by Dick Francis (1992)
When globe-hopping British First Secretary Peter Darwin returns to his childhood home of Gloucestershire, England, he must confront long-hidden memories, a string of racehorse deaths, and homicide. Darwin soon realizes that the key to the dark events involves his own past, and he soon wishes he'd never come back, because he just might never leave again...alive.
Dick Francis
Kit Fielding, proud heir to tradition and sporting hero to legions of fans, is drawn into a crusade to save his twin sister's marriage from ruinous scandal. His intercession proves more costly than he'd imagined by thrusting him into a deadly contest with a ruthless robber baron, and a violent adversary far too close to home for comfort.
Iris Johansen
The New York Times bestselling author of Firestorm, Iris Johansen, returns with a psychological thriller so terrifying, so relentlessly paced, it won't leave you time to catch your breath before the next shock comes. A forensic sculptor is locked in a deadly duel with a serial killer determined to destroy her--one life at a time.Eve Duncan's job is to put a face on the faceless victims of violent crimes. Her work not only comforts their survivors--but helps catch their killers. But there is another, more personal reason that Eve Duncan is driven to do the kind of work she does--a dark nightmare from a past she can never bury. And as she works on the skull of a newly discovered victim, that past is about to return all over again.The victim is a Jane Doe found murdered, her face erased beyond recognition. But whoever killed her wasn't just trying to hide her identity. The plan was far more horrifying. For as the face forms under Eve's skilled hands, she is about to get the shock of her life. The victim is someone she knows all too well. Someone who isn't dead. Yet.Instantly Eve's peaceful life is shattered. The sanctuary of the lakeside cottage she shares with Atlanta detective Joe Quinn and their adopted daughter Jane has been invaded by a killer who's sent the grimmest of threats: the face of his next victim. To stop him, Eve must put her own life in the balance and question everything and everyone she trusts. Not even Quinn can go where Eve must go this time. As the trail of faceless bodies leads to a chilling revelation, Eve finds herself trying to catch a master murderer whose grisly work is a testament to a mind warped by perversion and revenge. Now she must pit her skills against his in a showdown where the stakes are life itself--and where the unbearable cost of failure will make Eve's own murder seem like a mercy killing.From the Hardcover edition.
Tess Gerritsen
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Surgeon and The Apprentice comes a chilling new novel of suspense featuring Boston medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles, on the deadly trail of an anonymous madman who's committed an unholy crime. . . .THE SINNERNot even the icy temperatures of a typical New England winter can match the bone-chilling scene of carnage discovered in the early morning hours at the chapel of Our Lady of Divine Light. Within the sanctuary walls of the cloistered convent, now stained with blood, lie two nuns--one dead, one critically injured--victims of an unspeakably savage attacker.The brutal crime appears to be without motive, and the elderly nuns in residence can offer little help in the police investigation. But medical examiner Maura Isles's autopsy of the dead woman yields a shocking surprise: Twenty-year-old Sister Camille, the order's sole novice, gave birth before she was murdered. Then the disturbing case takes a stunning new turn when another woman is found murdered in an abandoned building, her body mutilated beyond recognition.Together, Isles and homicide detective Jane Rizzoli uncover an ancient horror that connects these terrible slaughters. As long-buried secrets come to light, Maura Isles finds herself drawn inexorably toward the heart of an investigation that strikes closer and closer to home--and toward a dawning revelation about the killer's identity too shattering to consider.As spine-tingling as it is mind-jolting, The Sinner showcases Tess Gerritsen in peak form--bringing her intimate knowledge of the dark depths of criminal investigation brilliantly to bear. Beneath its layers of startling insight into the souls of its characters, and the richly wrought depiction of the everyday war between good and evil, beats the unstoppable heart of an irresistible thriller.Tess Gerritsen left a successful practice as an internist to raise her children and concentrate on her writing. She gained nationwide acclaim for her first novel of medical suspense, the New York Times bestseller Harvest. She is also the author of the bestsellers Life Support, Bloodstream, Gravity, and The Surgeon and The Apprentice. Tess Gerritsen lives in Maine.PRAISE FOR TESS GERRITSENThe Surgeon"A briskly paced, terrifically suspenseful work that steadily builds toward a tense and terrifying climax."--People (Page-Turner of the week)"Creepy . . . [The Surgeon] will exert a powerful grip on readers."--Chicago Tribune"Grabbed me by the throat and didn't let go."--TAMI HOAGThe Apprentice"Skillful and scary."--The Washington Post Book World"An adrenaline rush from start to finish."--IRIS JOHANSEN"Masterful . . . Gerritsen moves into the Thomas Harris class, though with a style all her own."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)From the Hardcover edition.
Dick Francis
From *Publisher's Weekly*: Champion jockey Kit Fielding again proves his mettle when Henri Nanterre, the ruthless business partner of his fiancee's uncle, tries to convert their road construction company into an armaments enterprise. Nanterre threatens the life of Princess Casilia, his partner's wife, who also owns many of Kit's mounts. Nanterre is foiled, but then some of the princess's horses are found dead, killed, ironically, by captive-bullet bolt guns designed for "humane" deaths. Next come several near-lethal attacks against humans, including Kit's Danielle, and our Kit must devise a plan to thwart Nanterre for good. Soon Danielle has second thoughts about sharing the dangers of a steeplechaser's life. Maynard Allardeck, racing steward and hereditary enemy of the Fielding family, reappears and makes Kit's life even more difficult.