionated local police officer named Blomquist, the Department of Sensitive Crimes takes on three extremely strange cases.
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A mask of shadows
by Oscar De Muriel
1889. The Scottish Play is coming home. But before the darling couple of London theatre, Henry Irving & Ellen Terry, take their acclaimed Macbeth to the Edinburgh stage terror treads the boards. A grisly message found smeared across the cobbles in blood, foretelling someone's demise. As the bloody prophecies continue to appear Edinburgh's own beloved pair Detective 'Nine-Nails' McGray & Inspector Ian Frey enter the scene. Frey scoffs at this blatant publicity stunt, while McGray is convinced of supernatural affairs. As they scrutinise the key players, they discover that Terry, Irving, and his peculiar, preoccupied assistant (one Bram Stoker) all have reasons to kill, or be killed. But one thing is clear. By occult curse or human hand, death will take a bow the night the curtain rises.
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| Dog Dish of Doom: An Agent to the Paws Mystery by E.J. CoppermanKay Powell wants to find that break-out client who will become a star. And she thinks she's found him: His name is Bruno, and he has to be walked three times a day. Bruno's humans, Trent and Louise, butt in a lot, and Les McMaster, the famous director now mounting a revival of Annie, might not hire Bruno just because he can't stand Trent in particular. That becomes less of an issue when Trent is discovered face down in Bruno's water dish. With a kitchen knife in his back. Laugh-out-loud funny, this series debut is a delight. |
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Stagestruck
by Peter Lovesey
Clarion Calhoun is a fading pop star wanting to launch an acting career. The audience at Bath's Theatre Royal are expecting a dramatic evening, but what they get is beyond their wildest imagination. Clarion is rushed to hospital with third degree burns. In the best theatrical tradition, the show goes on, but the agony turns to murder. Bath's top detective, Peter Diamond, is on the case and there's a problem. Now, for reasons he can't understand, he suffers a physical reaction amounting to phobia, each time he goes near. As he tries to find its root in his past, the tension at the Theatre mounts, legends come to life and the killer strikes again.
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Dandy Gilver and a spot of toil and trouble
by Book Author
Scotland, 1934. Fair is foul and foul is fair as aristocratic private detective Dandy Gilver heads off to Castle Bewer at midsummer to solve a mystery of a missing man, a lost ruby necklace and a tragic family curse. The Bewer family's latest wheeze to keep the wolf from the door is turning the castle keep into a theatre. While a motley band of players rehearse Macbeth, the Bewers themselves prepare lectures, their faithful servants set up a tearoom, and the guest wings fill with rich American ladies seeking culture. Meanwhile, Dandy and her sidekick Alec Osborne begin to unravel the many secrets of the Bewers and find that, despite the witches, murders and ghosts onstage, it's behind the scenes where the darkest deeds are done.
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