A Most Wanted Man

A Most Wanted Man is le Carré’s 21st book, and another winner. This is a book about political and private corruption, and its plot revolves around the most ferociously debated policies in terror-frightened Europe. Le Carré handles his material with a rare lightness of touch that’s absent from most contemporary portraits of counter-terrorism: This is black, brilliant, hypnotic

stuff and yet another reason to count le Carré among this country’s very finest contemporary writers. Unhesitatingly recommended.

Devil May Care

A variety of authors have written 007 novels since the death of Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming — and the results have been mixed, to say the least. As ‘Robert Markham’, Kingsley Amis penned

the very first post-Fleming Bond, and this attempt by a novelist better known for his ‘literary’ work was judged a success. Now, after a decade of less successful entries by such writers as John Gardener, we have another serious writer, Sebastian Faulks (author of such acclaimed novels as Birdsong), taking up the challenge. Devil May Care has already collected a jaw-dropping amount of publicity, with even the Royal Navy helping to put the book firmly at the top of the best-seller charts (Bond is, of course, a naval commander), and few books have had such wind under their sails (the relaunch of the movie franchise with the re-make of Casino Royale and Daniel Craig’s second Bond film, Quantum of Solace, is all part of the ever-accelerating momentum). Of course, this also gives the book farther to fall if it misses the mark.

Book of the Dead

Classic Cornwell territory with... a sharp political element that will ensure the book isn’t on George Bush’s bedside table. — Daily Express

Serving up an Ace...Cornwell is firmly back on the money here. — Daily Mirror

Patricia Cornwell is the queen of gritty, grisly, crime fiction writing and her latest offering doesn’t disappoint. Book of the Dead will keep you gripped throughout. — Heat

The reason we read novels about the forensic investigation of crime is not artistic decorum but a fascination with how things work. This is what Cornwell has always provided, and it is an area in which she does not disappoint. — Times Literary Supplement

Hannibal Lecter, eat your liver out. Tersely written, elaborately plotted and crammed with research, Cornwell’s writing has always been hard-boiled, but this one would crack a paving stone if dropped. — The London Paper

Vivid anatomical details and expert forensic knowledge come together in Cornwell’s new thriller. — Herald

The Whole Truth

I need a war ...’ Nicolas Creel, a super-rich arms dealer, decides that the best way to boost his business is to start a new cold war — and he won’t let anything or anyone get in his

way. As international tensions rise and the superpowers line up against each other, the lives of three very different people will never be the same again. As intelligence agent Shaw, academic Anna Fischer and ambitious journalist Katie James are all drawn into Creel’s games, can anything stop the world from spiralling out of control? This terrifying global thriller delivers all the twists and turns, emotional drama, unforgettable characters and can’t-put-it-down pacing that Baldacci fans expect — and still goes beyond anything he’s written before.

Exit Music

It’s late autumn in Edinburgh and late autumn in the career of Detective Inspector John Rebus.

As he tries to tie up some loose ends before retirement, a murder case intrudes. A dissident Russian poet has been found dead in what looks like a mugging gone wrong. By apparent coincidence, a high-level delegation of Russian businessmen is in town — and everyone is determined that the case should be closed quickly and clinically.

But the further they dig, the more Rebus and DS Siobhan Clarke become convinced that they

are dealing with something more than a random attack — especially after a particularly nasty

second killing. Meanwhile, a brutal and premeditated assault on a local gangster sees Rebus in the frame. Has the Inspector taken a step too far in tying up those loose ends? Only a few days shy of the end to his long, inglorious career, will Rebus even make it that far?