August books from Bookouture

The Girl Who Lied is by Shannon Hollinger. Rain hammers the earth and a vicious wind rattles the trees. Then lightning strikes, the flash illuminating a young girl staggering out of the woods, her brown eyes wide with fright, a silent scream on her lips… There’s a storm approaching the tiny Maine town of Coyote Cove when Chief Maggie Riley comes across the body of a man, blood seeping from stab wounds into the damp forest floor. As she desperately struggles to secure the evidence before the rain hits, Heather, a local teenage girl, emerges from the woods, shivering and unable to talk. Maggie, once a high flying big-city detective, lost everything when her four-year-old brother went missing five years ago. Heart-broken, she’s never stopped searching for him: but now she is plunged back into the world she left behind.The victim, Maggie discovers, knew secrets about everyone in isolated Coyote Cove. It seems there are more local suspects in this case than people she can rule out. And with Heather still traumatised, Maggie struggles to unravel her strange appearance at the crime scene. Until, following a faint, bloody trail deep into the forest, she’s horrified to unearth what the terrified girl’s been hiding…  But when Heather is kidnapped, the battle to identify the killer becomes a race to save an innocent girl’s life. And with the whole town terrified, Maggie is shocked to uncover that this twisted killer is much closer to home than she’d ever imagined. Battling her own demons and memories of her missing brother, how far will Maggie have to go to save Heather? Or will another innocent young life be lost forever...?

The little dog trembles and whimpers, but refuses to move. Maggie reaches further into the undergrowth, trying to tempt it out. But as she moves closer, she sees something that stops her heart—a tiny, shivering baby, wrapped in a thin, pink blanket, saved only by its loyal protector. There’s a ferocious storm heading toward the isolated town of Coyote Cove when Chief Maggie Riley gets the call every cop dreads. Three bodies have been found on Rattlesnake Mountain, half a day’s hike from civilization. And when Maggie finally reaches the site, exhausted and freezing, she discovers something even more terrifying—a tiny baby girl, kept alive only by the warmth of a small dog who refuses to leave her side. As Maggie races the baby to safety, she wonders, why on earth the family risked hiking the mountain in this weather? Who were they and who could possibly have killed them? A former detective, Maggie may be an experienced investigator, but she’s still an unwelcome newcomer. Battling town prejudice, her fears for the orphaned baby, and the increasingly dangerous weather, Maggie soon discovers the case is far more complicated than she could have imagined. The family is not who they seemed. The mother has never had a baby, there’s no link between them at all. So whose baby is it, and where are they now? With Coyote Cove cut off by the storm, Maggie knows that wherever the killer is, they won’t be able to leave. Stuck in town with a murderer on the loose, Maggie must race to find them before anyone else gets hurt. But she hasn’t counted on the killer taking matters into their own hands, and going after Maggie first… Their Angel's Cry is by Shannon Hollinger.

Murder at the Inn is by Katie Gayle. Julia Bird loves the village pub quiz, but it seems one of her team won’t make it to the next round alive…  On the first Tuesday of each month, Julia Bird and her Agatha Quizteam teammates take part in Berrywick’s village pub quiz. They take it seriously – what’s the point of playing, after all, if you aren’t in it to win it? But it seems someone connected with the quiz night has taken the competition to a whole new level when Lilian, the local police constable and all-round general knowledge expert, is found fatally stabbed after the evening’s final round. With local DI Hayley Gibson stuck home with a broken leg and an incompetent Superintendent brought in from the nearby town, it’s up to Julia to make sure the investigation stays focussed – whether they like it or not! While the police are convinced that the murderer is linked to Lilian’s professional life, Julia turns her amateur sleuthing eye to suspects much closer to home. Perhaps Lilian’s personal life could have something to do with the dreadful crime? When another quiz team member is attacked, Julia is finally put on the right track. But what could possibly be important – or dangerous – enough for two attendees of the pub quiz night to meet such foul ends over? Could the culprit really be among them on that busy Tuesday night? As Julia’s race to identify the killer ramps up to desperate heights, she wonders, where will the murderous spree end?

