Search Results for: Born a Crime

The behind-the-scenes story of the quintessential film noir and cult classic, Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity-its true crime origins and crucial impact on film history-is told for the first time in this riveting narrative published for the film’s 80th anniversary.

From real crime to serial to novel to movie, the history of Double Indemnity is as complex and exciting as the plot of any to hit the screen during film noir’s classic period. Born of a true crime that inspired reporter and would-be crime writer James M. Cain’s novella, Hollywood quickly bid on the rights but throughout the 1930s a strict code of censorship made certain that no studio could green-light a murder melodrama based on real events. Then World War II loosened some strictures, and director-writer Billy Wilder-before his prime as director of sparkling comedies-could hire hardboiled novelist Raymond Chandler and revamp the story enough to pass the censors.

Overcoming strong resistance, Wilder then lined up a star cast led by the incomparable Barbara Stanwyck in her unforgettable turn as the ultimate femme fetale, alongside Fred MacMurray, cast against type as her partner in crime, and Edward G. Robinson as a bloodhound claims adjuster. With these skilled actors set against a low-key look, Wilder’s final film became one of the earliest studio noirs to gain critical and commercial success (nominated for 7 Oscars!), to influence the entire noir movement, and to impact filmmakers and audiences to this day.

Authors Alain Silver and James Ursini tell the complete history of Double Indemnity in their latest and most provocative work on film noir: From the Moment They Met It Was Murder.

When it’s in your blood, there’s no other way.

THE LIFE by the ‘undisputed queen of crime writing’ (Guardian) and Sunday Times No.1 bestseller Martina Cole is an unflinching novel that exposes a world that many would rather ignore…

The Baileys are born into the Life.

Brothers Daniel and Peter rule London’s East End with threats and violence. Only a fool would cross them, but there are always those in the shadows who will try.

And when their enemies strike, every Bailey pays the price. But none more so than Daniel’s only daughter, Tania. The Life is in her blood, and now it’s her weapon for revenge.

For more novels that will take you deep into the dark and dangerous criminal underworld, check out Martina Cole’s THE GRAFT, THE BUSINESS and REVENGE

Ruler. Puppet Master. Killer.

Glory. Death. Well-born Athenian cavalry officer, Kineas, fought shoulder to shoulder with Alexander in his epic battles against the Persian hordes. But on his return from the east to his native city, he finds not glory but shame – and exile.

With nothing to his name but his military skills, Kineas agrees to lead a band of veterans to the city of Olbia, where the Tyrant is offering good money to train the city’s elite cavalry. But soon Kineas and his men find they have stumbled into a deadly maze of intrigue and conspiracy as the Tyrant plots to use them as pawns in the increasingly complex power games between his own citizens, and the dread military might of Macedon.

Caught between his duty to the Tyrant, his loyalty to his men and a forbidden love affair with a charismatic Scythian noblewoman, Kineas must call on all his Athenian guile, his flair on the battlefield, and even – he is convinced – the intervention of the gods, to survive.

A superb, powerful thriller from ‘one of crime fiction’s new stars’ [Sunday Telegraph]

John Harper has always been alone. His mother died when he was just seven years old and he was raised in New York by an aunt he barely knew. He never even made his father’s acquaintance – a man who died shortly after he was born. After leaving the Big Apple as soon as he was old enough, his life consisted of one moderately successful book, a collection of affectionately received newspaper columns and a comfortable existence in Miami.

Then everything changes. A liquor store heist goes wrong – and turns John’s existence on its head. It seems that his father didn’t die all those years ago. In fact, he has thrived in the New York underworld. But now the man himself lies critically injured in a Manhattan hospital and it’s time for father and son to meet at last . . .

America’s most acclaimed crime writer and winner of the CWA Gold Dagger returns to Louisiana with his great detective, Dave Robicheaux

Three men are present when Amanda Boudreau is raped and murdered, and small-time hustler Tee Bobby Hulin’s prints are found at the crime scene. Dave Robicheaux reckons he’s innocent, and Tee Bobby pleads so, then attempts suicide in his holding cell. Why?

