When a bloody, pulverized body is found lying beneath the rustic timbers of an authentic torture device so vicious and complicated as to be blood-curdling, there's sufficient unrest in tiny Forbes Abbot to call in Chief Inspector Barnaby. Was Dennis Brinkley done in by crooked business partners, a teenage seductress, a couple of would-be publishers who've just inherited - and then lost - millions, or perhaps by tired, timid little Benny Fraye, who wouldn't hurt a fly - would she?Barnaby will soon find out just who set in motion the gruesome machine that crushed the unfortunate victim. Caroline Graham's delightful cozy village mysteries, which inspired the continuing Midsommer Murders series starring Inspector Barnaby on A&E Television, have long been fan-favorites; A Ghost in the Machine is sure to cement her reputation as one of the best crime writers in the mystery business today.

Edinburgh is a city steeped in history and tradition, a seat of learning, of elegant living, known as the ‘Athens of the North’.But here are twelve stories which will open your eyes to another Edinburgh, a city of grudges, blackmail, violence, greed and fear: a city where past and present clash.A student, hanging, from a gallows in Parliament Square...A telephone summons to murder...An arson attack on a bird-watcher...The witnessing of a miracle...Plus Five Nations Cup, Hogmanay, the Auld Alliance, the Festival and more - all in the company of the popular and redoubtable Inspector John Rebus. If you like whodunnits, whydunnits or howdunnits, if you like your crime with a twist of wry, if you’re the kind of traveller who likes to step off the tourist trail... then this is the collection you’re been waiting for.

John Rebus stands accused: on trial for a crime that could put him behind bars for the rest of his life. Although it’s not the first time the legendary detective has taken the law into his own hands, it might be the last.

What drove a good man to cross the line? Or have times changed, and the rules with them?

Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke faces Edinburgh’s most explosive case in years, as a corrupt cop goes missing after claiming to harbour secrets that could sink the city’s police force.

But in this investigation, it seems all roads lead to Rebus — and Clarke’s twin loyalties to the public and the police will be tested to their limit.

A reckoning is coming — and John Rebus may be hearing the call for last orders...

‘The Kyrgyz winter reminds us that the past is never dead, simply waiting to ambush us around the next corner’.When Inspector Akyl Borubaev of Bishkek Murder Squad arrives at the brutal murder scene of a young woman, all evidence hints at a sadistic serial killer on the hunt for more prey.But when the young woman’s father turns out to be a leading government minister, the pressure is on Borubaev to solve the case not only quickly but also quietly, by any means possible. Until more bodies are found…Still in mourning after his wife’s recent death, Borubaev descends into Bishkek’s brutal underworld, a place where no-one and nothing is as it seems, where everyone is playing for the highest stakes, and where violence is the only solution.