NEW BOOK HODDER & STOUGHTON 1997

  Anonymous.  A Time For Justice Hodder & Stoughton --- July 19 £14.99
Susan and Simon Galloway don't need the latest crime statistics, doctored by the politicians, to tell them what is happening on the streets of their own neighbourhood. The Galloways have lost faith in 'the law', the Criminal Justice System. Everyone knows that the delinquents are getting away with it, again and again - muggings, thefts, burglaries, vandalising cars and brutal beatings. Why will Susan never again take her small son to the toddlers' club in Century Park? What is the fate awaiting Simon at the hands of the local youth gangs?
One powerfully placed figure has seen enough. His Honour Judge Marcus Byron heads a 'conspiracy' of those resolved to reform the system. Massively popular with the general public, handsome and flamboyant, Britain's most senior black judge has powerful enemies. The vested interests recognise the threat he presents. And they know that Judge Byron is flawed.
Not merely by personal ambition, cocksure arrogance and a dangerous taste for political intrigue. There have always been too many women in and out of Marcus's life. His teenage daughter Lucy, the child of his first marriage, can never forgive the father she loves for his desertion,. Bright, nervy and streetwise, Lucy falls in with young thugs. Inexorably she raises her criminal profile in order to destroy her father.
A Time for Justice is a powerful novel of suspense, a chilling portrait of urban anarchy, and a devastatingly informed indictment of the Criminal Justice System written by an anonymous insider.
The author works within the Criminal Justice System of England and Wales 

Alison  Joseph. A Dark and Sinful Death.  Headline Aug97 0 7472 1873 0 £17.99 
A Sister Agnes Mystery
Agnes Bourdillon isn't the kind of woman you expect to be a nun. She's attractive stylish, not naturally saintly. Sent by her order to their Yorkshire boarding school, she complies reluctantly, finding the tinkling good manners of the poised convent girls almost unbearable, for they remind her of her own privileged and lonely childhood. Gradually she warms to some, particularly the rebels, though the teachers, including the self effacing art mistress Joanna Baines, are harder to fathom.
Shortly after Agnes encountered her on a walk on the moors, together, Agnes thinks, with a man, Joanna disappears. Then the local newspaper reports the horrifying murder of a gardener who works for Allbrights, one of the few working mills in the area, owned by a Baines who denies he even. knows the missing Joanna. Joanna reappears days later, pale and thin, but then another body, similarly mutilated, is found, again linked to Allbrights. How long, Agnes wonders, can Joanna keep her silence?
Alison Joseph was born in North London and educated at Leeds University. After graduating she worked as a presenter on a local radio station then, moving back to London, for Channel 4. She later became a partner in an independent production company and one of its commissions was a series about women and religion. She has since worked as a reader for BBC Radio Drama. Alison lives in London. 

Faye Kellerman.  Serpent’s Tooth.  Headline 0 7472 1605 3  Aug 97 £16.99
 A busy night at an elegant restaurant. Diners celebrating birthdays, talking business, enjoying food, wine and company. Minutes later, carnage. Thirteen people are dead, dozens wounded, the medics working frantically to save them. As lieutenant Decker, in charge of the police on the scene, says, it's your worst nightmare.
 But at least the culprit seems clear. An ex-employee Harlan Manz ambled up to the bar then suddenly opened fire, finally tuning the gun on himself Decker, though, needs to understand what drove Manz to such a terrible act; needs, however routinely, to check out the crime scene and Manz's background. And things don't quite add up.
 Faye Kellerman was born in St Louis Missouri and graduated in Mathematics and Dentistry at UCLA. She began her career as a dentist but tumid to writing after the birth of her eldest child in 1978. She has now completed ten novels featuring policeman Peter Decker and one historical mystery. She has four children and lives with them and her husband, novelist and psychologist Jonathan Kellerman, in Los Angeles. 

David Wishart. Germanicus.  Sceptre Aug 97 0 340 68282 5 £16.99 See Review
"Gripping and intellectually stimulating... Chandler meets Robert Graves ".
  TLS
Bawdy, comic, and engrossing - David Wishart's fourth novel sees the return of his engaging but world-weary amateur sleuth Marcus Corvinus.  The last thing that he wants is to be summoned once more by the conniving Empress Livia -age has not sweetened her and she is about as trustworthy as a snake with a migraine. However, this is a lady who has a way of asking a favour that is impossible to refuse.
As a result Corvinus finds himself investigating the death of her grandson, Germanicus, which she swears `by all the gods above and below' that she is not responsible for. It is not long before he begins to uncover a multi-stranded web of betrayal and deceit...
Once again David Wishart has employed his extensive knowledge of Roman history and culture to impressive effect. He wears his classical scholarship lightly though, managing to combine authentic historical facts with vividly imagined fiction, and comedy with tragedy, presenting us with another challenging historical puzzle.
David Wishart is a Classics scholar, and has taught Latin and Greek. He spent eleven years abroad, working as a freelance teacher of English in Kuwait, Greece and Saudi Arabia. Now he lives with his wife and children in Carnoustie, Scotland. His previous three books, I, Virgil,  Ovid and Nero, are also available in Sceptre paperbacks. 

