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After an automobile accident leaves Riske’s assistant clinging to life, he chooses to retire from the off the books risk-taking that has helped many. However, when approached to help a friend who is rotting away in a Thai prison, all bets go out the window. Riske agrees to make his way around the world, eager to see how he will be able to negotiate the release of a long-ago friend, who seems to have the Saudis mad.

Erik Larson offers up a stunning piece of true crime in this book, leaving little to the reader’s imagination. The year is 1890 and Chicago has just won the right to host the World’s Fair, which coincides with the 400 anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in the New World. While planning and construction are underway, Dr. H. H. Holmes moves to the area and lays down some roots. A quiet man, but one with murderous needs!

War gets a bad rap most of the time. Such is the argument that Margaret MacMillan makes in the opening pages of her book. While there is blood and loss of life, there is a great deal more to war and its mechanics, including things that the general public takes for granted. War is an economic rejuvenator, it helps fuel nationalism, and it creates heroes for the world to idolise. Strong academic views to date. Onwards!

Carter returns with another stunning novel, this time with a killer whose journaling might help Hunter and Garcia see deep into his mind. When a sly pickpocket gets more than she bargains for in a satchel, she turns a journal over to the LAPD. Hunter and Garcia receive it and discover a killer who has sixteen victims no one has ever found, complete with coordinates. Each killed in a unique way ‘the voices’ directed!!

As the search for David Schmidt continues, there is much going on throughout all three time periods. Richard is still piecing everything together in the late 1970s, trying to find the uncle he knew nothing about, while processing many of the sentiments regarding his frigid father. Duncan is just learning of his family and how his own Uncle Richard did so much to help. And, young David is in Austria, at least for now!

Daniel Smith presents a book whose central tenet may be all about the Nazi extermination of humans, but takes things in a unique direction. Told in three time periods, Smith explores Aktion T4, the ‘disinfection’ of mainstream Germans that began before the formal opening of concentration camps. The mentally and physically ill, including children, were shepherded into special hospitals, killed to keep ethnic purity!

As Ellie lands back in Melbourne, she is assaulted with the news that her father is missing. Not wanting to believe that Jack Bannerman would up and disappear, she frantically searches and is left with a cryptic voicemail that leads nowhere. With a less than compassionate husband seeking to claim power in the family business, Ellie looks to the police. An old flame heads up the case and Jack’s life is analysed.

A Canadian classic comes to life on the page in this piece. Matthew and Marilla Cuthburt are preparing for a lovely new boy from the orphanage in Nova Scotia. When Matthew arrives at the train station, he is greeted by a young red-headed girl, Anne. She is surely not what he expected and he lets her know as much. However, he cannot get a word in as the chatty Anne talks all the way back to Green Gables, her new home.

While the idea of cannibalism might leave some thinking of favs beans and a well-cooked human liver, Bill Schutt seeks to explore the origins of this in the animal world, as well as how the idea got such a sinister reputation amongst humans. Schutt explores how some animals used it, not out of starvation, but to cull the weak, while others found it an essential part of the mating ritual. Eating one’s species, yum!

As the cases begin to come together, SSA Cassidy cannot help but wonder if someone is provided inside intel and helping her towards the solutions she needs. While she suspects her own tech might be involved, she has no proof. Her larger concern is the constant threat of internal leaks that seems to be providing the criminal organisation with a slight upper hand. Laying a trap proves fruitful, yet no solution yet!

Alexandra arrives at her latest FBI field office to head up a team composed of misfits from around the country. Before the mud is dry on her shoes, they begin investigating a bank robbery that proves to be more intense than anyone could have imagined. This is followed by a kidnapping and some arms sales, all of which appear to be interconnected. The IT tech is working behind the scenes with his own help, aiding all!

In the aftermath of the Second World War, American high-ranking bureaucrats sought to capture the intellect that some of the Nazi scientists had, rather than leave it to the Soviets to procure for themselves. This was the birth of Operation: Paperclip, which hoped not only to bring the science, but also the scientists, to America and have them work with companies to expand American know-how moving forward. Onward...

Many feel that social media is a buzzword of the last 20 years, but Tom Standage argues that this is not the case at all Millenia ago, people used a form of social media to share thoughts and feelings, from the Romans who amassed letters to share with others, permitting people to copy them, to the early Christians, whose written documents were meant to be passed along. Even Roman graffiti had a place in society.

Charles Jenkins can still remember the harrowing escape he made from Russia and the woman who risked it all to get him out. Now, when the CIA asks him to return and see if they can extract her from a Russian prison, Jenkins must give it some thought. With a family to think about, the answer is not clear, though he knows he owes this woman everything. Slinking back in country, Jenkins begins scoping out some options.

As Alex Hawk is attending a social event, he receives word that someone has broken into his home and is causing trouble. When he rushes back, he is met by a sword-wielding man with orders from the Russian president to kill him on the spot. Choosing to slice Hawk open, the killer leaves another lasting impression before departing Bermuda. A second storyline, it is 1941 and the new Chinese ambassador is in DC to work.

