The Clamorous Dead is Published Today

Congratulations to David Field, whose twisty Elizabethan mystery, The Clamorous Dead, is published today!

The Clamorous Dead is the fourth historical thriller in the Bailiff Mountsorrel Tudor Mystery Series – private investigation crime novels set during the reign of Elizabeth I and beyond.

Nottingham, England, 1596

A routine hanging at Gallows Hill is disrupted when a wild woman begins screaming a curse on the execution site, calling down nightly visitations from the undead to claim the souls of the living.

County Bailiff Edward Mountsorrel attempts to pursue her, but she vanishes into thin air.

Nightly thereafter, Gallows Hill is the scene of ghastly happenings that Edward is ordered to investigate. Rumours of witchcraft infiltrate the county and the bailiff is sent to arrest a local woman, suspected of devilry.

Edward finds her and realises she is merely a wise woman with ancient knowledge of herbs and medicine and with no ill intent. He decides to hide her to keep her safe from those calling for blood.

But his efforts are complicated by the arrival of a professional witch-hunter from Scotland, who is scouring the length and breadth of England in a blood-thirsty mission to destroy any woman, man or child found guilty of sorcery.

As mass hysteria and prejudice threaten to engulf the country, can Edward bring justice to his county, while still keeping his morals intact? Or will innocent women be thrown to the wolves…?

Congratulations to C. V. Chauhan, whose heart-pounding thriller, The Right Time To Die, is out now!

The Right Time To Die is the third book in the Inspector Sharma Thriller series: gritty urban police procedurals set in Leicester.

DI Sharma is caught in a lethal race against time…

Tensions are running high in the city of Leicester. Recent conflict between groups of Hindu and Muslim youths has led to violence on the streets, which the police are struggling to control.

Despite these events, Sunil Kumar, a Bollywood superstar has been invited to switch on the lights along the Golden Mile for the festival of Diwali.

DI Rohan Sharma is one of the thousands of onlookers that have arrived to enjoy the celebrations.

But Sharma is aware of social media tip-offs that suggest the happy atmosphere could turn deadly…

And his suspicions seem to be confirmed when Sunil Kumar collapses on stage.

With the police chiefs mistakenly believing Sharma could have inside knowledge on the local hostilities, he takes the lead on the investigation.

But when a spate of killings occur, in seemingly unrelated circumstances, Sharma finds himself in over his head.

Sucked into a dark world of race hate and extremism, Sharma uncovers a deadly plot.

Can he stop more murders from occurring? Will he unmask the fanatical killers?

Or will a catastrophe engulf the city of Leicester…?

Congratulations to Graham Brack, whose absorbing crime thriller, The Murdered Molls, is published today!

The Murdered Molls is the seventh book in the Josef Slonský Investigations series, atmospheric police procedurals full of dark humour.

A woman is discovered brutally murdered in her apartment, with some of her body parts surgically removed.

The pathologist has dubbed the perpetrator the nastiest killer he’s ever come across in the Czech Republic.

But after a scuffle with a cat burglar, Captain Josef Slonský has found himself laid up in hospital with a series of torn ligaments in his knee, unable to rush to the scene of the crime.

With his medical review due in less than nine weeks, and the threat of enforced retirement hanging on the outcome, he is determined to get out of bed and back on active duty asap.

With the help of his friend Valentin, Slonský signs himself out of hospital and puts his mind to solving the killing.

Is a serial killer at large? Are more women in danger?

And can Slonský prove his worth and keep the job that means so much to him?

Congratulations to Michael Fowler, whose fast-paced thriller, House of Death, is published today!

House of Death is the third crime novel in the Dr Hamlet Mottrell Investigations series: dark, gritty murder cases investigated by a forensic psychologist.

Forensic psychologist turned detective Dr Hamlet Mottrell and his crime-fighting partner Detective Sergeant Alix Rainbow have found themselves in hot water.

The serial murderer, The Wedding Killer, who they put in custody is pleading his innocence, alleging he has been framed by the two detectives.

And a series of letters, claiming to be from the real killer, back up his accusation.

Under the spotlight for mishandling the investigation, Hamlet and Alix are sent home on gardening leave while another force conducts a scrutiny of their investigation.

The pair are told not to interfere. But that is one order they must disobey.

Determined to discover the truth, they go against the rules, secretly embarking on a behind-the-scenes enquiry to discover who the Wedding Killer is, and they soon discover the disappearance of two women who might be linked.

The quest to discover who is behind their vanishing quickly becomes a dangerous exercise, putting not only Hamlet and Alix’s careers in jeopardy but also their lives…

Did they put the right killer behind bars? Can they clear their names?

Or will the two detectives end up as victims…?

Congratulations to Keith Moray, whose gripping Scottish mystery, Deep and Deadly, is out now!

Deep and Deadly is the seventh crime thriller in the detective series featuring Inspector Torquil McKinnon: an action-packed police procedural full of suspense.

West Uist, Scotland

It’s an usually busy day on the remote island of West Uist. The only transport on and off the island is the local ferry, and there is uproar when it is blocked by eco-rights activists, protesting against the shooting of seals by local fishermen.

