Books published by Orenda Books

Everything stays the same for the tenants of The Beresford, a grand old apartment building just outside the city ... until the doorbell rings... Will Carver returns with an eerie, deliciously and uncomfortably dark standalone thriller._______________Just outside the city – any city, every city – is a grand, spacious but affordable apartment building called The Beresford.There's a routine at The Beresford.For Mrs May, every day's the same: a cup of cold, black coffee in the morning, pruning roses, checking on her tenants, wine, prayer and an afternoon nap. She never leaves the building.Abe Schwartz also lives at The Beresford. His housemate, Sythe, no longer does. Because Abe just killed him. In exactly sixty seconds, Blair Conroy will ring the doorbell to her new home and Abe will answer the door. They will become friends. Perhaps lovers. And, when the time comes for one of them to die, as is always the case at The Beresford, there will be sixty seconds to move the body before the next unknowing soul arrives at the door.Because nothing changes at The Beresford, until the doorbell rings...Eerie, dark, superbly twisted and majestically plotted, The Beresford is the stunning standalone thriller from one of crime fiction's most exciting names.

When a depressed, alcoholic single mother disappears, everything suggests suicide, but when her body is found, Icelandic Detective Elma and her team are thrust into a perplexing, chilling investigation.

When Rachel's baby is stillborn, she becomes obsessed with the idea that saving a stranger's life months earlier is to blame. An unforgettable, heart-wrenching, warm and funny debut.

Online investigative journalist Scott King investigates the death of a pop megastar, the subject of multiple accusations of sexual abuse and murder before his untimely demise in a fire ... another episode of the startlingly original, award-winning Six Stories series. 'A captivating, genre-defying book with hypnotic storytelling' Rosamund Lupton 'A chilling, wholly original and quite brilliant story. Deity is utterly compelling, and Matt Wesolowski is a wonderful writer' Chris Whitaker 'Matt Wesolowski taking the crime novel to places it's never been before. Filled with dread, in the best possible way' Joseph Knox _______________ A shamed pop star A devastating fire Six witnesses Six stories Which one is true? When pop megastar Zach Crystal dies in a fire at his remote mansion, his mysterious demise rips open the bitter divide between those who adored his music and his endless charity work, and those who viewed him as a despicable predator, who manipulated and abused young and vulnerable girls. Online journalist, Scott King, whose Six Stories podcasts have become an internet sensation, investigates the accusations of sexual abuse and murder that were levelled at Crystal before he died. But as Scott begins to ask questions and rake over old graves, some startling inconsistencies emerge: Was the fire at Crystal's remote home really an accident? Are reports of a haunting really true? Why was he never officially charged?Dark, chillingly topical and deeply thought-provoking, Deity is both an explosive thriller and a startling look at how heroes can fall from grace and why we turn a blind eye to even the most heinous of crimes... _______________Praise for the Six Stories series 'A gripping exposure of the underbelly of celebrity and obsessive fandom with lashings of supernatural horror - Daisy Jones and the Six gone to the dark side. I couldn't put it down' Harriet Tyce 'Matt Wesolowski is boldly carving his own uniquely dark niche in fiction' Benjamin Myers 'Dark, twisty and incredibly clever ... an author to watch!' C L Taylor 'A dark, twisting rabbit hole of a novel. You won't be able to put it down' Francine Toon 'First-class plotting' S Magazine 'A dazzling fictional mystery' Foreword Reviews 'Readers of Kathleen Barber's Are You Sleeping and fans of Ruth Ware will enjoy this slim but compelling novel' Booklist 'An exceptional storyteller' Andrew Michael Hurley 'Beautifully written, smart, compassionate - and scary as hell. Matt Wesolowski is one of the most exciting and original voices in crime fiction' Alex North 'Insidiously terrifying, with possibly the creepiest woods since The Blair Witch Project ... a genuine chiller with a whammy of an ending' C J Tudor 'Frighteningly wonderful ... one of the best books I've read in years' Khurrum Rahman 'Disturbing, compelling and atmospheric, it will terrify and enthral you in equal measure' M W Craven 'Bold, clever and genuinely chilling with a terrific' Sunday Mirror 'A genuine genre-bending debut' Daily Mail 'Impeccably crafted and gripping

