MacLehose Press
Books published by MacLehose Press
The Lover
Rikke’s safe family life is shaken when a man is found murdered in the apartment above her. She fears for her safety and that of her children, but most of all she is anxious about revealing her own secret tie to the dead man.
Reviewed on 29 April 2023 by Ewa Sherman
Rosy & John
Jean Garnier has hidden seven bombs around Paris and demands the release of his mother Rose from prison as the price of stopping the carnage.
Reviewed on 17 December 2022 by Chris Roberts
Dark Music
Jamal Kabir, a young football referee and Afghan refugee, is murdered after a tense match in Stockholm. Links are soon uncovered to a disturbing international agenda.
Reviewed on 17 December 2022 by Ewa Sherman
The Invisible
When Australian policeman George Manolis is placed on leave following a shooting incident, he returns to his father’s home village in Greece and works undercover to locate a missing man.
Reviewed on 12 November 2022 by John Verpeleti
Hell and High Water
Tekla Berg, an A&E department doctor with a photographic memory and a complicated relationship with her brother, takes charge of the emergency response after a devastating fire. The police are convinced this was a terrorist attack, while the Uzbek mafia in Stockholm want to silence one of the victims.
Reviewed on 20 August 2022 by Ewa Sherman
The Disappearance of Stephanie Mailer
An investigative journalist approaches a retiring police captain and suggests he got a 20-year-old case very wrong. Then she is murdered and the team re-investigates the earlier crime, as well as her death.
Reviewed on 26 March 2022 by John Verpeleti
Turf Wars
When a new drug lord is determined to make their mark on the tough Seine-Saint-Denis district of Paris, it’s not long before the area is on the verge of an all out war between the gangs and the police. Against that volatile backdrop, Capitaine Coste and his team have a murder to solve.
Reviewed on 22 January 2022 by Linda Wilson
The Stoning
Detective Sergeant George Manolis is sent back to the outback town where he grew up to investigate the horrific murder of a popular local schoolteacher.
Reviewed on 23 October 2021 by John Cleal
The Therapist
A voicemail from her husband Sigurd tells Sara he's arrived at the holiday cabin. Later a call from his friend confirms he never did. And then the search for a missing man turns into something much more sinister.
Reviewed on 21 August 2021 by Ewa Sherman
The Carrier
After years of leading a double life as an academic and a member of an elite security team, Erasmus Levine decides to flee. The problem is that he does it during the presidential visit to Sweden and while he is physically attached to a nuclear briefcase. Soon he becomes the world’s most wanted man.
Reviewed on 25 June 2021 by Ewa Sherman
Sanctuary
Marlene decides to leave her criminal husband, taking with her his very valuable collection of sapphires. Unfortunately, she crashes her car in a blizzard and is rescued by a strange mountain man.
Reviewed on 09 November 2019 by Sylvia Maughan
The Dance of Death
Freiburg detective Louise Boni tries to protect a family under threat from a man who appears outside their house, holding a gun.
Reviewed on 12 October 2019 by Chris Roberts
A Long Night in Paris
The disappearance of an Israeli man shortly after arriving at Paris Charles de Gaulle is only the first challenge for Commissaire Leger in what proves to be a very long night.
Reviewed on 15 June 2019 by Chris Roberts
The Lizard Strategy
An old man with dementia goes missing, a telephone ringtone can be heard from a lonely river valley and the council is in chaos. Commissario Soneri has to make sense of all these events.
Reviewed on 12 January 2019 by Sylvia Maughan
Inhuman Resources
Alain Delambre, formerly a highly paid executive in human resources, has been out of regular work for four years. When a major company shows some interest in his application for a senior position he adopts desperate measures to obtain it.
Reviewed on 10 November 2018 by Arnold Taylor
A Summer of Murder
Chief Inspector Louise Boni of the Frieburg Kripo is back on duty and immediately pitched into a major case involving the movement of weapons across Europe.
Reviewed on 27 October 2018 by Chris Roberts
Zen and the Art of Murder
An injured Japanese monk appears in a small Black Forest village. Tracking the man leads Chief Inspector Louise Boni to an international child sex and smuggling ring.
Reviewed on 26 May 2018 by John Cleal
Name of the Dog
Detective ‘Lefty’ Mendieta is trying to get to grips with a chain of murders of dentists when the death of someone close to a drug boss triggers a war.
Reviewed on 28 April 2018 by Chris Roberts
The Mountain
Surviving the crash that he believes was his fault is just the start of Jeremiah Salenger’s nightmares.
Reviewed on 17 February 2018 by Kati Barr-Taylor
Three Days and a Life
Antoine Courtin is 12 years old and lives alone with his divorced mother. Something of a loner, he has developed a deep love for the neighbours’ dog and when it is hit by a car and has to be put down he is devastated.
Reviewed on 11 November 2017 by Arnold Taylor
The Baltimore Boys
Three brilliant young men from different branches of a Jewish family all have dazzling futures until their close world collapses amid lies, jealousy and betrayal.