The Inheritance is by Samantha Hayes. I thought he took my secret to the grave. But the truth can’t stay buried forever… In the wake of my darling husband’s death, I am so lucky to have my three beautiful, grown-up daughters by my side at our holiday home in Scotland. We need some time together, to recover from the shock. But I also need to set some things straight about their beloved father… I’ve always known this house was the perfect place to bury secrets – remote, isolated, surrounded by nothing but miles of dense forest. But this time I’m not here to hide more of my lies. I’m here to expose one. I promise everything I’ve ever done has been to protect my daughters. I just hope they understand that too… By the end of the trip, nothing will ever be the same again. I knew revealing the truth about the inheritance would have consequences, but I could never have imagined we wouldn’t all survive it. And now the truth is out, am I in danger too…?

Murder at the Village Fair by Helena Dixon. Kitty Underhay is riding a carousel… with death.  Summer 1935. Enjoying a belated honeymoon visiting her new husband Matt’s family in the rolling Yorkshire hills, Kitty strolls through a village fair. But when Kitty persuades Matt to visit the fortune teller’s tent, the lovebirds are shocked to find the body of Madame Zaza slumped over her crystal ball, pearl necklace askew and a half-drunk cup of tea at her elbow. After predicting so many of the villagers’ misfortunes, how did she not foresee her own murder? From a pompous old colonel to a reticent reverend and a dodgy village doctor, Kitty soon feels like half the village had a motive for murder. But with more suspects than tarot cards, she and Matt are no closer to finding the culprit. Madame Zaza had been a part of the community’s life for decades and discovering a photograph album of the villagers through the years gives Kitty and Matt the breakthrough they’ve been searching for. Kitty is soon hot on the killer’s trail when her sleuthing puts her in terrible danger. Will her lucky stars align, or is her life line about to run out?

The Mistake I Made is by Sam Hepburn. A man is dead. And only I know why. As we sit drinking wine by the river and I gaze into his dark brown eyes, I know I have finally met the man of my dreams. I have been hurt before, but this time will be different. He has a terrible past and everyone tells me he can’t be trusted, but they don’t know what I know. I know deep down that together we can overcome anything. Because sure he has secrets, but who doesn’t? But now a man is dead. And the police are knocking on my door. Was trusting him the biggest mistake I could make…? I don’t know where to go or who to turn to. What if I am next?

The Family on Smith Street is by Elisabeth Carpenter A happy family. A picture-perfect street. A secret someone would kill for. My husband James and I love living on Smith Street, with its neat houses and friendly family barbecues. Our daughter Scarlett grew up playing outside with the other local kids – it’s somewhere nothing bad could ever happen. Or so I thought… Because when I wake terrified, head pounding, in a cramped windowless room, I realise I was entirely wrong. As my eyes adjust to the dark, I see creased pictures of missing local people I vaguely recognise from the news covering the walls. Then my skin turns ice-cold when I notice the newest pictures are of me, of James, of Scarlett… A terrified sob catches in my throat. It seems there’s been a killer hiding in our neighbourhood for years. And I’m their next victim. I stare at the photos in horror. Because if they’ve got me, they could also have James or, worst of all, my precious daughter Scarlett... In that moment, I know I’ll do anything, everything, to save my family. Especially because, deep down, I know this is all my fault…

