John Harvey: Gone to ground. € 11,30
Stephen Bryan, a gay academic, is found brutally murdered in his bathroom. Will Grayson and Helen Walker, police detectives investigating the case, at first assume that his death is the result of an ill-judged sexual encounter: rough trade gone wrong.

But doubts are soon raised. What, if anything, did Bryan’s ex-lover have to do with his death? Could Bryan be yet another victim in the spate of homophobic attacks which are plaguing the East Midlands? Bryan’s laptop has gone missing – could the murder be connected to a biography he was writing on the life and mysterious death of fifties screen legend, Stella Leonard?

Convinced there’s a link, Bryan’s sister Lesley sets out to prove that Bryan had uncovered a dangerous truth, and that – desperate to keep it hidden – Stella Leonard’s rich and influential family have silenced him.

But soon both Lesley and Helen Walker find themselves victims of the violence that swirls around them, as gradually the investigation uncovers the secrets of a family corrupted by lust, wealth and power.

Michael Morley: Spider. € 11,30
'For a second she thinks she is dead. Then she opens her eyes and wishes she was.'

The press call him the Black River Killer and his stats are shocking: 16 murders; not captured in 20 years; the FBI’s best profiler – Jack King – burned out and beaten, his career shattered.

Jack and his wife now run a hotel in Tuscany. And though he still gets nightmares, rural Italy is a whole world away from BRK's brutal crime scenes in Southern Carolina. Or so Jack thought . . .

As Italian cops discover the body of a young woman – her remains mutilated like BRK's victims - a gruesome package arrives at the FBI, twin events that conspire to lure the profiler back into the hunt.

But this time, who is the spider and who is the fly?

Ann Cleeves: Hidden Depths. € 11,30
A hot summer on the Northumberland coast, and Julie Armstrong arrives home from a night out to find her son murdered. Luke has been strangled, laid out in a bath of water and covered with wild flowers.

This stylized murder scene has Inspector Vera Stanhope and her team intrigued. But then a second body - that of beautiful young teacher Lily Marsh - is discovered laid out in a rock pool, the water strewn with flowers. Now Vera must work quickly to find this dramatist, this killer who is making art out of death.

Clues are slow to emerge from those who had known Luke and Lily, but Vera soon finds herself drawn towards the curious group of friends who discovered Lily's body. What unites these four men and one woman? Are they really the close-knit, trustworthy unit they claim to be?

As local residents are forced to share their private lives and those of their loved ones, sinister secrets are slowly unearthed. And all the while the killer remains in their midst, waiting for an opportunity to prepare another beautiful, watery grave . . .

Ann Cleeves: Raven Black. € 11,30
Shetland Quartet 1
It is a cold January morning and Shetland lies buried beneath a deep layer of snow. Trudging home, Fran Hunter’s eye is drawn to a vivid splash of colour on the white ground, ravens circling above. It is the strangled body of her teenage neighbour Catherine Ross. As Fran opens her mouth to scream, the ravens continue their deadly dance . . .

The locals on the quiet island stubbornly focus their gaze on one man – loner and simpleton Magnus Tait. But when police insist on opening out the investigation a veil of suspicion and fear is thrown over the entire community. For the first time in years, Catherine’s neighbours nervously lock their doors, whilst a killer lives on in their midst.

Raven Black was the first winner of the prestigious Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award of the Crime Writers' Association. The Duncan Lawrie Dagger replaces the CWA's Gold Dagger award.

Peter Temple: Black Tide. € 11,30

I went to George Armit's funeral. It was a small affair. Almost everyone George had known was dead. Many of them were dead because George had them killed...Jack Irish however, has no shortage of friends. Jockeys and journos, lawyers and standover men, people in nameless occupations who aren't in the phone book. These days, though, the only family he sees are Irish men in faded football team photographs on the pub wall. So when Des Connors, the last link to his father, calls to ask for help in the matter of a missing son, Jack is happy to lend a hand. But sometimes prodigal sons go missing for a reason. As Jack begins to dig, he discovers that Gary Connors was a man with something to hide. And his friends are people with darker and more deadly secrets...just as well Jack plays by 'Australian Rules'...

