The azalea assault

Sample

Alyse Carlson

Cam and her best friend, Annie, are planning a gala for a local Senate candidate -- a murder mystery themed silent auction where the guests bid on who will be the night's "victim". Coordinating a beautiful display of fall flowers and planning the perfect fake crime is hard enough, but with a guest list that is a "who's who" of the Roanoke elite, Cam has her hands full navigating the egos and grudges of her high society guests. When local financial tycoon Derrick Windermere is found dead next to a shattered pot of chrysanthemums, the night's fun and games quickly turn serious. Half the guests had good reason to want Windermere dead, but only one is suspiciously missing in action -- Annie's father. Now Cam will not only have to figure out which partygoer is a killer, but find her friend's father before all their reputations end up dragged through the mud.

Sample

Alan Parks

When an 18-year-old boy shoots a young woman dead in the middle of a busy Glasgow street and then commits suicide, McCoy knows it can't be a random act of violence. With a newbie partner in tow, McCoy uses his underworld network to build a picture of a secret society run by Glasgow's wealthiest family, the Dunlops. Drugs, sex, incest; every nefarious predilection is catered to, at the expense of the lower echelon of society, an underclass that includes McCoy's best friend from reformatory school - drug-Tsar Stevie Cooper - and his on-off girlfriend, a prostitute, Janey. But with McCoy's boss calling off the hounds, and his boss' boss unleashing their own, the Dunlops are apparently untouchable. McCoy has other ideas.

Sample

Avery Aames

"Charlotte Bessette - owner of Fromagerie Bessette, known by locals as The Cheese Shop - has a lot on her plate: setting a date with her fiance, feeding the actors in her grandmother's production of Hamlet, and planning the menu for her best friend and cousin's upcoming wedding. At least her new creation - sinfully delicious Brie blueberry ice cream - has turned out perfectly. Just days before the wedding, a stranger turns up dead in the Igloo Ice Cream Parlor's freezer, his head bashed with a container of Charlotte's signature ice cream. But this stranger turns out to be more than he seems, and his death threatens to unravel all that Charlotte has worked for. She has no choice but to add one more thing to her to-do list: find the killer before the villain destroys all that she loves"--Page 2 of cover.

Sample

Norah McClintock

Mike McGill, quinze ans, habite désormais avec John Riel, professeur d'histoire et ancien policier de la brigade des homicides, qui a accepté de l'adopter à la suite de la mort de son cousin Billy (cf. ##Délit de fuite##, du même auteur). L'adolescent se fait peu à peu à sa nouvelle vie en dépit des règles très strictes établies par son père adoptif. Or, la situation s'envenime lorsque Robbie Ducharme, un compagnon de classe de Mike, est battu à mort dans un parc. Riel semble en effet soupçonner son fils d'être impliqué dans le meurtre, même si Mike affirme que ses poings meurtris ne sont que le résultat d'une bagarre entre copains. Cependant, lorsqu'un mystérieux témoin affirme avoir vu Mike dans le parc le soir du meurtre et que la police commence également à le soupçonner, tout se complique. Le jeune homme se retrouve bientôt pris au coeur d'une infernale spirale de mensonges et en vient à ne plus savoir à qui il peut réellement se fier. Qui sont ses véritables amis? -- Une intrigue policière menée de main de maître, dans laquelle on retrouve avec plaisir les personnages crédibles et nuancés de ##Délit de fuite##. L'auteure réussit avec brio à maintenir le suspense et à créer chez son lecteur une suspicion qui va crescendo jusqu'au dénouement final. [SDM].