'What? You mean the earl does it for money? That's way beyond the barbed wire!' This explosion of disgust from Blotto is provoked when Twinks informs him of the activities of the Earl of Woking. The gentleman in question is owner of Clusters, a stately home not far from Tawcester Towers, and he has been renting out parts of Clusters for private functions and charging his guests! The discovery of this appalling lapse in aristocratic behaviour sets the brother and sister duo off on their latest adventure, determined to find out more about the activities. They discover the existence of a sinister group called Aristotours, brokers between impoverished owners of stately homes and the common people, offering 'a taste of the high life' to characters such as stockbrokers, surgeons and solicitors. And if this were not bad enough, the siblings discover Aristotours trying to infiltrate their evil practises into Tawcester Towers itself. The pair set off on a quest to identify and stop the evil genius behind it all and his acolytes, until 'the ruffled green baize on the dividing door was once again smoothed down.' 202pp, 2022 new hardback.

There's a murder on the streets of London, a plot that threatens the country and a dinner party to arrange. Only one man can help and unfortunately he's got a terrible hangover. Set in 1936, it is the story of Max and Martha Dalton, a young couple who seem to live a carefree life of luxury and dinner parties, far removed from the increasingly brutal world. When an old army friend is murdered, Max finds himself drawn into the crime and back into his own past. As the police suspect Max guilty of the murder, he believes there must be a connection with a tragic crime committed in the muddy hell of the Western Front. Police suspicions grow along with a body count featuring one too many of Max's former comrades. With Martha, he sets out to unravel a knotted series of events, motivations and lies, while being pursued by a police force convinced that he's the murderer and with unknown assassins hot on his trail. With the slightly dubious help of Martha, their maid Flora, Flora's sweetheart Eric, and a very confused solicitor, Max manages to uncover a plot that threatens the safety of the whole country. An action-packed caper, cleverly plotted with engaging characters. 329pp, paperback.

'Absorbing, terrifying, beautiful and appalling. I loved it... Unforgettable.' - Ruth Rendell. 15 years after their divorce, Susan Morrow receives a strange gift from her ex-husband - a manuscript that tells the story of a terrible crime, of an ambush on the highway, of a secluded cabin in the woods. It is a chilling tale of death and corruption, written by the man she once loved. Why after so long has he sent her a disturbing and personal message? This book is a lost masterpiece of American literature, a dazzling and multi-layered novel of marriage, literature, fear and revenge written by the New York novelist and academic who died in 2003 at the age of 80. A very classy reprint with unusual cut-out jacket, 374pp in paperback.

By the bestselling author of the popular Railway Detective series, this is one of his thrilling mysteries for the Bow Street Rivals. 1817. Having received an anonymous message informing her that her estranged father is dead and buried, Clemency van Emden arrives from Holland desperate to visit his final resting place. A chance encounter on a busy London street leads her to twin detectives Peter and Paul Skillen who agree to help her unravel the mystery of her father's last days. When the body of her father is discovered to be missing from its casket, the Bow Street Rivals will embark on a chase of grave robbers, funerary agents and Good Samaritans to unearth the truth. London is awash with beggars, haunting the riverside, lurking in doorways and descending on St Paul's Cathedral like a swarm of locusts. 350pp in paperback.

A poignant, unsettling page turner, a book to keep you guessing and pull at your heart strings, hooked by the first page and shocked by the last. They thought the killer had no motive, but these murders are not what they seem. On 15th June 1994, Travis Green, husband, father, upstanding citizen, walked through the streets of Hartstead and killed 11 of his neighbours. The last victim was little Cassie Colman's father. As the 25th anniversary approaches, Cassie tries to forget the past, even as her mother struggles to remember it at all. Then something hidden in her mother's possessions suggests the murders were not what everyone believes. Cassie can't help herself from digging up the past, but someone will do anything to keep it buried. 376pp, fairly large print, this is a taut psychological thriller. Paperback.