Rhonda Pollero: Knock off. € 8,20

When it comes to putting together a killer couture wardrobe on a tight budget, paralegal Finley Anderson Tanner knows exactly what she is doing. When it comes to catching a clever killer, Finley doesn't have a clue. But Finley's boss insists that she meet with Stacy Evans, who is convinced her husband Marcus' death was no accident. At first, Finley thinks the widow is just having a difficult time adapting to loss, but she discovers that not only was Marcus a juror on a high-profile medical-malpractice trial but also that several other of the jurors have recently died in "accidents." Pollero fashions the first volume in a stylishly entertaining new amateur sleuth series that is certain to be a runway hit with mystery readers who like a dash of chick-lit sass and a pinch of romance with their detecting.

Natsuo Kirino: Grotesque. € 12,30
Two prostitutes have been murdered in Tokyo.
Yuriko had been working as a prostitute all her adult life, starting while still at school, where her stunning beauty compensated for what she lacked in intellect and commanded attention from older men.

Kazue worked for a blue-chip company and had good career prospects, but was unpopular with colleagues and felt isolated. She chose to walk the streets at night where she hoped to get noticed.

Twenty years previously both women were educated at an elite school for young ladies, and both exhibited exceptional promise prior to their brutal, unnecessary deaths. How and why did this tragedy occur? With narration from Yuriko’s embittered, unattractive sister and through the girls’ journals and diaries Kirino allows their shocking story to unfurl.

As with Out, Grotesque gets under the skin, and Kirino’s analysis of the female psyche grips the reader. The extreme need to succeed, and the vicious desire to be accepted in the bewildering environment of modern life is explored here with acute and chilling insight. Grotesque is a masterful and haunting achievement.

Jay Rayner: The Oyster House Siege. € 12,30
It's General Election night, 1983. The grat and good have gathered in the Jermyn Street Oyster House in central London to celebrate the Tory victory. But when two masked gunmen burst through the door and take a group of diners hostage in the restaurant kitchen, none of them has any odea how hellish their night has just become.
As the hours tick by, the terrified hostages grow increasingly aware that they are surrounded by glinting blades and trapped with a psychopath who can't wait to start using them. They may not e able to stand the heat, but there's little chance they'll ever get out of the kitchen.

Twoday we had the pleasure to meet Kathy Ackley, who organises crime and mystery trips in London and Oxford, in our bookshop in Vienna. / Heute hatten wir das Vergnügen Kathy Ackley, Organisatorin der crime and mystery trips in London und Oxford, in unserer Buchhandlung zu Gast zu haben.


Eleonore Biber and Kathy Ackley in our book shop.

More information about British Mystery Trips / Weiterführender Link:
British Mystery Trips

We are already looking forward to the next "Mystery evening" with Eleonore Biber on 22 November, when she will invite us to Sherlock Holmes' London. An evening for those who like classical detective stories.
Wir freuen uns schon auf den nächsten "Krimiabend" mit Eleonore Biber, die uns am 22. November unter dem Titel "Gaslaternen und Nebelschwaden" auf den Spuren von Sherlock Holmes & Co wandeln lässt. Für FreundInnen klassischer Detektive.

Beginn: 19.00
Anmeldung bitte unter Tel 01-890 45 98-01 oder via E-Mail buch@thrillandchill.at

Julia Navarro: The Brotherhood of the holy shroud. € 9,20
The Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud is the explosive international bestseller that mixes fact and fiction to tell the riveting story of one of the world’s most controversial relics—the Holy Shroud of Turin—and the desperate race to save it from those who will stop at nothing to possess its legendary power....
A fire at the Turin cathedral and the discovery of a mutilated corpse are the latest in a disturbing series of events surrounding the mysterious cloth millions believe to be the authentic burial shroud of Jesus Christ. Those who dare to investigate will be caught in the cross fire of an ancient conflict forged by mortal sacrifice, assassination, and secret societies tied to the shadowy Knights Templar.
Spanning centuries and continents, from the storm-rent skies over Calvary, through the intrigue and treachery of Byzantium and the Crusades, to the modern-day citadels of Istanbul, New York, London, Paris, and Rome, The Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud races to a chilling climax in the labyrinths beneath Turin, where astounding truths will be exposed: about the history of a faith, the passions of man, and proof of the most powerful miracle of all….