'A hugely entertaining Victorian mystery' New York Times 'I enjoyed this - properly creepy and Gothic' Ian Rankin A spellbinding concoction of crime, history and horror - perfect for fans of Sherlock Holmes and Jonathan Creek _______ Edinburgh, 1888. A violinist is murdered in his home. The dead virtuoso's maid swears she heard three musicians playing in the night. But with only one body in the locked practice room - and no way in or out - the case makes no sense. Fearing a national panic over another Ripper, Scotland Yard sends Inspector Ian Frey to investigate under the cover of a fake department specializing in the occult. However, Frey's new boss, Detective 'Nine-Nails' McGray, actually believes in such supernatural nonsense. McGray's tragic past has driven him to superstition, but even Frey must admit that this case seems beyond reason. And once someone loses all reason, who knows what they will lose next . . . _______ 'This is wonderful. A brilliant, moving, clever, lyrical book - I loved it' Manda Scott 'A great cop double-act . . . It's the pairing of the upright Frey and the unorthodox McGray that notches up the stars for this book' Sunday Sport 'A brilliant mix of horror, history, and humour. Genuinely riveting . . . with plenty of twists, this will keep you turning the pages. It's clever, occasionally frightening and superbly written - The Strings Of Murder is everything you need in a mystery thriller' Crime Review

The brutal slaying of a violinist in his home in 1888 sparks a locked room murder mystery investigated by two diametrically opposed Edinburgh detectives. 1888: a violinist is brutally murdered in his Edinburgh home. Fearing a national panic over a copycat Jack the Ripper, Scotland Yard send Inspector Ian Frey. Frey reports to Detective "Nine-Nails" McGray, local legend and exact opposite of the foppish English Inspector. McGray’s tragic past has driven him to superstition, but even Frey must admit that this case seems beyond belief... There was no way in or out of the locked music studio. And there are black magic symbols on the floor. The dead man’s maid swears there were three musicians playing before the murder. And the suspects all talk of a cursed violin once played by the Devil himself. Inspector Frey has always been a man of reason—but the longer this investigation goes on, the more his grasp on reason seems to be slipping...

A spellbinding concoction of crime, history and horror, perfect for fans of Sherlock Holmes and Jonathan Creek 'A hugely entertaining Victorian mystery' NEW YORK TIMES 'I enjoyed this - properly creepy and Gothic' IAN RANKIN _______ New Year's Day, 1889. In Edinburgh's lunatic asylum, a patient escapes as a nurse lays dying. Leading the manhunt are legendary local Detective 'Nine-Nails' McGray and Londoner-in-exile Inspector Ian Frey. Before the murder, the suspect was heard in whispered conversation with a fellow patient - a girl who had been mute for years. What made her suddenly break her silence? And why won't she talk again? Could the rumours about black magic be more than superstition? McGray and Frey track a devious psychopath far beyond their jurisdiction, through the worst blizzard in living memory, into the shadow of Pendle Hill - home of the Lancashire witches - where unimaginable danger awaits . . . _______ Praise for The Strings of Murder: 'This is wonderful. A brilliant, moving, clever, lyrical book - I loved it' Manda Scott 'One of the best debuts so far this year - a brilliant mix of horror, history, and humour. Genuinely riveting with plenty of twists, this will keep you turning the pages. It's clever, occasionally frightening and superbly written. Everything you need in a mystery thriller' Crime Review

An unexplainable murder sets the city of Los Angeles into motion. As Detective Joel Grum teams up with journalist Claire Dunn to find out the person responsible, the two realize the murder was just a pawn in a bigger game of chess. Watch how a simple murder case turns into a plot filled with conspiracy, crime, drama, and betrayal. When Joel digs deeper into the mystery, he finds out that bigger powers are at work and realizes how one person is controlling everything like puppets on a string. With every new find, Joel comes closer to finding out the hand controlling the puppets and the ulterior motives at play. Does Joel succeed in finding out the shocking truth, or does he fall prey to the mastermind of the plot.