The smart, electrifying noir thriller follow up to 'The Poison Artist', this may be read as a stand-alone novel. Who is Claire Gravesend? So wonders PI Lee Crowe when he finds her dead in a fine cocktail dress on top of a Rolls Royce in the most dangerous neighbourhood in San Francisco. As ever with this writer there are some quirky characters and an unpredictable plot following the harrowing apparent suicide when Claire seemingly plummeted to her death from the top of a tall building. Fresh from a surveillance job, the disbarred lawyer Lee Crowe becomes slightly obsessed with the apparent death of this beautiful woman. Claire's mother doesn't believe the coroner - her daughter did not kill herself, but questions about the Gravesend family pile up fast. Until Crowe finds their secret home in San Francisco. Sleeping in an upstairs bedroom, he finds Claire, and as far as he can tell, she's alive. A novel that is electrifying and builds from shock to shock. 358pp in large paperback with fairly large print.

Exclusive to this hardback edition is the inclusion of a short story entitled Pin. Full of betrayal, deceit and suspense, 'Die of Shame' is a novel about addiction. Every Monday evening, six people gather in a smart North London house to talk about addiction, share their deepest secrets, stories of lies, regret, and above all, shame. Then one of them is killed and it's clear one of the circle is responsible. Detective Inspector Nicola Tanner quickly finds her investigation hampered by the strict confidentiality that binds these people and their therapist together, so what could be so shameful enough to cost someone their life? And how do you find the truth when denial and deception are second nature to all of your suspects? 448pp.

1581. Young St Andrews academic Hew Cullan is unhappy with his life and disillusioned with the law. After his father's death, he is invited by the advocate Richard Cunningham to complete his legal education in Edinburgh as Richard's pupil at the bar. Among his father's things, Hew finds a manuscript entitled 'In Defence of the Law', directed to the Edinburgh printer, Christian Hall. At first, he resists its influence, but when a young girl is found dead on the beach at St Andrews, Hew is left unsettled and confused and resolves to take the book to press and agrees to Richard's offer. Embarking on his new life in the capital, he falls in love. His relationships are fraught with lies and secrets and lead to brutal murder on the borough muir. Hew suspects a link with the dead girl on the beach and as he begins his desperate search to find the killer, he finds that the truth lies closer to home. There are hints of a long-hidden mystery which draw him into a deadly game against an unrepentant foe. A superb historical thriller, 306pp in paperback.

It will be impossible to second guess the outcome of this emotional and addictive thriller. Two girls went out into the woods. Only one came back. For Tess, her older sister Bella is her whole world. She's clever and beautiful and popular, everything Tess isn't, and since the death of their mother, it's just been them and their grieving father. But now a new family has moved into the empty house on the edge of the woods, bringing with them a world of boys and alcohol, and Tess can feel her sister slipping away from her. Then the bodies of two local schoolgirls are found in the woods, and Tess is convinced that this new family has something to hide. The killer of the murdered local girls was never found. Ten years ago, Tess's sister died. Ruled a tragic accident, the only witness was Tess herself, but she has never been able to remember what happened that night in the woods. Now living in London, Tess has resolved to put the trauma behind her, but when an emergency call from her father forces her back to the family home, she discovers that sometimes the past cannot be laid to rest. A pacy and scary read. 385pp in large paperback.

Here are two great, neglected horror novels by Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, together in one volume for the first time. It is a double treat for lovers of blood-curdling fantasy fiction. The Lady of the Shroud, published here in its full and unabridged form, is a fascinating and engrossing concoction of a vampire tale, Ruritanian adventure story and science fiction romance. The novel fully demonstrates the breadth and ingenuity of Stoker's imagination. The spine-chilling The Lair of the White Worm features a monstrous worm secreted for thousands of years in a bottomless well and able to metamorphose into a seductive woman of a reptilian beauty who survives on her victim's life blood. The novel contains some of Stoker's most graphic and grisly moments of horror. 431 page Wordsworth paperback.