Shadow of the Wolf, by Brent Ghelfi

This gripping sequel to the acclaimed Volk’s Game sees the return of Colonel Alexei (‘Volk’) Volkovoy: covert agent of the Russian army and major player in the Moscow underworld.

The headquarters of an American oil company haemorrhages chemical-pink smoke into the Moscow night – the aftermath of an apparent terrorist attack. A Russian army captain carrying a priceless Fabergé egg and digital evidence of horrific wartime atrocities is murdered and relieved of both these prizes. And in the snowy mountains of southern Russia, a terrorist named Abreg – who once held Volk captive in a Chechen mud-pit – hatches a plan to lure Volk back into his grasp.

This time Volk is without his sidekick and lover, the ethereal Valya Novaskaya. Aching for the soulmate he pushed away, Volk begins to doubt himself, becoming yet more detached from the brutality of his actions. But when he takes out his inner pain on the wrong man, he gains a powerful enemy in the highest reaches of the Kremlin. And so Volk is driven back to blood-soaked Chechnya, there to confront an old nemesis …

A Razor Wrapped in Silk, by R. N. Morris

St. Petersburg. 1870. A child factory worker is mysteriously abducted. A society beauty is sensationally murdered. Two very different crimes show up the deep fissures in Russian society during the late tsarist period. The first is barely noticed by the authorities. The latter draws the full investigative might of St Petersburg’s finest, led by magistrate Porfiry Petrovich.

The dead woman had powerful friends – including at least one member of the Romanov family – so when the tsar’s notorious secret police become involved, it seems that both crimes may have a political – not to say revolutionary – aspect, which takes Porfiry inside the Winter Palace for a confrontation with the Tsar himself.

The usually incisive magistrate grows increasingly unsure what to believe, who to trust and how to proceed. His very life appears to be in danger, though from whom he can’t be sure.

Trust Me, by Peter Leonard

When Bobby and Lloyd decide to rob local restaurant owner Lou Starr’s home in the night, they don’t reckon on being propositioned about an even bigger scam by Lou’s so-called girlfriend Karen. But after yet another bad decision in her life Karen has been looking for a way out and, more specifically, a way to recover her life savings, stolen from her by the treacherous Samir. And so set in motion is a plan that sounds all too simple.

Following his much-loved debut novel Quiver, Peter Leonard returns to the mean streets of Detroit with a high octane novel of money, guns and some serious double crossing. Featuring a virtuoso cast of bad guys, a disgraced ex-cop who finds himself in more trouble than he bargained for, and an anti-heroine to die for, Trust Me is the superb sophomore novel from one of the emergent voices in crime writing today.

The Crucifix Killer, by Chris Carter

When the body of a young woman is discovered in a derelict cottage in the middle of Los Angeles National Forest, Homicide Detective Robert Hunter finds himself entering a horrific and recurring nightmare. Naked, strung from two wooden posts, on the neck of the victim has been carved a strange double-cross: the signature of the Crucifix Killer.

But that’s not possible. Because, two years ago, the Crucifix Killer was caught and executed. Could this be the work of a copycat? Or is Homicide Detective Robert Hunter forced to face the unthinkable? Is the real Crucifix Killer still out there,
taunting Hunter with his inability to catch him? Robert Hunter and his rookie partner are about to enter a nightmare beyond imagining …

Read the first chapter on Bookdagger.

Shadow, by Karin Alvtegen

Gerda Persson has lain dead for three days. Her life seems to have been quite ordinary. Until the freezer in her home is opened. It is full of books, neatly stacked and wrapped in clingfilm, a thick layer of ice covering them – all by the same prize-winning author, all with handwritten dedications to Gerda.

What story do these books have to tell? And what is their connection to a young boy found abandoned in an amusement park? Shadow is an utterly compelling novel of dark family secrets, murder and betrayal, which will keep you gripped until its final thrilling revelations.

The Corner, by David Simon and Ed Burns

The notorious corner of West Fayette and Monroe Streets in Baltimore is a 24-hour open-air drug market that provides the economic fuel for a dying neighbourhood.

Through the eyes of one broken family – two drug-addicted adults and their smart, vulnerable 15-year-old son, DeAndre McCollough – Simon and Burns examine the sinister realities of inner cities across the USA and unflinchingly assess why law enforcement policies, moral crusades and the welfare system have accomplished so little.

Naming the Bones, by Louise Welsh

Some secrets are best left buried.

Knee-deep in the mud of an ancient burial ground, a winter storm raging around him, and at least one person intent on his death: how did Murray Watson end up here? His quiet life in university libraries researching the lives of writers seems a world away, and yet it is because of the mysterious writer, Archie Lunan, dead for thirty years, that Murray now finds himself scrabbling in the dirt on the remote island of Lismore. Loaded with Welsh’s trademark wit, insight and gothic charisma, this adventure novel weaves the lives of Murray and Archie together in a tale of literature, obsession and dark magic.

The Crossroads, by Niccolo Ammaniti

Cristiano is thirteen. Home life is far from perfect. When his father and two friends come up with a plan to rob a bank, Cristiano sees the chance of a better life. As a tremendous storm brews that night, Cristiano will have to put childhood behind him once and for all, and the perfect crime will have shocking consequences.

The Twisted Heart, by Rebecca Gowers

When Kit goes to a dance class she is hoping simply to take her mind off her studies. Soon it looks like Joe, a stranger she meets there, might do more than that. But when Kit uncovers a mystery involving the young Charles Dickens and the slaughter of a prostitute known as The Countess, she is sucked back in to the world of books, and discovers how Dickens became tangled up with this horrendous crime.

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