Anne's diagnosis of terminal cancer shines a spotlight onto fractured relationships with her daughter and granddaughter, with surprising, heartwarming results. A moving, elegant and warmly funny novel by the Norwegian Anne Tyler. 'Helga Flatland writes with such astuteness ... Her portrayal of a fractured family trying to cope through emotional personal circumstances was perfect. I devoured this in two sittings and was overwhelmed with feelings for the characters' Nina Pottell, Prima 'Sometimes you simply don't have words to express the beauty and experience of a book - this is one of them' Louise Beech _______________ Anne's life is rushing to an unexpected and untimely end. But her diagnosis of terminal cancer isn't just a shock for her - and for her daughter Sigrid and granddaughter Mia - it shines a spotlight onto their fractured and uncomfortable relationships. On a spur-of-the moment trip to France the three generations of women reveal harboured secrets, long-held frustrations and suppressed desires, and learn humbling and heart-warming lessons about how life should be lived when death is so close. With all of Helga Flatland's trademark humour, razor-sharp wit and deep empathy, One Last Time examines the great dramas that can be found in ordinary lives, asks the questions that matter to us all - and ultimately celebrates the resilience of the human spirit, in an exquisite, enchantingly beautiful novel that urges us to treasure and rethink ... everything.For fans of Elena Ferrante, Maggie O'Farrell, Mike Gayle, Joanna Cannon, Sally Rooney and Carol Shields. _______________ 'The most beautiful, elegant writing I've read in a long time. If you love Anne Tyler, you will ADORE this' Joanna Cannon 'Flatland is hailed as "e;the Norwegian Anne Tyler"e;, but, for me, she writes like Flatland, which is more than good enough' Saga 'A poignant and beautifully written story ... intimate, evocative and moving' Kristin Gleeson 'Helga Flatland possesses a pen made from fluent wisdom, subtle humour and elegance' Carol Lovekin 'Absolutely loved its quiet, insightful generosity' Claire King 'So perceptive and clever' Ronan Hession 'A thoughtful and reflective novel about parents, siblings and the complex - and often challenging - ties that bind them' Hannah Beckerman, Observer 'This is a super exploration of families that I'd urge you to read for the subtle prose, with well defined characters and a strong storyline' Sheila O'Reilly 'Love the sophistication, directness and tenderness of this book' Claire Dyer 'The most clear-eyed, honest, yet sympathetic examination of relationships that I have ever read' Sara Taylor 'The author has been dubbed the Norwegian Anne Tyler and for good reason ... If you love books about dysfunctional families, you'll love this' Good Housekeeping 'In quiet prose, Helga Flatland writes with elegance and subtle humour to produce a shrewd and insightful examination of the psychology of family and of loss' Daily Express

When a young woman vanishes from an exclusive oceanfront community, Detective Casey Wray's investigation plunges her into a darkness she could never have imagined.

