Recreation

New Titles Fiction October 2013 (arrived in September 2013)

Adventure

The Omega Project, Steve Alten.
Joining a scientific team originally scheduled to travel to one of Jupiter's moons, tech genius Robert Eisenbraun is put into hibernation against his will and awakens on a hostile Earth where he must defeat a technological adversary of his own making.
High rollers, Jack Bowman.
Former air crash investigator gets back into the game to search for why a big passenger jet crashed. Action packed first novel.
The scarlet thief, Paul Fraser Collard.
The new Richard Sharpe bursts onto the historical adventure scene in a brilliant, action-packed debut of Redcoat battle and bloodshed. 1854: The banks of the Alma River, Crimean Peninsular. The Redcoats stagger to a bloody halt.
The Mayan secrets, Clive Cussler and Thomas Perry.
5th in the series with husband and wife team Sam and Remi Fargo.
Grail knight, Angus Donald.
5th in the Outlaw Chronicles described by The Times as "a glorious, gritty, violent, fast-moving recreation of an English legend."
Jack of spies, David Downing.
New series featuring Jack McColl, an international auto salesman who moonlights as a spy in the period before World War I.
Memorial Day, Vince Flynn.
When a spike in CIA intelligence suggests a major terrorist attack planned for Memorial Day, the president orders Mitch Rapp to pull out all the stops.
The kill list, Frederick Forsyth.
The list: a top secret catalogue of names held at the highest level of American government, people who'd threaten world security with a radical Islamic cleric at the top.
Destroy Carthage, David Gibbins.
"How far would you go for Rome?" Carthage, 146 BC. This is the story of Fabius Petronius Secundus Roman legionary and centurion and his rise to power: from his first battle against the Macedonians, that seals the fate of Alexander the Great's Empire, to total war in North Africa and the Siege of Carthage.
Master of war, David Gilman.
England 1346 and Thomas Blackstone joins the king's invasion of France. First in "Master of war" series.
All in scarlet uniform, Adrian Goldsworthy.
The year is 1809, and the recruiting sergeants are hard at work, as the British army gathers strength for the next phase of the campaign against Bonaparte on the Spanish Peninsula.
The last witness, W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV.
The latest in the Badge of Honour series.
The Einstein pursuit, Chris Kuzneski.
Payne and Jones return in action tale starting with an explosion in Stockholm that wiped out top scientists.
The hunters, Chris Kuzneski.
First in new series featuring The Hunters, a series of renegades put together by a treasure hunting billionaire philanthropist.
The extremist, Roger Pearce.
Action tale where three murders lead to a talented female operative who is given the task of uncovering the truth which may be linked to domestic extremists or foreign spies.
The eagle's vengeance, Anthony Riches.
Sixth in the Empire series.
Red winter, Dan Smith.
1920 and Kolya deserts his Red Army unit and returns to his native village to find the people have gone.
Alien hunter, Whitley Strieber.
Woman disappears in the night and a detective investigates to find thieves and murderers from another world might be involved.
Plan D, Simon Urban
Imagine a world in which the Berlin Wall never fell. A modern day Cold War thriller.
The sword and the throne, Henry Venmore-Rowland.
AD 69. Aulus Caecina Severus has thrown in his lot with the hedonistic Vitellius and prepares his legions for a gruelling march over the Alps. Second in series.

American Fiction

The color master : stories, Aimee Bender.
A short story collection from the author of "The particular sadness of lemon cake."
The movement of stars, Amy Brill.
Impressive first novel that tells the fascinating story of America's first female professional astronomer Maria Mitchell.
Eleven days, Lea Carpenter.
Navy Seal goes missing on the night of the Osama Bin Laden raid and his mother waits anxiously for him. Strong tale that tells how and why we send our sons to war and what a mother has to endure.
Songs of Willow Frost, Jamie Ford.
With his friend Charlotte, twelve-year-old William Eng, a Chinese-American boy, escapes from a Seattle orphanage determined to find his mother Willow and discover his connection to the exotic film star. Set in the Depression era.
Looking for me, Beth Hoffman.
Charming and likeable tale of a woman who wants to put the pieces of her family's secrets together.
The curiosity, Stephen Kiernan.
A love story/suspense thriller about a man frozen for 100 years who wakes up in contemporary America and falls for a scientist from a century after his own.
The good house, Ann Leary.
Story of Hildy Good, who lives in a small town on Boston's North Shore. Hildy is a successful real-estate broker, good neighbour, mother, and grandmother. She's also a raging alcoholic.
Dissident gardens, Jonathan Lethem.
Epic yet intimate family saga about three generations of all-American radicals.
Rose Harbor in bloom, Debbie Macomber.
In Cedar Cove three women, innkeeper Jo Marie Rose, young Annie Newton, and high-powered businesswoman Mary Smith, make peace with their pasts as they boldly welcome their futures.
After her, Joyce Maynard.
Loosely inspired by the Trailside Killer case that terrorised Marin County in the late 1970s, the tale of two girls growing up at the time their detective father is working to track down a dangerous killer.
The first affair, Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus.
Young White House intern Jamie McAllister is drawn into an affair with President Gregory Rutland and soon finds herself, and everyone she cares about, facing calculated public destruction at the hands of Greg's political enemies, and perhaps no matter how much he cares about her at the hands of Greg himself.
Tampa, Alissa Nutting.
A married woman schoolteacher lures a teenage boy into an affair. The publisher says this is "'American psycho' meets 'Lolita'."
Evil eye : four novellas of love gone wrong, Joyce Carol Oates.
Four creepy tale from the expert in creepiness showing how love can go terribly wrong.
The New York stories, John O'Hara
Collected for the first time, the New York stories of John O'Hara, who New Yorker critic Brendan Gill says is one of the greatest short story writers.
Night film, Marisha Pessl.
When Cordova's beautiful daughter is found dead in a warehouse, McGrath can't help but pick up the trail. His pacy narrative voice is interrupted by magazine interviews, text messages, Facebook pages; a Cordova fan forum even pops up on the printed page. The result is multiple narratives that read like real life (or a more exciting version of it).
Elliot Allagash, Simon Rich.
As manipulative as "Cruel Intentions", as competitive as "Election", as geeky as Napoleon Dynamite, "Elliot Allagash" is a original take on a much loved genre. Seymour isn't cool, but he isn't a geek either. He's a lonely, obedient 8th grade loser at Glendale, a second tier prep school in Manhattan.
Brewster, Mark Slouka.
A man feels his parents believe he could have prevented the death of his brother and in high school he becomes friends with someone from a tough family. Evokes the world of rebellion and the 1960s.
The house at Belle Fontaine : stories, Lily Tuck.
The stories of The House at Belle Fontaine span the better part of the twentieth century and almost every continent, revealing apprehensions, passions, secrets, and tragedies among lovers, spouses, landlords and tenants, and lifelong friends.
Let him go, Larry Watson.
1951 North Dakota, years after losing her son in a horse riding accident, Margaret Blackledge seeks to retrieve her grandson from the daughter-in-law who ran off with another man but finds her efforts challenged by her reluctant husband and the boy's stepfamily.
The maid's version, Daniel Woodrell.
A woman's life is derailed when her sister is killed in a dance hall explosion in 1929 Missouri. Decades later her grandson listens to her theories of the passion and betrayal behind the story.

