The
Jewels of Paradise by Donna Leon Paperback $29.99 (William Heinemann)
Caterina
Pellegrini is a young Venetian music researcher who has been hired to find the
truthful heir to an alleged treasure devised by a once-famous, but now almost
forgotten, baroque composer. Caterina can only solve the mystery by reading
through the papers contained in two antique chests, left behind by the composer
himself, and detailing every thread of information on the musician’s life. Her
research draws Caterina into one of the most scandalous affairs of the baroque
time, and when it takes her in unexpected directions she begins to wonder just
what secrets these two antique chests hold.
The Geneva Trap By Stella Rimington
Paperback $29.99 (Bloomsbury)
Geneva,
2012. When a Russian intelligence officer approaches MI5 with vital information
about the imminent cyber-sabotage of an Anglo-American defence programme, he
refuses to talk to anyone but Liz Carlyle. But who is he, and what is his
connection to the British agent? At a tracking station in Nevada, US Navy
officers watch in horror as one of their unmanned drones plummets out of the
sky, and panic spreads through the British and American Intelligence services.
Is this a Russian plot to disable the West's defences?
As Liz and her team hunt for a mole inside the MOD, the trail leads them
from Geneva and into a labyrinth of international intrigue, in a race against
time to stop the Cold War heating up once again.
Dominion by CJ Sansom Paperback $27.99
(Mantle)
Winter
1952. Though war rages on in the east, Britain is at peace with Nazi Germany and
many now see the country as little more than a corrupt German satellite state.
The free press has been suspended, the streets are patrolled by violent
auxiliary police, the British Jews face ever tighter constraints and there are
dark, terrible rumours about what is happening in the basement of Senate House
– held by the German Gestapo. Meanwhile Civil Servant David Fitzgerald,
recruited as a spy by Churchill's outlawed organisation Free Britain, must
complete a mission of desperate importance.
The Saint Zita Society by Ruth Rendell $32.95
Set
in the wealthy London suburb of Pimlico, Ruth Rendell's new novel is peopled by
the well off and their employees. There's a well respected doctor, an insurance
executive, an MP and an elderly woman who insists she is a princess. There's
also a nanny who loves her charges more than their parents do, a driver who is
sleeping with his boss's wife and daughter, and a gardner who believes his
mobile phone service provider is actually god. A complex web of relationships
exists within the group. People are by turn selfish, resentful, kind and petty.
They are also all hiding secrets, and when one of those secrets is revealed, a
death is the result. That's when things really get out of hand. Unexpectedly
funny in a dark and twisted way, The Saint Zita Society is vintage Rendell.
Trinity
Six by Charles Cumming $19.99 (Harper Collins)
London,
1992. Late one night, Edward Crane, 76, is declared dead at a London hospital.
An obituary describes him only as a ′resourceful career diplomat′.
But Crane was much more than that and the circumstances surrounding his death
are far from what they seem. Fifteen years later, academic Sam Gaddis needs
money. When a journalist friend asks for his help researching a sixth member of
the notorious Trinity spy ring, Gaddis knows that he′s onto a story that
could turn his fortunes around. But within hours the journalist is dead,
apparently from a heart attack. Gaddis
takes over the investigation, and as he follows a series of leads across the
continent, he approaches a shocking revelation - one which will rock the
foundations of politics from London to Moscow…
Death
Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James $19.99 (Faber)
The
year is 1803, and Darcy and Elizabeth have been married for six years. There are
now two handsome and healthy sons in the Pemberley nursery, Elizabeth's beloved
sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live within seventeen miles, the ordered
and secure life of Pemberley seems unassailable, and Elizabeth's happiness in
her marriage is complete. But their peace is threatened and old sins and
misunderstandings are rekindled on the eve of the annual autumn ball. The Darcys
and their guests are preparing to retire for the night when a chaise appears,
rocking down the path from Pemberley's wild woodland, and as it pulls up, Lydia
Wickham, an uninvited guest, tumbles out, screaming that her husband has been
murdered.
Headhunters
by Jo Nesbo$19.95 (Harvill)
Roger
Brown has it all: Norway’s most successful headhunter, he is married to a
beautiful gallery owner and owns a magnificent house. But he’s also a highly
accomplished art thief. At a gallery opening, his wife introduces him to the
perfect candidate for a position that Brown is recruiting for; he is also in
possession of ‘The Calydonian Boar Hunt’ by Rubens, one of the most
sought-after paintings in modern art history. Roger sees his chance to become
financially independent, and starts planning his biggest theft ever. But soon,
he runs into trouble – and it’s not financial problems that are threatening
to knock him over this time…
Snowman
by
Jo Nesbo $19.95 (Vintage)
The
first snowfall in Oslo brings a series of gruesome murders, and Harry Hole is
pitted against a brutal killer. The night the first snow falls, a young boy
wakes to find his mother gone. He walks through the silent house, but finds only
wet footprints on the stairs. In the garden looms a solitary figure: a snowman
bathed in cold moonlight. Round its neck is his mother’s pink scarf. Inspector
Harry Hole is convinced there is a link between the disappearance and a menacing
letter he received some months earlier. As Harry and his team delve into
unsolved case files, they discover that an alarming number of wives and mothers
have gone missing over the years. Nesbo is rumoured to become the next Stieg
Larsson.
The
Redbreast by
Jo Nesbo$19.95 (Vintage)
Harry
Hole, drunkard, loner and brilliant detective is reassigned to surveillance
after a high profile mistake. He’s bored by his new job until a report of a
rare and unusual gun being fired sparks his interest because of its possible
links to Neo Nazi activity. Then a former soldier is found with his throat cut.
Next Harry’s former partner is murdered. Why had she been trying to reach
Harry on the night her head was smashed in? The investigation leads Harry to
suspect that the crimes have their roots in the battlefields of Eastern Front
during WWII. In a quest that takes him to South Africa and Vienna, Harry finds
himself perpetually one step behind the killer. This is the first of the Nesbo
crime series.