Looking Forward To 2010 - Part 3

Stuart MacBride - DARK BLOOD
Publisher: Harper Collins
Date: April 2010
6th in the Aberdeen set police procedural series featuring Logan McRae. From Harper Collins' website: 'Martin Knox has served his time, so why shouldn’t he be allowed to live wherever he wants? Yes, in the past he was a violent rapist, but he’s seen the error of his ways. Found God. Wants to leave his dark past in Newcastle behind him and make a new start. Or so he says.Detective Sergeant Logan McRae isn’t exactly thrilled to be part of the team helping Knox settle into his new Aberdeen home. He’s even less thrilled to be stuck with DSI Danby from Northumbria Police – the man who put Knox behind bars for ten years – supposedly here to ‘keep an eye on things’.Only things are about to go very, very wrong.Edinburgh gangster Malk the Knife wants a slice of the development boom Donald Trump’s golf course is bringing to the Granite City, whether local crime lord Wee Hamish Mowat likes it or not. Three heavies from Newcastle want a ‘quiet word’ with DSI Danby about a missing mob accountant. And Martin Knox’s dark past isn’t done with him yet…'

Charles Maclean - NIGHT
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
Date: February 2010
A psychological suspense thriller apparently. And that's all I can find out about it- sorry.

Shona Maclean - A GAME OF SORROWS
Publisher: Quercus
Date: March 2010
From Amazon's website: 'It is 1628, and Seaton's happily settled life as a university teacher in Aberdeen is shattered by the arrival in town of a stranger carrying a plea for help from his dead mother's family in Ireland. The family has been placed under a poet's curse, elements of which have begun to come true. Reluctantly answering the call, Alexander travels to Ulster, to find himself among a family riven by secrets and long-standing resentments. In the course of seeking out the author of the curse, Alexander becomes increasingly entangled with both sides in the conflict - fugitive priests, displaced poets, rebellious plotters and agents of the king. His life and liberty are threatened as he is confronted with murder within his own family, and he finds the lines between superstition and faith, duty and loyalty blurred to the extent that he begins to question his own identity, and is forced to face up to the destructive power of love.'

Ken McClure - A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE
Publisher: Polygon
Date: May 2010
Eighth in the series featuring Dr Steven Dunbar of the Sci-Med Inspectorate. From Amazon: 'John Motram, a cell biologist at Newcastle University firmly believes that Black Death was not caused by bubonic plague but by an unknown virus. He is excited when Oxford University tell him that they have come into possession of information suggesting there might be preserved bodies of victims from the time of Black Death hidden under Dryburgh Abbey. Motram sees this as an opportunity to settle the argument once and for all. An excavation is mounted but comes to a disastrous end when Motram apparently loses his mind after entering the secret tomb. Dr Steven Dunbar of the Sci-Med Inspectorate is sent to investigate fearing that a new killer virus has been let loose.'

Pat McIntosh - A PIG OF COLD POISON
Publisher: Soho Constable
Date: July 2010
Seventh in the series set in medieval Glasgow, featuring the Archbishop's investigator, Gil Cunningham. From BooksFromScotland.com: 'Danny Gibson and Nanty Bothwell, rivals for the affections of Agnes Renfrew, the apothecary's pretty daughter, are also good friends. When they both take part in the festive play at the house of Gil's sister Kate, it ends in Danny's death, apparently by poison from his friend's flask. But was it deliberate?'

Shirley McKay - LINES OF INQUIRY
Publisher: Polygon
Date: May 2010
Second in the Hew Cullan series set in late 16th century St Andrews. From the Fantastic Fiction website: 'The year is 1581, and the young St Andrews academic Hew Cullan is unhappy with his life and disillusioned with the law. After his father's death, he is invited by the advocate Richard Cunningham to complete his legal education in Edinburgh as Richard's pupil at the bar. Hew resists, but, later, as he looks through his father's things, he finds a manuscript entitled 'In Defence of the Law'.With it is the promise of publication from the Edinburgh printer, Christian Hall. Hew resolves to deliver the manuscript, and takes up Richard's offer. He is surprised to find Christian Hall is a young widow, the mother of a small child. Hew is attracted to Christian, but as they grow close it becomes apparent that the relationship is fraught with danger. Christian is under attack, culminating in the brutal killing of her nursemaid and the disappearance of her child. As Hew begins a frantic bid to find Christian's son, he suspects links with the murder of a young girl in St Andrews. The truth lies much closer to home.'