Australian fiction

Letter to George Clooney, Debra Adelaide.
Debra Adelaide's new collection of short stories intricately maps both the sublime and the mundane landscape of ordinary lives, with her trademark dark wit and luminous intelligence.
Shallow breath, Sara Foster.
Two years ago, Desi Priest made a horrific mistake and destroyed her family. Now, she is coming home to make amends: to her daughter, Maya, who's nurturing her own dangerous plan; to her brother, Jackson, who blames himself; and to her close friend, Pete, who has spent years shielding her from a devastating truth.
Wish, Peter Goldsworthy
'I'm not deaf, but I've always felt more at home in Sign. Both my parents are deaf. Deaf as posts. Deaf as adders, deaf as beetles. And proud as peacocks, Deaf Pride long before there was a word, or a sign, for it. I learnt to speak with my hands from birth; there was no other way of reaching my parents.' J.J. is back living at home in Adelaide, unemployed and drifting after a messy divorce. Then he is offered a job teaching Sign to Eliza.
The full ridiculous, Mark Lamprell.
Quirky tale of a family man whose life spirals out of control and discovers hitting rock bottom can bring him back.
Under the influence, Jacqueline Lunn.
Eve, now 34 and a concert cellist living in London, returns to an Australian country town for the funeral of her old school friend, Meg. As Eve and Sarah, also a school friend, face their friend Meg's death, they must also face the past and the secret the three women shared.
The night guest, Fiona McFarlane.
An elderly Australian woman lets a mysterious and possibly sinister caretaker into her beach-side home and into her life.
The young desire it, Kenneth Mackenzie
Fifteen year old Charles Fox is sent away to boarding school from the isolated farm where he has grown up. There he must deal with both the bullying of the other boys and the intense affection of Penworth, one of the masters. But then, home for the holidays, he meets Margaret, a girl staying at a nearby farm, and a passionate bond develops between them. Australian classic.
The Dalai Lama's cat, David Michie.
In her exotic home, the Dalai Lama's cat encounters Hollywood stars, Buddhist masters, Ivy-league professors, famous philanthropists, and a host of other people who come visiting His Holiness. This title discovers how instead of trying to change the world, changing the way we experience the world is the key to true contentment.
Coal Creek, Alex Miller.
Tale of friendship and betrayal as Queensland policeman's loyalty to his boss and a friend lead to tragic consequences.