The Market Retreat is by Laura Elliot.‘Welcome to Serenity Falls,’ I say, forcing a smile as I guide our new guests across the courtyard and through the doors of the old house. This should be a fresh new start for the couple, but how can I help them when my own life is being torn apart? My husband Victor and I have been together for twenty-five years and we’ve created a successful marriage retreat business. The tranquil hotel, with its cherry blossom trees and the sound of the waterfall in the backdrop, is the perfect setting for couples to repair their fractured relationships. My own marriage has been a shining example of honesty and trust. Or at least that’s what I believed… When a police officer knocks on my door to tell me the man I loved has been killed in a tragic accident, I’m left trembling with shock. But that isn’t all. An unnamed woman was by his side when Victor died, and she now lies in a coma. As my husband’s secrets unravel, I discover that my whole life has been a lie. Now my future is at stake and my life is in danger. And I have to make a choice to protect myself and my family. A choice that will turn me into a liar, just like Victor. And will end in murder…

The Doctor's Widow is by Daniel Hurst.She trusted him. Now she’s paying the price… I loved my husband, Doctor Drew Devlin, but he betrayed me. And now he’s dead. As I put the key in the lock and open the door to the luxurious new home I’ve purchased with Drew’s life insurance money, I’m certain the worst days are behind me. My secret is safe, and I can’t wait to enjoy my new wealth and freedom. Then I meet handsome Roger. I wasn’t looking for a relationship but as we spend our evenings drinking wine on my sunny terrace, I realise he’s just what I need right now. Roger is nothing like Drew, he’s spontaneous and romantic. And most of all, he’s honest.He thinks I’m a rich, lonely woman. He’s wrong of course, there’s so much more to me… But then one night, when we’re curled up in bed together, Roger says something that makes my blood run cold. I think he knows the truth about my life as the doctor’s wife. I will do anything to stop my past from catching up with me… But is Roger really who he says he is? Or is my life now in danger? 

Murder at Bay View Hotel is by Emma Jameson. Join Jemima Jago—librarian, cake lover and fearless super-sleuth—on her next puzzling case, when an entry at a baking competition proves delicious… but deadly! It’s time for the Bay View Hotel’s annual bake-off and Jem is looking forward to sampling all the cake she can. But when head judge and successful local critic Lemmy Beaglehole drops dead in the middle of tasting a chocolate gateau, Jem can’t resist throwing herself into the investigation. Jem interviews everyone present and discovers that Lemmy had plenty of enemies at the bake-off and was famous for his venomous reviews. But who could have hated him enough to actually poison him? Was it the long-suffering hotel manager? The local busybody who hated Lemmy enough to stage a protest over his inclusion as head judge? Or the aspiring baker, whose dreams of running his own pastry shop were dashed by a terrible review? Finding a crumpled rose-patterned envelope that may have contained the poison, Jem feels certain she’s close to the truth. But when a huge storm blows in over the Isles of Scilly, trapping everyone—bake-off contestants, staff and guests—in the hotel overnight, Jem must work fast to untangle the clues and catch the killer before their next toxic treat ends up on her plate!

The Elevator is by Claire Cooper. My whole body is shaking, my breath catches in my throat. I’m stuck here. Trapped. With the one person who will do anything to destroy me… When I step into the elevator that sweltering morning, I barely notice the woman standing next to me. She seems out of place, with her floaty linen clothes in a building full of suits. But that’s none of my business. A minute later, there’s a sudden jerk. The elevator stops. The lights go out. The other woman’s face is deathly pale. She’s breathing noisily, clearly panicking. As we sit slumped against the mirrored walls, we start talking to try and keep calm. I tell her I moved halfway round the world to start again where no one knew what I was hiding. I tell her my darkest secrets, because she seems to understand, and we’re never going to see each other again, right? But I’m wrong. We’re not strangers. None of this is an accident. And when the truth comes out, there’ll be nowhere to hide…

