More Fiction for Christmas

Framed by John Grisham and Jim McClosky

The gift of the record set straight.

Grisham does some of his best work in non-fiction – not to mention his work in the real world – and with his first work of non-fiction since The Innocent Man Grisham returns to the issue that preoccupies him – and perhaps should preoccupy more of us – the issue of wrongful conviction.

Any number of things can lead to wrongful conviction: racism, misconduct, false testimony, junk science, corruption… the list goes on and on. And in so doing shows that the system has more weak points than we’d like to accept. But we’re not the ones losing our lives, friends and families.

Framed recounts the stories of ten men who were convicted of crimes in spite of their eventually proven innocence, and delves into the efforts to finally secure exoneration for all of them. Injustice, despite its treatment in most other storytelling forms, turns out to be more of a slow, procedural condemnation… and justice is mostly a matter of patience, persistence and, sadly, survival.

Framed serves as a superb, realistic foil to the fanaticism (as enjoyable as it is) of crime fiction.

To Die For by David Baldacci

The gift of electrifying twists.

Stealth operative and ex army ranger Travis Devine is back. And this time his devotion to justice, as well as his special skills, will be tested by an enemy whose persistence rivals even his own.

Devine can adapt to just about any set of circumstances to get the job done. When he’s tasked by the FBI with escorting recently orphaned Betsy Odom to a meeting with her rich and powerful uncle, neither he nor his ward fully trust the situation. Police say Betsy’s parents died of a drug overdose, but Betsy was there and she’s adamant that’s not what happened. She just wants to get to her uncle. His connections with the criminal underworld, however, might make adoption a tough prospect, officially.

Devine is still trying to escape an incredibly skilled killer who’s been on his trail ever since he escaped her in Switzerland. And everything is made so much more complicated when an informant is murdered and this job becomes so much more complex. Complex enough to make him wonder which side he’s actually fighting for.

The House of Cross by James Patterson

The gift of non-stop action.

Alex Cross is the veteran’s veteran. He’s cracked more cases, averted more crises and thwarted more villainous plans than just about anyone else in contemporary fiction. And in the newest Alex Cross book, he’s about to do all three of those things at once.

It begins with two deaths. The first, of a judge who succumbs to a strange attack. The second, of a tech billionaire. Cross’s wife Bree and his best friend John Sampson (of the Metro PD) suspect that the second person might actually be M – the criminal mastermind who has dogged their steps for years.
Can Cross save John and Bree, apprehend the killer taking out the country’s highest-ranking judges and still escape with his life?

But Cross is more concerned with the first death. It appears that someone is targeting and killing supreme court judge nominees on the eve of a new presidential inauguration. The pressure to solve the case is immense, but Cross is diverted when he suddenly loses all track with Bree and John – whose suspicions, it seems, may have landed them in real danger.

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

The gift of not-quite retirement.

Anyone who loves The Thursday Murder Club will want to check out Osman’s new series… and will want to meet his memorable new (retired) detective protagonist.

Steve Wheeler relishes his comfortable routine. He likes the pub quiz, he likes being greeted by his cat when he returns home. He’s happy to have left his days of danger behind at last. Retirement is treating him well. He even does the odd bit of investigating, when it suits him.

Amy Wheeler, Steve’s daughter-in-law, on the other hand, has no interest in slowing down. Between adrenaline-pumping adventures, Amy has taken a job as a private security guard. All she has to do is keep bestselling novelist Rosie D’Antonio safe on her remote island.

And then a dead body turns up along with a bag of cash and Amy becomes aware that a killer has her in their sights. She’s going to need the help of the most brilliant retiree she knows… and soon Amy and Steve will find themselves on a race across the world, desperately vying to outmanoeuvre a deadly enemy.
But Cross is more concerned with the first death. It appears that someone is targeting and killing supreme court judge nominees on the eve of a new presidential inauguration. The pressure to solve the case is immense, but Cross is diverted when he suddenly loses all track with Bree and John – whose suspicions, it seems, may have landed them in real danger.

The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins

The gift of secretive isolation.

Hawkins’s women-centric complex thrillers are guaranteed to intrigue the detective in all of us. And this one in particular will enfold you in uncomfortable fascinations as it becomes more claustrophobic and more sinister.

Hawkins once again delivers a chilling, atmospheric and terribly moreish mystery… and this one has a truly tantalising premise.

The Scottish island of Eris is the very picture of isolation. On it is just one house, with just one resident. For half of every day it is completely cut off from the mainland. Once, it was the home of renowned artist Vanessa Chapman – whose famously philandering husband, Julian, vanished without a trace – and who stunned the artworld when she left her art collection to her nemesis upon her death.

But now Eris is the home of Grace – a woman content in her solitary life by the unforgiving sea. And Grace is about to receive an unexpected visitor. Far away, in a London art gallery, a shocking discovery has been made – and it might just be the key to unlocking all the secrets lurking beyond the cold churning foam surrounding Eris.

Blood Ties by Jo Nesbo

The gift of brotherly corruption.

Nesbo is a truly interesting crime author: he’s just as good at imagining depraved and terrifying serial killers with haunting MOs as he is at exploring the evils committed through more banal motivations… particularly family, money and power. And that’s what we have here.

The king of crime thrillers returns with a small town epic that follows the nefarious scheming and the unchecked ambition of two villainous brothers while exploring the depths of their loyalty and entanglement.

Carl and Roy Opgard have made it to the top of the pile in their small town of Os. Through hospitality and real estate they’ve established themselves among the town’s elite. Their success has come at a certain price, though, and some people had to die for them to make it.

Recently, Sheriff Kurt Olsen has come upon just the proof he needs to uncover the brothers’ campaign of self-serving murders and bring them down once and for all. But the brothers have been doing this for long enough to know what to do about Olsen and his evidence. More in Os are about to die. When there’s nothing they won’t risk for each other, and for their ambition, is there anyone who can stop the Opgard brothers?

An Eye for an Eye by Jeffrey Archer

The gift of a complex conspiracy.

Scotland Yard’s William Warwick is back… and it’s up to him to foil a master criminal’s diabolical revenge plot. Archer shows once again that he might just be the best storyteller out there.

Continents apart, two deaths, seeming to have no connection whatsoever, kick off a series of events – and a hunt for the truth – that will test the wits of even the most seasoned detective.

Lord Hartley, a peer whose British establishment cachet stretches back over centuries, is dying. And his will is about to trigger an explosive crisis.

Meanwhile, an extravagant night out in one of the world’s glitziest destinations is about to end in both the implosion of a billion-dollar deal and a murder that will bring the British government to the brink of disaster.

The connection between these deaths may be unobvious but Warwick knows who has hold of the threads and it’s up to him to unravel the full truth.

In Too Deep by Lee Child and Andrew Child

The gift of inescapable peril.

Reacher is back! …and he’s in more than a little trouble.

Jack Reacher doesn’t know where he is. He is alone, in the dark, and somebody has chained him to a bed. One of his arms is badly injured and he seems to have been stripped of his possessions. He has no idea how he got here.

He remembers hitchhiking… he remembers the car that picked him up being run off the road. He remembers that the driver died.

Could it be that whoever killed the driver believes that he was somehow involved in whatever led to the murder?

How long is this going to last? Who is doing this to him? So many questions he can’t yet answer. But he will answer them eventually. For now, to things Reacher is absolutely sure of: he’s about to face a gruelling interrogation… and those who brought him here are going to seriously regret it.