'A hugely entertaining Victorian mystery' New York Times 'I enjoyed this - properly creepy and Gothic' Ian Rankin _______________ A CASE FOR FREY & McGRAY The Scottish Highlands, 1889. When a young heir receives a sinister death threat, Inspectors Frey and 'Nine-Nails' McGray answer a desperate plea to offer him protection. The detectives travel north to the remote and misty Loch Maree, site of an ancient burial ground. They must stay with the mysterious Koloman family - any one of whom might be a suspect. But Frey and McGray have little time to get their bearings. Even before they arrive the boy's guardian is brutally murdered, and one thing becomes clear to the two detectives: Someone is willing to kill to protect the secrets of Loch Maree. _______________ Praise for the Frey & McGray series: 'This is wonderful. A brilliant, moving, clever, lyrical book - I loved it. Oscar de Muriel is going to be a name to watch' Manda Scott 'Fun to read and a fast page-turner. Love and murder - they go together like strawberries and cream' Independent 'A brilliant mix of horror, history, and humour. Genuinely riveting with plenty of twists, this will keep you turning the pages. It's clever, occasionally frightening and superbly written ... Everything you need in a mystery thriller' Crime Review 'Fast-paced, well-researched and thoroughly spellbinding. The mismatched pair is as entertaining as Holmes and Watson at their best' Historical Novel Society

*Features an exclusive extract from A Fever of the Blood - the brilliant new Case for Frey & McGray, which publishes in February 2016* Christmas, 1888. After a thoroughly trying time in Edinburgh, Inspector Ian Frey looks forward to a Christmas break at his family's country estate back in England. But the welcome respite of home cooking, hunting trips and brandy by the fire is ruined by the arrival of an unwelcome guest . . . Praise for The Strings of Murder: 'This is wonderful. A brilliant, moving, clever, lyrical book - I loved it.' Manda Scott 'One of the best débuts of the year. Riveting, genuinely funny, occasionally frightening and superbly written.' Crime Review

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A fascinating account of greed on a gigantic scale, of market manipulation, option swaps and underhandedness, within the financial industry. This is a novel, with a hint of truth, behind the lies. The collapse of financial institutions goes global, as the economic market heads into freefall and insider trading is uncovered. Journalist, Tim Parkes, is to fit the pieces together, after surreptitiously been left clues to uncover. Just who is it, that started it all? As murders from large corporations are exposed, along with the murder of scientists; world leaders in semiconductors and gene manipulation for chemical and germ warfare become known, the financial world goes into a tailspin. With the knowledge of bribery and underhanded deals, Tim goes on a search to find the truth. He’s being targeted and watched and he knows it. He knows he needs to open this can of worms and bring the treachery to the table, before he becomes yet another dead pawn, in somebody’s game. As world-wide lending institutions, succumb to the ravages of global financial collapse, developed through their own unscrupulous activities, more and more people are left to fend for themselves. The collapse of the sub-prime mortgage industry, has left financial institutions to do, or to die. The sub-prime mortgage industry has disintegrated, leaving millions of people destitute in its wake. With lawlessness, disorder, looting and riots a way of life, this is a story, which brings price fixing to the fore, exposing cover-ups, market manipulation and murder. Anarchy raises its ugly head, as Wall Street teeters, before collapsing, while Tim sorts out truth, from lies. Just who is the marionette director? Who is the person pulling the strings in the shadows, the puppet master, in this game of espionage, market manipulation, murder and mayhem? The answer may just surprise you.

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NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Flavia is incisive, cutting and hilarious . . . one of the most remarkable creations in recent literature.”—USA Today Flavia de Luce, a dangerously smart eleven-year-old with a passion for chemistry and a genius for solving murders, thinks that her days of crime-solving in the bucolic English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey are over—until beloved puppeteer Rupert Porson has his own strings sizzled in an unfortunate rendezvous with electricity. But who’d do such a thing, and why? Does the madwoman who lives in Gibbet Wood know more than she’s letting on? What about Porson’s charming but erratic assistant? All clues point toward a suspicious death years earlier and a case the local constables can’t solve—without Flavia’s help. But in getting so close to who’s secretly pulling the strings of this dance of death, has our precocious heroine finally gotten in way over her head? BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Alan Bradley's A Red Herring Without Mustard, discussion questions, and an essay by the author.