The Wrong Family is by Ellery Kane. He tells you he’s your father. He welcomes you into his family. And now you’re trapped… I’ve never met my father. It was always just me and Mom, so when she died, I was completely alone. But today, years since I first mailed my DNA to Family Ties, I finally have a match. They’ve found my biological father. When I meet Robert, he’s warm, dependable, sturdy. I’m desperate for him to like me. I want to be part of his perfect, high-flying family more than anything. Except, I’m not so sure they are perfect. Every day, strange things go wrong in the Thompsons’ grand Lake Tahoe house. A family photo is found burning. Robert’s car is tampered with. My mother’s necklace goes missing. Though that’s nothing compared to the horror of finding the huge family portrait violently slashed in its ornate gold frame… But someone is trying to blame me for everything—all eyes are on me. I can’t run now. And then I receive an email from Family Ties that makes my blood run cold. Robert Thompson is not my father. Now I’m trapped in a house full of strangers, with no idea who I can trust. And I’m terrified my life is in grave danger…

March Books from Bookouture

 

The Baby Shower is by S E Lynes. She doesn’t know I’m there, watching her in the mirror. She slides her hand under her blouse. And then I see something impossible. She isn’t pregnant… She bursts into my life like a storm, and nothing is the same again. She seems so perfect, with her lilting laugh and her beautiful face. One by one, I watch as my friends fall under her spell. Only I seem to suspect something. Only I see that her smiles don’t reach her cold, furious eyes. And when I’m accused of things I didn’t do, when my home is vandalized, I know she’s behind it. But she only lets her mask slip when no one is looking, so if I say anything, I’ll look crazy.So when the baby shower comes around I’m there, sitting on a velvet sofa in a posh hotel room, surrounded by balloons. We share gifts, we pour small glasses of champagne, and she beams, her bump just visible under her bright red shirt But that afternoon, I finally learn the unbelievable truth.There is no baby…

Harlow looked down at a photo of her victim and couldn’t reconcile it with the body found by the lake. Here was a young and carefree woman, gazing at the camera with her striking emerald green eyes, her long black hair waving in the breeze. But within an instant her future had been extinguished. Harlow had to find out why. When the remains of a young woman are discovered on the edge of Saranac Lake in upstate New York, local law enforcement immediately call Detective Harlow Durant. When she arrives at the scene, she instantly knows this case will get under her skin. Lying just beyond the picturesque lake popular with families are the remains of a victim who has seemingly been burned to death. With very little evidence remaining, Harlow begins scouring missing persons reports. The victim is identified as twenty-six-year-old Ellie Gordon—a fun-loving young woman who worked in the bookstore and enjoyed going out with friends. When her mother comes to ID the body, she reports her daughter’s gold crucifix missing and the hunt begins to locate it and any potential DNA evidence. But as Harlow starts to piece Ellie’s last movements together, another body is found. The victim was killed in exactly the same way and worked with Ellie. Witness statements identify a local man who was obsessed with both women and when Harlow sees video evidence of him pawning the gold necklace, she thinks she has her man. But when he too winds up dead, Harlow has to start over. The only other link to the women is Gavin Croswell, one of the most powerful men in the town. But with a whole host of alibis, pinning the murders on him is almost impossible. With time running out to find the killer before another woman loses her life, the case soon becomes personal when Harlow’s car is violently run off the road. Someone wants to warn her off the case and they will use anything they can to threaten her. Even if it means exposing her own dark secret. Can Harlow confront her demons to save another innocent life from being lost? And just how much is she prepared to sacrifice? The Girls in the Fire is by Dea Poirier.

Pray for Mercy is by D K Hood. Her heart races as a noise from downstairs wakes her. She checks every room in her small home, but it’s not until she returns to the safety of her bedroom does she see movement. She’s not alone. And nobody can help her now. Writing scrawled on the wall of Sheriff Jenna Alton’s office overnight leads her and her deputy David Kane to a secluded house on the outskirts of town. Inside, Jenna is devastated to find a much-loved local resident lying in a pool of blood, stab wounds covering her lifeless body. What monster would attack a defenceless woman living alone? With no trace of the killer at the scene, the deadly message written on Jenna’s door is her only clue. But as the small town grieves, it leads her to a contractor who recently had access to the woman’s home. She races to interview him, only to discover the wreck of a car on a steep mountain road with another dead woman inside. Jenna knows the victims were friends and regularly went to church together. She thinks a twisted killer has been watching them, waiting for the perfect time to strike. But before she can make her next move, one of her own team is found unconscious and covered in the blood of a third female victim—a knife inches away from his hand. Pulse racing, Jenna questions her shaken deputy, who can’t explain why he was in the woman’s house. Could he really be a killer, or is someone playing an evil game? The clock ticks to uncover a dark secret that connects all three victims, but can she work it out before another innocent life is taken?

