There were sharp smashing blows — an infinity of pain.

The New York Times bestselling author returns with her second international bestseller – an electrifying new novel about how the past will always find us, for fans of The Girl on the Train and I Let You Go. 'A wonderfully addictive book with virtuoso plotting and characters – for anyone who loved The Girl on the Train, it's a must read' Rosamund Lupton, bestselling author of Sister 'Literary suspense at its finest' Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Baby To everyone who knows her now, Zoe Maisey – child genius, musical sensation – is perfect. Yet several years ago Zoe caused the death of three teenagers. She served her time, and now she's free. Her story begins with her giving the performance of her life. By midnight, her mother is dead. The Perfect Girl is an intricate exploration into the mind of a teenager burdened by brilliance, and a past that she cannot leave behind. More praise for The Perfect Girl: 'The Perfect Girl mesmerizes from first to last. Highly original and prickling with tension – I could not stop turning the pages!' Shari Lapena, bestselling author of The Couple Next Door 'Intense, electrifying…grips like a python from the first page' Daily Mail 'An intense, unpredictable page turner' Good Housekeeping 'An unusual plot is accompanied by sharp characters and a thought-provoking denouement' Times 'Masterfully drawn characters and intricate plotting make this a stunning piece of crime fiction' Booklist 'A suspenseful, serpentine tale…[with a] perfectly executed final twist' Publishers Weekly 'With lovely prose, depth of character and an intelligent narrative, Macmillan lifts the level of suspense with stiletto-like precision: a tiny graze here, a shallow cut there and, eventually, a thrust into the heart. Profoundly unsettling and richly rewarding' Richmond Times 'This taut, well-written thriller explores domestic violence and family bonds…and the conclusion is shocking and wonderfully satisfying.

November 1694. The streets of Edo are erupting in violence as two factions struggle for control over the ruling Tokugawa regime. One is led by the shogun's cousin, Lord Matsudaira, and the other by the shogun's second-in-command, Chamberlain Yanagisawa. Each side pressures Sano Ichiro, the shogun's most honorable investigator, to join its ranks.When one of the shogun's most trusted advisers is found dead, Sano is forced to honor a posthumous request for a murder investigation. Senior Elder Makino believed that his death would be the result of assassination rather than natural causes. Although he and Sano were bitter enemies, Makino knew that the incorruptible Sano would be duty-bound to oblige his final wish.Under the watchful eyes and thinly veiled threats of both Lord Matsudaira and Chamberlain Yanagisawa, Sano moves with caution. Each is eager to implicate the other in Makino's death. Sano must discover whether the death was indeed murder, and if so, whether it was motivated by politics, love, or sex. The discovery of secret alliances, both romantic and military, further complicates matters. Sano's investigation has barely begun when violent death claims another of the shogun's favorites.With his wife, Reiko, working undercover, Sano and his chief retainer, Hirata, must not only investigate multiple deaths, but stem the tide of an impending civil war.

Samurai Sano Ichiro and his wife Reiko, are hot on the heels of a mysterious courtesan in bestselling novelist Laura Joh Rowland's latest historical thriller. In the carefully ordered world of 17th century Japan, the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter is home to women who have been sold to brothels as punishment for their crimes. It is here that the shogun's dashing young cousin and heir apparent is found dead – stabbed through the eye with a long hairpin – in the bed of a beautiful courtesan named Lady Wisteria. When both Lady Wisteria and her private journal – or pillow book – turn up missing, Sano Ichiro, the shogun's Most Honourable Investigator of Events, Situations and People, is called upon to solve the crime and find the lady, a job that is complicated slightly by the fact that Sano had a brief affair with her some years ago. Against his better judgement Sano accepts the help of his fiery, young wife, Reiko, in exploring the surprisingly dangerous world of the pleasure quarter as he seeks to unmask a killer.

