Sergeant Major Scratch Keyes of the King’s Guard is having a bad day. On what should be the biggest night of her life, everything suddenly goes horribly wrong. First, her king denies her the promotion she rightfully earned, as well as the knighthood that goes along with it. And then, when Scratch is wallowing somewhere near the fetid rock bottom, she and her best friend, the flamboyant and carefree Sergeant James Ursus, are arrested for orchestrating the abduction of Princess Frances and sentenced to death. On the whole, things could be better. Luckily, help comes in the form of the mysterious Shae siblings—Vel and Umbrella—who inform the doomed pair that the issue of the missing Princess is far more complicated than it appears. After a daring escape, the four embark on an ill-advised rescue mission through a forest filled with beasts, bandits, and mysterious fair folk, bringing nothing with them but a kitchen knife and the vague outline of a plan. Their destination is the Between, a sacred and shadowy fae-guarded place that promises to deliver Scratch and James to the princess—if they manage to survive. But Scratch didn’t rise above her humble childhood in the Royal City slums by accepting things at face value. It’s clear that the enigmatic Shaes are hiding something, but what do they know? Who are they working with? And why, in the name of all the divine constellations in the scrambled sky, can't Scratch stop staring at Brella? Samara Breger’s debut novel, Walk Between Worlds is a romantic queer fantasy adventure that will make you laugh even as it keeps you on the edge of your seat.

NAMED BY THE NEW YORK TIMES AS ONE OF THE 10 BEST ROMANCES OF 2023. Somewhere foggy, 1837 . . . Poppy had always loved the night, so it wasn’t too much of a bother to wake one evening in an unfamiliar home far from London, weak and confused and plagued with a terrible thirst for blood, to learn that she could no longer step out into the day. And while vampirism presented several disadvantages, it more than made up for those in its benefits: immortality, a body that could run at speed for hours without tiring, the thrill of becoming a predator, the thing that pulls rabbits from bushes and tears through their fur and flesh with the sharp point of a white fang. And, of course, Roisin. The mysterious woman who has lived for centuries, who held Poppy through her painful transformation, and who, for some reason, is now teaching her how to adjust to her new, endless life. A tight, lonely, buttoned-up woman, with kindness and care pressed up behind her teeth. The time they spend together is as transformative to Poppy as the changes in her body, and soon, she finds herself hopelessly, overwhelmingly attached. But Roisin has secrets of her own, and can’t make any promises; not when vengeance must be served. Soon, their little world explodes. Together and apart, they encounter scores of vampires, shifty pirates, conniving opera singers, ancient nobles, glamorous French women, and a found family that throws a very particular sort of party. But overhead, threat looms—one woman who is capable of destroying everything Poppy and Roisin hold dear. Samara Breger's A Long Time Dead is a lush, Victorian romance, drenched in blood and drama, about the lengths two women will go to secure a love that cannot die.

With an introduction by Max Allan Collins: The first collection of stories starring legendary Mike Hammer, the toughest private investigator in history It starts with a few near-accidents: A car almost swipes Mike Hammer when he’s crossing the street. A junkie robs the notoriously hardboiled detective at knifepoint. A fight on a subway platform comes close to pushing him in front of a train. While any one of these could be a coincidence, together they make a conspiracy—one that Hammer will have to end in order to survive. And when it comes to finishing something—or someone—nobody does it better than Hammer. One of the twentieth century’s bestselling American mystery authors, Mickey Spillane changed noir fiction forever when he loosed Mike Hammer on the world. Now these eight short stories, collected and finished by Max Allan Collins, show that Spillane is still capable of redefining the genre. The stories in A Long Time Dead have received numerous accolades, including an Edgar Award nomination, two International Association of Media and Tie-in Writers “Scribe” Awards, and a Private Eye Writers of America Shamus Award.

