Voices of the Dead

Faber and Faber 2012, Paperback, 336 pages, £12.99

Voices of the Dead, by Peter Leonard

Detroit, 1971.

Harry Levin, scrap metal dealer and holocaust survivor, learns that his daughter has been killed in a car accident. Travelling to Washington DC, he’s told by Detective Taggart that the German diplomat, who was drunk, has been released and afforded immunity; he will never face charges. So Harry is left with only one option – to discover the identity of this man, follow him back to Munich and hunt him down.

• Read the extract

I’ll Walk Alone

Simon & Schuster Ltd 2012, Paperback, 464 pages, £6.99

I’ll Walk Alone, by Mary Higgins Clark

Two years after the day that her son, Matthew, was kidnapped in broad daylight in Central Park, Alexandra Moreland still finds herself torn between hope and despair. As no trace of Matthew was ever found, she has never been able to give him up for dead. But now, on what would have been Matthew’s fifth birthday, photos surface that seem to show Alexandra kidnapping her own child. Then, as her bank accounts are suddenly drained, and her reputation as a successful architect comes under immense pressure, Alexandra begins to suspect that someone is using her credit cards to steal her identity. But who would want to ruin her so completely? Hounded by the press, under investigation by the police, attacked by both her angry ex-husband and a vindictive business rival, Alexandra, sustained only by her belief that Matthew is still alive, sets out to discover who is behind this cruel hoax. Little does she realize that with every step she takes toward the truth, she is putting herself -and those she loves most – in mortal danger.

Plugged

Headline 2012, Paperback, 336 pages, £6.99

Plugged, by Eoin Colfer

Dan, an Irishman who’s ended up in New Jersey, finds himself embroiled in a world of murder, kidnapping and corrupt cops.

Dan works as a bouncer in a seedy club, half in love with hostess Connie. When Connie is murdered on the premises, a vengeful Dan finds himself embroiled in an increasingly deadly sequence of events in which his doctor friend Zeb goes mysteriously missing, a cop-killing female cop becomes his only ally, and he makes an enemy of ruthless drug-dealer Mike Madden. Written with the warmth and wit that make the Artemis Fowl novels so irresistible, though with additional torture and violence, Plugged is a brilliant crime debut from a naturally gifted writer with a huge fanbase.

• Eoin Colfer Q&A

The Questions:

To win, answer the following questions…

• Question 1: In Voices of the Dead, what time is Harry in bed?
  Question 2: Where does Eoin Colfer write?
  

Terms and conditions

1. Closing date for entries:  4th February 2012.
2. Open to residents of the United Kingdom only.
3. Entry to the competition is by completion of the above form only. Anyone submitting multiple entries will be disqualified.
4. The winners will be selected at random from those correct entries received before the closing date.
5. Only the winning entrants will be contacted by Bookdagger. Our decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
6. The winner’s name(s) may be published on the Bookdagger website after the closing date of the competition.
7. The competition is not open to Bookdagger employees and their families, or to employees of Bookdagger publishers and their families.

Buried Secrets (Nick Heller 2)

Headline 2012, Paperback, 480 pages, £6.99

Nick Heller returns in an explosive new thriller.

When PI Nick Heller moves back to Boston to set up his own agency, he soon gets an urgent case even closer to home than expected. Alexandra Marcus – teenage daughter of hedge fund titan Marshall Marcus – has been kidnapped. But it’s no ordinary kidnapping – and it’s not even clear what they want. She’s been abducted by professionals and buried alive in an underground casket. A video camera is streaming her desperate pleas live over the internet. With only a limited supply of food and water, her time is quickly running out.

A close friend of the family, Nick is more determined than ever to catch the perpetrators. But when Marshall is arrested for fraud, Nick uncovers some powerful enemies and a conspiracy that reaches up to the very highest levels of government. Faced with opponents well-protected by wealth and position, Nick must play a dangerous game if he hopes to flush out those responsible before Alexa is buried for good…

• Read the extract
• Watch the trailer
• Read Lee Child’s exclusive short story

The Questions:

To win, answer the following questions… (some of the answers are on the website, or why not try a quick Google…)

• Question 1: What car does Heller drive?
  