Judith Cook.  Death of A Lady’s Maid.  Headline Aug 97  0 7472 1898 6 £17.99
Death of A Lady’s Maid is the first entry in the Casebook of Dr. Simon Forman - who doubles as `super-sleuthing crime-solver' - in this vibrant murder mystery, which brings the sinister side of Elizabethan London to life.
Judith Cook began her writing career as a national newspaper journalist, and moved on to become an award winning freelancer in investigative journalism. Amongst her many critically acclaimed non-fiction books is the story of highwaywoman Mary Bryant - To Brave Every Danger - which is being made into a film by MGM. 

Lilian Jackson Braun.  The Cat Who Went Underground.  Pbk/Hb Headline Aug/Sep 97  0 7472 5039 1 / 0 7472 1462 X £5.99/£16.99
Jim Qwilleran packs up his old kit bag and his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, for a sun-and-fun summer at his log cabin in Moose County. Their vacation starts off ominously with the disappearance of a handyman hired to patch up Qwilleran's cabin. But the felines really start throwing catfits when they come across a dead body or two... A serial killer may be right under Koko's nose, and now this ingenious Siamese must dig deeper to clear poor Qwilleran of suspicion -
and dig up the buried motive for a catastrophic crime.
 Qwilleran - a prize-winning reporter with a nose for crime. Koko - a Siamese cat with extraordinary talents and a flair for mystery. Yum Yum - a loveable Siamese adored by her two male companions. The most unlikely, most unusual, most delightful team in detective fiction!
Lilian Jackson Braun composed her first poem at the age of two. She began writing her Cat Who . . . detective series when one of her own Siamese cats mysteriously fell to its death from her apartment block. Since then nineteen Cat Who . . . novels have been published, all featuring the very talented Koko and Yum Yum, Siamese cats with a bent for detection. She is currently working on the next novel in this internationally bestselling
Lilian Jackson Braun and her husband, Earl, live with their two cats, Koko III and Pitti Sing, in the mountain of North Carolina.
Jacket illustration Mark Thomas 

Emlyn Rees.  The Book of Dead Authors. Headline pbk Aug 97 07472 7724 9  £9.99 See Review
When successful author Adam Appleton opens the door of his charming Hampstead home to an alluring stranger, he unwittingly turns the page on the last, short and very unpleasant chapter of his life.
But for his Killer it is only the beginning. The beginning of a long, twisted narrative of revenge, which soon has the literary community paralyzed with fear, as its members are felled one by one and In increasingly bizarre circumstances. But what motivatesthis bloody campaign of revenge, and where is it all going to end?
Emlyn Rees was born in Cardiff in 1971. After studying English at Southampton University he began working for a leading literary agency, Curtis Brown. He submitted his novel under a pseudonym to an agent who worked a mere pane of glass away from him. He watched the novel arrive and land on the slush pile and then, to his horror the agent asked Emlyn if he would second read it. At this point Emlyn owned up that he was the mysterious author. Things turned out happily and Headline snapped it up. Emlyn is still working for Curtis Brown and writing his second novel. 

Colin Falconer. Disappeared.  Hodder & Stoughton Aug 97 0340 65360 4 £16.99
`The man reached into his jacket and put a photograph on the table. Simone's own face smiled up at her. But she was wearing a dress she had never owned, sitting on the steps of a house she had never been to.
`I know this is going to be a shock' he said. `But I'm your father. '
Buenos Aires,1976. During a night that will haunt him for the rest of his life, Reuben Altman's wife and baby daughters are disappeared by the death squads of the military junta.
Twenty years on Reuben is still racked with guilt, still refusing to believe they are dead, still trying to find them. His lonely search leads him to Mexico City, to London, and finally to Rome, where he finds his answers amidst a deadly web of love, betrayal, corruption and intrigue.
Colin Falconer is British but now lives in Western Australia juggling his writing with his responsibility as head of the local ambulance branch. Making his days slightly unpredictable as suddenly he leaves his writing to rush off and deal with a surfing accident, or the like. He is also a journalist and has written for many magazines and newspapers worldwide. He has written seven previous thrillers including the highly successful Triad and Fury; epic fiction - a Wilbur Smith for the nineties... 