British Fiction

The apartment, Greg Baxter.
Unusual Irish debut about a man travelling the streets of an European city as a man helps him to find an apartment.
The guts, Roddy Doyle.
Jimmy Rabbitte is back. The man who invented the Commitments back in the eighties is now forty-seven, with a loving wife, four kids and bowel cancer. He isn't dying, he thinks, but he might be.
The shock of the fall, Nathan Filer.
A tale of one man's descent into mental illness. Excellent debut by a registered health nurse in Britain.
The house of journalists, Tim Finch.
Story of a refuge for exiled writers fleeing oppressive regimes.
The marrying of Chani Kaufman, Eve Harris.
19 year-old Chani lives in the ultra-orthodox Jewish community of North West London. She has never had physical contact with a man, but is bound to marry a stranger. The rabbi's wife teaches her what it means to be a Jewish wife, but Rivka has her own questions to answer. Soon buried secrets, fear and sexual desire bubble to the surface in a story of liberation and choice; not to mention what happens on the wedding night. Longlisted for the Booker.
Hunters in the snow, Daisy Hildyard.
Excellent first novel in which a young woman returns to her grandfather's Yorkshire farm and finds the book he left unfinished. A story of history, truth and lies, the everyday and the very strange.
The year of the ladybird, Graham Joyce.
Summer of 1976 and young man gets first job in a holiday camp and things happen which he doesn't expect.
A beautiful truth, Colin McAdam.
A couple who can't have a child have their lives changed when the husband brings home a baby chimp who they grow to love as their own son. A fascinating tale of the meaning of love and family.
The professor of poetry, Grace Mccleen.
From the author of the superb debut "The land of decoration", the story of an academic who gets a new lease of life in remission from cancer and a poem that awakens memories.
The long shadow, Mark Mills.
Scriptwriter goes to country house to meet a hedge fund billionaire who he discovers is an old schoolfriend from 25 years ago. All seems well but the past plays a dark game that goes back to childhood secrets.
Mr Lynch's holiday, Catherine O'Flynn.
A delightful and clever novel about a man who visits his son who is living in a Spanish housing estate that hasn't been finished yet.
Red or dead, David Peace.
1959 when Liverpool had never won the FA Cup and 15 seasons later became the star team.
The house at the end of Hope Street, Menna van Praag.
A likeable debut about an enchanted house offering refuge to women in their time of need and boasting past residents such as Virginia Woolf and Dorothy Parker.
Orkney, Amy Sackville.
On a remote island in Orkney, a curiously-matched couple arrive on their honeymoon. He is an eminent literature professor; she was his pale, enigmatic star pupil. Alone beneath the shifting skies of this untethered landscape, the professor realises how little he knows about his new bride and yet, as the days go by and his mind turns obsessively upon the creature who has so beguiled him, she seems to slip ever further from his yearning grasp.
Village fortunes, Rebecca Shaw.
Another likeable tale of life in the village of Turnham Malpas.
Bertie's guide to life and mothers : a 44 Scotland Street novel, Alexander McCall Smith
Once more, we catch up with the delightful goings-on in the fictitious 44 Scotland Street from Alexander McCall Smith. With customary charm and deftness, Alexander McCall Smith gives us another instalment in this popular series, now running in its ninth season in The Scotsman. Anything could happen to Bertie and the gang.
The gallery of vanished husbands, Natasha Solomons.
Young Jewish woman is raised by strict parents in 1930s/40s Kent. She marries and after her husband disappears she becomes involved with a young artist from a very different world. From the author of the delightful "Mr Rosenblum's list."

Chinese titles

Can zhuo shang du yi wu er de da zhong cai 6800 li, Chen zhi tian zhu bian.
Chuan Xiang cai zhao zhao xian, Lü Hongbbin bian zhu.
Di yu bian = Portrait of hell, Cai Jun zhu.
Yi miao ye, Cai Lan.
Dong bei sheng si chang, Cao Baoming zhu.
Jiu ju, Chen Yahui zhu.
Bu tong de ming yun, Chen Ying zhu.
Qie ai, Cheng Nuo.
Xing qing nan nü, Dai Jun zhu.
Jiu shan he, Dao Erdeng zuo pin.
Fei chang guan xi = Unusual relationship, Deng hui wen zhu.
Xin qing ci zhi yao bian : chang pian shi zheng xiao shuo, Fu Shi zhu.
Huo luan shi qi de ai qing, Jiaxiya Maerkesi zhu ; Yang Ling yi.
Xin, bian zou qu, Haochuan.
Dai xie ping heng,jian kang shou shen, hong tai xiong zhu.
Jue zhan jiang hu, Huang Xiaoyang zhu.
Yang mou gao shou, Huang Xiaoyang zhu.
Ming yun zhi lun, Hudie zhu.
Du qiu ji, Kong Ergou zhu.
Mo yu you ling chuan = The ghost ship, Lan Xiulang zhu.
Xi cai, Li Bihua.
Huang he gu dao : Ren xing guan cai, Li Da zhu.
Dong mu chang, Li Juan
Shang liu ren wu, Li Peifu zhu.
Chong fan lang qun, Li Weiyi zhu.
Chuang li chuang wai, Lin Qingxia.
Zi dan fei guo tong xue hui, Liu Yu zhu.
Kong bu si xian, Lu Fu.
Kong bu Panduola, Luo Dingkang zhu.
Ji pin yin yang shi, Luo Shuran zhu.
Shua dian xiao xin ji,ta hui geng ai ni, Mengyexunfeng bian zhu.
Zang hai hua, Nanpaisanshu zhu.
Hao yun lian lian, Shu Fei'er zhu.
Ren shang ren : zai Shenzhen de fa ji shi, Shuichen zhu.
Meng xiang ju ji she, Sima Hong.
Lan wa zi zhi lü, Yishu.
Mo sheng ren de tang guo, Yishu.
Yu Kang : chi hao mei tian 3 dun fan, Yu Kang zhu.
Da guai dian, Yuan Jian zhu.
Ma ma chuan xia lai de mei yan xiao pian fang : liang dai mei nü zhong yi de jia chuan jing yan fang, Zhang Xiuqin, An Chao zhu.
Shi zong, Zhang Zhen zhu.

