A package containing disturbing pornographic material is sent unanimously to Chief Commander John Coffin's wife, Stella. So he enlists the help of a trusted colleague and the search for the stalker is on.
Meanwhile Coffin is investigating a spate of brutal murders across London - is there a serial killer on the loose? Similarities between the two cases soon emerge and a chilling discovery is made in the grounds of the theatre where Stella is working. Suddenly it seems as though all Coffin holds dear is under threat...

'Butler distils her own brand of disquiet: omnipresent and irresistible.' The Sunday Times
'Hauntingly atmospheric ... explores the dark geography of a fictional London with almost Dickensian intensity' The Times
'Her inventiveness never seems to flag' Times Literary Supplement

Meet Goldy Bear, a caterer with more than just the dirty dishes to worry about!

She's a bright, opinionated and wildly inventive cook with a personal life that is a recipe for disaster. Threats from her abusive ex-husband and mounting bills force Goldy to take control of her life - so she accepts a job as a live-in-chief looking after the cream of Aspen Meadow's society.
But as It starts to look as though things are on the up for Goldy, her boyfriend Philip is killed in a car crash. Traumatised by witnessing the fatal accident, Goldy is shocked even further when she is attacked by an unknown assailant. Why is she being threatened? What is the mystery surrounding Philip's death? Aspen Meadow's favourite caterer investigates as she works - sharing both her findings and her recipes.

If you've got an appetite for mystery you'll love this bestselling US series. A gripping plot is combined with eleven original and delicious recipes - Dying for Chocolate is the perfect blend of sumptuous fare and first class Suspense.

This collection of 12 original essays provides an overview of how Greeks and Romans perceived the phenomenon of rape. Using the numerous references to rape in Greek legal speeches, comedy, tragedy, visual art and myth, the authors assess the degree of seriousness with which rape was taken and who was seen as its main victims. They also consider whether the numerous Greek and Roman myths that involve rape reflect real-life behaviour and attitudes. Modern readers, used to a discourse which focuses on the question of woman's (or man's) consent to sexual activity, and which treats an unwilling partner as a sympathetic victim, may find in ancient attitudes much that is disturbing. The book should be of interest to students of women's history, ancient history and classical myth. The contributors are: Karim Arafat, James Arieti, Lucy Byrne, Susan Deacy, Thomas Harrison, Keith Hopwood, Martin Kilmer, Daniel Ogden, Rosanna Omitowoju, Karen F. Pierce, James Robson and Corinne Saunders.

Ingrid Langley and Patrick Gillard are rather happy with their lives; work is going well, the children are thriving and the future is looking rosy. But all that changes when Patrick is suddenly taken into police custody and charged with the murder, several years previously, of a senior officer in the Anti-terrorist Branch.
Ingrid is left with no choice but to investigate in an effort to clear his name. No stranger to the case and the world of the secret services, this assignment is to prove her most difficult yet. To add to her problems, disturbing facts come to light that may mean Patrick was involved after all. As the horrific memories of their experiences together on the case are resurrected, Ingrid realises that the only way to solve the mystery is to revisit the disused mining complex in Wales where the nightmare began, a decision that will have explosive consequences ...

' It is always a joy to discover a crime writer with a sure touch and the capacity to shock' Peter Lovesy

A violent spate of robberies have hit the town of Leek, targeting elderly women in their homes. When the latest attack turns to murder, DI Joanna Piercy takes on the investigation ....
The murder victim, a cantankerous old women named Nan Lawrence is found bludgeoned to death over the tapestry she was embroidering. When DI Piercy calls on Nan's neighbours she finds that they are none other than Nan's estranged brother and his teenage grandson who was very close to his great-aunt.
Is this murder linked to the other attacks in the area? If not, then who murdered Nan, and why?
Aided by her colleague, Mike Korpanski, Joanna gradually unravels a mystery that is rooted in the past ....