One Girl Missing is by Carla Kovach. Five-year-old Cally waits in her pretty pink bedroom for the sound of the front door opening and her mother’s sweet voice in the hall. But when the doorbell finally rings, and Cally creeps out of bed to peer through the banister, a large man in uniform is all she sees. Her mother is missing... Teacher Annabel Braddock was last seen drinking at the local pub with her best friend, Jennifer. Witnesses saw tears running down her cheeks, and friends say she was having problems with a colleague at work, and that her marriage had broken down. But as the two women hugged goodbye, neither noticed the car speeding towards them. As the dust settled, Jennifer lay unconscious on the ground and Annabel was nowhere to be seen. She’d never abandon her little girl, so did someone snatch her? As family crowd around Jennifer’s hospital bed, hoping she’ll wake up, police visit Annabel’s home and her inconsolable daughter, Cally, tells them she had seen a man outside staring into her room as she climbed into bed that evening. Was it her childish imagination, or had someone been watching Annabel’s home? When Jennifer finally opens her eyes and tells the police what happened that night, it’s clear there are plenty of people with a reason to harm Annabel. With an unpredictable husband, a colleague who denies harassing her and a neighbour who seems to know her every move, could she be in imminent danger? As the hours turn to days, will little Cally ever see her precious mother again? Or will she be next?

The Party At No.12 is by Kerry Wilkinson. Everyone’s invited. Someone will never leave. In a grand townhouse rented specially for the evening, Hannah beams at her guests under the sparkling chandelier. Her sisters, her mother and aunt, her best friends… although she’ll miss them all so much when she moves away, tonight is about celebrating the happy times and raising a toast to the future. But the next morning, one of the guests is found cold and lifeless in their pristine white bed. Hannah is desperate to call the police. After all, it must have been an accident. Perhaps too much wine, on a night where emotions were running high. But it soon becomes clear that every single person at the party has something to hide. A mother who’ll do anything for her daughters. Best friends with dark secrets between them. A sister with a jealous streak. What if one of them is a killer? And what if this is just the first victim?

The Step Child is by Nicole Trope. Three-year-old Millie Everleigh disappears on a crisp winter’s day, and nothing is as it seems… It’s the phone call every mother dreads. I’m climbing into the car after a trip to the grocery store. As the engine starts, my phone rings. It’s my stepdaughter, Shelby, who is babysitting my three-year-old little girl Millie. ‘I only went upstairs for a second,’ she says through her sobs. ‘She’s gone.’ I race home to find my blue-eyed baby girl missing, and my heart ripped out of my chest. When the police turn up, Shelby’s story starts to unravel. What is she hiding? Then I get a message saying, ‘Your husband is not who you think he is.’ Could he be lying? Suddenly, my family feel like strangers. Everyone has a secret – even me. No one knows why I was late coming back from the store, and the guilt I’ve been feeling ever since… Once the truth comes out, all of our lies exposed, will it be too late to save my precious child?

