Born in the dirt of the wasteland, Cara has fought her entire life just to survive. Now she has done the impossible, and landed herself a comfortable life on the lower levels of the wealthy and walled-off Wiley City. So long as she can keep her head down and avoid trouble, she's on a sure path to citizenship and security - on this world, at least.
Of the 380 realities that have been unlocked, Cara is dead in all but 8.
Cara's parallel selves are exceptionally good at dying - from disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn't outrun - which makes Cara wary, and valuable. Because while multiverse travel is possible, no one can visit a world in which their counterpart is still alive. And no one has fewer counterparts than Cara.
But then one of her eight doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, and Cara is plunged into a new world with an old secret. What she discovers will connect her past and future in ways she never could have imagined - and reveal her own role in a plot that endangers not just her earth, but the entire multiverse.

Congratulations, Phillipa!
Published this week was the hardback and eBook of The Pimlico Murder, the sixth in Mike Hollow's Blitz Detective series, starring John Jago. Armistice Day 1940 The Blitz Detective John Jago finds himself despatched to Pimlico to investigate a suspicious death. A young man, Terry Watson, has been found in an Anderson shelter, battered about the head, and with two white poppies in his pocket. As the investigation delves into Watson's background, Jago and his assistant DC Craddock find themselves knee-deep in Pimlico's shady underworld, and connections with Mosley's BUF party. It will take all their skills to uncover the truth behind the pacifist's brutal death. |

Catch up here.
And then there's Estelle Doyle. It's true the caustic pathologist has never walked down the sunny side of the street but this time has she gone too far? Shot twice in the head, her father's murder appears to be an open and shut case. Estelle has firearms discharge residue on her hands, and, in a house surrounded by fresh snow, hers are the only footprints going in. Since her arrest she's only said three words: 'Tell Washington Poe.'
Meanwhile, a poisoner the press have dubbed the Botanist is sending high profile celebrities poems and pressed flowers. The killer seems to be able to walk through walls and, despite the advance notice he gives his victims, and regardless of the security measures the police take, he seems to be able to kill with impunity.
For a man who hates locked room mysteries, this is going to be the longest week of Washington Poe's life...
Released last week, The Return, the new book from Anita Frank (author of The Lost Ones), picked up a lovely review in this weekend's Sunday Times: "An engaging story of secrets, sacrifice and the persistence of love." |

Ethelred Tressider and his agent Elsie Thirkettle have been invited to lecture on a creative writing course at Fell Hall, a remote location in the heart of ragged countryside that even sheep are keen to shun. While Ethelred’s success as a writer is distinctly average, Elsie sees this as an opportunity to scout for new, hopefully more lucrative, talent. But heavy snow falls overnight, trapping those early arrivals inside, and tensions are quick to emerge between the assembled group.
When one of their number goes missing, Ethelred leads a search party and makes a gruesome discovery. With no phone signal and no hope of summoning the police, can Ethelred and Elsie identify the killer among them before one of them is next?
While we will have to wait until 2023 to get our hands on it, here in the UK, White Death, by Ragnar Jónasson, has shot to no.3 in the German bestseller charts. White Death is the first in a new series, introducing Helgi Reykdal (die-hard fans may also notice a familiar face, in the form of Hulga Hermansdóttir...). |

"In The Russian Doll, Marina Palmer, who has written several well-received historical crime novels as Imogen Robertson, pits Ruth, a young woman who grew up in care, against a Russian oligarch and his powerful, manipulative wife, Elena. Ruth and Elena are brought together by a terrorist bombing in a London cafe, where the Russian woman is entertaining her two daughters. Admiring Ruth’s courage at the scene, Elena offers her a job as a personal assistant looking after her social and charitable affairs. As Ruth learns more about her employer’s activities, she has to develop strategies to keep herself safe and to work out which of the many other employees she can trust. Part thriller, part romance, part social commentary, this is a wildly entertaining novel."