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Crime & Thriller

If you like crime, suspense or just a well written mystery you have come to the right place. At Tales you find a wide selection of crime novels and thriller books. The crime and thriller genres come in many forms. You can find everything from the most scary and bloddy murder to a mindblowing mystery written by some of the best crime writers. The crime and thriller books are very popular, because of their page-turner elements. Have you first started reading one, it’s hard to put it down again. Are you ready for a thrill?
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  • - A DCI Ryan Mystery
    by LJ Ross
    £7.99

    A murder for the history books¿ After a long and eventful winter, DCI Ryan and his team are looking forward to the joys of spring. But, when one of their colleagues is shot dead on her own doorstep and the brass think it¿s an inside job, Ryan finds himself drafted in to investigate. He¿s barely scratched the surface when reports flood in of a terror explosion at Durham Cathedral. Chaos descends on the sleepy, historic city and, when the smoke clears, they find a priceless artefact that once belonged to Saint Cuthbert is missing. With tensions running at an all-time high, unable to trust the local police, can Ryan and his team bring a killer to justice ¿ and restore Cuthbert¿s cross to its natural resting place? Murder and mystery are peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunnit set amidst the spectacular landscape of County Durham. ¿LJ Ross keeps company with the best mystery writers¿ ¿ The Times ¿A literary phenomenon¿ ¿ Evening Chronicle

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    - an intense family thriller
    by Liz Moore
    £8.99

    The New York Times bestseller and Guardian Book of the Month'This flawless masterpiece deserves to be a bestseller.' DAILY EXPRESS'Tough, tense and twisty - but tender, human and deeply affecting, too ...

  • Save 11%
    by Nicola Upson
    £7.99

    Summer, 1936. The writer, Josephine Tey, joins her friends in the holiday village of Portmeirion to celebrate her fortieth birthday. Alfred Hitchcock and his wife, Alma Reville, are there to sign a deal to film Josephine's novel, A Shilling for Candles, and Hitchcock has one or two tricks up his sleeve to keep the holiday party entertained - and expose their deepest fears.But things get out of hand when one of Hollywood's leading actresses is brutally slashed to death in a cemetery near the village. The following day, as fear and suspicion take over in a setting where nothing - and no one - is quite what it seems, Chief Inspector Archie Penrose becomes increasingly unsatisfied with the way the investigation is ultimately resolved. Several years later, another horrific murder, again linked to a Hitchcock movie, drives Penrose back to the scene of the original crime to uncover the shocking truth.

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    by Nicola Upson
    £7.99

    When bestselling crime author Josephine Tey inherited a remote Suffolk cottage from her godmother, it came full of secrets. There were the infamous Red Barn murders, committed in the grounds a century before, and still casting a shadow over the village. And there was Lucy Kyte, the mysterious beneficiary of her godmother's will, who no-one in the close-knit village would admit to knowing.As Josephine settles into the strange little house and attempts to make friends with the frightened locals, she knows that there is something dark that has a tight hold on the heart of this small community. Is it just the sinister ghosts of the Red Barn murders, or is there something very much alive that she needs to beware of?Trapped in this isolated community and surrounded by shadows of obsession, abuse and deceit, can Josephine untangle history from present danger and prevent a deadly cycle beginning once again?

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    by David Burns
    £8.49

    Ten people are selected to travel to Mars with one goal: colonize it. However, things are not as simple as all that and it only gets worse when the possibility of Martians grows from doubt to very possible.

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    by Alex Pine
    £8.99

  • Save 10%
    - The Brand New Must-Read Rebus Thriller
    by Ian Rankin
    £8.99

    From the iconic Number One bestseller Ian Rankin, comes one of the must-read books of the year: A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES.

  • by Ian Richardson
    £11.49

    A respected city high flier is investigated for his role in the organisation of pornographic snuff movies.

  • - A Memoir of Greenham Common
    by Oak Chezar
    £12.99

  • Save 10%
    - the inspiration behind the hit Netflix TV series, LUPIN
    by Maurice Leblanc
    £8.99

    THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE HIT NETFLIX SERIES, LUPIN.