• Question 2: What is the title of Nick Heller’s first adventure?
  
• Question 3: In the extract, what car does Lorenzo drive?

Terms and conditions

1. Closing date for entries:  25th January 2012.
2. Open to residents of the United Kingdom only.
3. Entry to the competition is by completion of the above form only. Anyone submitting multiple entries will be disqualified.
4. The winners will be selected at random from those correct entries received before the closing date.
5. Only the winning entrants will be contacted by Bookdagger. Our decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
6. The winner’s name(s) may be published on the Bookdagger website after the closing date of the competition.
7. The competition is not open to Bookdagger employees and their families, or to employees of Bookdagger publishers and their families.

The Panda Theory

Gallic Books 2012, Paperback, 145 pages, £6.99

The Panda Theory, by Pascal Garnier

“You’ve only been here for a few days but you already know loads of people. You walk into people’s lives, just like that.” Gabriel is a stranger in a small Breton town. Nobody knows where he came from or why he’s here. Yet his small acts of kindness, and exceptional cooking, quickly earn him acceptance from the locals. His new friends grow fond of Gabriel, who seems as reserved and benign as the toy panda he wins at the funfair. But unlike Gabriel, the fluffy toy is not haunted by his past…

• The author, in his own words

The Somme Stations (Jim Stringer Steam Detective 7)

Faber and Faber 2012, Paperback, 304 pages, £7.99

The Somme Stations, by Andrew Martin

On the first day of the Somme enlisted railwayman Jim Stringer lies trapped in a shell hole, smoking cigarette after cigarette under the bullets and the blazing sun. He calculates his chances of survival – even before they departed for France, a member of Jim’s unit had been found dead. During the stand-off that follows, Jim and his comrades must operate by night the vitally important trains carrying munitions to the Front, through a ghostly landscape of shattered trees where high explosive and shrapnel shells rain down. Close co-operation and trust are vital. Yet proof piles up of an enemy within, and as a ferocious military policeman pursues his investigation into the original killing, the finger of accusation begins to point towards Jim himself . . .

The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer

Simon & Schuster Ltd 2011, Mass Market Paperback, 192 pages, £7.99

The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, by Jennifer Lynch

Laura Palmer – the sweet-faced beauty of “Twin Peaks” – hid her darkest deeds and twisted dreams in a secret diary from the time she was twelve years old…

Until the day she was murdered – and a quiet rural community began to fall apart at the seams.

The diary contains important clues to the identity of her killer. For the inhabitants of Twin Peaks it begins a mystery that will reach out to obsess them all…

• Read the extract

The Questions:

To win, answer the following questions…

• Question 1: How old was Pascal Garnier when he started writing?
  
• Question 2: Where is Laura Palmer’s new pony stabled?
  
• Question 3: When was the first day of the Battle of the Somme?
  

Terms and conditions

1. Closing date for entries:  6th January 2012.
2. Open to residents of the United Kingdom only.
3. Entry to the competition is by completion of the above form only. Anyone submitting multiple entries will be disqualified.
4. The winners will be selected at random from those correct entries received before the closing date.
5. Only the winning entrants will be contacted by Bookdagger. Our decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
6. The winner’s name(s) may be published on the Bookdagger website after the closing date of the competition.
7. The competition is not open to Bookdagger employees and their families, or to employees of Bookdagger publishers and their families.

Memories define us.

So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep?

Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love – all forgotten overnight.

And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story.

Welcome to Christine’s life.

Shortlisted for the Galaxy prize and translated into more than 30 languages Before I Go To Sleep is an international bestseller.

Listen to an extract

The Question:

To win, answer the following question…

• Question 1: What is the name of Christine’s husband?

