Len Deighton was born in 1929 in London. He did his national service in the RAF, went to the Royal College of Art and designed many book jackets, including the original UK edition of Jack Kerouac's On the Road. The enormous success of his first spy novel, The IPCRESS File (1962), was repeated in a remarkable sequence of books over the following decades. These varied from historical fiction (Bomber, perhaps his greatest novel) to dystopian alternative fiction (SS-GB) and a number of brilliant non-fiction books on the Second World War (Fighter, Blitzkrieg and Blood, Tears and Folly). 
 
His spy novels chart the twists and turns of Britain and the Cold War in ways which now give them a unique flavour. They preserve a world in which Europe contains many dictatorships, in which the personal can be ruined by the ideological and where the horrors of the Second World War are buried under only a very thin layer of soil. Deighton's fascination with technology, his sense of humour and his brilliant evocation of time and place make him one of the key British espionage writers, alongside John Buchan, Eric Ambler, Ian Fleming and John Le Carré.

Len Deighton

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M. J. Arlidge

A young couple wakes disorientated, trapped and without food or water. There's no escape. Instead there's a gun loaded with a single bullet and a mobile phone with charge enough only to deliver a short message: when one of you kills the other, the survivor will walk free 
 
Other pairs are soon taken. The victims appear to be chosen at random, but the planning is meticulous. And until DI Helen Grace can establish a connection, a twisted killer will remain out of reach. A breakthrough is elusive, but then the investigation begins to turn full circle . . .

Eeny Meeny

DI Helen Grace 1

A blood-red sunrise 
Just after 7 AM DI Helen Grace stumbles on a dead woman lying in a country road. She has been brutally shot for no apparent reason. 
 
Two hours later 
At gunpoint a shopkeeper is forced to close up by two assailants. Before the police can get inside a single gunshot rings out. 
 
A rampage of revenge? 
Over one long day the town of Southampton is terrorized by two young killers who appear to be killing at random. 
 
For DI Helen Grace, it's a race against time. Uncover why they're doing this and who's next or always be a step behind - until the sun sets on this bloody killing spree.

Love Me Not

DI Helen Grace 7

A man's body is found in an empty house. His heart has been cut out and delivered to his family. 
 
 He is the first victim, and DI Helen Grace knows he will not be the last. But why would a happily married man be this far from home at night? 
 
 The media call it Jack the Ripper in reverse: a serial killer preying on family men who lead hidden double lives. 
 
 Helen senses the fury behind the murders. But what she cannot possibly predict is how volatile this killer is - or what awaits at the end of the chase...

Pop Goes the Weasel

DI Helen Grace 2

Framed police woman D I Helen Grace must survive prison and prove her innocence in M J Alridge's sixth bestselling thriller. 
 
Prison is no place for a detective 
Helen Grace was one of the country's best police investigators. 
Now she's behind bars with the killers she caught. 
 
Framed for murder 
She knows there is only way out: 
stay alive until her trial and somehow prove her innocence. 
 
Locked up with a killer 
But when a mutilated body is found in the cell next door, 
Helen fears her days are numbered. 
A murderer is on the loose. And she must find them. 
Before she becomes the next victim...

Hide and Seek

DI Helen Grace 6

A young woman wakes in a cold, dark cellar, with no idea how she got there or who kidnapped her. So begins her terrible nightmare. 
 
The body of another young woman is discovered buried on a remote beach. But the dead girl was never reported missing - her estranged family having received regular texts from her over the years. 
 
For DI Helen Grace it's chilling evidence that she's chasing a twisted monster who is clever and resourceful - a predator who's killed before. 
 
As Helen struggles to understand the killer's motivation, she relaises she's in a desperate race against time...

The Doll's House

DI Helen Grace 3

In the dead of night, three raging fires light up the city skies. It's more than a tragic coincidence. For DI Helen Grace the flames announce the arrival of an evil she has never encountered before. 
 
Because this is no firestarter seeking sick thrills, but something more chilling: a series of careful, calculating acts of murder. 
 
But why were the victims chosen? What's driving the killer? And who will be next? 
 
A powder keg of fear, suspicion and dread has been laid. Now all it needs is a spark to set it off...

Liar Liar

DI Helen Grace 4

Helen's most personal case yet as she investigates the shocking and unexpected murder of a close friend found cocooned in plastic. It looks like it was a tragic accident - a sex game gone wrong. 
 
The investigation soon threatens to expose Helen's private life and she has to make some tough personal choices along the way, as she hunts a twisted and elusive killer, who is swiftly racking up more murders. 
 
As Helen closes in on her prey, a shocking truth is revealed - these murders are part of a calculated attempt to bring Helen down . . .

Little Boy Blue

DI Helen Grace 5

If you go down to the woods today 
 
The last thing Tom Campbell remembers is camping in the New Forest with his girlfriend, Melissa. Now he is helpless, alone and consumed by fear, hunted through the woods by a sinister, masked figure... 
 
When Tom's body is found, displayed with grisly relish, Helen Grace takes the case. But before she can catch her breath, a second victim is taken - a serial killer is on the loose. 
 
You better not go alone... 
 
Something dark and deadly stalks the forest. Helen and her team must race against time to catch the perpetrator, before more blood is shed. 
 
But the hunt will take Helen back into the eerie twilit woods - and this time she might not make it out alive.

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