Fiction from the rest of the World

Let the games begin, Niccolo Ammaniti.
Attending a gala at the private home of a real estate magnate, a neurotic author stumbles on the activities of a satanic sect planning to launch itself into infamy by staging an apocalyptic meltdown at the height of the festivities.
MaddAddam, Margaret Atwood.
The final book in her speculative trilogy that began with "Oryx and Crake" and continued with "The year of the flood."
The list of my desires, Gregoire Delacourt
Charming cautionary tale of a woman who wins the lottery and keeps the news of it secret and what happens when the news gets out.
419, Will Ferguson.
A car tumbles through darkness down a snowy ravine. A woman without a name walks out of a dust storm in Africa. And in the seething heat of Lagos City, a criminal cartel scours the Internet, looking for victims. Lives intersect. Worlds collide. And it all begins with a single email: 'Dear Sir, I am the daughter of a Nigerian diplomat, and I need your help.' Canadian author.
The lowland, Jhumpa Lahiri.
Booker shortlisted 2013. From the Pulitzer Prize winning winner comes a story of family ties that entangle and fray. Set in Calcutta where two brothers grow up as rebellion foments throughout India.
The last of the Vostyachs, Diego Marani
Set in Finland, written in Italian, translated into English. An inventive tale of a long-lost language and culture and one man frozen in time.
The siege, Arturo Perez-Reverte
Cadiz 1811 and Spain battles for independence while a serial killer is on the loose. An epic standalone novel.
Benighted, J.B. Priestley
This story concerns five travellers are driven to seek refuge in the Welsh mountains. The occupants of this dwelling are a strange and hostile lot. Famous for being the basis of classic movie "The old dark house."
The power of flies, Lydie Salvayre
This is a tightly introspective series of first-person confessions by an arrogant murder convict whose life was transformed by reading Blaise Pascal. By turns angry, tricky and despairing, the narrator offers a disjointed narrative about his life leading up to the murder of his father.

Graphic Novel

Tokyo Babylon. Book two, planning and presented by CLAMP.
Tokyo, 1991, rich and glittering: the city of twelve million dreams and just as many nightmares, none darker than the vision Subaru retains of his meeting under the cherry tree with Seishiro as a child. The kindly Seishiro begins to show a sinister face to the mirror as Subaru's grandmother, the matriarch of the Sumeragi clan, arrives in Tokyo.
No. 6. 2, Created by Atsuko Asano ; manga by Hinoki Kino
With the help of the enigmatic Rat, Shion becomes a fugitive, escaping No. 6 and getting his first glimpse of the desperation and violence that are facts of life outside the city wall. And as Shion learns more about the secret that forced him into exile, his loyalty to the people he left behind and Rat's thirst for revenge threaten to tear the pair apart!
Daredevil. End of days, Brian M Bendis & David Mack, writers
Uncanny X-Men. [1], Revolution, Brian M Bendis
Supergirl. Volume 2, Girl in the world, Michael Green & Mike Johnson.
Today is the last day of the rest of your life, Ulli Lust
Two teenaged punk-rock girls hitchhike their way across Italy without a penny in their pockets. Set in 1984, Ulli Lust's' Today is the last day of the rest of your life' is an intimate, detailed, funny, touching, and dramatic chronicle of several eventful months in the life of the author as she and her new best friend Edi make their way from Vienna, Austria to Sicily.
Fashion beast, Alan Moore, script; Alan Moore & Malcolm McLaren, story.
Alan Moore and Malcolm McLaren developed a story that redefined Beauty and the Beast in a dystopian future city dominated by a fashion house, which Moore then fully-scripted into a huge screenplay. Never previously published, this epic work is now adapted for comics by long-time Moore collaborator, Antony Johnston (Courtyard) preserving every scrap of Moore's original dialogue.
Knights of Sidonia. 4, Tsutomu Nihei
Bakuman. 20, Dreams and reality, Tsugumi Ohba ; art by Takeshi Obata
Umineko when they cry. 4, Turn of the golden witch. 2, Ryukishi07, Jiro Suzuki
Judge. 1, Yoshiki Tonogai
Envy, lust, sloth, wrath, gluttony, pride, greed. A group of sinners who bear the guilt of the seven deadly sins has been gathered in an old courthouse to face judgement. To leave this place alive, they must offer up a sacrifice one of their number. As the trial begins, who will the gavel fall on first?
Saga. 2, Brian K. Vaughan ; artist, Fiona Staples.
The smash-hit ongoing epic continues! Thanks to her star-crossed parents Marko and Alana, newborn baby Hazel has already survived lethal assassins, rampaging armies, and alien monstrosities, but in the cold vastness of outer space, the little girl encounters something truly frightening: her grandparents!

Japanese titles

Kiken, Arikawa Hiro.
Yashazakura : chāhen jidai shāsetsu, Asano Atsuko.
Ippunkan dake, Harada Maha.
Hayaku meitantei ni naritai, Higashigawa Tokuya.
Furudāgu Nakano Shāten, Kawakami Hiromi.
Zarazara, Kawakami Hiromi.
Tākyājima, Kirino Natsuo.
Rakuen, Miyabe Miyuki.
Shabondama dāmei, Nashiya Arie.
Hone no kioku, Nire Shūhei.
Sanīsaido eggu, Ogiwara Hiroshi.
Ushinawareru monogatari, Otsuichi [cho].
Jurī ando juria, Powell Julie;Tominaga Kazuko.
Kiseki o kureta inutachi, Shinohara Atsumi.
Hyakusai made bokenai asaichiban no kantan sūpu, Shirasawa Takuji.
Hannin ni tsugu, Shizukui Shūsuke.
Ebisu miko, Takahashi Katsuhiko.
Donguri no ribon, Tanabe Seiko.
Myūjikku buresu yū, Tsumura Kikuko.
Usagi doroppu. 9, Unita Yumi.

