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Discover the best in WHSmith books & products with reviews and features below.

Filtered by crime fiction

Absolute Power

In a heavily guarded mansion in the Virginian countryside, professional burglar and break-in artist Luther Whitney is trapped behind a one-way mirror. What he witnesses destroys his faith not only in justice, but in all he holds dear.

The Raging Storm

When Jem Rosco – sailor, adventurer and legend – blows in to the local pub, The Maiden’s Prayer, in the middle of an autumn gale, the residents of Greystone are delighted. The whole place has a strange, unreal quality: the village that time forgot. Backed by a worked-out quarry, with a shingle beach and a north-facing quay, there’s little to recommend it to tourists.

The Money Club

Izzy Harrington’s fiance is a successful entrepreneur and everyone’s friend, but today she’s waiting for him to get home so she can tell him they’re over. Except Brad never arrives. Instead, three angry men knock on the door and insist on talking to Brad. When the police arrive asking difficult questions and demanding to see his passport, Izzy’s packed suitcases suddenly take on a whole new meaning.

Simply Lies

Following a disastrous divorce, former New Jersey detective Mickey Gibson is now employed by a global investigation company, ProEye, to track down some of the extremely wealthy who seem bent on not paying their debts. Mickey misses police work but it has no place for her new role as the sole carer of two small children. When Mickey is asked by Arlene Robinson, a colleague from ProEye, to inventory an old mansion owned by a notorious former arms dealer, Rutger Novak, she discovers a long-decomposed body in a secret room. Apparently, Novak has cheated ProEye clients out of millions in the past and now they want to nail him.

Fire With Fire

Ryan and Elsie Delaney don’t accept the official line that their young daughter drowned on Santa Monica beach. Her body has never been found and their pleas for a proper investigation are rejected. So now the desperate pair are raining hellfire on the police. Taking three hostages at the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center, they give law enforcement an ultimatum: if Tilly isn’t located in the next 24 hours, they will destroy evidence in several major cases.

Dying to Know

Twelve years ago budding journalist Geneva Leighton received a phone call that stopped her life in its tracks. Her terrified sister, Amber, was locked in the boot of a moving car and begging Geneva for help. Amber was never heard from again. Since that night, Geneva’s days have revolved around caring for her traumatised niece and nephew, despite the unpredictable behaviour of their father … and keeping the search for her sister alive. But the knowledge it should have been her in the boot of the car haunts her waking hours.

The 6:20 Man

On his daily commute on the 6:20am train to Manhattan thirty-two year old Travis sees the
lavish houses of the wealthy, dreaming to join their ranks. Then one morning his dull routine is
shattered by an anonymous email. His friend is dead, prompting the NYPD to come calling. Before
the day is out another ominous visit threatens to dredge up grim secrets from his past in the army
unless he participates in a clandestine investigation into his firm.

Crows Nest

Fleeing problems in her own marriage, child protection worker Dana Gibson leaves Sydney for a job in the Queensland town of Toowoomba. Her first house call is to nearby Crows Nest to assess the children of Sandra Kirby, which results in her getting both her new boss and a local detective offside. Dana soon learns that, in the country, city rules do not apply.

An Afterlife for Rosemary Lamb

Winifred is a small town full of prejudices and assumptions. Meg and Lily are outsiders who live on its margins at Magpie Beach, where they’ve managed to keep out of each other’s – and everyone else’s – way for years. That is, until Rosemary comes along and draws them into an unlikely friendship.

The Brothers

When Special Forces veteran Jake Harlow returns to the hamlet of Lorne on the Victorian south-west coast for his younger brother Tom’s funeral, he finds a sinister series of notes that suggest Tom’s death was no accident.

Gone to Ground

UN surgeon Rachel Forester is posted at a remote medical clinic deep in the jungle of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. With violence escalating in the region, Dr Forester risks her life by remaining to tend an injured child while the rest of her team evacuates. On the cusp of her final desperate chance to leave, a soldier is carried into the camp by three other members of his unit, his condition so critical, his airlift must take priority over hers.

Girl, Forgotten

Longbill Beach, 1982. Emily Vaughn gets ready for prom night, the highlight of any high school experience. But Emily has a secret. And by the end of the evening, she will be dead.

Lying Beside You

Twenty years ago, Cyrus Haven’s family was murdered. Only he and his brother survived. Cyrus because he hid. Elias because he was the killer.

The Whispering

Callum Haffenden swore he’d never return to Granite Creek. But, thirty years after a life-shattering accident, he’s thrust back into the clutches of Far North Queensland and a local legend he worked hard to forget.

Conviction

Queensland in 1976 churns with corruption. When Detective Ray Windsor defies it, he is exiled deep into the state’s west. It’s easy out there to feel alien in your own country.

Sparring Partners

Homecoming takes us back to Ford County, the fictional setting of many of John Grisham’s unforgettable stories. Jake Brigance is back, but he’s not in the courtroom. He’s called upon to help an old friend, Mack Stafford, a former lawyer in Clanton who three years earlier became a local legend when he stole some money from his clients, divorced his wife, filed for bankruptcy, and left his family in the middle of the night, never to be heard from again. Until now.

Dirt Town

My best friend wore her name, Esther, like a queen wearing her crown at a jaunty angle. We were twelve years old when she went missing. On a sweltering Friday afternoon in Durton, best friends Ronnie and Esther leave school together. Esther never makes it home. Ronnie’s going to find her, she has a plan. Lewis will help. Their friend can’t be gone, Ronnie won’t believe it.

Wild Place

In the summer of 1989, a local teen goes missing from the idyllic Australian suburb of Camp Hill. As rumours of Satanic rituals swirl, schoolteacher Tom Witter becomes convinced he holds the key to the disappearance. When the police won’t listen, he takes matters into his own hands with the help of the missing girl’s father and a local neighbourhood watch group.

The Judge’s List

In The Whistler, Lacy Stoltz investigated a corrupt judge who was taking millions in bribes from a crime syndicate. She put the criminals away, but only after being attacked and nearly killed. Three years later, and approaching forty, she is tired of her work for the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct and ready for a change.

One of Us

Out of the blue, Gertie’s husband decides they need a break and he’s leaving her with their three children. Two streets east and three gardens down, successful businesswoman Rachael discovers her husband has cheated on her – again – even though she’s pregnant with his third child. Thrown together by a chance encounter, the two women bond over the shared disaster that is their marriages.
But did one husband push his wife too far?