Shaun Clarke.  Underworld.  Pbk Coronet Aug 97 0 340 66064 3 £5.99
Bestselling  author Shaun Clarke sets his latest  SAS novel against the background of the on-off peace in Northern Ireland in the late 1980s, where former IRA paramilitaries turn to organised crime to create a criminal empire based on drugs, prostitution, bank robbery, protection, money laundering - and the illegal sale of arms.
Already long established in Belfast they have now moved in on the Dublin underworld, negotiating with Irish American gangs and their counterparts in Europe.
The British authorities, appalled at the sheer scale of the problem assign a highly skilled SAS soldier to "neutralize" the men in charge of the six major Belfast gangs. Sergeant Michael Burton, decorated veteran of the Falklands and Gulf campaigns has already taken part in covert operations in Northern
Ireland and is apparently ideal for this highly dangerous and complex task. But Burton is also a man haunted by his memories of a Belfast tragedy of ten years ago.....
High-tension, violent and controverial Underworld depicts a dangerous SAS undercover operation that is only too believable....
Shaun Clarke is the bestselling author of the Soldier: SAS series and of the epic SAS novel The Exit Club. Born in Belfast, he now lives in the. Republic of Ireland. 

Bob Mayer.  Z.  pbk Coronet Aug 97 0 340 66651 X  £5.99
Sixth military action thriller in the successful series featuring
  Special Forces officer Dave Riley
Dave Riley is in Angola. His task is to escort SNN's pretty ace reporter Conner Young whilst she is reporting on the UN's peace-keeping mission in Angola. Comer is not Dave's only concern, he leans about Z, a mysterious, highly contagious disease, that kills within days, and it is just about to reach epidemic proportions. Meanwhile, mercenary forces have arrived in Angola to try and retrieve the remains of a satellite which has crashed somewhere in the African bush. If they manage to successfully locate its whereabouts they will be able to activate a dastardly plan to achieve both power and wealth.
The prospects of Riley and Conner's survival begin to look dim.
The author Bob Mayer, a West Point graduate and Special Forces veteran, serves in the Army reserves, as an instructor at the Special Forces Qualification course at the John F Kennedy Special Warfare Centre and School at Fort Bragg. He lives in Boulder, Colorado. His previous books are all available in Coronet paperback, Eyes of the Hammer, Dragon SIM 13, SYNBAT, Cut-Out and Eternity Base.
 'Mayer's portrayal of Green Beret operations and techniques takes you deep into the covert world of special operations.'
  W E B Griffin
 `Sinewy writing enhances his already potent action fix. An adrenaline cocktail from start to finish.'
  Kirkus Reviews on Cut-Out 

Frederic Lindsay. Kissing Judas. Hodder & Stoughton Sep 97 0 340 69533 1 £16.99
Introducing Edinburgh Detective, Jim Meldrum
A decent man in a time when integrity has gone out of fashion, Detective Inspector Jim Meldrum reckons his career has taken its toll. It's cost him his marriage, alienated his daughter, inured him to acts of senseless violence and the corrupting power of greed. Yet despite this stony facade, the murder of an elderly blindman -just another statistic - continues to haunt him fifteen years after the event.
Jim Meldrum is convinced that the wrong man languishes in jail. Hugh Kearney, the convicted man, has always protested his innocence and without an admission of guilt there is no parole for a man serving life for murder. When Kearney goes on hunger strike, Meldrum is forced to face up to his doubts about the case.
From the genteel terraces of Edinburgh to the tenements of Glasgow, from the tormented beauty of Co.Armagh to the deceptive calm of the Loire valley, Meldrum searches for the answers to why the blind man had to die.
The more he probes, the wider the implications become and the more serious the consequences. In physical danger, his career on the line, his family at risk, Jim Meldrum must consider how high a price he's prepared to pay for justice.
Frederic Lindsay is a writer of stunning psychological insight and this compelling new novel confirm his reputation as `one of the most interesting writers to have emerged in Scotland this decade' (Allan Massie, The Scotsman). Frederic Lindsay was born in Glasgow and now lies in Edinburgh where he is actively involved in the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish PEN. He has written for the theatre, radio, tv and film, and is the author of four previous highly-acclaimed novels, Brond, Jill Rips, A Charm Against Drowning and After the Stranger Came. His first novel, Brond, was televised in a three-part adaptation by Channel 4.
   Praise for Frederic Lindsay
`A book which deserves to be read with the same closeness and intelligence with which it has  been written'
  Allan Massie, The Scotsman on After the Stranger Came
`When he's on form Lindsay can chill your soul.'
  Sarah Dunant, The Listener on A Charm Against Drowning
Photo. P. Davenport, The Edinburgh Photographic Library 

