One dead body. One witness. One answer. Early one morning, DS Robin Butler is summoned to a crime scene. Not as a policeman, but as best friend to renowned meteorologist, Dr Finn Mason. The morning after studying an enormous storm, Finn has locked himself in a van. Bloodied, confused, and with no memory of how he came to be there. And alongside him – a dead body. Butler sets out to prove Finn’s innocence, his friend now accused of murder. Meanwhile, DC Freya West is struggling to cope. She has been plagued by nightmares since the events of nine months ago. Freya assists her boss on his quest to clear Finn’s name, but while Butler becomes increasingly desperate to help his boyhood friend, Freya is crumbling under the weight of the secrets she is keeping. As the past threatens to consume them both, do both detectives stand to lose more than they can bear? A tense and atmospheric police procedural from the author of the unforgettable Last Place You Look. Praise for Under a Dark Cloud 'A great and unique locked room mystery that had me guessing all the way through to a fantastic ending. Under a Dark Cloud is full of drama, mystery and tension. One of my favourite series around.' James Delargy ‘A coiled and wholly satisfying mystery, elevated by melancholic piquancy. The authentic police thrills and teasing dynamics of the characters are handled with the same elegance as the rueful climax, which long after the book is closed still feels perfect and inevitable.’ Dominic Nolan ‘Once again Louisa Scarr has created a thoroughly believable world in which to set a brilliantly compulsive story. The characters are so well-drawn that it’s a pleasure to spend time with them, and I can’t wait for number three!’ Alison Belsham 'Characters I care about, inventive plot and expert storytelling –a big thumbs up from me.' Fliss Chester ‘A fast-paced and deft meteorological mystery that twists its way to a brilliant conclusion. Scarr’s characters are beautifully realised, flawed and complex – their stories make the quiet moments every bit as rewarding as the dramatic ones. If you haven’t already read Butler & West, you’re in for a treat...’ Heather Critchlow ‘A must read for fans of U.K. Crime Fiction. A fast paced addictive story. A locked room murder with an original twist’ NetGalley review ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ‘The plot is original, superbly woven and the cast of characters is made up of well developed and engaging individuals. Overall, a captivating, suspenseful and atmospheric page-turner with more than enough going on to keep you invested. Highly recommended.’ NetGalley Review ‘I absolutely loved this!’ NetGalley Review ‘I read this very happily in two sessions and am await more in the series. Well worth reading!’ NetGalley Review ‘Great premise. Well written. A page turner. Plenty of suspense to keep me guessing .The ending leaving everything tied up left me satisfied. Definitely will read her next offering.’ NetGalley Review

A 1959 classic 'hard' science-fiction novel by renowned Cambridge astronomer and cosmologist Fred Hoyle. Tracks the progress of a giant black cloud that comes towards Earth and sits in front of the sun, causing widespread panic and death. A select group of scientists and astronomers - including the dignified Astronomer Royal, the pipe smoking Dr Marlowe and the maverick, eccentric Professor Kingsly - engage in a mad race to understand and communicate with the cloud, battling against trigger happy politicians. In the pacy, engaging style of John Wyndham and John Christopher, with plenty of hard science thrown in to add to the chillingly credible premise (he manages to foretell Artificial Intelligence, Optical Character Recognition and Text-to-Speech converters), Hoyle carries you breathlessly through to its thrilling end.

The stunning conclusion to Anne Holt's phenomenal series featuring Johanne Vik and Adam Stubo. On a summer's day, Johanne Vik arrives at the home of her friends Jon and Ellen Mohr and was greeted by a scene of devastation: their young son, left unattended, has tragically fallen to his death. Meanwhile, Oslo is under attack. An explosion has torn the city apart and newly qualified police officer Henrik Holme is the only one available to attend the Mohr household. As Holme investigates, he casts doubt on the claim that the death was a tragic accident and calls upon Johanne's profiling expertise to understand what really happened. But neither realise that those involved are determined to hide the truth - no matter what. Before the summer is over, more shocking deaths will occur...