Mystery

Omens : a Cainsville novel, Kelley Armstrong.
Begins a new series that is more mystery than fantasy and dealing with a woman who learns she was adopted and her real parents are serial killers.
Strange shores, Arnaldur Indridason.
The final Detective Erlendur novel sees him on the trail of a missing woman and also his long lost brother.
Robert B. Parker's Lullaby : a Spenser novel, Ace Atkins.
Gone with the woof, Laurien Berenson.
Helping a legendary dog breeder pen his autobiography, Melanie is stunned when the man's son turns up dead and the breeder is the main suspect. She resolves to investigate the death amidst ex-lovers, hoarding, and dead ends.
Holy orders : a Quirke mystery, Benjamin Black.
Latest in series featuring pathologist Quirke (now a TV series) where a body found in the canal in 1950s Dublin leads to secrets and coverups in the Catholic church.
Heirs and graces, Rhys Bowen.
While in the Australian Outback grooming a newfound heir, Jack Altringham, for high society, Lady Georgiana Rannoch finds herself investigating the murder of the Duke who was found with Jack's hunting knife in his back.
Save yourself, Kelly Braffet.
While a convenience-store clerk navigates the pitfalls of his father's imprisonment and the baffling attentions of two young women, a high school freshman endures her parents' fundamentalism and cruel classmates by joining a circle of dark misfits.
Robert B. Parker's Damned if you do : a Jesse Stone novel, Michael Brandman.
Paradise Poice Chief Jesse Stone discovers a young woman's corpse in a beachfront motel.
City of devils, Diana Bretherick.
Set in the 1880s when a Scottish scientist is apprenticed to a famous criminologist in Turin where a killer is on the loose.
Blotto, Twinks and the riddle of the Sphinx, Simon Brett.
The fifth in the zany series featuring Blotto and Twinks.
Flesh wounds, Chris Brookmyre.
Private eye Jasmine Sharp never knew her father, murdered before she was born, and finally has the chance to uncover some dark family secrets.
Deadline, Sandra Brown.
Journalist returns from Afghanistan and gets a call from FBI to investigate the presumed murder of a former marine.
Purgatory, Ken Bruen.
A vigilante murderer targets drug dealers, loan sharks and rapists on the mean streets of Galway. Jack Taylor investigates.
Let me go, Chelsea Cain.
Latest lurid suspense tale with Detective Archie Sheridan and escaped serial killer Gretchen Lowell.
Joe Victim, Paul Cleave
Slow Joe is back. Readers of The Cleaner, will remember how delusional and psychotic Joe was. After embarking on a four year killing spree, in which no one guesses that Joe is the actual killer, he is finally caught. Now in prison awaiting trial, Joe is still trying to convince everyone that he's either slow, doesn't remember what happened or both. And at times, one almost believes him.
A spider in the cup, Barbara Cleverly.
When the body of a young woman is found buried along the banks of the Thames in 1933, Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner Joe Sandilands juggles the case with an increasingly dangerous assignment protecting an American senator.
The outsider, Chris Culver.
From the author of the bestselling thtiller "The Abbey" has Detective Ash Rashid investigating the murder of one of his daughter's friends.
Just what kind of mother are you?, Paula Daly
Debut mystery. Woman with a hectic life finds it descending into nightmare when a teenage girl goes missing than is found murdered and she is blamed.
A cold white sun : a Constable Molly Smith mystery, Vicki Delany.
Constable Molly Smith, from British Columbia, investigates murder on a hiking trail.
Vampires, bones and treacle scones, Kaitlyn Dunnett.
Halloween is approaching and newlywed Liss MacCrimmon Ruskin is tapped by the Moosetookalook Small Business Association to organise a community fundraiser. Liss throws herself into plans to turn an abandoned mansion into a "haunted house." And then, to Liss' horror, the fake skeleton she's acquired for a special effect is replaced with a real body and it's someone she knows.
Midnight, Kevin Egan.
Excellent legal thriller debut about members of a New York courthouse concealing a death till after midnight.
Three dog night, Elsebeth Egholm
Ex-con moves to rural Denmark to start a new life. He discovers the body of an old prison acquaintance, then the body of a girl turns up. Fast moving thriller giving us the darker side of Denmark.
Dead line, Chris Ewan.
Daniel Trent needs all his expertise as hostage negotiator when his fiancee goes missing in Marseille.
Eva's eye, Karin Fossum
The original Inspector Sejer mystery now available in English translation for the first time.
The cold nowhere, Brian Freeman.
Detective Joanthan Stride and the girl he tries to protect from a cold-blooded killer while his partner Maggie feels the girl is not to be trusted.
Hotshot, Julie Garwood.
A mixture of family drama, romance and suspense as two sisters inherit an oceanfront resort but various people seem to be out to sabotage them.
The silent wife, A.S.A. Harrison.
Chilling psychological thriller about a disintegrating relationship when murdering a husband seems to be the only choice.
Death of the demon, Anne Holt.
Police investigator Hanne Wilhelmen returns to investigate the gruesome murder of an orphanage director in this dark Norwegian crime tale.
Tell no lies, Gregg Hurwitz.
When probation officer Daniel Brasher finds a threatening note in his pigeonhole it leads to a series of seemingly random murders and he just might be next.
Hardcastle's traitors, Graham Ison.