Terms and conditions

1. Closing date for entries:  31st December 2011.
2. Open to residents of the United Kingdom only.
3. Entry to the competition is by completion of the above form only. Anyone submitting multiple entries will be disqualified.
4. The winners will be selected at random from those correct entries received before the closing date.
5. Only the winning entrants will be contacted by Bookdagger. Our decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
6. The winner’s name(s) may be published on the Bookdagger website after the closing date of the competition.
7. The competition is not open to Bookdiva employees and their families, or to employees of Bookdagger publishers and their families.

AudioGO (formerly BBC Audiobooks) publish an extensive range of drama, comedy and factual programmes from BBC Radio, in addition to abridged and unabridged  recordings by best-selling authors read by the finest narrators. Most titles are available in both CD and download format. To browse through the complete collection visit www.audiogo.co.uk.

Death Comes to Pemberley

Faber and Faber 2011, Hardcover, 320 pages, £18.99

Death Comes to Pemberley, by PD James

The year is 1803, and Darcy and Elizabeth have been married for six years. There are now two handsome and healthy sons in the Pemberley nursery, Elizabeth’s beloved sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live within seventeen miles, the ordered and secure life of Pemberley seems unassailable, and Elizabeth’s happiness in her marriage is complete.

But their peace is threatened and old sins and misunderstandings are rekindled on the eve of the annual autumn ball. The Darcys and their guests are preparing to retire for the night when a chaise appears, rocking down the path from Pemberley’s wild woodland, and as it pulls up, Lydia Wickham, an uninvited guest, tumbles out, screaming that her husband has been murdered.

In a pitch-perfect recreation of the world of Pride and Prejudice, P. D. James elegantly fuses her lifelong passion for the work of Jane Austen with her talent for writing detective fiction. She weaves a compelling story, combining a sensitive insight into the happy but threatened marriage of the Darcys and the excitement and suspense of a brilliantly crafted detective story.

Death Comes to Pemberley enshrines the qualities her readers have come to expect: psychological and emotional richness of characterisation, vivid evocation of place, and a credible and superbly structured plot, in a powerful and distinguished work of fiction.

• Read the extract

The Magician’s Wife

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC 2012, Paperback, 272 pages, £7.99

The Magician’s Wife, by Brian Moore

France, 1856: Emmeline Lambert is married to an illusionist sent by Napoleon III to persuade the Arabs – poised for holy war and in thrall to charismatic leaders – that France’s might and magic are the greater. Emmeline begins to feel like an illusionist herself, when she dazzles the Emperor and then sheds her inhibitions along with flimsy notions of patriotism and propriety in the hot glare of the Algerian sun.

• Read the extract

The Statement

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC 2011, Paperback, 256 pages, £7.99

The Statement, by Brian Moore

Pierre Brossard is on the run. For his life. From a determined squad of unknown hit-men. From his former ‘friends’. From his past. Condemend to death in absentia by French courts for crimes against humanity during the war, he has been in hiding for over forty years. Now, perhaps, justice will be done.

• Read the extract

Covenant

Simon & Schuster Ltd 2011, Paperback, 672 pages, £6.99

Covenant, by Dean Crawford

Humanity has always believed it is the only intelligent species of life in the universe. But while excavating in Israel, an archaeologist unearths a tomb that has remained hidden for 7,000 years. Inside lies a secret of such magnitude that the story of mankind is instantly rewritten – and its future thrown into terrible danger.

Only one man can piece history back together again. Only one man will risk everything to prevent a catastrophe that could tear the world apart.

That man is Ethan Warner.

• Read the extract

Cuckoo

Headline 2011, Paperback, 448 pages, £6.99

Cuckoo, by Julia Crouch

A dark, juicy, deliciously unsettling, read-it-in-one-sitting psychological drama.

Rose has it all – the gorgeous children, the husband, the beautiful home. But then her best friend Polly comes to stay. Very soon, Rose’s cosy world starts to fall apart at the seams – her baby falls dangerously ill, her husband is distracted – is Polly behind it all? It appears that once you invite Polly into your home, it’s very difficult to get her out again…

The Questions:

To win, answer the following questions…

• Question 1: In Death Comes to Pemberley, in which in which year were Mrs Bingley and Mrs Darcy celebrating six years of happy marriage?
  