Tee Bobby is released on bail and soon after there is a second murder. When lawyer Perry LaSalle takes on the defence of Tee Bobby, Dave knows his motives are fuelled by guilt. For Tee Bobby’s grandmother was seduced by Perry’s grandfather, and Amanda Boudreau’s death is related to events that happened long before Tee Bobby was born…

Praise for one of the great American crime writers, James Lee Burke:

‘James Lee Burke is the heavyweight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed.’ Michael Connelly

‘A gorgeous prose stylist.’ Stephen King

‘Richly deserves to be described now as one of the finest crime writers America has ever produced.’ Daily Mail

Fans of Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly and Don Winslow will love James Lee Burke:

Dave Robicheaux Series

1. The Neon Rain
2. Heaven’s Prisoners
3. Black Cherry Blues
4. A Morning for Flamingos
5. A Stained White Radiance
6. In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead
7. Dixie City Jam
8. Burning Angel
9. Cadillac Jukebox
10. Sunset Limited
11. Purple Cane Road
12. Jolie Blon’s Bounce
13. Last Car to Elysian Fields
14. Crusader’s Cross
15. Pegasus Descending
16. The Tin Roof Blowdown
17. Swan Peak
18. The Glass Rainbow
19. Creole Belle
20. Light of the World
21. Robicheaux

Hackberry Holland Series

1. Lay Down My Sword and Shield
2. Rain Gods
3. Feast Day of Fools
4. House of the Rising Sun

Billy Bob Holland Series

1. Cimarron Rose
2. Heartwood
3. Bitterroot
4. In The Moon of Red Ponies

* Each James Lee Burke novel can be read as a standalone or in series order *

The people and businesses of London are quickly recovering from the ravages of the plague, none faster than the Court of Charles II where excess, corruption and debauchery has rebounded at a frenetic pace. In Westminster, in the haphazard corridors of White Hall Palace, plans are afoot for a grandiose ball in honour of a long-dead but English-born Pope. Meanwhile, the markets and coffee houses in the city are awash with rumours of war and portents of a coming disaster, inflamed by uncensored newssheets and the wagging tongues of dissatisfied citizens.

Mysterious killings at both ends of the capital have been caused by the use of an unusually long, slender blade, and Thomas Chaloner is ordered to investigate. The only common thread is the victims’ connection to the Worshipful Company of Poulters, whose members are struggling to keep ahead of London’s enormous demand for eggs. But this leads him into a tapestry of conspiracy, outlandish claims of the Second Coming, the reappearance of a number of regicides and ever more brazen killings.

As the date of the great ball looms closer, Chaloner fears that there is a dangerously credible conspiracy against the throne, and he has very little time to prevent history from repeating itself . . .

***PERFECT FOR FANS OF WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING AND SOON TO BE MAJOR FILM STARRING DAISY RIDLEY***

You’d recognise my mother’s name if I told it to you. You’d wonder, briefly, where is she now? And didn’t she have a daughter while she was missing?

And whatever happened to the little girl?

Helena’s home is like anyone else’s, with a husband, two daughters and a job she enjoys. But no one knows the truth about her dark and twisted childhood.

Born into captivity and brought up in an isolated cabin until she was twelve, Helena was raised by her terrified, broken mother and the man who held them both prisoner – Helena’s own father.

Now with news that he has escaped from prison, Helena instinctively knows that her father is coming for her and if she wants to keep her family safe, she must find him – before he finds her. Even if that means returning to the darkest parts of her past, the scariest place imaginable, home.