It is New Year's Eve 1915 and the Hardcastle family are welcoming 1916 at their home in Kennington, London. But an hour into the New Year, Hardcastle is called to a murder in a jeweller's shop in Vauxhall.
Tell me, Lisa Jackson.
20 years ago a woman was convicted of murdering her daughter and injuring her other two children. Now her son has recanted his testimony.
Noose, Bill James.
1956 and a young actress attempts suicide. The journalist on the case discovers the woman may be his sister and the past is about to be uncovered.
The funeral owl, Jim Kelly.
The owl is seen to be an omen of death and when a murder occurs in a churchyard in the West Fens, newspaper editor Philip Dryden uncovers more than he expects.
Wrongful death, Lynda La Plante.
London nightclub owner is found dead, supposedly a suicide, but DCI Anna Travis believes it is murder.
Every second lost, Dylan Lawson.
Elias Hawks' world changed for ever when, as a teenager, he crashed his car and woke, six weeks later, to find he had lost the girl of his dreams and very nearly his life. Seventeen years later, all Elias has left is his career as an accident investigator and a ticking time bomb in his head from the traumatic brain injury he suffered. But then the girl reappears out of the blue to tell him that her daughter is missing and Elias finds himself caught up in an increasingly deadly search for answers.
Then we take Berlin, John Lawton.
Gripping thriller about a Cockney cat burglar who ends up in prison and is used by M15.
The stuff of nightmares, James Lovegrove.
It's the autumn of 1890, and a spate of bombings has hit London. Sherlock Holmes believes Professor Moriarty is behind the campaign of terror, but to what end?
The raven's eye, Barry Maitland.
One of DCI Brock and DI Kolla's bloodiest investigations involving a killer with a grudge and a meat cleaver.
Walk a narrow mile, Faith Martin.
Ex-DI Hillary Greene, now working as a consultant to the cold-case team of the Thames Valley Police is still traumatised by a vicious attack from a stalker who, it now appears, was responsible for a string of other cases involving missing girls. Another tense, thrilling outing for the ever popular Hillary Greene.
Where the dead men go, Liam McIlvanney.
Hardboiled reporter Gerry Conway is back at his desk at the Glasgow Tribune when a big story becomes linked to a gangland shooting.
Dandy Gilver and a deadly measure of brimstone, Catriona Mcpherson.
Perthshire 1929 and the menfolk of the Gilver family have come down, between them, with influenza, bronchitis, pneumonia and pleurisy. Dandy the devoted wife and mother decides it is time to decamp; Dandy the intrepid detective, however, decides to decamp to the scene of a murder she would dearly love to solve.
The frozen dead, Bernard Minier
Psychological thriller debut, a bestseller in France, set in a snowbound valley in The Pyrenees which houses an institute for forensic science.
The missing file, D.A. Mishani.
Israeli writer's debut, the story of a child who disappears in Tel Aviv. The book has had enthusiastic reviews from the likes of crime master Henning Mankell.
It happens in the dark, Carol O'Connell.
NYPD Detective Kathy Mallory takes over a murder investigation when a woman and a playwright are found murdered and clues lead to a play about a long-ago massacre.
How the light gets in, Louise Penny.
In Three Pines Chief Inspector Armand Gamache investigates the disappearance of a woman who was once one of the most famous people in the world and now goes unrecognised by virtually everyone except the mad, brilliant poet Ruth Zardo.
The Ludwig Conspiracy, Oliver Potzsch
When an encoded diary about Ludwig, the fairytale king of Bavaria who was declared insane and died mysteriously soon thereafter, falls into his hands, rare book dealer Steven Lukas is forced to go on the run as he becomes the target of Ludwig's deranged modern-day followers.
Stealing the trees, Peter Rankin.
Kiwi mystery. An ex prisoner tries to start a new life in a rural North Island settlement but he can't escape his past and is drawn into a dark world of kidnappers and fake policemen.
Bones of the lost, Kathy Reichs.
The body of a teenage girl is discovered along a desolate highway on the outskirts of Charlotte. Inside her purse is the ID card of a local businessman who died in a fire months earlier. Who was the girl? And was she murdered? Dr Temperance Brennan, Forensic Anthropologist, must find the answers.
A small death in the great Glen, A.D. Scott.
In the Highlands of 1950s Scotland, a boy is found dead in a canal lock. Two members of the local newspaper staff set out to investigate the crime. Together, these very different Scots harbour deep and troubling secrets underneath their polished and respectable veneers.
Justice for Sara, Erica Spindler.
Cleared of her sister's murder, woman returns ten years later after receiving anonymous letters that demand justice.
Crimson rose, M.J. Trow.
1587 and Christopher Marlowe's play "Tamburlaine" opns in London but an audience member is murdered on the night.
The death of Lucy Kyte, Nicola Upson.
Latest in the series featuring mystery writer Josephine Yey as sleuth takes us to 1930s Suffolk and a cottage where the famous Red Barn murders occurred.
Think of the children, Kerry Wilkinson.
Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel is first on the scene as a stolen car crashes on a misty, wet Manchester morning. The driver is dead, but the biggest shock awaits her when she discovers the body of a child wrapped in plastic in the boot of the car.