  • - A totally twisty, suspenseful psychological thriller
    by Wendy Clarke
    £10.49

    The first time you see them, out for an evening walk on the cliffs, you'll think they're the perfect family. You'll see a wife who looks so happy, strolling peacefully beside her husband in his dark winter coat, holding her daughter's hand. But you have no idea what's really happening in their house If you come a little closer you might hear the way the man speaks to his wife. You might notice that the woman doesn't have any close friends. That sometimes her husband doesn't want her to leave the house. You might wonder if that's a scar her beautiful daughter is hiding on her neck. When you read the local newspaper and hear the news that the wife has fallen from the cliffs, you'll question whether it was really an accident at all. And when the husband starts dating someone new a woman with the same long dark hair and big blue eyes as his wife will you say something this time? Because someone has to protect the little girl and stop history from repeating itself. And it may already be too late. A thrilling and twisty tale, His Hidden Wife will keep you up all night, desperate to race through to its final conclusion. Readers of Gone Girl, The Couple Next Door and Lisa Jewell will be hooked. What readers are saying about His Hidden Wife:';A real rollercoaster of suspense, lies & twists. One of the best psychological thrillers I've read this year. I made my mind up many times, only to be proven wrong each time. The last 30 pages had me almost holding my breath.' @raena_reads, 5 stars ';This book is a highly addictive, fast-paced read indeed!... I read this book in one day in the end something very shocking was revealed! Do not hesitate when it comes to reading this book! Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars ';Gasp yes this book made me gasp out loud!!!! What a great ride. Pulls you in like nothing else. One of the best books that I have read this year. It's over but I don't want it to be.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars ';A book to put on your must-have list! What an absolutely amazing read! You'll be racing to the last page In addition to this five-star read being a little intense with a high level of anticipation, it's also full of uncertainty, anxiety and rounded out with nerve-wracking tension.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars ';I double dare you to try to figure this thriller out! This mind-blowing thriller by Clarke should be the 1st to-be-read thriller of 2021 for you! You will not regret it.' Nicki's Book Blog, 5 stars ';A rollercoaster of twists.' NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars ';An excellent psychological thriller

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    - The Brand New Jack West Thriller
    by Matthew Reilly
    £9.49

    Jack West is Indiana Jones meet Jason Bourne with a rocket launcher. A secret mythological sect seeks to rule the world. History, legend and global conspiracy abound and Jack and his motley crew are the only people who can stop it.

  • Save 10%
    by Janice Hallett
    £8.99

  • - Psychological Warfare
    by Viorel Serb
    £25.49

  • by Adrian Tchaikovsky
    £8.99

  • by Clarissa Harwood
    £13.99

  • Save 20%
    by Tom Clancy
    £11.99

    Tom Clancy's second classic No 1 bestselling thriller - a chillingly authentic vision of modern war - now reissued in a new cover.

  • Save 14%
    - DEXTER NEW BLOOD, the major new TV thriller on Sky Atlantic (Book One)
    by Jeff Lindsay
    £9.49

    Introducing Dexter Morgan, a serial killer to fall in love with... As seen on TV - DEXTER: NEW BLOOD - major new drama

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    by Frank Tallis
    £8.99

    It is Vienna at the beginning of the last century, and Dr Max Liebermann is a young psychoanalyst. His friend Oskar Rheinhardt is a Detective Inspector. It is through Rheinhardt that Libermann is called upon to help with police investigations surrounding the death of a young medium, in what seems at first to be supernatural circumstances.

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    by Don Winslow
    £8.99

    A novel that features a mixed group of characters, each in his or her own way seeking some sort of salvation or redemption. It talks about the plot: how the US government and some of its quasi-autonomous agencies (CIA, FBI, DEA) all for their own reasons sponsored and financed the development of the drug cartels and their trade in Mexico.

  • Save 18%
    by Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli
    £11.49

    In addition to telling the entire dramatic story of Batman's first year fighting crime, this collection includes reproductions of original pencils, promotional art, script pages, unseen David Mazzucchelli Batman art and more.

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    - (Hannibal Lecter)
    by Thomas Harris
    £8.99

    An FBI trainee. A psychopath locked up for unspeakable crimes. And a serial killer getting ever closer to his latest victim... FBI rookie Clarice Starling turns to Dr Hannibal Lecter, monster cannibal held in a hospital for the criminally insane, for insight into the deadly madman she must find.

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    - The original Hannibal Lecter classic (Hannibal Lecter)
    by Thomas Harris
    £8.99

    Sexual hunger; demonic violence; sinister logic - the lethal components of a deadly formula driving a psychopath in the grip of an unimagin-able delusion; a boastful killer who sends the police tormenting notes; a tortured, torturing monster who finds ultimate pleasure in viciously murdering happy families, and calls himself... The Red Dragon.