An unforgettable, read-in-one-sitting thriller packed with gripping suspense.
_________

‘If you only read one thriller this year, make it this’ CLARE MACKINTOSH

‘Emotionally and intellectually thrilling, tremendously exciting’ SUNDAY EXPRESS

‘Unlike anything else I’ve read. Haunting and unputdownable’ LAURA MARSHALL, number one bestselling author of Friend Request

‘Sensationally good, I loved this book’ LEE CHILD

‘Gorgeously written eerie suspense’ KARIN SLAUGHTER

‘SO GOOD’ LAURA MARSHALL

‘You won’t be able to stop turning the pages’ MEGAN ABBOTT

‘A wonderful book… Mesmerising’ ALEX MARWOOD

‘A nail-biter’ COSMOPOLITAN

‘A knockout’ SARAH HILARY

‘I was absolutely gripped‘ GILLY MACMILLAN

‘Eerie and breathtaking, terrific and terrifying’ TÉA OBREHT

‘Original and exciting, with a thrilling ending’ MARK EDWARDS

A swallow flutters its wings into a dimly lit attic as Adele Foyle stumbles across the secret diary of the mother she has never met, and a shocking account of a crime committed over twenty-five years ago …

Adele Foyle has returned to Reedstown, the last place her mother, Marianne, was seen alive. With her mother’s words etched in her mind and in the pages tucked into her jacket pocket, Adele has one purpose: to find those responsible for the devastating attack on Marianne and see them brought to justice.

Born into a Mother and Baby home run by The Thorns, a self-proclaimed religious group led by Gloria Thornton, Adele needs to first unlock the disturbing chain of events that led to her own birth if she is to understand what happened to her mother.

But news of Adele’s arrival and the diary spread like wildfire amongst the small close-knit community of Reedstown. Old memories are stirring up fresh wounds.

No-one wants the truth to be told. The diary is just a story, they say. Yet as Adele begins to unravel the layers of deceit, the tissue paper lies begin to fragment.

Her mother was telling the truth. Adele just has to prove it.

A heart-stopping, intense and emotionally engrossing read that will keep you compulsively turning the pages late into the night. If you read one book this year, make it The Thorn Girl.

Read what everyone is saying about Laura Elliot:

‘This page-turner is gripping, all the more because it presents the dilemmas of betrayal with brutal honesty‘ Irish Independent

‘Electrifying, tautly written, and heart-stopping … It was so real, so powerful, I had to put it down a few times and walk away to let my emotions settle’ NetGalley Reviewer

‘I couldn’t put this book down, it really is that good … I honestly can’t rate this book highly enough. 5 stars just isn’t enough. Book of the year for me! Don’t miss this one’ NetGalley Reviewer

‘Laura Elliot has done it again – another twisty suspenseful thriller! Keeps you on the edge of your seat with many turns and surprises. The Wife Before Me is a pulse-pounding thrill ride from beginning to end!‘ NetGalley Reviewer

‘A gripping thriller which will have you reading way past your bedtime! I enjoyed the book and the twisting plot … An engrossing thriller I thoroughly enjoyed’ Escape With A Book

‘This was a nail-biting, gripping, too-close-for comfort compelling read that I could not put down. This book is an absolute winner‘ Goodreads Reviewer

‘This page-turner is gripping, all the more because it presents the dilemmas of betrayal with brutal honesty‘ Irish Independent

Beautiful, volatile Jessica has long since burned her boats in the village by the sea where she was born. She longs to return, but first she needs to secure the love of the powerful man who has spurned her obsessive adoration.

Sarah Fortune, her older, cynical friend, is keen to distance herself from her usual haunts and welcomes the chance to leave London in the hope that she might she be able to effect a reconciliation between Jessica and her mother. Pennyvale both charms and distracts her with hints of scandal and buried secrets, but it soon begins to disquiet her as cracks of distrust and jealousy show in the polite façades. Sarah is excited when Jessica tells her she is coming home, but she never arrives.