When the mother of a missing two-year-old girl is seriously injured in a suspected terrorist attack in Oslo, crime-fighting duo Blix and Ramm join forces to investigate the case, and things aren't adding up ... The second instalment in the addictive, atmospheric, award-winning Blix & Ramm series. 'An exercise in literary tag-teaming from two of Norway's biggest crime writers with a bold new take ... a series with potential' Sunday Times 'Grim, gory and filled with plenty of dark twists ... There's definitely a Scandinavian chill in the air with this fascinating read' Sun 'Alongside Jo Nesbo's Knife, Smoke Screen is this summer's most anticipated read, and it doesn't disappoint' Tvedestrandsposten, Norway ------------------------Oslo, New Year's Eve. The annual firework celebration is rocked by an explosion, and the city is put on terrorist alert. Police officer Alexander Blix and blogger Emma Ramm are on the scene, and when a severely injured survivor is pulled from the icy harbour, she is identified as the mother of two-year-old Patricia Semplass, who was kidnapped on her way home from kindergarten ten years earlier ... and never found. Blix and Ramm join forces to investigate the unsolved case, as public interest heightens, the terror threat is raised, and it becomes clear that Patricia's disappearance is not all that it seems... ------------------------Praise for the Blix & Ramm series: 'Everything about this crime novel sings, the relationship between Blix and Emma, which is complex, but also the relationship between Blix and Fosse and Kovic. The past bleeds into the present and the clever melding of the strands of the story and the slow reveal of details that propel the story is masterly. This tale often surprises or shifts in subtle ways that are pleasing and avoid clichE. As the opener for a new series this is a cracker, long live the marriage of Horst and Enger' New Books Magazine 'A fast-moving, punchy, serial killer investigative novel with a whammy of an ending. If this is the first in the Blix and Ramm series, then here's to many more!' LoveReading 'A clever, gripping crime novel with personality, flair, and heart' Crime by the Book 'A stunningly excellent collaboration from Thomas Enger and Jorn Lier Horst .... It's a brutal tale of fame, murder, and reality TV that gets the pulse racing' Russel McLean 'Now - what happens when you put two of the most distinguished writers of Nordic noir in tandem? Death Deserved by Thomas Enger and Jorn Lier Horst suggests it was a propitious publishing move; a ruthless killer is pursued by a tenacious celebrity blogger and a damaged detective' Financial Times

Chastity Riley and her friends are held hostage in a hotel bar by twelve armed men set on revenge, in a searing, breathtakingly original new thriller from the 'Queen of Krimi'. 'Simone Buchholz writes with real authority and a pungent, noir-is sense of time and space ... a palpable hit' Independent 'Reading Buchholz is like walking on firecrackers ... a truly unique voice in crime fiction' Graeme Macrae Burnet 'If Philip Marlowe and Bernie Gunther had a literary love child, it might just explain Chastity Riley - Simone Buchholz's tough, acerbic, utterly engaging central character' William Ryan _______________ Twenty floors above the shimmering lights of the Hamburg docks, Public Prosecutor Chastity Riley is celebrating a birthday with friends in a hotel bar when twelve heavily armed men pull out guns, and take everyone hostage. Among the hostages is Konrad Hoogsmart, the hotel owner, who is being targeted by a young man whose life - and family - have been destroyed by Hoogsmart's actions. With the police looking on from outside - their colleagues' lives at stake - and Chastity on the inside, increasingly ill from an unexpected case of sepsis, the stage is set for a dramatic confrontation ... and a devastating outcome for the team ... all live streamed in a terrifying bid for revenge. Crackling with energy and populated by a cast of unforgettable characters, Hotel Cartagena is a searing, relevant thriller that will leave you breathless. _______________Praise for the Chastity Riley series 'Caustic, incisive prose. A street-smart, gutsy heroine. A timely and staggeringly stylish thriller' Will Carver 'With plenty of dry humour and a good old dash of despair, Simone Buchholz is an unconventional, refreshing new voice' Crime Fiction Lover 'Lyrical and pithy' Sunday Times 'With brief, pacy chapters and fizzling dialogue, this almost feels like American procedural noir and not a translation' Maxim Jakubowski, Crime Time 'There is a fantastic pace to the story which keeps you hooked from the first sentence all the way to the end ... a unique voice that delivers a stylish story' New Books Magazine 'A smart and witty book that shines a probing spotlight on society' CultureFly 'Fans of Brookmyre could do worse than checking out Simone Buchholz, a star of the German crime lit scene who has been deftly translated into English by Rachel Ward' Goethe Institute 'Stripped back in style and deadpan in voice ... a scintillating romp around the German criminal underworld and back' Doug Johnstone, Big Issue 'By turns lyrical and pithy, this adventure set in the melting pot of contemporary Hamburg has a plot and a sensibility that both owe something to mind-altering substances. Lots of fun' Sunday Times 'Disgraced state prosecutor Chastity Riley chases round the dive bars of the port city pursuing and being pursued by a beguiling cast of cops, criminals and chums, delivering scalding one-liners as she goes' The Times 'Great sparkling energy, humour and stylistic verve ... and the story itself is gripping and pacey' Rosie Goldsmith, European Literature Network 'A must-read, stylish and highly original take on the detective novel, written with great skill and popping wi

When a Botswana mine is robbed of 100,000 carats of diamonds and the thieves are murdered execution-style, Botswana's Detective Kubu begins a terrifying international investigation in the prequel to the award-winning Detective Kubu series.