Reviewed on 11 November 2017 by John Cleal
Shadows and Sun
Retired Paris policewoman Lola Jost and her friend Ingrid Diesel return in a tale of murky political goings-on which threaten valued ex-colleagues.
Reviewed on 16 September 2017 by Chris Roberts
Retribution Road
East India Company Sergeant Arthur Bowman is sent on a secret mission. Years later as a drink and drug addicted policeman, he stumbles on a vile murder and knows only someone who shared his Burmese prison could have committed the crime.
Reviewed on 22 July 2017 by John Cleal
The Acid Test
Detective ‘Lefty’ Mendieta is determined to find the killer of an exotic dancer, while around him the conflict of two rival gangs of narcotics traffickers comes to a head.
Reviewed on 01 April 2017 by Chris Roberts
The Wednesday Club
Memories of the Finnish Civil War in 1918 affect everyone: members of the exclusive Wednesday Club, run by a lawyer Claes Thune, and also his secretive working-class secretary Mrs Matilda Wiik. It’s 1938 and Hitler’s expansion in Europe causes both admiration and anger. The past and present collide.
Reviewed on 24 December 2016 by Ewa Sherman
Dirty War
An up and coming Parisian lawyer is found murdered - burned alive next to a swimming pool in Paris. Lola Jost, whose assistant was murdered in a similar fashion, feels she has to see if there is any link between the two deaths.
Reviewed on 15 October 2016 by Arnold Taylor
Blood Wedding
Sophie Duguet, troubled by nightmares and memory loss, is acting as a baby sitter for the young son of a wealthy couple. One morning she wakes up to find him strangled to death.
Reviewed on 09 July 2016 by Arnold Taylor
The Art of Killing Well
Cookery writer Pellegrino Artusi is invited for a weekend at a Tuscan villa. When the butler is killed and the owner shot, the celebrity chef with a liking for Sherlock Holmes helps the police discover why.
Reviewed on 11 June 2016 by John Cleal
The First Man
The mysterious and dangerous Le Guen’s Cave has claimed another life, this time an experienced diver who had been studying the cave paintings.
Reviewed on 30 January 2016 by Linda Wilson
Cocaine
Three stories by Italian writers look at the trade in cocaine from the perspective of individuals within Italian law enforcement.
Reviewed on 24 October 2015 by Chris Roberts
Talking To Ghosts
Commander Vilar's son has been missing for some years. His wife has left him because of his refusal to accept that he is probably dead. He tries to carry out his tasks as a policeman but his missing son is always at the front of his mind.
Reviewed on 01 August 2015 by Arnold Taylor
Silver Bullets
Mexican detective Edgar ‘Lefty’ Mendieta investigates a murder – there are plenty of suspects, but the use of a silver bullet is something new.
Reviewed on 18 July 2015 by Chris Roberts
Camille
Anne Forestier, the new woman in Camille Verhoeven's life, goes into a toilet in a fashionable shopping quarter and runs into three armed men just on the point of carrying out a robbery.
Reviewed on 06 June 2015 by Arnold Taylor
Loser's Corner
Policeman and club boxer George Crozat, facing to the end of his career in the ring, accepts an offer to make a profit with his fists – and becomes a pawn in a dangerous game where powerful men will go to any lengths to hide the past.
Reviewed on 06 June 2015 by John Cleal
Judges
Three Italian judges in three different areas each have similar ideals and are differently equipped to achieve them. Will any of them ever succeed in overcoming the established criminal societies with their associated collaborators in the field of the law?
Reviewed on 21 February 2015 by Sylvia Maughan
Irène
Commandant Camille Verhoeven is confronted by the savage murder of two young prostitutes. His investigations lead him to the belief that the circumstances of the murder replicate those described in a well-known crime novel.
Reviewed on 07 February 2015 by Arnold Taylor
The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair
Best-selling young author Marcus Goldman turns to his former professor to overcome a bad case of writer’s block only to discover that his mentor has been hiding an affair with a 15-year-old girl for more than 30 years. When the girl’s remains are found, Goldman, with the help of a determined detective, sets out to investigate.
Reviewed on 26 July 2014 by John Cleal
Gold, Frankincense and Dust
Parma is enveloped in a thick mist for several days. The badly burned body of a young woman is discovered dumped at the bottom of a motorway embankment. A complex investigation is needed before her identity can be discovered.
Reviewed on 14 June 2014 by Sylvia Maughan
The Dark Angel
Two girls living in Paris find their flatmate brutally murdered when they return home. Two neighbours, Ingrid Diesel, a masseuse, and Lola Jost, a former police officer, get to know each other following the murder and decide to investigate,
Reviewed on 03 May 2014 by Arnold Taylor
The Voice of the Spirits
An elderly art collector is found dead in his gated mansion with a hole in his forehead and a tribal mask from Papua New Guinea over his face. Commandant Michel de Palma is called to investigate.
Reviewed on 18 October 2013 by Linda Wilson