Sarah’s instinctive knowledge of Jessica leads her back to the capital, fearful of what she will find. What she discovers reveals a truth more chilling than she could have imagined, but she has to return to Pennyvale to fully understand how Jessica was finally brought home, and why…

For the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Matthew Bartholomew series, Sphere is delighted to reissue all of the medieval monk’s cases with beautiful new series-style covers.

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The winter of 1353 has been appallingly wet, there is a fever outbreak amongst the poorer townspeople and the country is not yet fully recovered from the aftermath of the plague. The increasing reputation and wealth of the Cambridge colleges are causing dangerous tensions between the town, Church and University.

Matthew Bartholomew is called to look into the deaths of three members of the University of who died from drinking poisoned wine, and soon he stumbles upon criminal activities that implicate his relatives, friends and colleagues – so he must solve the case before matters in the town get out of hand…

In February 1355, amid the worst snows in living memory, two well-born murderers return to Cambridge after receiving the King’s pardon – but they show no remorse, and are in fact ready to confront those who helped convict them.

When Matthew Bartholomew is called to the local mill to examine two corpses, he and Brother Michael know who to question, but in the fledgling university city, nothing is ever as straightforward as it seems…

When a friend’s sixteen-year-old daughter goes missing, investigative reporter Stephen Larkin is enlisted to help find her. Following a trail of warring drug dealers, child prostituion, and born-again Christian gangsters, it soon becomes clear that they are not the only ones looking for the girl, and that others don’t care if she is found dead or alive.

Switching continuously between 1984 and the present day, Born Under Punches follows the intertwined lives of a small group of characters, all linked in various ways to the 1984 miners’ strike: Tony Woodhouse, a professional footballer who can’t escape his shady past; Tommy Jobson, cruising the streets of Newcastle, violently collecting debts, about to be sucked into something far more dangerous; Mick Hutton, a striking miner, increasingly desperate to find ways to support his wife and growing family; Stephen Larkin, an idealistic young journalist, determined to expose the truth about the strike – as he sees it; Stephen’s sister, Louise, in love with Tony Woodhouse, stalked by a shadowy figure from her past. As the lives of these five characters unfold, it becomes clear the strike will have devastating repercussions – not only for those directly involved, but for future generations too.

The standalone novel from the critically-acclaimed Peter Lovesey. Rough Cider was nominated for an Edgar Award.

It is World War II and American soldiers stationed in rural England have made friends, especially with the local girls. After a dance to celebrate the pressing of the apples into cider, the resentment of the local men leads to violence and a murder. Later, a baby girl is born.

Years later, Theo, a university lecturer, is approached by an American girl called Alice. She wants to be told about her father, a GI hanged for murder in Somerset during World War II. As a boy, Theo had been a principal witness for the prosecution.

Alice persuades him to revisit the farm where Theo was evacuated, staunchly determined to discover the facts. The horrors of the past take on a frightening immediacy when long-forgotten jealousies come to the surface and another murder is committed.

Louise Widdows has never been happy in her marriage. From a generation where the woman’s role was one of support and supplication, she provided both in exchange for a secure roof over her head. But her facade of gentility disguises two secrets: a child born in adultery and given away at birth, and a small inheritance she has always kept hidden. But then events align in her favour: her husband abruptly leaves her, and the father of her illegitimate son dies, allowing her the possibility of finding him after all these years.

Abandoning the shabby matrimonial home, she moves into a cottage and begins to blossom in her independence. But things are not destined to run smoothly. Two bodies are discovered near her old home, and she discovers that her husband has absconded with a charity’s funds, as well as the contents of their bank account. Suddenly her new life seems very precarious indeed, putting in doubt that she will ever locate her unknown son.

When Isabel’s god-daughter, Emily, turns up after years of no contact and in need of help, she feels duty-bound to take her under her wing. To her surprise, Emily is determined to be independent and takes a job as nanny. Emily’s charge turns out to be the illegitimate child of the naïve daughter of a well-to-do couple and a ne’er-do-well conman who disappeared before the baby was born. And now he is back, intent on exploiting his parental status in return for cash.