While dealing with that disturbance, the police are amused to find a celebrity has disembarked from the ferry and is causing a stir among the locals.

But just as the demonstration is peaceably dispersed and actor and singer Declan O’Neil is escorted away from the crowds, Detective Inspector Torquil McKinnon is called to investigate a dead body.

Fisherman Arran MacCondrum, owner of the farm that is being protested against, has been found dead in one of his fish pens, seemingly by suicide.

But with a spate of threatening poison-pen letters making their rounds on the island, it soon becomes clear that Arran’s death was not by his own hands.

Was Arran attacked by a protestor? Or was there an ulterior motive?

Torquil must unravel the mystery before anyone else on the island comes to harm…

Congratulations to Michael Fowler, whose heart-pounding thriller, The Wedding Killer, is out now!

The Wedding Killer is the second book in the Hamlet Mottrell Investigations series.

Having finally cleared his name after the brutal slaughter of his wife and unborn child, former forensic psychologist Dr Hamlet Mottrell is determined to piece his life back together.

He is given the opportunity to start a new career as a detective in a major investigation unit and is paired up with Detective Sergeant Alix Rainbow, the woman who once pursued him as the main suspect in his family’s murder.

Hamlet and Alix’s first case is a strange one.

A 21 year-old university student has vanished after a night out in Sheffield. And before she went missing, she received a wedding invitation from a stranger.

The pair soon discover that more female students are missing, each of them receiving the mysterious invitation.

Who is this shadowy stalker? Will the young women be found safely?

Or are Hamlet and Alix on the hunt for a serial killer…?

Congratulations to Michael Fowler, whose gritty psychological thriller, See Them Die, is published today!

Three years ago, forensic psychologist Dr Hamlet Mottrell’s life was completely destroyed when an intruder killed his wife and unborn child and slashed his wrists to make it look like a murder-suicide.

Though the case against him was dropped, Hamlet remained guilty in the eyes of many, and was forced into a life of solitude.

But then he hears of another brutal murder case and becomes convinced it is the same person who attacked his family.

He gets in touch with Detective Sergeant Alix Rainbow, one of the only people who believed him when he was initially arrested, and convinces her to help him track down the vicious killer.

But when more deaths occur, she starts to question everything…

 

Click here to order See Them Die

Congratulations to Seán Gibbons, whose gripping Irish crime thriller, Back Street Murder, is published today! Back Street Murder is the second novel in the Ben Miller Crime Thriller series: hardboiled gangland novels set in Galway.

When taxi driver Ben Miller picks up a couple of Lithuanian fares, he soon finds himself immersed in the violent world of drug-dealing.

With a criminal past of his own, and a wish to stay out of prison, Miller has little choice but to snitch on the gang to corrupt cop Superintendent Folan, who has plans to take over the drugs business for himself.

But when the drugs go missing from the Lithuanian’s home, and the Columbians to whom they belong start killing people, Miller is drawn into a case involving rival criminal gangs, shoot-outs, and murder.

In a race against time to locate the Columbian gang members and the missing drugs, Miller must work out who he can trust…

 

Click here to order Back Street Murder

Sapere Books are proud to have sponsored the Crime Writers’ Association’s Historical Dagger Award, which is for the best historical crime novel set in any period at least 50 years prior to the year in which the prize is presented.

The 2021 shortlist featured domestic poisons, sinister former spies, military occupations and more.

The wonderful Vaseem Khan has now been announced as this year’s winner. His winning novel, Midnight at Malabar House, is the first book in his latest historical crime series.

Compelling and cleverly plotted, Midnight at Malabar House opens on New Year’s Eve in Bombay, 1949. The first female detective in India, Persis Wadia has been repeatedly overlooked and struggles against a hostile, all-male environment. As a new decade dawns, she stands vigil in the basement of Malabar House, consigned to the midnight shift.

But when an English diplomat is murdered, Persis finds herself on the case of a lifetime. Against the backdrop of social and political turmoil, she teams up with Scotland Yard criminalist Archie Blackfinch to uncover the truth — at any cost…

We would like to send a huge congratulations to Vaseem, and to all of the wonderful authors who were longlisted and shortlisted this year.

We are delighted to announce that we have signed a new Leicester-based crime series by C V Chauhan.

The series follows Detective Rohan Sharma as he unravels a succession of dark and thrilling mysteries.

In C V Chauhan’s words:

“I’m absolutely delighted to have been signed by Amy and her team at Sapere for my new, three-book series which breaks new ground in the genre. I’ve been made most welcome by all members of the team and by my fellow authors. It’s a very friendly and supportive community, and I feel privileged to be part of it.

“If you like your crime fiction with added spice, then you’ve come to the right place. THE DANCE OF DEATH, my debut novel, introduces you to Rohan Sharma, an able, erudite detective who lives in the heart of the Asian community in Leicester and who has a talkative, African grey parrot for company. Recently divorced, he is the father of two children.

“In the first instalment in the series, Rohan Sharma and his team hunt for a psychopathic killer while dark forces undermine his work and put others in danger.

“THE DANCE OF DEATH will be published in the near future, and I’m currently working on the next Rohan Sharma novel. I’m not going to give away too much at the moment, but suffice to say it’ll have an international dimension. More on this later…”