• Question 2: In The Magician’s Wife, who said that his room is damp and cold and looks out on the stables?
  
• Question 3: In Covenant, what is the cranial capacity of the skull that is found in Israel?
  

Terms and conditions

1. Closing date for entries:  4th December 2011.
2. Open to residents of the United Kingdom only.
3. Entry to the competition is by completion of the above form only. Anyone submitting multiple entries will be disqualified.
4. The winners will be selected at random from those correct entries received before the closing date.
5. Only the winning entrants will be contacted by Bookdagger. Our decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
6. The winner’s name(s) may be published on the Bookdagger website after the closing date of the competition.
7. The competition is not open to Bookdagger employees and their families, or to employees of Bookdagger publishers and their families.

Mystery

Headline 2011, Paperback, 384 pages, £6.99

Mystery, by Jonathan Kellerman

An ingenious, intriguing and breathtakingly good novel from the world’s number one psychological thriller writer

In a glamorous area of Los Angeles, the Beverley Fauborg hotel is about to close for good. Psychologist Alex Delaware and his girlfriend Robin are making a farewell visit to the hotel bar when one patron in particular grabs their attention – a beautiful but aloof young woman dressed all in white.

Two days later, Alex is called in on a murder case and is shocked when he recognises the victim as the woman in white. Discovering her true identity is not going to be easy though and, Milo’s investigation into the girl nicknamed ‘Mystery’ leads him to the darkest of secrets in the highest of places.

• Read an extract

A Rich Full Death

Faber and Faber 2011, Paperback, 256 pages, £7.99

A Rich Full Death, by Michael Dibdin

Florence, 1855. ‘The English are dying too much,’ the Florence police chief observes. And members of the foreign community in this quaint Italian backwater are indeed dying at an alarming rate and in an extraordinary variety of ingenious and horrible ways.

With the local authorities out of their depth, the distinguished resident Robert Browning launches his own private investigation, aided and abetted by fellow expatriate Robert Booth. Unfortunately, their amateur sleuthing is hampered by the fact that each of their suspects becomes the next victim in a series of murders orchestrated by a killer with a taste for poetic justice. A Rich Full Death features characters both historical and imaginary, ranging from an enticing servant girl to Mr Browning’s consumptive, famous wife, Elizabeth Barrett, in a tale lush with period detail, intricately plotted, and with a truly astonishing final twist.

No Rest for the Dead

Simon & Schuster Ltd 2011, Paperback, 384 pages, £12.99

No Rest For The Dead, by Various

When Christopher Thomas, a curator at San Francisco’s Museum of Fine Arts, is murdered and his decaying body is found in an iron maiden in Berlin, his wife Rosemary Thomas is the prime suspect. Long suffering under Christopher’s unfaithful ways, Rosemary is tried, convicted and executed. Ten years later, Jon Nunn, the detective who cracked the case, becomes convinced that the wrong person was put to death. Along with financier Tony Olsen, he plans to gather everyone who was there the night Christopher died and finally uncover the truth about what happened that fateful evening. Could it have been the ne’er do well brother Peter Hausen, interested in his sister’s trust fund having got through his own; the curatorial assistant Justine Olengard, used and betrayed by Christopher; the artist Belle who turned down his advances only to see her career suffer a setback; or someone else all together? No Rest for the Dead is a thrilling, page-turning accomplishment that only the very best thriller writers could achieve.

• Read an extract

The Question:

To win, answer the following question…

Question 1: In Mystery, what is the name of The Fauborg’s waiter?

Terms and conditions

1. Closing date for entries:  7th November 2011.
2. Open to residents of the United Kingdom only.
3. Entry to the competition is by completion of the above form only. Anyone submitting multiple entries will be disqualified.
4. The winners will be selected at random from those correct entries received before the closing date.
5. Only the winning entrants will be contacted by Bookdagger. Our decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
6. The winner’s name(s) may be published on the Bookdagger website after the closing date of the competition.
7. The competition is not open to Bookdiva employees and their families, or to employees of Bookdagger publishers and their families.