New Zealand Fiction

Huia short stories. 10 : contemporary Māori fiction.
Here are the best short stories and novel extracts from the Pikihuia Awards for Māori writers 2013 as judged by Sir Mason Durie, Hana O'Regan and Reina Whaitiri.
The life and loves of Lena Gaunt, Tracy Farr.
This is the story of Dame Lena Gaunt musician, octogenarian, junkie. Lena is Music's Most Modern Musician, the first theremin player of the twentieth century. From the obscurity of a Perth boarding school to a glittering career on the world stage, Lena Gaunt's life will be made and torn apart by those she gives her heart to.
Wahine : a novel, Kerry Harrison.
In 2009, a mysterious figure in an Auckland resthome, where an old woman is dying, triggers memories of the Wahine storm of 1968 and its aftermath.
Lies, truth & blasphemy, Gary Langford.
Langford's latest collection of short stories has four parts, each reflecting his different styles of writing over the years. They range from conventional Langford to his most successful fantasy tale, 'An elocutionist's guide to hijacking a library', to a dozen vignettes in 'The girls' house'.
The virgin & the whale : a love story, Carl Nixon.
It is 1919. Elizabeth Whitman is working as a nurse in the local hospital, waiting for her husband to return from war, though he is missing in action, 'presumed dead'. She keeps him alive for their four-year-old son, Jack, by telling the story of a man she calls The Balloonist, who went away in a hot-air balloon and has adventures in exotic countries. When she is asked to nurse a returned soldier whose head injury has reduced him to an animal-like state with no memory, Elizabeth starts telling stories to him. It is through them that she manages to engage his interest and offer him a new life.
Max Gate : a novel, Damian Wilkins
It's 1928 and the world's most famous novelist, Thomas Hardy, is dying in the upstairs room of Max Gate, the house he built in his beloved Dorset. Downstairs, his high-powered literary friends are becoming locked in a bitter fight with local supporters. Who owns Hardy's remains? Who knew the great man best? What are the secrets of Max Gate?

Romance

Roan, Jennifer Blake.
Blue moon promise, Colleen Coble.
The taming of Ryder Cavanaugh, Stephanie Laurens.

Saga & Historical

Longbourn, Jo Baker.
Reimagining "Pride & prejudice" from the perspective of the servants.
The glass ocean, Lori Baker.
Newly orphaned Carlotta tells the extraordinary story of her parents, a solitary glassmaker and the beautiful and unreachable Clotilde. Set in a richly imagined Victorian world.
Infamy, Lenny Bartulin.
The history of Tasmania through the tale of an outlaw leader of a band of escaped convicts, a love story and the life of an Aborigine tracker.
The spice merchant's wife, Charlotte Betts.
1666 and Kate Finche watches as the Great Fire rages through London and destroys her huband's livelihood and life.
The tattered quilt : return of the Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club, Wanda E. Brunstetter.
Tattered quilt pieces match the tattered fragments in the lives of a new group of patchwork students. Sequel to "The half-stitched Amish quilting club."
Into the whirlwind, Elizabeth Camden.
After a fire destroys Chicago, Mollie is desperate to save her business. With everything at risk including her heart can she rise from the ashes.
The lion and the lamb, John Henry Clay.
Story of Roman Britain on the cusp of the Dark Ages when all that stands between the citizens and oblivion is one family.
Confessions of a wild child, Jackie Collins.
The Santangelo family and the super-heroine Lucky are back.
The young lion, Blanche D'Alpuget.
First historical fiction from veteran Aussie author. The story of Henry II and the beginning of the House of Plantagenet.
A Christmas to remember, Katie Flynn.
A few days before Christmas Tess Williams rushes into Albert Payne's tobacconist shop, with two boys in hot pursuit, saying she's a thief. Albert chases the boys away, and though Tess does not realise it, this incident changes her life.
Secrets of the sea house, Elisabeth Gifford.
Scotland, 1860. Reverend Alexander Ferguson, naive and newly-ordained, takes up his new parish, a poor, isolated patch on the Hebridean island of Harris. His time on the island will irrevocably change the course of his life, but the white house on the edge of the dunes keeps its silence long after Alexander departs.
The signature of all things, Elizabeth Gilbert.
The author of "Eat, pray, love" with the story of the daughter of the richest man in 1800s Philadelphia and how she becomes a botanist and falls for a painter of orchids.
Prairie song, Mona Hodgson.
Begins a new historical faith based series, "Hearts seeking home," set during a wagon train journey to California.
Sword of Rome, Douglas Jackson.
Latest in the strong and impressive historical series set in Ancient Rome and featuring Gaius Valerius Verrens, Defender of Rome.
The good lord bird, James McBride.
A young slave in Kansas must flee with abolitionist John Brown after Brown clashes with his master.
The jade widow, Deborah O'Brien.
The story of pioneering Aussie women finding their way in a man's world.
Arena, Simon Scarrow and T.J. Andrews
Bonds of friendship develop between champion gladiator Pavo and Macro, the Roman soldier who trains him but can Pavo survive to find and avenge his father's murder.
The purchase, Linda Spalding.
Winner of a major Candian literary award. The story of a recently widowed man shunned by his fellow Quakers after he marries his servant girl and purchases a young black slave.
City of promise : a novel of New York's gilded age, Beverly Swerling.
Beverly Swerling's epic saga continues as New York emerges from the Civil War into the Gilded Age a city marked by soaring expansion and teeming with unbridled ambition and dazzling glamour.
The thief fleet, James Talbot.
Fourteen hundred and twenty men, women, and children - naval, military, civilians, free and in chains are shipped halfway around the world from England to the South Pacific. Months later, at the end of the longest voyage of its kind in the Age of Sail, the Thief Fleet casts anchor on a shallow bay where a convict camp is hurriedly built.
Pity the lonely dreamers, Grace Thompson.
Girl leaves Southern Wales for London in the 1970s and finds new friends and ambitions.
The sacred river, Wendy Wallace.
Young invalid escapes Victorian London for Egypt along with her mother and discovers a land on the brink of revolt.
Cry of the curlew, Peter Watt.
Tale of two families, the Macintoshes and the Duffys, who are locked in a deadly battle from the moment squatter Donald Macintosh commits an act of barbarity on his Queensland property.
Shadow of the osprey, Peter Watt.
On a Yankee clipper bound for Sydney Harbour the mysterious Michael O'Flynn is watched closely by a man working undercover for Her Majesty's government. O'Flynn has a dangerous mission to undertake and old scores to settle.
The misbegotten, Katherine Webb.
1821 and young governess becomes wife of a self-made merchant. She becomes companion to a reclusive man where the mystery of a disappearance years back is linked to dark secrets that could bring down Bath's high society.