Before she knows it, Emily is caught up in his botched attempts at blackmail, trying desperately to protect her charge from harm, while also shielding Isabel from becoming entangled in the drama. But when events beyond her control force her to act instinctively, with horrendous effect, all their lives are put terribly at risk.

The cloistered walls of Shrewsbury Abbey have always protected Brother Cadfael from the raging Civil War. But when fighting escalates between Empress Maud and King Stephen, the war takes a deadly step closer to him. Taken prisoner in the battle for Maud’s land is Olivier de Bretagne, Brother Cadfael’s own son- born as a result of a brief encouter thirty years earlier. Now Brother Cadfael resolves to plead for his son’s release at a peace conference scheduled to take place in Coventry; but there is no sign of Olivier there. After much soul searching, Cadfael makes the difficult decision to break his monastic vows, leaving Coventry without permission- because he knows he must do everything in his power to find his son.

Fear, revenge and deadly superstition collide in these two exclusive J. D. Robb short stories.

Haunted in Death

Lieutenant Eve Dallas doesn’t believe in ghosts. But when a very recent corpse shows up in a haunted abandoned nightclub, alongside the bones of the famous missing singer, Bobbie Bray, everyone is spooked – especially the new owner.

Did Bobbie’s ghost finally get her revenge, or is there a more earthly explanation?

Set between Memory in Death and Born in Death.

Eternity in Death

When notorious it-girl Tiara Kent is found dead in her plush Manhattan apartment, the murder looks to everyone like a vampire attack – everyone but the ever-practical Lieutenant Eve Dallas. As the hysteria spreads, Eve must act fast.

Discovering Tiara’s secret lover, a Dark Prince, Eve and her team are led on a chase into the darkest corners of the city and deep into their own fears.

Set between Creation in Death and Strangers in Death.

Eve wasn’t sure what it said about her that she was more comfortable in the morgue than a baby boutique. And she didn’t care. The scent of death was the familiar.

Rushing to the murder scenes of a tortured young woman, Eve is far more at home than when organising best friend Mavis’s baby shower.

And then one of Mavis’s guests – the young, pregnant Tandy – disappears into thin air. Eve steps in, but when the facts begin to blur with the earlier murders, she unearths a chilling trail of deception and cold-blooded greed, leading to a terrifying hunt to find Tandy before time runs out.

‘Fast-paced, superbly crafted’ Library Journal

The second most infamous member of the shadow organisation called Sentella, Kere, an explosives engineer, is known for striking terror in the hearts of all enemies. The bounty on his head is truly staggering, and no one outside the Sentella knows his real identity.

Zarya Starska grew up hard on the back streets of hell. Labeled a traitor because of her father’s political beliefs, she dreams of a different life and a different world. A world where the harsh hand of the Caronese government doesn’t destroy the lives of its citizens. As a resistance leader, her goal is to topple to government that took her father’s life, along with her mysterious right-hand man, known only as Kere.


But Kere has a dark secret. He’s out for revenge for past crimes against his family, and plans to annihilate all those he feels guilty, along with every resistance member he can find . . . including Zarya.

An exclusive J.D. Robb short story.

Lieutenant Eve Dallas doesn’t believe in ghosts. But everyone else is spooked by the supposedly haunted abandoned nightclub where a very recent corpse has just shown up – alongside the bones of the famous missing singer, Bobbie Bray. As grandson of the original owner, Radcliff C. Hopkins was planning to reopen the nightclub and cash in on its notoriety. But his grandfather is rumoured to be the one who killed Bobbie. Did Bobbie’s ghost finally get her revenge, or is there a more earthly explanation?

Set between Memory in Death and Born in Death.