The man you love has been murdered. You’d do anything to find out the truth. Wouldn’t you? A man lies dead in a hotel room, and the police attend his home address to inform the widow. Nothing unusual, until DC Freya West realises that the victim is the man she has been having an affair with. The future she imagined has been snatched away. Meanwhile, her new boss, DS Robin Butler, is preoccupied with his own problems. Mistakes he thought were buried deep in his past now threaten to be exposed. Before long, both Butler and West are keeping secrets that could end their careers – and worse. When the detectives have a chance to tell the truth, they choose to keep quiet. But once that line is crossed, is there any going back? After all, breaking the law is easy when you know how to uphold it. Don’t miss this tense and compulsive police procedural thriller. Perfect for fans of Sunday Times bestselling authors Cara Hunter, Susie Steiner and Jane Casey. Praise for Last Place You Look ‘This is punchy, police procedural stuff: just as her protagonists don’t play by the book, so Scarr takes the traditional set-up into darker, dirtier, more intriguing terrain.’ Hampshire Living ‘A superbly crafted, perfectly paced thriller... The fact that Butler & West have just as much to hide as the people they hunt, makes this such a compelling read, and the start of a captivating new series that’s hooked me in from the very first book.’ Robert Scragg ‘The delicious joy of discovering a brilliant new crime series! ... Our detectives, Butler and West, are a duo for our days; bound by their troubles, loneliness and secrets into an unlikely alliance. You’ll fall for them, and this novel, in a big way!’ Jo Furniss ‘Tightly plotted with superb characterisation ... It’s a book you won’t be able to turn away from until you reach the very last page.’ Alison Belsham ‘Fantastic story and characterisation with a pair of detectives who are battling their own demons amidst an apparent suburban suicide’ James Delargy ‘The darker side of suburbia shows its underbelly in this gritty domestic thriller. A procedural with a kick in its tail!’ Rachael Blok ‘Crime fans are going to love Last Place You Look ... believe me, this is a detective team you’re going to want to meet again and again.’ Amy McLellan ‘A seriously pacy plot and a tangled case that defies expectation. I eagerly await the next installment in this gripping and perfectly written series.’ Heather Critchlow ‘I was not expecting that! I was just so invested in the brilliant partnership of Butler and West that I couldn’t put it down.... together they’re dynamite. I was kept on my toes the whole time, not sure where the story was going, and there were so many twists along the way that I was expecting a shocking ending... and yet I still didn’t see what was coming!’ Elle Croft ‘An exciting page turner and entirely believable police procedural thriller featuring a new pair of detectives whose secrets are as mysterious as those of the criminals they are trying to hunt. Highly recommended.’ A. J. Park ‘If you like tense, complex and compulsive procedurals with well observed characterisation this is definitely the book for you! A great start to a promising series.’ N. J. Mackay

Already excerpted in the New Yorker, Black Cloud Rising is a compelling and important historical novel that takes us back to an extraordinary moment when enslaved men and women were shedding their bonds and embracing freedom By fall of 1863, Union forces had taken control of Tidewater Virginia, and established a toehold in eastern North Carolina, including along the Outer Banks. Thousands of freed slaves and runaways flooded the Union lines, but Confederate irregulars still roamed the region. In December, the newly formed African Brigade, a unit of these former slaves led by General Edward Augustus Wild—a one-armed, impassioned Abolitionist—set out from Portsmouth to hunt down the rebel guerillas and extinguish the threat. From this little-known historical episode comes Black Cloud Rising, a dramatic, moving account of these soldiers—men who only weeks earlier had been enslaved, but were now Union infantrymen setting out to fight their former owners. At the heart of the narrative is Sergeant Richard Etheridge, the son of a slave and her master, raised with some privileges but constantly reminded of his place. Deeply conflicted about his past, Richard is eager to show himself to be a credit to his race. As the African Brigade conducts raids through the areas occupied by the Confederate Partisan Rangers, he and his comrades recognize that they are fighting for more than territory. Wild’s mission is to prove that his troops can be trusted as soldiers in combat. And because many of the men have fled from the very plantations in their path, each raid is also an opportunity to free loved ones left behind. For Richard, this means the possibility of reuniting with Fanny, the woman he hopes to marry one day. With powerful depictions of the bonds formed between fighting men and heartrending scenes of sacrifice and courage, Black Cloud Rising offers a compelling and nuanced portrait of enslaved men and women crossing the threshold to freedom.

Lament is how you live between the poles of a hard life and trusting God’s goodness. Lament is how we bring our sorrow to God—but it is a neglected dimension of the Christian life for many Christians today. We need to recover the practice of honest spiritual struggle that gives us permission to vocalize our pain and wrestle with our sorrow. Lament avoids trite answers and quick solutions, progressively moving us toward deeper worship and trust. Exploring how the Bible—through the psalms of lament and the book of Lamentations—gives voice to our pain, this book invites us to grieve, struggle, and tap into the rich reservoir of grace and mercy God offers in the darkest moments of our lives.

As the dark cloud of the pandemic casts its deadly curse over human civilization, making the world cower under its devastating spell, human values of love, kindness and compassion come to the fore, lining the cloud with their silver touches. This compilation of ten stories is about the indomitable human spirit that is not defeated by the scourge. As the world turns upside down, the ordinary lives of the characters take extraordinary turns. These are stories of courage, resolve, hope, grace and dignity.

Further explore the world of Watch Dogs with a new story, an entirely digital novel project created inside Ubisoft in collaboration with John Shirley, prolific author and pioneer of the cyberpunk movement John Shirley naturally transcribed Watch Dogs’ atmosphere, the world of hacking and of a not that fictional Chicago, into a thriller combining high-tech crimes and a bunch of known and new characters. The novel introduces Mick Wolfe, a veteran, who get caught in a dangerous game in Chicago’s hyper connected and violent underground. A tie in to the Watch_Dogs game.

Standing beside Elise’s grave, Siobhan Montrell remembers how her mother finally blew the perfect smoke ring on the day that Elise disappeared. Remembers the day that would change and define her life forever. The toddler's body was found in the river near Gables Guesthouse. Only eleven years old at the time, Siobhan has carried the guilt of Elise’s death with her since that day. Twenty-eight years later, Siobhan returns to Rachley Island, having inherited Gables -- guesthouse and family home -- from her aunt. Cleaning the property to prepare it for sale, she discovers an old book in which her aunt used to draw and write, revealing the truth about the tragic drowning. The River Child is a tale of grief and guilt, deceit and secrets, and ultimately forgiveness.