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Broken homes, Ben Aaronovitch.
Fourth title in the "Rivers of London" fantasy series.
Elisha Barber, E.C. Ambrose.
Fantasy debut which depicts a 14th century England in which magic and fledgling science exist side by side.
Terra, Mitch Benn.
First SF novel by stand up comedian and satirical songwriter is a sf fable about how odd and alien we are and how human aliens can be.
The raven's shadow, Elspeth Cooper.
Third in the epic fantasy series, The Wild Hunt.
Dragon Queen, Stephen Deas.
Second in the fantasy series "Silver Kings" by the acknowledged expert on dragons.
The ocean at the end of the lane, Neil Gaiman.
Story of ancient powers best left undisturbed but now on the loose.
The third kingdom, Terry Goodkind.
A new Richard and Kahlan novel, a sequel to "The omen machine."
The beating of his wings, Paul Hoffman.
Final instalment in his epic Cale and the Sanctuary of Redeemers series.
Kill City blues : a Sandman Slim novel, Richard Kadrey.
Settled back in L.A., James Stark (aka Sandman Slim) must find a dead man, recover an ancient artifact, and outwit and outrun the angry old gods and natural-born killers on his tail.
Styxx, Sherrilyn Kenyon.
Latest in the Dark-Hunter series looks at Acheron's twin brother and one of the most powerful beings on earth.
Emperor of thorns, Mark Lawrence.
Book three of the "Broken Empire" series.
Queen of iron years, Lyn McConchie, Sharman Horwood.
Tensen's Virus affects transsexuals, bonding with their body chemistry to induce a lethal allergic reaction in anyone who has sex with a carrier. Tensen's carriers are demonized. Even those profiled with the same hormone mix come under attack.
The returned, Jason Mott.
When their son Jacob, who died tragically at his 8th birthday party in 1966, arrives on their doorstep, still 8 years old, Harold and Lucille Hargrave must navigate a strange new reality as chaos erupts around the world as people's loved ones are returned from beyond. Basis of the TV series.
Blood of tyrants, Naomi Novik.
Shipwrecked and cast ashore in Japan with no memory of Temeraire or his own experiences as an English aviator, Capt. William Laurence finds himself tangled in deadly political intrigues that threaten not only his own life but England's already precarious position in the Far East.
Under a graveyard sky, John Ringo.
When an airborne zombie plague is released, bringing civilisation to a grinding halt, the Smith family takes to the Atlantic to avoid the chaos. The plan is to find a safe haven from the anarchy of infected humanity. What they discover, instead, is a sea composed of the tears of survivors and a passion for bringing hope.
Blood song, Anthony Ryan.
Debut epic fantasy set in a world of conflicting religions and the wars between them. Broad scale fantasy in the vein of Robert Jordan and George R.R. Martin.
Legion ; and, The emperor's soul, Brandon Sanderson.
Two standalone novellas by the author of the Mistborn series. 'The emperor's soul' won this year's Hugo Award.
Requiem, Ken Scholes.
The plots within plots are expanding as the characters seek their way out of the maze of intrigue. The world is expanding as they discover lands beyond their previous carefully controlled knowledge. Hidden truths reveal even deeper truths, and nothing is as it seemed to be.
A clockwork heart, Liesel Schwarz.
The follow up to "A conspiracy of alchemists", a steampunk tale where Londoners are disappearing and one girl has the chance of saving them from a slow death from a clockwork heart.
The bone season, Samantha Shannon.
2059 and a dreamwalker, 19 year old Paige, is imprisoned and must learn to be compliant if she is to survive. First of seven novels and advance publicity tells us that it's like a mash-up of "Hunger games" and "The passage".
War master's gate, Adrian Tchaikovsky.
9th book in the Apt series.
Storm riders, Margaret Weis and Robert Krammes.
Second in the "Dragon brigade" series.
Crystal venom, Steve Wheeler.
In our future worlds the Administration rules the Sphere of Humankind, the Games Board sanctions and funds wars and conflicts, and the Haulers' Collective roams the space routes like the caravanners of old. Political factions and galactic media moguls vie for power and money. Second in the Fury of Aces series.