Simon Beckett. Where There’s Smoke. Hodder & Stoughton Sep 97 0 340 68592 1  £16.99
`Professional woman seeks donor for artificial insemination' 
A terrifying dark-edged thriller that brilliantly exposes the raw fear of a desperate woman pitted against, yet ultimately tied to, a potential killer
Kate Powell is a career orientated single woman, desperate to have a child without the ties of a relationship. Artificial insemination appears to be the ideal solution but she is loathe to use an anonymous donor and decides to take the unusual step of advertising for her own, for someone who must understand that they are merely a donor and will not in any way be responsible for, or even meet the child.
A clinical psychologist comes forward and seems to be the answer to all her problems, but appearances can be deceptive and soon the control, that Kate so carefully exercises over all aspects of her life, is taken out of her hands. She is playing with fire. Having taken drastic steps to become pregnant she is now faced with certain danger, and a very different dilemma.
WHERE THERE'S SMOKE is a compelling thriller that focuses on tomorrow's debates. With more and more women single and immersed in their careers Kate's dilemma seems increasingly likely, and with it the possibility of artificial insemination - and unknown risks. Simon Beckett also touches on the question of abortion in extreme cases.
After doing an MA in literature, SIMON BECKETT started his own business, which he later sold to teach English in Spain. He's been a percussionist in a rock/pop band and is currently a freelance journalist, writing for national newspapers and colour supplements. He is married and lives in Sheffield. WHERE THERE'S SMOKE is his third novel. His previous novel, ANIMAIS, won the Raymond Chandler Society' `Marlowe' award for Best international Crime Novel.
Jacket Illustration: Bob Warner 

James Patterson. Cat and Mouse.   Headline Nov 97 0 7472 2022 0 £16.99
No other author has created a more compelling character than Alex Cross...
James Patterson's Washington homicide detective Alex Cross is one of the great creations of recent crime  fiction - compelling character whose exploits keep millions of people reading into the small hours: And now, after his bestsellers Along Came A Spider,  Kiss the Girls and Jack and Jill comes Cat and Mouse. Patterson's Alex Cross novels continue to be the -fastest-selling, of any series featuring a continuing character. All the Alex Cross thriller  have been international bestsellers and NO 1 bestsellers in the USA He is so compelling that the first of the Alex Cross movies starring Morgan Freeman as the detective will be released in the US in late 1997 with the UK release soon after. 

Tamara Lee. Queen’s Flight. Hodder & Stoughton Aug 97 0340 67247 1 £16 99
 A gripping tale of psychological suspense with hardhitting, violent action.
A. naive young Englishwoman marries a glamorous American only to discover, too late, that he is a ruthless criminal who has murdered someone in their own home. With her new-born baby, she takes flight. But her husband won't give up on her that easily - and pursues her across America. The chase leads to the south coast of England....
About the author:
Brought up in Australia and a Sussex boarding school, Tamara Lee has since worked as legal secretary, school matron, night club waitress and chambermaid. She has been married twice, has three children, and now lived with her two cats in Sussex. Queen's Flight is her second novel. Her previous novel REAP THE WHIRLWIND is available in Coronet paperback.
Cover photograph by Oliver Hunter 

Eric L. Harry. Society of the Mind. Hodder & Stoughton Aug 97 0 340 65723 5 £16.99
A powerful novel of cutting edge technology and gripping suspense.
In the year 2003, Laura Aldridge, a brilliant Harvard psychology professor, receives an offer she knows she shouldn't turn down, but is unsure wether to accept it. One week of consulting; the fee: one million dollars. She is reluctant to accept, as the man making the offer, who is known as, Joseph Gray, one of the richest men on earth, does not have a very encouraging reputation. The brilliance of his mind however cannot be denied. Laura accepts.
She arrives at the Gray corporation's South Pacific island, and she steps into the future of computer technology. Within his company there hides a secret that will affect the future of humanity.
Exciting heart racer  
By the internationally best-selling author of Arc Light and Protect and Defend  
Eric L Harry practises law in Houston, Texas. He graduated from the Marine Military Academy and has achieved BA, MBA and JD degrees from Vanderbilt University. He speaks fluent Russian, from having studied at Moscow and Leningrad State Universities. He has also lectured on the military capability of post - Soviet Russia.
Cover illustration by Steve Stone 

Eric L Harry. Protect and Defend.  pbk Coronet Aug 97 0 340 64892 9 £5.99
The world is brought to the brink of apocalypse in this epic story of international terrorism, civil war and anarchy
During a US presidential campaign, anarchists force the Russian government into exile and menace the world's capitals with terrorism. NATO is drawn into the Siberian power vacuum under UN auspices and over Asian protests. China begins a general mobilization and, on the eve of the US election, makes its first aggressive move. The crises - and an assassin's bullets - create chaos for the US and, during the confusion, the Chinese invade Siberia and try to drive out the western forces. As hard-pressed NATO troops dig into the frozen Siberian soil, the world stands poised on the brink of apocalypse.
Illustration by Chris Moore