When Cindy Decker finds a new-born baby in a rubbish bin, she can’t imagine who would commit such a crime. Surely abandoning a baby is the biggest taboo of motherhood? The usual suspects – prostitutes, homeless women and drug abusers – aren’t responsible. In fact, the culprit is a woman who appears almost as vulnerable as her own baby. As the case continues, Cindy realises she’s in deep – her own life in danger – and there’s only one person who can help, her father and boss, Lieutenant Peter Decker. They both know the key to a successful investigation is keeping a cool, professional head, but with a father and daughter detective team, can it ever be anything other than personal?

Death might be commonplace in 1857 in the Royal Free Hospital in London’s Gray’s Inn Road, but murder certainly isn’t. When the body of Prudence Barrymore, a gently bred, dedicated and passionate nurse, is discovered stuffed into a laundry chute no one – high born or low – can be beyond suspicion. But the police seem determined to concentrate their efforts on proving Dr Kristian Beck the culprit – because he is foreign. Concerned and unhappy with this state of affairs, Lady Callandra Daviot of the Board of Governers asks Investigator William Monk to pursue the case.
Monk, frustrated by the lingering traces of amnesia caused by an accident, agrees, and calls upon his old colleagues to aid him. Hester Latterly, an independent young woman who served with Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War, knew the dead woman there; Hester’s profession provides the perfect cover for her to obtain work at the Royal Free. And Oliver Rathbone, a brilliant barrister, who is brought in as counsel for the defence. But under the ever-present shadow of the gallows, and inching towards the appalling solution, the three begin to despair of justice ever prevailing.

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

‘Ill-fated love and toxic family power struggles provide emotional drive for this big dynastic saga’ JAKE ARNOTT, GUARDIAN

‘Huge, epic, immersive and absorbing . . . certain to be a book of the year’ LEE CHILD, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR

This is the age of vice, where pleasure and power are everything, and the family ties that bind can also kill

New Delhi, 3 a.m. A speeding Mercedes jumps the kerb, and in the blink of an eye five people are dead. It’s a rich man’s car, but when the dust settles there is no rich man at all, just a shell-shocked servant who cannot explain the strange series of events that led to this crime. Nor can he foresee the dark drama that is about to unfold.
Deftly shifting through time and perspective in contemporary India, Age of Vice is an epic, action-packed story propelled by the seductive wealth, startling corruption, and bloodthirsty violence of the Wadia family-loved by some, loathed by others, feared by all.

In the shadow of lavish estates, extravagant parties, predatory business deals, and calculated political influence, three lives become dangerously intertwined: Ajay is the watchful servant, born into poverty, who rises through the family’s ranks. Sunny is the playboy heir who dreams of outshining his father, whatever the cost. And Neda is the curious journalist caught between morality and desire. Against a sweeping plot fueled by loss, pleasure, greed, yearning, violence, and revenge, will these characters’ connections become a path to escape, or a trigger of further destruction?

Equal parts crime thriller and family saga, transporting readers from the dusty villages of Uttar Pradesh to the urban energy of New Delhi, Age of Vice is an intoxicating novel of gangsters and lovers, false friendships, forbidden romance, and the consequences of corruption. It is binge-worthy entertainment at its literary best.

Two years have passed since the events of THE ORDER OF THE SCALES. Across the realms, dragons are still hatching. Hatching, and hatching free.

Skorl is an Ember, a soldier trained from birth to fight dragons. He is a living weapon, one-shot only, saturated with enough dragon-poison to bring down a monster all on his own. Misanthrope, violent and a drunk, to fulfil his purpose and slay a dragon, means to be eaten. Now Skorl has a choice: he can hang for his crimes, or he can go with the last of the Adamantine Men, fighting against an enemy he was born to face.

Rat is an Outsider. He’s on the run and he’s stumbled onto something that’s going to make him rich beyond all his dreams. It’s just a shame that the end of the world has started without him.

Kataros is an alchemist, one of the order responsible for keeping the dragons in check. One of the order that has just failed, and disastrously so.

Two men, one woman. One chance to save the world from a storm of dragons …