Gus Dury is back on the drink. While in hospital after a hit-and-run accident, his best friend, Hod, asks him to investigate the ritual, on-campus hanging of an Edinburgh University student. The murder victim’s mother is a high-profile actress, who has promised a big-money reward. Gus, desperate for money, goes undercover at the university, taking a janitor’s job, and soon uncovers a similar ritualistic hanging which took place in the ’70s. Few of the students are prepared to talk about it—until another one of their group turns up dead by the same method. But Gus now moves into very dangerous waters as he begins to discover what and who is really behind it all—and he becomes the next target for the executioner. Praise for LONG TIME DEAD: “Ripping, gutsy prose and a witty wreck of a protagonist makes this another exceptionally compelling, bright and even original thriller from a writer yet to explode.” —Daily Mail, 4 stars “If you’ve yet to discover the hardcore brilliance of Gus Drury, pour yourself a large one and start here.” —Daily Record “From the word go, the no-nonsense cynicism of Dury is back and in full throttle… Dury has the potential to be a long-running success story of Tartan Noir.” —Scotsman “A dark, personal journey with convincingly raw emotions and a protagonist who is digging beyond rock bottom.” —Eurocrime

Cardiff Bay. The government has ordered the excavation of the wreckage of a secret underground base. DCI Tom Cutler is watching from a distance, fascinated by the process. There are people in his dreams. People he feels he should know. The disbanded Torchwood Institute spent a century accumulating non-terrestrial artefacts and catching aliens. Who knows what - or who - might still be intact down there. But by the time they find the first body, Suzie Costello is long gone. Based on the hit science fiction series created by Russell T Davies, Long Time Dead is a prequel to Torchwood: Miracle Day, starring John Barrowman and Eve Myles as Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper. It features Suzie Costello, as played by Indira Varma.

The Second Book in the Iphigenia Black Series. A nice little town somewhere in America. A seafront funfair, a deserted ancestral home, a shoppe for "Things ye Neede", a Lovers' Lane and an ancient Indian burial ground. What could possibly go wrong? Iffie thought she had found the perfect place to go to ground and lick her wounds. After all, nothing ever happens in a place like that - at least not in "real life". But Iffie forgot that she doesn't exactly live a "real life." She's hardly knocked the dust off her boots when she has a visitor suffering from a nasty case of being dead. A long time dead. However Iffie gets straight on the case and soon sorts it all out ... Ooops! Eternity just got a whole lot longer.

How did a conservative, simple-living, retired church custodian come to die from a gunshot wound to the head? Was it murder or suicide? On April 19, 1957, Ralph Wilson Snair was found dead in a rented vehicle at the side of Highway 50, two miles east of the small town of Walton, Kansas. On Ralph’s lap lay an untraceable revolver, wiped clean of fingerprints, his hat sat backwards on his head, and all his pockets were turned out. Could he have been murdered? But if so, who killed Ralph and why? Ralph’s great niece Susan McIver, an award-winning scientist and writer and a former coroner, investigates the mystery around his unsolved death six decades later. Combing through old postcards, newspaper clippings, notes, and police and autopsy reports for any clues as to what might’ve happened and why, Susan reveals an intriguing story—one of secrecy, stigma, and the pressure to conform. While untangling the mystery of her great uncle’s death, in Long Time Dead, Susan McIver masterfully combines an in depth look at police procedure in criminal investigations and cold cases with changes in societal and medical attitudes over the past 150 years.

The latest Detective Chief Inspector Woodend mystery When Captain Robert Kineally went missing from Haverton American Army base in Devon in 1944, it was generally assumed he had lost his nerve and deserted. But now, twenty years after the War ended, a body found on the near-derelict base seems to tell an entirely different story. DCI Charlie Woodend has strong reasons for not wanting the case. As a sergeant on secondment to the Americans, he served at Haverton himself, left it only a few days before the murder, and he is personally involved. However, he is given the case, and it is soon plain that while the British Government expects one outcome, the American Government will be happy with nothing less than the opposite.

Gus Dury is back on the drink. While in hospital after a hit-and-run accident, his best friend, Hod, asks him to investigate the ritual, on-campus hanging of an Edinburgh University student. The murder victim's mother is a high-profile actress, who has promised a big-money reward. Gus, desperate for money, goes undercover at the university, taking a janitor's job, and soon uncovers a similar ritualistic hanging which took place in the 70s. Few of the students are prepared to talk about it - until another one of their group turns up dead by the same method. But Gus now moves into very dangerous waters as he begins to discover what and who is really behind it all - and he becomes the next target for the executioner.

"... books are machines for reading"--P. 161.