When the official investigation into the murder of a respectable local businessman fails to add up, and personal problems start to play havoc with her state of mind, New Zealand's favourite young detective Sam Shephard turns vigilante... Fast-moving New Zealand procedural ... the Edinburgh of the south has never been more deadly' Ian Rankin'If you like taut, pacy thrillers with a wonderful sense of place, this is the book for you' Liam McIlvanneyA sassy heroine, fabulous sense of place, and rip-roaring stories with a twist. Perfect curl-up-on-the-sofa reading' Kate Mosse ________________The New Zealand city of Dunedin is rocked when a wealthy and apparently respectable businessman is murdered in his luxurious home while his wife is bound and gagged, and forced to watch. But when Detective Sam Shephard and her team start investigating the case, they discover that the victim had links with some dubious characters.The case seems cut and dried, but Sam has other ideas. Weighed down by her dad's terminal cancer diagnosis, and by complications in her relationship with Paul, she needs a distraction, and launches her own investigation. And when another murder throws the official case into chaos, it's up to Sam to prove that the killer is someone no one could ever suspect... ________________Praise for the Sam Shephard seriesVanda Symon's work resembles Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series ... she knows how to tell a good story and the NZ setting adds spice' The TimesAtmospheric, emotional and gripping' Foreword ReviewsA plot that grabs the reader's attention with a heart-stopping opening and doesn't let go' Sunday TimesPowerful, coolly assured, and an absolute belter of a read' LoveReading It is Symon's copper Sam, self-deprecating and very human, who represents the writer's real achievement' GuardianFans of The Dry will love Vanda Symon' Red MagazineWith a twisty plot, a protagonist who shines and beautifully written observations of the cruellest things ... this is crime fiction at its best' Kiwi CrimeReads like the polished effort of a genre veteran. More, please' BooklistAtmospheric, gripping and incredibly satisfying' Random Things through My Letterbox

A promising young football player returns home to his tiny village, his dreams in tatters and a dark secret haunting his conscience, in a beautiful, unforgettable novel about hope and redemption, when everything seems lost...

Following actress Amelie Hart, A Song of Isolation looks beneath the magpie glimmer of celebrity to uncover a sinister world of greed and lies

When the tenant of a house that university professor Nina owns with her doctor husband goes missing after an uncomfortable visit, Nina starts her own investigation ... with deeply disturbing results. The long-awaited new thriller from the bestselling author of The Bird Tribunal

THE STUNNING FINAL INSTALMENT OF THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING DARK ICELAND SERIES

Running private investigator and funeral home businesses means trouble is never far away, and the Skelf women take on their most perplexing, chilling cases yet in book two of this darkly funny, devastatingly tense, and addictive new series! Haunted by recent events, the Skelf women are hoping for a quieter life. But running both a funeral directors and a PI business means trouble is never far away, and when a car crashes into the open grave at a funeral that Dorothy is conducting, she can't help looking into the dead driver's shadowy life. While Dorothy begins to uncover a dark truth at the heart of Edinburgh society, her daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah have their own struggles to deal with. Jenny's ex-husband Craig is making plans that could shatter the Skelf women's lives, and the increasingly obsessive Hannah has formed a friendship with an elderly teacher that is fast turning deadly. Something even more sinister lurks around the corner when a drumming student of Dorothy's disappears and suspicion falls on her parents. The Skelf women find themselves immersed in an unbearable darkness-but could the real threat be to them? Following three generations of women as they deal with the dead, help the living, and find out who they are in the process, The Big Chill reboots the classic PI novel while asking big existential questions, all with a fabulous dose of pitch-black humor.

