The Borgia Bride
Pbk published February 2006 by HarperCollins at £6.99
ISBN: 0007148836
See Review by
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series
A sumptuous historical novel of passion, betrayal, scheming and incest, set in the Vatican during the 15th century.
'This sweeping historical novel tells the dramatic tale of that most intriguing of Renaissance women', - Lucrezia Borgia. Incest. Poison. Betrayal. Three wedding presents for the Borgia bride! Italy 1492 Pope Alexander VI is elected. And so begins the Borgia reign of terror. Alexander murders, bribes and betrays to establish his dynasty. No one is immune. Rome is a hotbed of accusation and conspiracy. Every day, the River Tiber is full of new bodies. Sancha de Aragon, daughter of King Alfonso II of Naples, arrives in Rome newly wed to Alexander's youngest son, Jofre. Their marriage protects Naples against the ambitions of the French King Louis and gains Spanish support for the Borgias. But Rome is very different to her beloved Naples. The debauchery of the Borgia inner-circle is notorious: every lust is indulged and every indiscretion overlooked. Sancha is no innocent: she possesses an indomitable spirit which allows her to survive in the snake-pit, but her ancestors once rivalled the Borgias in cruelty and Sancha's greatest fear is that blood will out. Lucrezia Borgia's vicious jealously stings Sancha at first, but gradually the two young women develop a cautious friendship. Lucrezia, adored by her father but used ruthlessly as a political tool, seems deceptively innocent and sympathetic, and their bond strengthens when Lucrezia is married to Sancha's treasured brother, Alfonso. But when Sancha falls in love with Cesare Borgia, her husband's enigmatic older brother, she has no idea of how bizarre and internecine are the family's true ties. Alexander is rather more than an indulgent father; Lucrezia not the innocent she appears; and Cesare's ambition burns wildly. The only safe relationship with the Borgias is none at all: as Sancha, her brother and Naples are soon to discover!
Jeanne Kalogridis was born in Florida in 1954. She earned a BA in Russian and an MA in Linguistics from the University of South Florida and went on to teach English as a Second Language at the American University in Washington, D.C. She now lives with her partner on the West Coast of the US, sharing a house with two dogs and a bird. Her interests include yoga, Tibatan Buddhism, the occult, languages, art, and reading everything ever published.
Velocity
Pbk published January 2006 by HarperCollins at £6.99
ISBN: 0007196970
Cold Granite
Pbk published January 2006 by HarperCollins at £6.99
ISBN: 0007193149
See Review by
Cath Staincliffe
author of the popular Sal Kilkenny mysteries and the series creator of TV Blue Murder
It's DS Logan McRae's first day back on the job after a year off on the sick, and it couldn't get much worse. Four-year-old David Reid's body is discovered in a ditch, strangled, mutilated and a long time dead. There's a killer stalking the Granite City and the local media are baying for blood. If that wasn't enough, Logan also has to contend with a new boss, DI Insch, who doesn't suffer fools gladly and thinks everyone's a fool, and his own ex-girlfriend, the beautiful but chilly Isobel MacAlister, who also happens to be the chief pathologist. The only good news is WPC 'Ball Breaker' Watson, Logan's new guardian angel. The dead are piling up in the morgue almost as fast as the snow on the streets, and Logan knows time is running out. More children are going missing. More are going to die. If Logan isn't careful, he's going to end up joining them. Set in Aberdeen, where the rainy season lasts all year, criminal gangs vie for supremacy on the streets and the oil industry brings an influx of wealth and vice, this is a gritty, powerful and page-turning debut thriller by a writer with a wonderfully observant eye and a characteristically Scottish sense of gallows humour.
Blood of Angels
Pbk published February 2006 by HarperCollins at £6.99
ISBN: 0007163975
The Grave Tattoo
Published February 2006 by HarperCollins at £17.99
ISBN: 0007142854
See Review by
Martin Edwards
- author of the highly acclaimed Harry Devlin Mysteries
Val McDermid grew up in a Scottish mining community then read English at Oxford. She was a journalist for sixteen years, spending the last three as Northern Bureau Chief of a national Sunday tabloid. She divides her time between Northumberland and Cheshire.
Ratcatcher
Published February 2006 by HarperCollins at £10.00
ISBN: 0007212666
Artwork by: Jacket illustration: Paul Young. Jacket photo: Joe Partridge
James McGee was an army brat who grew up in Gibraltar, Germany and Northern Ireland. After jobs in banking, sales and the airline industry, both in the UK and abroad, he became a bookseller.
A Game of Soldiers
Published March 2006 by HarperCollins at £12.99
ISBN: 0007191200
The Girl in Times Square
Pbk published March 2006 by HarperCollins at £6.99
ISBN: 0007118937