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    by Thomas Harris
    £8.99

    Hannibal killed nine people before he was caught. And five on his escape. Two of his victims survived - one of them craves revenge. He is very rich and very influential, and his reach extends into the echelons of power around the world. His need to find Hannibal is insatiable. In Clarice Starling, he has the perfect bait

  • Save 10%
    - (Hannibal Lecter)
    by Thomas Harris
    £8.99

    Living with his uncle and his uncle's beautiful and exotic wife, Lady Murasaki, Hannibal Lecter flourishes with Lady Murasaki's help. But his old demons visit him and torment him. When he is old enough, he visits them in turn. He discovers he has gifts beyond the academic, and in that epiphany, Hannibal Lecter becomes death's prodigy.

  • Save 14%
    by Stephen King
    £9.49

    Stephen King's international bestselling - and highly acclaimed - novel, also a hugely successful film starring Tom Hanks

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    - 50th Anniversary Edition
    by Mario Puzo
    £8.99

    ______________________________________With an exclusive introduction by director Francis Ford CoppolaTyrant, blackmailer, racketeer, murderer - his influence reaches every level of American society. Meet Don Corleone, a friendly man, a just man, a reasonable man.

  • Save 14%
    - The Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries 9
    by Elly Griffiths
    £9.49

    Something evil is waiting in the dark tunnels under Norwich - forensic archaeologist Dr Ruth Galloway had better watch her step

  • Save 11%
    by V. E. Schwab
    £7.99

    Kell is plagued by his guilt. Having given up smuggling, he is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila. As Red London prepares for the Element Games - an extravagant international competition of magic - a certain pirate ship draws closer. But another London is coming back to life. Black London has risen again.

  • Save 10%
    - The World's Favourite Agatha Christie Book
    by Agatha Christie
    £8.99 - 16.99

    The book that topped the international online poll held in Agatha Christie's 125th birthday year to discover which of her 80 crime books was the world's favourite.

Crime
The crime genre is one of the most popular literary genres among readers around the world. The characteristics of a typical crime novel is first and foremost that a crime is committed. The crime begins the plot and from this point the investigation starts. Here we meet the investigator that will solve the mystery of the crime that was committed. In the investigation process the reader is introduced to a gallery of characters and during the crime book the crime writer gives the reader some clues to who the offender or murder could be. Another crucial factor here is the motive of the crime. Lastly the crime is solved and all the clues are unravelled in the end of the crime novels. 

The Nordic Crime tradition
In Scandinavia we have a proud tradition of writing crime novels especially in the form of nordic noir. What is special about the nordic noir genre is it’s way of mixing the investigation of a crime or murder with socialrealistic problematics often describes through the main characters. Another special feature found in these crime novels is that the main character is mostly female. The female investigator or journalist comes in the form of an anti-hero that is brilliant at solving a crime mystery, but struggles with problems in her personal life. She is often an outsider and socially changed, but good at her work. She has an assistant or helper, that often is her complete contrast.
Another characteristic of the nordic crime books is the weather. The often cold, harsh, and dark autumn weather in Scandinavia creates a gloomy, melancholic and mysterious backdrop of the story. Some of the crime books best sellers are found in Scandinavia.

Classical mysteries 
The crime genre goes a long way back and is said to have started or had its broad appeal with the stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in an english newspaper. The popular stories were later turned into a crime books series, and the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is still some of the most beloved crime stories on the market. The genius main character Sherlock Holmes and his likeable helper Doctor Watson solve some of the most puzzling mysteries in the history of crime novels, and the gallery of characters is really well described. The whole crime book series have been adapted to the screen and the popular crime stories are found in multiple tv-serieses and movies today, but the books are always the best.
You will also find all the classics by the famous and beloved crime writer Agatha Christie in our selection. You can find the whole very popular crime books series with the brilliant Hercule Poirot including the classic The Murder on The Orient Express. You can also find the beloved crime novel character Miss Marple, who is one of the most genius old Ladies in the history of books. You can also find some of Agatha Christies’ plays in our wide selection of crime books.

Thriller
The thriller books are some of the most intense. They are hard to describe, because of their diversity, but they always give you thrill. The plot often deals with a mystery that needs solving, but different from the crime book is the high level of intensity and suspense making it hard for the reader to put the book down again. All the thriller books are page-turners and are highly loved by its readers, because the high level of intensity and excitement makes the reader feel like he is part of the thriller book’s plot. 
In our wide selection of crime and thriller you can find all the thriller books best sellers including the Dan Brown classics The Da Vinci Code and Inferno. If you like a good shiver you should take a look at the nerve wracking thriller books by Stephen King if you dare. 

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