Pirie and Mortimer continue their investigation and trip upon some interesting photographs in Paris that could help bring some focus to the case. However, it will require some additional time back in Scotland, asking the right questions, to get a real lead on which to base their case. Meanwhile, DC Murray works with the skeletal remains and thinks that he might have something, though going it alone could be risky

Michael is summoned back to his apartment to find it flooding. Not only that, but there is a body in the tub, one he doesn’t recognise. After calling the police, they discover that Michael knows the victim all too well, even as he continues to deny it. After he is taken into custody, Michael escapes and hopes to prove his innocence. His adopted sister agrees to help, spinning quite the web as they uncover the truth!

When a sergeant catches the case of a body floating in the water, she begins her investgation and discovers that there is more to it than meets the eye, including an international perspective and a cold-case that needs solving. Meanwhile, DCI Karen Pirie answers the call of a woman who’s discovered skeletal remains in her sister’s camper van, a year after the sibling died in an accident. Two cases of intrigue!

As Rapp and the CIA team determine that something is about to happen, they fail to locate the source. With Christmas comes the whispered overtaking of the power grids, which thrusts the country into chaos. As things turn savage, Rapp is sent in to locate someone who might know how to locate the mastermind behind it all, but it will be more effort than anyone could have imagined. Someone out there holds the intel.

As the Gamaches gather in Paris to await the birth of a new baby, Armand’s godfather, billionaire Stephen Horowitz, is run down in the street. Clinging to life, Stephen remains in hospital, while Armand and Reine-Marie being their own investigation of what appears to be a deliberate act. As Armand works alongside Paris authorities, he learns some curious things about his godfather and his time in Paris. What’s next?!

When Mitch Rapp hears whispers that an ISIS cell is headed to the US to knock out the power grid, he and his team try to stop them aboard a plane from Europe. Meanwhile, an official with the Department of Energy presents a report to a congressional committee, but they are not buying the need for concern. Someone has been feeding into to an outside source in preparation for a grid lockdown like no other. Onwards!!

Standage discusses how food had the power to create a sedentary lifestyle for humans, while also developing a hierarchy amongst them. Used as a currency, food could create a sense of richness amongst some and leave others very poor. A weapon in its own right, food helped to defeat the great military types of the world, while being used as a punishment by dictatorial governments who sought to hide their follies.

Peter’s desire to shape Russia into a new and powerful country came at a cost. He had to bring it into the 18th century with some major reforms that he discovered were already happening across the European continent. As well as being a social reformer, Peter sought to make a mark on the region by claiming land. This led to an intense war with Sweden and King Charles XII, which Massie depicts in great detail. Onward!

As Peter grew, he seemed to enjoy the dual-tsar role into which he had been thrust. He proved to be the more active and engaging leader. He married young and began having children, though Russia was surely the one he loved most. Massie explores throughout that Peter was very hands on, getting dirty and in the middle of projects, rather than be regal. He also wanted to go into Europe and forge connections with anyone.

Massie's award-winning biography of Peter the Great is a piece well worth the accolades that it has received. He explores Russia of the late 17th century, exploring its religious and cultural roots, before delving into the birth of Peter, born to the Tsar's second wife. When the death of the Tsar brought about the need for a new ruler, a complex solution saw Peter share the title as a child, with a regent in place.

There is no love loss between sisters Susie and Sally Fraser. The latter is a 16 y/o whose middle name is trouble and she is happy to smear Susie’s name at any cost. After meeting up with one of the rich young men in town, Sally goes missing without a trace. Could he be the culprit? Others emerge with potential reasons to want Sally gone, all in an effort to mute her reckless ways. Local police explore all options!

Detective Inspector Charles Field is tasked with preventing any harm from coming to Her Majesty Queen Victoria. When he spots a pickpocket along the royal route, he chases him down. Shots are fired elsewhere and Field learns that he’s arrested a decoy. Thankfully, the shots went wide, but when Field returns to his original arrestee, the boy’s been murdered and all but decapitated. A conspiracy’s afoot in London!

It’s campaign season and there are many shenanigans taking place in the race for a House seat. Cameron and Yuri are hired to find out who has been stealing election signs. As they track down a culprit, they make a bigger discovery at the opposition’s campaign office. A body is in a back room, which opens up many a can of worms for these investigators. In an odd turn of fate, they are hired to watch the murder case.

WHen Herbert K. Nutterman received a call from POTUS to serve as his next Chief of Staff, there was a great deal of hesitation, but how does one say no? Early in his tenure, Russian President Putin loses reelection to a communist. Nutterman learns that the American Intelligence community may have had a hand in it, but POTUS remains out of the loop. As POTUS continues to try to help Putin stay in power, issues arise.

Cameron Chandler is in dire need of work to keep herself busy. When she answers a help wanted ad for a local detective agency, she has no idea into what she will soon find herself. After learning the roles, Cameron is offered a position and her own solo case. What begins as a simple missing person case soon gets much more complex. Cameron has to travel to the San Juan Islands to a survivalist retreat to scout around.