"[An] excellent debut… filled with murder, betrayal, and a terrific sense of place." – C J BoxSet in the wilds of Maine, this is an explosive tale of an estranged son thrust into the hunt for a murderous fugitive--his own father.Game warden Mike Bowditch returns home one evening to find an alarming voice from the past on his answering machine: his father, Jack, a hard-drinking womanizer who makes his living poaching illegal game. An even more frightening call comes the next morning from the police: They are searching for the man who killed a beloved local cop the night before--and his father is their prime suspect. Jack has escaped from police custody, and only Mike believes that his tormented father might not be guilty.Now, alienated from the woman he loves, shunned by colleagues who have no sympathy for the suspected cop killer, Mike must come to terms with his haunted past. He knows firsthand Jack's brutality, but is the man capable of murder? Desperate and alone, Mike strikes up an uneasy alliance with a retired warden pilot, and together the two men journey deep into the Maine wilderness in search of a runaway fugitive. There they meet a beautiful woman who claims to be Jack's mistress but who seems to be guarding a more dangerous secret. The only way for Mike to save his father now is to find the real killer--which could mean putting everyone he loves in the line of fire.The Poacher's Son is a sterling debut of literary suspense. Taut and engrossing, it represents the first in a series featuring Mike Bowditch.

When a polar bear is sighted in a sleepy Icelandic fishing village, then shot dead by local policeman Constable Halldr, it triggers a debate in the local community. Was Halldr a hero for killing the bear, or should the animal have been protected?Animal rights activists in the area see the constable as a villain, and when days later the dead body of Halldr is discovered at a remote beauty spot, the activists are immediately under suspicion.As Sergeant Magnus Ragnarsson and his colleague Detective Vigds Audardtti begin to investigate the policeman’s murder, they soon discover that things are not as clear-cut as might first appear. By degrees, Magnus and Vigds are drawn into this small and complex community — one riven with rivalries and grudges — in search of a deadly killer...

Aria doesn’t understand why she keeps gaining weight and why her period is late. It seems obvious that she’s pregnant but she hasn’t had sex in months. A trip to the doctor confirms that she is indeed pregnant but how could she be? And who is the father? Aria is determined to prove to her friends and family that she’s not crazy and that someone is out to get her. But who and why? Aria soon discovers that the truth is more sinister and complex than she can ever imagine.

A dozen of the very best mystery stories from crime-fiction’s maestro, including one brand new Inspector Banks story.Best known — and much admired — for his long-running and bestselling Inspector Banks series, Peter Robinson is also widely and highly praised by mystery mavens for his riveting short stories.Robinson’s versatile talent is on full display in the twelve stories that comprise his latest short story collection, The Price of Love and Other Stories. Spellbinding plots, suspense that grips and won’t let go, utterly unpredictable twists, psychological truths both sweet and scary, characters you’d like to meet (and some you’d hope never to encounter), all set in places that are characters themselves — these are the fundamentals of story and mystery that Robinson plays like the virtuoso he is.

A knock on Spenser's office door can only mean one thing: a new case. This time the visitor is a local lawyer with an interesting story. Elizabeth Shaw specializes in wills and trusts at the Boston law firm of Shaw Cartwright, and over the years she's developed a friendship with wives of very wealthy men. However, these rich wives have a mutual secret: they've all had an affair with a man named Gary Eisenhower – and now he's blackmailing them for money. Shaw hires Spenser to make Eisenhower 'cease and desist,' so to speak, but when women start turning up dead, Spenser's assignment goes from blackmail to murder.As matters become more complicated, Spenser's longtime love, Susan, begins offering some input by analyzing Eisenhower's behavior patterns in hopes of opening up a new avenue of investigation. It seems that not all of Gary's women are rich. So if he's not using them for blackmail, then what is his purpose? Spenser switches tactics to focus on the husbands, only to find that innocence and guilt may be two sides of the same coin.With its eloquently spare prose and some of the best supporting characters to grace the printed page, The Professional is further proof that '[t]here's hardly an author in the crime novel business like Parker' (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

A mouthwatering new Della Cools mystery-recipes included.Owner of a Santa Monica cooking school and cable cooking show star Della Carmichael is one of three judges for an A-list cook-off-but it's the celebrities who are getting knocked off.

