The Scent of Almonds and Other Stories

Simon Tolkien’s gripping Oxford-based thriller trilogy which sees Inspector Trave in a race for justice against deception, conspiracy and the long shadow of the past.Orders from Berlin:It’s 1940, and Bill Trave is a Detective Constable in his early thirties working in West London. Almost single-handedly Winston Churchill maintains the country’s morale, with the German enemy convinced that his removal would win them the War.Meanwhile, Albert Morrison, a rich widower forced into early retirement, is stabbed to death in his Chelsea flat. At Morrison’s funeral, his daughter Ava learns that her father worked for MI6 before the War. Trave suspects that there is a Nazi double agent within MI6, with a plan to assassinate Churchill. He is in a race against time to save the Prime Minister, for if he fails, Britain’s entire war effort could be at stake…The Inheritance:When an eminent art historian is found dead in his study, all the evidence points to his estranged son, Stephen.It is revealed that Stephen’s father was involved at the end of World War II in a deadly hunt for a priceless relic in northern France, and the case begins to unravel.As Stephen’s trial unfolds at the Old Bailey, Inspector Trave of the Oxford police decides he must go to France and find out what really happened in 1944. But Trave has very little time – the race is on to save Stephen from the gallows.The King of Diamonds:David Swain is two years into his life sentence for murdering the lover of his ex-girlfriend, Katya Osman. In the dead of night, he escapes from prison. Hours later, Katya is found murdered in her uncle’s home, Blackwater Hall.But Trave’s investigation has taken an unexpected turn. Katya’s uncle is a rich diamond dealer with a grudge against Trave who has gone to great lengths to create a new identity. Now convinced that they have arrested the wrong man, and with personal scores to settle, Trave must risk everything he holds dear to bring his unlikely target to justice.

December 25: A bomb rips through a packed cathedral in Jakarta. As the hours pass, terrorist explosions continue around the globe, triggering worldwide panic and creating a nightmare beyond words…. Inside the covert agency known only as Office 119, agents Renate Bachle and Lawton Caine are called upon to identify the groups responsible for the bloodshed. But the so-called Black Christmas attacks are nothing more than a smoke screen for a far more sinister conspiracy. At its heart are ruthless secret societies with blood ties that date back thousands of years, whose goals are nothing less than global domination. Renate and Lawton are only beginning to fathom how far the darkness extends. With the U.S. president set to deploy nuclear weapons against the wrong targets and religious violence erupting across Europe, they must untangle the interwoven plots before time runs out and Armageddon becomes a terrifying reality.

The third Kiszka and Kershaw crime thriller.Things are looking up for Janusz Kiszka, big-hearted 'fixer' to London's Poles. His girlfriend/the love of his life, Kasia, is finally leaving her no-good husband to make a new life with him, and he’s on the brink of a deal to ensure their financial security for years to come.Then Kasia vanishes – and the big Pole’s world is torn apart. Convinced she’s been abducted, he must swallow his pride and seek the help of an old contact – maverick cop Natalie Kershaw, who’s been suspended following a fatal shooting. But the search swiftly takes an even darker turn… What connects Kasia’s disappearance and a string of brutal East End murders? And who is the mysterious and murderous enforcer stalking the streets of London?Meanwhile, time is running out for Kasia. To reach her, Kiszka must confront a gut-wrenching dilemma that will shape the rest of his life.

The Number One bestselling crime series featuring Dr Tony Hill, hero of TV’s Wire in the Blood. The award-winning Val McDermid is at the height of her powers in this tense masterclass in psychological suspense.The race is on to uncover the identity of a murderer with nothing to lose – and everything to kill for.When Robbie Bishop, star midfielder for the Bradfield Vics, is poisoned by a rare and deadly toxin, profiler Dr Tony Hill and trusted colleague DCI Carol Jordan have their work cut out for them. Robbie was adored, so the public want answers – but the answers aren't coming, and trails are running cold.Then a bomb explodes in the football stadium, causing massive casualties – and another man dies from poisoning. Is there a link between the cases? And what are the motives for these crimes? The clock is ticking for Tony and Carol – and the death toll keeps rising…

THE FIRST KISZKA AND KERSHAW MYSTERYA naked girl has washed up on the banks of the River Thames. The only clue to her identity is a heart-shaped tattoo encircling two foreign names. Who is she – and why did she die?Life’s already complicated enough for Janusz Kiszka, unofficial 'fixer' for East London’s Polish community: his priest has asked him to track down a young waitress who has gone missing; a builder on the Olympics site owes him a pile of money; and he’s falling for married Kasia, Soho’s most strait-laced stripper. But when Janusz finds himself accused of murder by an ambitious young detective, Natalie Kershaw, and pursued by drug dealing gang members, he is forced to take an unscheduled trip back to Poland to find the real killer.In the mist-wreathed streets of his hometown of Gdansk, Janusz must confront painful memories from the Soviet past if he is to uncover the conspiracy – and with it, a decades-old betrayal.