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Robert Barnard
Unholy Dying
Published September 2000 by Collins Crime at £16.99
ISBN: 0007102925
Artwork by: Jacket photograph: © Marianne Grondahl/Photonica
'Barnard specializes in literate, beautifully crafted, civilized entertainments! The Times
Father Christopher Pardoe, a Catholic priest in Shipley, is suspended for sexual
misconduct as the result of an anonymous letter sent to his bishop. This, though, is
only the stone thrown into the centre of a pond. Soon the respectable surface of
suburban Leeds is ruffled by revelations of financial embezzlement, teenage
criminality, parental abuse and adultery, all fed on by the worst of the gutter press.
But far worse is to come when a vicious murder rocks the community.
A classic and gripping whodunnit and a waspish look at modern suburban life, tabloid
journalism and the Roman Catholic Church, from a master craftsman of the genre.
'Robert Barnard has the habit of delighting his readers.' The Sunday Times
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Agatha Christie
The Hollow
Published August 2000 by Collins Crime at £15.99
ISBN: 0002313243
The new-look series of Hercule Poirot books for the 21st century.
Lucy Angkatell invited Hercule Poirot to lunch. To tease the great detective, her guests stage a mock murder beside the swimming pool. Unfortunately, the victim plays the scene for real. As his blood drips into the water, John Christow gasps one final word: 'Henrietta'. In the confusion, a gun sinks to the bottom of the pool. Poirot's enquiries reveal a complex web of romantic attachments. It seems everyone in the drama is a suspect -- and each a victim of love.
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Roderic Jeffries
An Artful Death
Published August 2000 by Collins Crime at £16.99
ISBN: 0002327031
Artwork by: Jacket illustration: Chris Brown
A delightful and witty mystery set in Mallorca and featuring Roderic Jeffries's much loved Inspector Alvarez.
When expat Keith Vickers's boat is found empty and drifting out at sea, no one is
too worried. But then Inspector Alvarez discovers that no one has seen the man for
several days ... so when his body turns up it isn't exactly a surprise to Alvarez that the
case is now one of murder.
Interviewing the dead man's servants, Alvarez gets the impression of a notorious
philanderer and a man with a life too complicated for comfort. And one of the
complications is British cabinet minister George Lovell - staying on Mallorca with his
cousin - who was overheard arguing with Vickers on the day of his disappearance.
Pursuing his investigations, Alvarez has an official complaint lodged against him,
and thus finds himself once again the target of Superior Chief Salas's vitriolic tongue.
And as if that were not enough, he still has a case to solve.
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Michael Pearce
A Cold Touch Of Ice
Published August 2000 by Collins Crime at £16.99
ISBN: 0002326973
Artwork by: Cover illustration: Colin Hadley
'Michael Pearce's light touch and witty dialogue make this series a continuing delight: Sunday Telegraph
The world is changing around the Mamur Zapt, British Chief of Cairo's Secret Police.
It's 1912 and there's a war on that no one's heard of. An Italian man is murdered in
the city's back streets. Is this an attempt at some kind of ethnic cleansing? 'One of us'
Morelli may have been, but was he 'one of us' enough? And were the guns in his
warehouse anything to do with it? Gareth Owen - the Mamur Zapt - has to find out
fast.
And then, as external pressures crowd in, there are other difficult questions. What is
Trudi von Ramsberg really doing in Cairo? Not to mention that irritating little
archaeologist, T E. Lawrence? Owen is just the man to solve these problems. He is
less successful, though, with his relationship with Zeinab, especially now that she's
approaching 30. As Cromer's Egypt gives way to Kitchener's Egypt, Morelli is not
the only one who has problems over where his allegiance lies. Maybe the solution is
for Owen to go to Zanzibar...
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Danuta Reah
Silent Playgrounds
Published July 2000 by Collins Crime at £16.99
ISBN: 0002326833
A dark psychological thriller that will hold the reader in its grip from beginning to end, Silent Playgrounds is the stunning follow-up to Danuta Reah's highly praised debut, Only Darkness: 'Dark, edgy and compelling.' The Times
A routine missing-child report, when six-year-old Lucy gets lost, ends in the death
of a young woman. Lucy tries to warn the people she cares about of the danger: she
knows that there are monsters lurking in the rambling park, and she knows that they
are getting closer all the time.
Suzanne lives next door to Lucy, and she finds that her work at a centre for young
offenders pulls her into the mystery surrounding the young woman's death. As a
potential witness to the crime, she inadvertently directs police attention to one of the
offenders, but he disappears before the police can question him.
Investigating the crime, DI McCarthy is up against something dark, nasty and
complex. Everywhere he turns he is confronted with lies and evasions, but he must
find the answers soon because time is running out...
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Simon Shaw
Killing Grace
Published September 2000 by Collins Crime at £16.99
ISBN: 0007100094
Killing Grace is a three-way mystery with something dark and nasty at its core. Cool and amoral, it holds the reader in a grip of steel.
There's something about Lewis. Something that women can't resist. And being a
builder, he has easy access to the houses, and the beds, of the most attractive of his
clients' wives. A natural playboy, but without the money, Lewis has two simple rules:
never get involved and never stick around. But with Julie he finds himself breaking
the code and he continues seeing her long after the job on her house is done.
There's something about Peter McGovern, too. But he's very different from Lewis.
He's rich, for a start. And he's ugly. They do have something in common, though -
Peter's wife, Julie - and when Lewis and McGovern meet by chance over a game of
pool, the lives of the three of them can never be the same.
And Grace? There's definitely something about Grace. A blonde angel with a killer
tongue, she's nobody's fool. So how come she ends up getting involved with both
Lewis and McGovern, sparring in a dangerous game where it's never clear who is the
victim and who is the hunter?
Killing Grace marks a thrilling new departure for this acclaimed author. Sparely
written, profoundly disturbing, grimly humorous, it is a psychological crime novel of
unusual power.
'Simon Shaw is one of the very best of our crime-fiction writers.' Sunday
Telegraph
'Simon Shaw's grasp of the psychological possibilities of bad behaviour is as
impressive as that of Ruth Rendell.' Literary Review
'His caustic way with language and drastic approach to would-be assassins
entertain hugely.' The Sunday Times
Simon Shaw studied at Cambridge University and has since been working as an actor. He has written seven previous crime novels, six featuring the actor-murderer Philip Fletcher, and has twice won the Crime Writers' Association's Last Laugh Award for the Funniest Crime Novel of the Year. He lives in London and is currently working on a second psychological crime novel.