Magic is about to meet murder in Willow BayAngela Martin lives a pretty normal life. As normal as the life of a witch who can talk to animals can be, anyway.Until she shows up to work one day and finds a dead body.Of course, in a small town like Willow Bay this means everyone is obviously on edge. Between the cops who have never investigated a murder before, the crazy hot but infuriating guy Angela is sure has something to do with the murder and clients threatening to move to Canada, Angela starts to wonder if things are ever going to be normal again.But as Angela comes closer to the truth, she finds herself in the murderer's crosshairs. Will she be able to solve the case before she becomes the next victim?The Purr-fect Crime is the first book in the Willow Bay Witches series of paranormal cozy mysteries. It's a full-length novel full of funny and sarcastic best friends, a touch of magic, a snarky talking cat and a little bit of romance.Author note: This book was updated (with new editing!) on October 15th, 2016.

It's autumn in cozy, idyllic

Crozet, Virginia—a time for

golden days, crisp nights…and

murder. Mrs. Carla Paulson is

one of the diamond-encrusted

“come-here” set who has descended on Crozet with

plenty of wealth and no feeling

for country ways. She's

determined to make her new

house the envy of all her well-

heeled friends—and enemies — and she's hired architect Tazio

Chappers to build it. From the

start, the project—and Mrs.

Paulson—are a major headache

for all involved. But no one could

foresee that it would end with Mrs. Paulson stabbed to death at

a gala fund-raiser with Harry's

friend Tazio standing over her,

holding the knife. Now Harry

must solve what seems to

everyone else an open-and-shut case. Her four-legged partners

—sleuthing cats Mrs. Murphy

and Pewter and corgi Tee

Tucker—see it Harry's way. But

will they have to choose

between catching the purrfect killer and saving Harry?

A collection of storiesThe missing piece of the internationally bestselling Kurt Wallander mystery series: the story of Wallander's beginnings, told in five gripping short mysteries."What happened to Wallander before the series began?…Several years ago, right when I was done with the fifth book, Sidetracked, I realized that I had started to write stories in my head that took place long before the start of the series." – from Henning Mankell's forewordAt last, a key addition to the Kurt Wallander mystery series: the book of short mysteries that takes us back to the beginning. Here we meet Wallander the twenty-one-year-old patrolman on his first criminal investigation, Wallander the young father facing an unexpected danger on Christmas Eve, Wallander on the brink of middle age solving a case of poisoning, the newly separated Wallander investigating the murder of a local photographer, and Wallander the veteran detective discovering unexpected connections between a downed mystery plane and the assassination of a pair of spinster sisters. Over the course of these five mysteries, he comes into his own as a murder detective, defined by his simultaneously methodical and instinctive work, and is increasingly haunted from witnessing the worst aspects of an atomized society.Written from the unique perspective of an author looking back upon his own creation to discover his origins, these mysteries are vintage Mankell. Essential reading for all Wallander fans, The Pyramid is also a wonderful showcase for Mankell's powers as a writer.

This well-drawn tale of espionage is set in West Berlin, 15 years after the end of WW II. Quiller, a British agent who works without gun, cover or contacts, takes on a neo-Nazi underground organization and its war criminal leader. In the process, he discovers a complex and malevolent plot, more dangerous to the world than any crime committed during the war.On its publication in 1966, THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM received the Edgar Award as best mystery of the year.

A storm is bearing down on Foggy Point, Washington, promising strong winds, flooding and power outages. Harriet Truman and the Loose Threads quilt group are sewing flannel rag quilts and making plastic tarps from grocery bags for the denizens of a local homeless camp. Then one of the homeless men is strangled, and a few days later a second man is also murdered. Were they victims of a serial killer, or of someone closer to home? With the detectives of the Foggy Point Police department trapped on the wrong side of a rock slide that isolates the community, and dead bodies at the homeless camp, it’s up to Harriet and the Threads to figure out who is killing people and why-before they become the next victims.