Kissing the gunner's daughter

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Ruth Rendell

The second book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. Some cases are impossible to bury. It's impossible to forget the violent bludgeoning to death of an elderly lady in her home. Even more so when it's your first murder case. Wexford believed he'd solved Mrs Primero's murder fifteen years ago. It was no real mystery. Everyone knew Painter, her odd-job man, had done it. There had never been any doubt in anyone's mind. Until now... Henry Archery's son is engaged to Painter's daughter. Only Archery can't let the past remain buried. He wants to prove Wexford wrong, and in probing into the lives of the witnesses questioned all those years ago, he stirs up more than old ghosts. (less)

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Elmore Leonard

Psycho mama"s boy Teddy Magyk has a serious jones for the Miami cop who put him away--but he wants to hit Vincent Mora where it really hurts before killing him. So when a beautiful Puerto Rican hooker takes a swan dive from an Atlantic City high-rise, and Vincent naturally shows up to investigate the questionable death of his "special friend," Teddy figures he's got his prey just where he wants him.

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Nick Oldham

"When Charlie Wilder is released from prison he's desperate to resume his life of crime. But when he discovers he's been betrayed by his closest friends, Charlie's rage turns to cold-blooded murder and an orgy of violence ensues ... As a gruesome turn of fate spins Henry Christie unwillingly into a collision course with Charlie, he finds himself pitted against one of the most brutal and dangerous individuals he has encountered in over thirty years as a cop. Fleeing for his life through an unforgiving, harsh, man-made landscape, Henry has to draw on reserves of strength he never knew he had as he discovers there is only one way to beat Charlie Wilder and that is to deliver justice in the only way he understands--by meeting him head-on and taking him right to the very edge," Amazon website.

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Rebecca Tope

Thea Osborne hopes to spend a quiet Christmas house-sitting in the picturesque village of Stanton. Her arrival at the village coincides with the funeral of Douglas Callender and the murder of his girlfriend the following day. Thea finds herself thrust into the middle of another Police investigation as she unwraps motives and scandals across the village. Thea is determined to survive the festive period and turns to local resident Dennis Ireland for safety but Dennis, as with the other villagers, may not be as safe as first appears.