The Villa is by Clare Boyd. Nora thought two weeks in a stunning villa in the south of France would be the perfect treat for the family she adores. She pictured them tucking into buttery croissants every morning before long days lounging by the sparkling pool. It’s probably too much to hope that it might heal the rifts growing between them, but she can’t wait to count the freckles collecting on the kids’ innocent smiling faces and feel the warm Mediterranean Sea wash all her fears away. But Nora is nervous as she gathers everyone around the large oak table on the villa’s vine-covered terrace. Her daughters eye her suspiciously as she tops up her wine with a shaking hand and clears her throat to speak. The secret she’s about to tell will shatter their lives forever…

Join Flora Steele – bookshop owner, bicycle-rider, daydreamer and amateur detective – in her quest to solve a brand-new murder mystery! Cornwall, 1956: When Flora Steele sets off for a peaceful vacation with crime writer Jack Carrington in his little red Austin, the last thing she expects to find is a body at their pretty rental cottage! Shocked by the discovery, inquisitive Flora joins forces with handsome Jack to find out how the poor man came to such an untimely end in the overgrown orchard of Primrose Cottage. They discover Roger Gifford was a man with plenty of friends and the villagers seem devastated by his sudden death… So why was he murdered? And who has blood on their hands – his estranged wife Beatrice, his wayward younger brother Lionel, or the suspicious newcomer Mercy Dearlove? The baffling case gets even more complicated when a second man is found dead and a set of puzzling clues lead them to an intriguing wartime mystery connected to Jack’s estranged father. As old secrets emerge and Jack receives an unsettling letter, it seems the crime writer is in danger of a fate befitting his fictional characters. Will Flora be able to crack the case and save Jack? Or will this be one murder too many for Flora Steele? Murder at Primrose Cottage is by Merryn Allingham. 

After the Wedding is by Laura Elliot. Everyone said she was the prettiest flower girl. But now her dress lies on the floor. It’s wet and torn, her shoes are lost. ‘Tell us what happened to you?’ her daddy sobs. Christine shakes her head. All she can remember are the red rose petals scattering like drops of blood spilling to the ground. When Christine Lewis was a little girl, she witnessed something terrible at a wedding and buried it so deep in her memory, she managed to forget it ever happened. Years later, Jessica Newman walks into the successful advertising agency Christine runs with her husband. Jessica is beautiful and excellent at her job but her presence triggers disturbing memories for Christine. Fragments of the wedding are starting to flicker in her mind and an unexplainable ball of dread begins to form in Christine’s stomach. Jessica is slowly beginning to destroy Christine’s marriage and her business. Why can’t anyone else see it? Christine and Jessica’s lives were connected long before they set eyes on one another. But in unlocking the mystery of what happened at the wedding all those years ago, is Christine prepared for the truth she’s about to find?

The Family Holiday is by Shalini Boland. Two families. One house swap. A vacation to die for. The white-washed Italian villa is perfect. I thought it might feel odd, living in a stranger’s house for the summer, but as my husband and children swim in the infinity pool, I start to relax. And then, in the back of a wardrobe, I find something that shatters everything… Sparkling green eyes, square jaw, lopsided smile. A young man with his arm around a beautiful woman. The picture is old and faded but I’d recognise him anywhere. The man is my husband. But we’ve never met the family we’ve swapped homes with and my husband swears it isn’t him in the photo. He’s lying. We argue on the balcony with the sun setting behind us and I storm out. When I finally calm down enough to go back to the villa to confront him, I find his dead body sprawled across the veranda. Who killed my husband? Was our marriage a lie? And are my children now in terrible danger?

We should never have kept our father’s secret. Before, my sisters and I were close. Now, a year after our father’s funeral, we barely speak to each other. Molly won’t accept the truth. Rachel can’t forgive him. And I spend all my time digging through his life, trying to understand. Then we hear the news. A woman has been found by the docks, her wedding ring stolen. The reporter says it appears the local serial killer has returned… But I know that can’t be right, because I know who the killer was. Henry Martin. Our father. Someone is sending us a message. Someone knows we lied. Now my sisters and I must work together to find out who is targeting us. How do they know what we’ve hidden? What do they want? And what other secrets lie buried in the past, putting us all in danger? The Killer's Family is by Miranda Smith.