Dr Megan Banesto has returned to her childhood home of Llancloudy, a former mining village buried deep in the Welsh valleys. In her role as the village's GP, she knows the lives of her patients inside out.
But when the body of Bianca Rhys, a paranoid schizophrenic, is dragged from a murky pool, Megan questions how well she really knew her patient. In her experienc6 Bianca had always been afraid of water - so why had she even gone near the pool? And how had she drowned? Even though the most of the villagers are unsurprised by the death and write it off as an accident, Megan is not so sure.
And Megan's preoccupation with Bianca's death is further complicated by the fact that the investigating officer is an old boyfriend, now happily married, while Megan's own marriage has publicly and humiliatingly collapsed. Worse - PC Alun Williams interprets Megan's continuing interest in the case as no more than a ruse to keep contact between them.
As she discovers more about Bianca's life and death, Megan finds herself increasingly intrigued by some of the bizarre claims that Bianca used to make. What if there was a grain of truth in what she said? What if she was the only one who knew what was really going on in Liancloudy ... ?

Chris Shovelin is a private eye, investigating petty theft in a sleepy British seaside town. But all this changes when he is summoned to La Jolla, California, by an old PI friend from the sixties, Wilbur Jefferson. Shovelin figures it is something important from the urgency of his friend's emails, and the couriered Amex cheques, air ticket and keys to his apartment. And when he arrives at the apartment he realises just how important: Jefferson is lying by the couch with a bullet through his brain.
Dazed and grieving for his dead friend, Shovelin is contacted by a woman named China Heart. She was Jefferson's final employer, hiring him to track down her missing half-brother, Jerry Lennox. And now she wants Shovelin to take over where his dead friend left off..
A violent, blood-soaked chase along the length of America's West Coast - Homage is a gripping and relentless thriller from one of Britain's finest living novelists. Catastrophic air crashes, extortion, drugs and murder build up to a tumultuous climax which makes Waco seem like a fireworks party.

Twenty years ago, Jennifer Pickering was disinherited and subsequently vanished. Now her mother is dying and her brother Roger wants her found. Private eye Sal Kilkenny spends her days tracing Jennifer, and all the secrets her past entails, and her nights working for the Neighbour Nuisance Unit on one of Manchester's toughest housing estates. As the estate becomes increasingly frenzied by racial tensions, the situation quite literally becomes enflamed, and as properties start to burn, Sal's two cases spiral out of control as events, past and present, collide with deadly intensity.

It's the Count down to Christmas and Sal Kilkenny is exhausted even just thinking about the festive season - so when she is asked to investigate a seemingly straightforward suicide, she turns the case down.
But eventually persuaded, against her better judgment, to help the family trace their mothers' last hours, Sal is ashamed to realise how little the authorities had bothered to investigate and starts to have her own suspicious about the death. Why would a woman so petrified of heights choose to jump from the top of Manchester's Arndale Centre car park?

Written with beautiful attention to the nuances of everyday life, Towers of Silence is an emotionally involving journey into the heart of a city hiding dark secrets.

"The funnies call it the syndicate. The goons and hustlers call it the Outfit. You call it the organization ... But I don't care if you call yourselves the Red Cross, you owe me forty-five thousand dollars and you'll pay me back whether you like it or not."

Doublecrossed, shot and left for dead in a burning house by his wife and one-time partner, Parker is out for revenge. He's also out for his share of the take. And if Mal Resnick has bought his way back into the Outfit with Parker's money and no long has it, and if the Outfit doesn't see things Parker's way, than the Outfit is going to have to think again, because Parker means what he says.

'The writing is as stripped-down as a drag racer and the action as brutal and powerful. Self-doubt is not in Parker's book. He is some mean machine, and you will love him. The Scotsman
'Richard Stark ... is simply the best thriller-writer of them all, including Chandler.' Irish Times
'Rough macho stuff, tough and exciting' Evening Standard

Can you Trap a murderer?
Catch a thief?
Expose a blackmailer?
Spot a deception?

Test your logic, your knowledge and your powers of perception with these baffling mysteries. Al the clues are contained in each story - all you have to do is find them. Can you reconstruct the crimes and identify the culprits?

Double Suicide on Midland Ridge
The bodies of two lovers are found in a car, a hose running from the exhaust pipe through the rear window. Obviously a suicide pact. Or was it?

The Case of the Erring Arsonist
A workshop burns to the ground. The man who stands to gain from the blaze admits to starting it, but swears it was an accident. How do you know if he's telling the truth?

The Case of the Thieving Welder
A stylish woman claims she knows who stole her diamonds. The detective knows better. Do you?