Looking for something new to read? Browse our fiction picks for August! Includes books by Adam Kay, R.F. Kuang, Richard Armitage and more. All of these books and more are available to borrow for free with your library card.
A Particularly Nasty Case
Adam Kay
When a toxic hospital consultant dies of a heart attack, fellow doctor Eitan Rose smells foul play. Nobody else does though, including some quite crucial players like the police and the coroner. So when another senior doctor dies in similar circumstances, he’s determined to prove there’s more to these deaths than meets the eye.But following time off for his mental health, Eitan’s friends and colleagues begin to question his judgement as his chaotic investigation and equally chaotic life spiral simultaneously out of control. Is he making a career-ending mistake, or could there genuinely be a killer stalking the wards?
Katabasis
R. F. Kuang
Grad student Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become the brightest mind in the field of analytic magick. But the only person who can make her dream come true is dead and – inconveniently – in Hell. And Alice, along with her biggest rival Peter Murdoch, is going after him. But Hell is not as the philosophers claim, its rules are upside-down, and if she’s going to get out of there alive, she and Peter will have to work together. That’s if they can agree on anything. Will they triumph or kill each other trying?
Wolf Hour
Jo Nesbø
When a small-time crook is shot down in the street, all signs point to a lone wolf, a sniper who has seemingly vanished into thin air. To tell it he needs to get caught. Down-and-out detective, Bob Oz is sitting in a dive bar in Minneapolis when he gets the call: there’s been another murder, and they don’t think it will be the last. And this wolf wants the world to know. As the body count grows, Oz suspects that something more sinister is at play. And the closer he gets the more disturbed he becomes. Because the serial killer reminds him of someone: himself. He’s only just getting started.
Helm
Sarah Hall
Helm is a ferocious, mischievous wind – a subject of folklore and awe, who has blasted the sublime landscape of the Eden Valley since the very dawn of time. Through the stories of those who’ve obsessed over this phenomenon, Helm’s extraordinary history is formed: the Neolithic tribe who tried to placate Helm, the Dark Age wizard priest who wanted to banish Helm, the Victorian steam engineer who attempted to capture Helm – and the farmer’s daughter who loved Helm. But now Dr Selima Sutar, surrounded by infinite clouds and measuring instruments in her observation hut, fears human pollution is killing Helm.
The Final Vow
M. W. Craven
A shooting at Gretna Green. A bride is murdered on her wedding day, seconds after she slips on her new ring. It’s brutal and bloody but she isn’t the first victim and she won’t be the last. With the body count now at 17, people are terrified, not knowing where the sniper will strike next.
With the nation in a state of panic, the police are at a loss and turn to Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw – the only team who just might be able to track down a serial killer following no discernible pattern and with the whole country as his personal hunting ground. Can Poe and Tilly stop an unstoppable assassin, who never misses his mark and never makes a mistake? Or will he find them before they find him…
The Cut
Richard Armitage
Thirty years ago, one of Ben Knott’s schoolfriends was murdered. Another went to prison. The story ended. The village of Barton Mallett tried to move on. Now her killer is back. As the murderer’s sentence ends, the village is chosen as the unlikely location for a feature film by a Hollywood producer, with Ben’s son Nathan cast in the leading role. As the film takes shape, Ben begins to recognise the storyline – from his own past. As his son becomes immersed in a tale of bullying and retribution, things turn dangerous, and an uncomfortable truth begins to emerge. Ben must choose between the safety of his children and reopening the wounds of the past. How much is he willing to risk to protect his family – and himself?
Boudicca’s Daughter
Elodie Harper
Boudicca. Infamous warrior, queen of the British Iceni tribe and mastermind of one of history’s greatest revolts. Her defeat spelled ruin for her people, yet still her name is enough to strike fear into Roman hearts. But what of the woman who grew up in her shadow? The woman who has her mother’s looks and cunning but a spirit all of her own? The woman whose desperate bid for survival will take her from Britain’s sacred marshlands to the glittering façades of Nero’s Roman Empire. Born to a legend. Forced to fight. Determined to succeed. Meet Solina. Boudicca’s Daughter.
Our Beautiful Mess
Adele Parks
Connie can’t wait to have all her daughters back home for the holidays. It’s not just the excitement of the girls being together under one roof; uni student Fran is bringing a new boyfriend to stay. The empty nest will once again be full of friends, family and young love. Yet from the moment she sees Zac, Connie feels a deep unease. Zac reminds her of the worst mistake she has ever made: a man whose charm and good looks nearly destroyed her marriage. Then, Fran announces she’s pregnant.
Reeling from Fran’s news and terrified that her past might threaten her family’s future, Connie desperately tries to navigate a path forward. But there’s a much greater menace looming, because she’s not the only one who has something to hide. Someone in the house has another devastating secret. A deception which will put everyone Connie loves in shocking danger, and one of them will pay the ultimate price.
Evil in High Places
Rory Clements
Munich, 1936. All eyes are on the Bavarian capital for the upcoming Olympic games. As athletes fight for gold and the Nazis fight for power, Detective Sebastian Wolff faces a battle of his own. A famous actress has disappeared and Wolff has been ordered to find her, fast. But Elena Lang is no ordinary film-star: she is the mistress of Joseph Goebbels – Hitler’s right-hand-man in the party that Wolff despises. But corruption runs deep in Munich and Elena is just the first to go missing. In a search that will take him from high society to the city’s darkest corners, Wolff is about to learn just how easily the hunter becomes the hunted: this is a city on the brink of war, and some enemies are better left alone.
The Society of Unknowable Objects
Gareth Brown
The world of unknowable objects – magical items that most people have no idea possess powers – has been quiet for decades. But three current members of a secret society have remained watchful, meeting every six months in the basement of a bookshop in London. They are pledged to protect their archive of magical items hidden away, safe from the outside world – and keep the world safe from them. But when Frank Simpson, the longest-standing member of the Society of Unknowable Objects, hears of a new artefact coming to light in Hong Kong, he sends the Society’s newest member, author Magda Sparks, to investigate. Within hours of arriving in Hong Kong, Magda is facing death and danger, confronted by a professional killer who seems to know all about unknowable objects, specifically one that was stolen from him a decade before.
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