Eat Him if You Like

Gallic Books 2011, Paperback, 144 pages, £6.99

• Read an extract from Eat Him If You Like

++++

Three winners will receive an advance copy of Gallic’s new book of cannibalism in 19th century France, Eat Him If You Like.  To win, answer a simple question before 24 October that can be found on Bookdagger…

What short coming would Alain’s conscription in the cavalry make up for?

No Rest for the Dead

Simon & Schuster Ltd 2011, Paperback, 384 pages, £12.99

No Rest for the Dead, edited by David Baldacci

When Christopher Thomas, a curator at San Francisco’s Museum of Fine Arts, is murdered and his decaying body is found in an iron maiden in Berlin, his wife Rosemary Thomas is the prime suspect. Long suffering under Christopher’s unfaithful ways, Rosemary is tried, convicted and executed. Ten years later, Jon Nunn, the detective who cracked the case, becomes convinced that the wrong person was put to death. Along with financier Tony Olsen, he plans to gather everyone who was there the night Christopher died and finally uncover the truth about what happened that fateful evening. Could it have been the ne’er do well brother Peter Hausen, interested in his sister’s trust fund having got through his own; the curatorial assistant Justine Olengard, used and betrayed by Christopher; the artist Belle who turned down his advances only to see her career suffer a setback; or someone else all together? No Rest for the Dead is a thrilling, page-turning accomplishment that only the very best thriller writers could achieve.

The Night Stalker

Simon & Schuster Ltd 2011, Hardcover, 464 pages, £12.99

The Night Stalker, by Chris Carter

When an unidentified female body is discovered laid out on a slab in an abandoned butcher’s shop, the cause of death is unclear. Her body bares no marks; except for the fact that her lips have been carefully stitched shut. It is only when the full autopsy gets underway at the Los Angeles County morgue that the pathologist will reveal the true horror of the situation – a discovery so devastating that Detective Robert Hunter of the Los Angeles Homicide Special Section has to be pulled off a different case to take over the investigation. But when his inquiry collides with a missing persons’ case being investigated by the razor-sharp Whitney Meyers, Hunter suspects the killer might be keeping several women hostage. Soon Robert finds himself on the hunt for a murderer with a warped obsession, a stalker for whom love has become hate.

Bloodline

Simon & Schuster Ltd 2011, Hardcover, 496 pages, £18.99

Blood Line, by Lynda La Plante

Under the watchful eye of DCS James Langton, DCI Anna Travis takes charge of an investigation for the first time. But is it purely a missing person’s case – or a full blown murder enquiry? An ominous pool of blood and no victim lead Anna on a desperate hunt for a man who has disappeared without trace. As Anna becomes obsessed with seemingly irrelevant details, Langton fears that she is losing control. They still have no body and Anna is under increasing pressure to make an arrest…

 ++++

To enter before 31 October, answer this question:

Which city does Michael Dobbs set this story in for its air of mystery and varied existence in the 20th-century?

Satori

Headline 2011, Paperback, 544 pages, £6.99

Satori by Don Winslow

A gripping thriller that follows assassin Nicholai Hel across Asia as he fights to regain his freedom.

Sugamo Prison, Japan, October 1951. Nicholai Hel has spent the last three years in solitary confinement for the murder of his mentor. A formidable assassin as well as a master of hoda korosu or ‘naked kill’, he has developed a supreme awareness of the presence of danger. Suddenly offered the chance of freedom, he feels it now as never before…

Overseen by Haverford, his American spymaster he must go to Beijing and kill the Soviet Union’s commissioner to China. In a landscape primed for war this is a suicide mission he has no choice but to accept.

Can Hel succeed in winning his freedom and if so, at what cost? And can he ever achieve his ultimate goal of satori – the possibility of true understanding and harmony with the world?

The Family

Headline 2011, Paperback, 592 pages, £7.99

The Family by Martina Cole

Devastatingly powerful and utterly unforgettable, THE FAMILY will hook you in from the very first page, and keep you there till the very last.

