Cirrus@Austlit

'Two sisters go into the family business they didn’t know they had - catching killers.

'Attorney Rhonda Bird returns home after a long estrangement when she learns her father has died. There she makes two important discoveries: her father stopped being an accountant and had opened up a private detective agency, and she has a teenage halfsister named Baby.

'Baby brings in a client to the detective agency - a young man who claims he was abducted the night before. Soon, Rhonda and Baby are entangled in a bizarre yet dangerous case, caught between a group of over-privileged young adults who break laws for fun and one of their victims, an ex-assassin now determined to wreak his revenge...'(Publication summary)

'On the fifth floor of the White Caps Hotel, four young friends are left alone while their parents dine downstairs. But when Sara Farrow checks on the children at midnight, her son is missing. The boys swear they stayed in their room, and CCTV confirms Richie has not left the building. Despite a thorough search, no trace of the child is found.

'Distrustful of the police, Sara turns to Crimson Lake's unlikeliest private investigators: disgraced cop Ted Conkaffey and convicted killer Amanda Pharrell. This case just the sort of twisted puzzle that gets Amanda's blood pumping.

'For Ted, the case couldn’t have come at a worse time. Two years ago a false accusation robbed him of his career, his reputation and most importantly his family. But now Lillian, the daughter he barely knows, is coming to stay in his ramshackle cottage by the lake.

'Ted must dredge up the area's worst characters to find a missing boy. And the kind of danger he uncovers could well put his own child in deadly peril . . .'   (Publication summary)

'Craig Gisto narrates first three cases for his new Sydney Australia branch of international security firm, Private. Blood-soaked corpse of young Asian man kidnapped by Triad crashes into company launch party. Serial killer stuffs photocopied bills in vaginas of victims near house of Brett Thorogood, Deputy Commissioner of cooperating NSW Police. Rock star Mickey Spencer doubts manager.' (Publication summary)

'HMS Expedient and her crew have survived their most perilous commission yet: the dead have been buried and the battle scars repaired. Captain James Rennie is anxious to be active again after a year on the beach. And this time he longs for regular service with the Fleet as opposed to the extraordinarily dangerous detached missions he has been assigned by Britain’s shadowy spy masters in the last few years. His friend, Lieutenant James Hayter, is haunted by his past and he too longs for the sea .

'Both will find their escape, but not in the circumstances they would have wished. Once more the summons comes for a secret voyage, in pursuit of a heavily armed neutral vessel. Aboard the ship lies a secret that could change the course of the coming war for Britain, and the loss of which could tip the balance irrevocably in favour of Revolutionary France.

'From a fog-bound Thames Estuary to the limpid waters of the Norwegian fjords, through the storm-mad Atlantic and finally to Boston, Rennie and Hayter must play a deadly game involving sea battles, mutiny, and breathtaking deception. And, of course, the only stakes in the game are victory or death. (Source: Audible)

'Spring 1791

'Though deeply disturbed by a terrible incident during his previous commission, James Hayter is nevertheless on the verge of taking command of HMS Sloop Eglantine as Master and Commander when personal tragedy shatters his life. The twin blows convince Hayter that he is not fit to command and he must turn his back on the sea forever. Even the intervention of his friend and former captain, William Rennie cannot not dissuade him from derelicting his duty.

'Though repenting in the end of his decision, Hayter's career in the Navy appears to be over until the intervention of an agent, Mr Brough Mappin, working for Hayter s old nemesis, the British Secret Service Fund. Mappin's plan offers Hayter a chance to revive his career on a special mission, with the promise of reinstatement in the Royal Naval List if he is successful.

'But it is also the single most dangerous mission of his life. He must sail for France with Rennie in HMS Expedient and there rescue some persons of interest from the grasp of the French Revolutionary forces searching for them. What no one mentions is that the rescue will bring to bear on Expedient and her crew, a force so fierce and mighty that, if it can, it will wipe all trace of the incident, Hayter and the ship from the memory of everyone involved in the forthcoming struggle. (Source: GoodReads)

'It is the eve of the French Revolution and England awaits with trepidation the news from the Continent that will propel her into war again after six years of peace. But Lieutenant James Hayter's orders from the Admiralty do not at first involve the sea. He must go inland to seek out his friend Captain William Rennie, who has disappeared into the wilds of Dartmoor.

'When he finds Rennie alone and broken down in an isolated farmhouse, Hayter fears the Captain will be unable to make the journey to London. Hayter has his own hopes of a command, but these are cruelly dashed when they reach the capital, where they find the sinister spymaster, Sir Robert Greer is once more behind their deployment. They are to sail in HMS Expedient to the Mediterranean, to assist Britain's ally Rashid Bey of Rabhet, with Hayter yet again Rennie's second in command.

'So, unprepared for what they will find on the dangerous Barbary Coast, Expedient and the ten gun cutter Curlew sail into treacherous waters. The odds are daunting. They must make a show of defiance against the mighty corsair fleet of Rabhet's enemy the Dey of Tunis. Murky politics, threatened mutiny, desperate sea actions and imprisonment follow on the sweltering North African Coast, where the rules of European warfare no longer apply and the victor will take everything.' (Source: publisher's blurb)

'The year is 1786: Captain William Rennie is on the beach and on half pay when he’s given a prime commission: HMS Expedient is a 36 gun frigate; she is to be sent to the South Seas on a scientific expedition. For Lieutenant James Hayter, in Dorset shire, whose career had barely begun when the peace came, his own commission in Expedient out of the blue is equally surprising and exciting. But for these two sea officers there is something odd and disturbing about the nature of their task. They sense that they are not being told the whole truth about the forthcoming expedition, and the shady, powerful figure of Sir Robert Greer is always at their backs. Is someone trying to sabotage their mission? Why is their progress dogged by a mysterious man of war? And what are the secret orders locked in Rennie’s cabin which may only be opened once they round the Cape of Good Horn?

The answers lies on a beautiful uncharted island, in the remotest corner of the Pacific immensity, to which the storm-battered Expedient limps for desperately needed repairs. Soon the dangers of the voyage will pale in comparison with what they discover there, across the limpid waters of the lagoon…' (Source: Audible)

'With incomparable storytelling skill, New York Times bestselling author Colleen McCullough brings Rome alive in all her majesty—and illuminates the world of those favored by the gods at birth.

'In a time of cataclysmic upheaval, a bold new generation of Romans vied for greatness amid the disintegrating remnants of their beloved Republic. They were the chosen...and the cursed—blessed with wealth and privilege yet burdened by the dictates of destiny in a savage struggle for power that would leave countless numbers crushed and destroyed. But there was one who would tower above them all—a brilliant and beautiful boy whose ambition was unparalleled, whose love was legend, and whose glory was Rome's: a boy they would one day call "Caesar."' (Publication summary)

'Rome, 97 BC:

'Gaius Marius is triumphant. Under his command, Rome has conquered the Western world, weathered invasion and crushed its enemies. There is just one prize left to him: an unprecedented seventh consulship.

'But the greatest prize demands the highest price. Marius, now aging and ailing, is pitted against a new generation of assassins, power-seekers, and Senate intriguers. There are many who would like to see him fail, not least Lucius Cornelius Sulla, once his closest ally, now his most dangerous rival.

'Sulla and Marius' contest can only be won through treachery and blood. As a deadly enmity engulfs both men and plunges them towards madness, Rome must fight its own battle for survival.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'Presents the stories of Marius, wealthy but lowborn, and Sulla, penniless though aristocratic and debauched - men of vision whose ambitions will lay the foundations of the most awesome empire ever known.' (Publication summary)