Recent books from CWA members

A coroner reveals a body’s tell-tale clues to his students, as he unwittingly dissects his own relationship...

The latest in this series of anthologies from the CWA picks up the primary scent of any investigation: the modus operandi; the signature that identifies any repeat offender, the ‘how’ that supersedes the ‘why’. From the ex-doctor tenderly administering a final prescription to his victims, the party of finishing school debutantes exacting revenge on their lecherous host… these stories demonstrate that, even with the most despicable of crimes, there’s methodology in the madness.

INCLUDES STORIES FROM ROBERT BARNARD, MARTYN BEDFORD, ANN CLEEVES, BERNIE CROSTHWAITE, CAROL ANNE DAVIS, MARTIN EDWARDS, JÜRGEN EHLERS, KATE ELLIS, LIZ EVANS, PAUL A FREEMAN, JIM GREGSON, MICK HERRON, SARAH HILARY, ANDRE MAROIS, AMY MYERS, CHRISTINE POULSON, KARLINE SMITH, DOUGLAS STEWART, and YVONNE EVE WALUS

Returning from their honeymoon, John and Lydia Savidge are offered an extraordinary challenge: they have three days to discover who shot and killed the insufferable Sir Benedict Stanbury. Almost everyone, it seems, had a motive for murder--and nobody has an alibi. The problem is as large, and apparently as intractable, as the Prince Regent himself. Lydia and John must keep their wits about them if they are to unravel the tangled skein of perverse relationships and eccentric personalities that block their path to the truth.

‘I was running when I saw my father kill himself.’

Bodyguard and ex-Special Forces soldier, Charlie Fox is slowly recovering from the wounds suffered during her previous assignment and is itching to prove herself to her new boss. Little does she know there’s a personal matter on the horizon that’s going to take up all of her attention. There is no love lost between Charlie and her disapproving family. But when she realises her father is in trouble, she doesn’t think twice before jumping in to help him.

It appears Richard Foxcroft, highly regarded surgeon and pillar of the community, has upset the wrong crowd and they’re using rather underhand and increasingly violent methods to systematically destroy the man’s immaculate reputation. But why?

It’s up to Charlie to find out; the only trouble is, it means spending quality time with her parents.

If you’re looking for super-charged action and a high-speed plot, look no further than the latest Charlie Fox thriller.

'Take it from me, getting yourself shot hurts like hell.'

The latest assignment for ex-Special Forces soldier turned bodyguard Charlie Fox has her protecting Simone, a newly rich lottery millionairess, and her young daughter, Ella, from the unwanted attentions of an ex-boyfriend. From the outset, however, Simone’s refusal to comply with Charlie’s security measures puts both mother and child in grave danger, and only Charlie’s skill and courage can save them.

After a bloody shoot-out in a frozen forest, Charlie is left fighting for her life. As she battles to recover from her injuries, she’s still fiercely protective of Ella, even though Charlie’s actions will catapult her back into the firing line. And this time, she’s in no fit state to protect anyone, least of all herself…

Fast paced and action-packed, Second Shot is a gripping, atmospheric thriller you won’t dare put down.

Back in June, the same week that I’d just found one person, two more went missing. None of them related. The only connection was me: Sal Kilkenny; my job: private investigator. And finding people seemed to be the flavour of the month.

Having successfully traced Bob Swithinbank’s birthmother, Sal congratulates herself on a job well done. But there is little chance to celebrate as two more people are reported missing: Janet Florin, a wife and mother who has disappeared, abandoning everything she holds dear; and Berfan, a failed asylum seeker from Iran, who his brother is convinced has not merely run away to escape deportation. Sensing sinister undercurrents in both cases, Sal has plenty to keep her occupied, but she’s not one for ‘all work and no play’; as the summer kicks into gear, the temperature is notched up on the domestic front when Sal’s housemate, Ray, wants to share much more than just the chores…

Sal Kilkenny is back in this eagerly awaited new novel about separation, secrets and the search for truth.

The perfect murder. Leave the body in the bush for hyenas to devour - no body, no case. But when Kalahari game rangers stumble on a human corpse mid-meal, it turns out the murder wasn’t perfect after all. To Assistant Superintendent David ‘Kubu’ Bengu, it’s obvious from the start that sinister forces are at work. On the surface a convivial man with a sly sense of humor and a passion for his wife, his food and his music, Kubu, like his namesake – kubu is Setswana for hippopotamus – is tenacious and dangerous, and well versed in Botswana’s deadlier side of crime and corruption. As Kubu follows a blood-soaked trail, marked by lies and superstition, to the murderer, he uncovers a chain of crimes linked to powerful figures in the country, who will stop at nothing to remove those who stand in their way.