Phillip Murphy is a family man. He worships his old mum; he takes care of his siblings who help run his business empire; he dotes on his two young sons who will one day take over. And then there’s his wife and saviour Christine, whom he loves with a vengeance. To Phillip Murphy, family is everything.

Christine has always understood this about her husband. But there is another side to Phillip, and it’s a side he never wanted his wife to see. Though even if she did, could she do anything but stand by him? Because Phillip has rules, and he expects loyalty from his nearest and dearest. Once you’re in the family, you’re in it for life.

Mystery

Headline 2011, Paperback, 384 pages, £6.99

Mystery by Jonathan Kellerman

An ingenious, intriguing and breathtakingly good novel from the world’s number one psychological thriller writer

In a glamorous area of Los Angeles, the Beverley Fauborg hotel is about to close for good. Psychologist Alex Delaware and his girlfriend Robin are making a farewell visit to the hotel bar when one patron in particular grabs their attention – a beautiful but aloof young woman dressed all in white.

Two days later, Alex is called in on a murder case and is shocked when he recognises the victim as the woman in white. Discovering her true identity is not going to be easy though and, Milo’s investigation into the girl nicknamed ‘Mystery’ leads him to the darkest of secrets in the highest of places.

The Stranger You Seek

Headline 2011, Hardcover, 336 pages, £19.99

The Stranger You Seek, by Amanda Kyle Williams

Atlanta, Georgia, a vicious serial killer is at loose, luring victims with ease, killing them with a combination of precision and twisted brutality.

Keye Street is not happy. Formally a rising FBI star, with two university degrees and a brilliant track record in criminal profiling, she’s now working for herself as a bail recovery agent. It’s not exciting work, but it keeps her agency afloat.

So when her friend and mentor, Lieutenant Aaron Rauser, wants her on his case, Keye is reluctant to help him out. That way, obsession lies, and she knows her demons. But when he shows her a letter he’s received from the killer, Keye feels a familiar excitement. They’re being played with, the snare is set, and Keye just can’t resist picking up the bait…

Old Enemies (Harry Jones)

Simon & Schuster Ltd 2011, Paperback, 464 pages, £7.99

Old Enemies, by Michael Dobbs

In the Swiss Alps a teenage girl is thrown from a helicopter and her boyfriend is brutally abducted to Trieste, a city filled with undercurrents of past hatreds. Ruari, son of Irish media owner J J Breslin, is in desperate danger, at the mercy of ruthless kidnappers making impossible demands. His terrified mother contacts the only person she knows can help her son: Harry Jones, her former lover, who she walked out on many years ago. Now memories of their passionate affair, the guilt, hurt, anger and humiliation, come flooding back. Time is running out for Ruari and Harry, torn between his loyalties, is quickly drawn into a political game played for high stakes. Far higher than he realizes…

Bloodland

Faber and Faber 2011, Paperback, 432 pages, £12.99

Bloodland, by Alan Glynn

A tabloid star is killed in a helicopter crash and three years later a young journalist is warned off the story. A private security contractor loses it in the Congo, with deadly consequences. In Ireland an ex-prime minister struggles to contain a dark secret from his time in office. A dramatic news story breaks in Paris just as a US senator begins his campaign to run for office. With echoes of John Le Carré, 24 and James Ellroy, Alan Glynn’s follow-up to Winterland is another crime novel of and for our times – a ferocious, paranoid thriller that moves from Dublin to New York via Central Africa, and thrillingly explores the legacy of corruption in big business, the West’s fear of China, the role of back room political players and the question of who controls what we know.

 To enter, answer our this question:

1. Why did Keye Street lose her job with the FBI?

Terms and conditions

1. Closing date for entries: 30th September 2011.
2. Open to residents of the United Kingdom only.
3. Entry to the competition is by completion of the above form only. Anyone submitting multiple entries will be disqualified.
4. The winners will be selected at random from those correct entries received before the closing date.
5. Only the winning entrants will be contacted by Bookdagger. Our decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
6. The winner’s name(s) may be published on the Bookdagger website after the closing date of the competition.
7. The competition is not open to Bookdiva employees and their families, or to employees of Bookdagger publishers and their families.