Criminally good reads...May

The waters of eternal youth / Donna Leon
Fifteen years ago, a teenage girl fell into a canal late at night. Unable to swim, she went under and started to drown, only surviving thanks to a nearby man, an alcoholic, who heard her splashes and pulled her out, though not before she suffered irreparable brain damage that left her in a state of permanent childhood, unable to learn or mature. The drunk man claimed he saw her thrown into the canal by another man, but the following day he couldn't remember a thing. Now, at a fundraising dinner for a Venetian charity, a wealthy and aristocratic patroness the girl's grandmother asks Brunetti if he will investigate. Brunetti's not sure what to do. If a crime was committed, it would surely have passed the statute of limitations. But out of a mixture of curiosity, pity, and a willingness to fulfil the wishes of a guilt-wracked older woman, who happens to be his mother-in-law's best friend, he agrees. Brunetti soon finds himself unable to let the case rest, if indeed there is a case. Awash in the rhythms and concerns of contemporary Venetian life, from historical preservation, to housing, to new waves of African migrants, and the haunting story of a woman trapped in a damaged perpetual childhood, The Waters of Eternal Youth is another wonderful addition to this series.

The ice child / Camilla Lackberg ; translated from the Swedish by Tiina Nunnally
January, Fjallbacka. A semi-naked girl wanders through the woods in freezing cold weather. When she finally reaches the road, a car comes out of nowhere. It doesn't manage to stop. By the time Detective Patrik Hedstrom receives word of the accident, the girl has already been identified. Four months ago she disappeared on her way home from the local riding school, and no one has seen her since. It quickly becomes clear that she has been subjected to unimaginably brutal treatment. And it's likely she's not the only one. Meanwhile, Patrik's wife, crime writer Erica Falck, is looking into an old case - a family tragedy that led to a man's death. His wife was convicted of murder, but Erica senses that something isn't right. What is the woman hiding? As Erica digs deeper, the past starts to cast a shadow over the present and Patrik is forced to see his investigation in a whole new light.

In the cold dark ground / Stuart MacBride
Sergeant Logan McRae is in trouble...His missing-persons investigation has just turned up a body in the woods - naked, hands tied behind its back, and a bin bag duct-taped over its head. The Major Investigation Team charges up from Aberdeen, under the beady eye of Logan's ex-boss Detective Chief Inspector Steel. And, as usual, she wants him to do her job for her. But it's not going to be easy: a new Superintendent is on her way up from the Serious Organised Crime Task Force, hell-bent on making Logan's life miserable; Professional Standards are gunning for Steel; and Wee Hamish Mowat, head of Aberdeen's criminal underbelly, is dying - leaving rival gangs from all over the UK eying his territory. There's a war brewing and Logan's trapped right in the middle, whether he likes it or not.

First response / Stephen Leather
London is under siege. Nine men in suicide vests, primed to explode, hold hostages in nine different locations and are ready to die for their cause. Their mission - to force the Government to release jihadist prisoners from Belmarsh Prison. The deadline - 6pm. Today. But the bombers are cleanskins, terrorists with no obvious link to any group, and who do not appear on any anti-terror watch list. What has brought them together on this one day to act in this way? Mo Kamran is the Superintendent in charge of the Special Crime and Operations branch of the Met. As the disaster unfolds and the SAS, armed police, and other emergency services rush to the scenes, he is tasked with preventing the biggest terrorist outrage the capital has ever known. But nothing is what it seems. And only Kamran has the big picture. Will anyone believe him?
Missing, presumed / Susie Steiner

Deadly diplomacy / Jean Harrod
Diplomat Jess Turner is the British Consul in Canberra. When a British businesswoman is brutally murdered in a Queensland resort, Jess travels to Brisbane to liaise with the police, and help the victim's next of kin, her journalist sister, Susan. Queensland DI Tom Sangster is assigned the case; but the Federal Government is very interested in it too. The murder victim was negotiating a multi-billion dollar deal to supply LNG to China, and soon rumours of corruption swirl around the intelligence community. Was she taking Chinese bribes? Jess is taken aback by Susan's deep suspicion of the police. When Susan snatches her sister's diary and disappears - and two more high profile murders follow in quick succession - the race is on to find Susan and the diary before the killer does. Jess and Sangster, each with their own pieces of the puzzle, must work together to solve this case.

Missing / Melanie Casey
On any night, 1 person in 200 is homeless Someone is targeting Adelaide's homeless. Men are disappearing off the streets, and body parts are turning up in a local dump. Still haunted by her last run-in with a serial killer, Cass Lehman is trying hard to focus on the future. That's not easy when she has the 'gift' of retrocognition the ability to spontaneously re-live the last minutes of a person's life. Cass and Detective Ed Dyson are now trying to make a normal home together, but when she gets entangled in Ed's latest case things are far from normal. A twisted tale of love, desperation and murder When the psychic meets the psychotic, who will come out unscathed?


The crow trap / Ann Cleeves
An ingenious psychological suspense novel. At the isolated Baikie's Cottage on the North Pennines, three very different women come together. Three women who each know the meaning of betrayal -- For team leader Rachael the project is the perfect opportunity to rebuild her confidence after a double-betrayal by her lover and boss, Peter Kemp. Botanist Anne, on the other hand, sees it as a chance to indulge in a little deception of her own. And then there is Grace, a strange, uncommunicative young woman with plenty of her own secrets to hide -- When Rachael arrives at the cottage, however, she is horrified to discover the body of her friend Bella Furness. Bella, it appears, has committed suicide - a verdict Rachael finds impossible to accept. Only when the next death occurs does a fourth woman enter the picture - the unconventional Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope.

An Isolated Incident / Maguire, Emily
When 25-year-old Bella Michaels is brutally murdered in the small town of Strathdee, the community is stunned and a media storm descends.
Unwillingly thrust into the eye of that storm is Bella's beloved older sister, Chris, a barmaid at the local pub, whose apparent easygoing nature conceals hard-won wisdom and the kind of street-smarts only experience can bring.
As Chris is plunged into despair and searches for answers, reasons, explanation - anything - that could make even the smallest sense of Bella's death, her ex-husband, friends and neighbours do their best to support her. But as the days tick by with no arrest, Chris's suspicion of those around her grows.



Skin deep / Gary Kemble
When washed up journalist Harry Hendrick wakes with a hangover and a strange symbol tattooed on his neck, he shrugs it off as a bad night out.
When more tattoos appear – accompanied by visions of war-torn Afghanistan, bikies, boat people, murder, bar fights and a mysterious woman – he begins to dig a little deeper.
Harry’s search leads him to Jess McGrath. She’s successful, married; they are drawn to each other though they have nothing in common but unwanted tattoos and high definition nightmares. Together, they edge closer to unearthing the truth behind the sinister disappearance of an SAS hero and his girlfriend Kyla.
There’s a federal election looming, with pundits tipping a landslide win for opposition leader Andrew Cardinal. Harry knows there’s a link between these disturbing visions and Cardinal’s shadowy past, and is compelled to right wrongs, one way or another.