Sequel to We Were the Salt of the Sea. Detective Morales finds that a seemingly straightforward search for a missing fisherwoman is anything but...

Five days in the history of a small rural town, visited and infected by darkness, are recounted by Evil itself.

Swinging from South Africa to England: one woman's hunt for her birth mother in an all-too-believable near future in which an antibiotic crisis has decimated the population. A prescient, thrilling debut. ________________Decades of spiralling drug resistance have unleashed a global antibiotic crisis. Ordinary infections are untreatable, and a scratch from a pet can kill. A sacrifice is required to keep the majority safe: no one over seventy is allowed new antibiotics. The elderly are sent to hospitals nicknamed ‘The Waiting Rooms' ... hospitals where no one ever gets well.Twenty years after the crisis takes hold, Kate begins a search for her birth mother, armed only with her name and her age. As Kate unearths disturbing facts about her mother's past, she puts her family in danger and risks losing everything. Because Kate is not the only secret that her mother is hiding. Someone else is looking for her, too.Sweeping from an all-too-real modern Britain to a pre-crisis South Africa, The Waiting Rooms is epic in scope, richly populated with unforgettable characters, and a tense, haunting vision of a future that is only a few mutations away.

Crusading journalist Lydia is thrust into a terrifying web of money, politics and power, in this shockingly believable contemporary thriller

Ever-dogged Bergen PI Varg Veum has to dig deep into his own past as he investigates the murder of a former classmate. Vintage, classic Nordic Noir from international bestselling author Gunnar Staalesen. 'Mature and captivating' Herald Scotland 'One of the finest Nordic novelists - in the tradition of Henning Menkell' Barry Forshaw, Independent 'Masterful pacing' Publishers Weekly ________________ When Bergen PI Varg Veum finds himself at the funeral of a former classmate on a sleet-grey December afternoon, he's unexpectedly reunited with his old friend Jakob - the once-famous lead singer of 1960s rock band The Harpers - and his estranged wife, Rebecca, Veum's first love. Their rekindled friendship come to an abrupt end with a horrific murder, and Veum is forced to dig deep into his own adolescence and his darkest memories, to find a motive ... and a killer. Tense, vivid and deeply unsettling, Fallen Angels is the spellbinding, award-winning thriller that secured Gunnar Staalesen's reputation as one of the world's foremost crime writers. ________________Praise for Gunnar Staalesen 'Gunnar Staalesen is one of my very favourite Scandinavian authors. Operating out of Bergen in Norway, his private eye, Varg Veum, is a complex but engaging anti-hero. Varg means "e;wolf "e; in Norwegian, and this is a series with very sharp teeth' Ian Rankin 'The Norwegian Chandler' Jo Nesbo 'Not many books hook you in the first chapter - this one did, and never let go!' Mari Hannah 'Staalesen continually reminds us he is one of the finest of Nordic novelists' Financial Times 'Chilling and perilous results - all told in a pleasingly dry style' Sunday Times 'Staalesen does a masterful job of exposing the worst of Norwegian society in this highly disturbing entry' Publishers Weekly 'The Varg Veum series is more concerned with character and motivation than spectacle, and it's in the quieter scenes that the real drama lies' Herald Scotland 'Every inch the equal of his Nordic confreres Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbo' Independent

The Oslo Detectives are back in another slice of Nordic Noir, and their new colleague has more at stake than she's prepared to reveal...

When iconic musical Dust is revived twenty years after the leading actress was murdered, a series of eerie events haunts the new cast.

Single-mother Fran returns to her sleepy hometown to care for her dying father when a devastating bush fire breaks out. A heartbreaking disaster-noir thriller from the bestselling author of The Cry.

When a woman's body is discovered at a lighthouse in the Icelandic town of Akranes, investigators discover shocking secrets in her past. First in the disturbing, chillingly atmospheric, addictive new Forbidden Iceland series.

A series of shipping containers wash up on a sleepy New Zealand beach, and a spate of unexplained deaths ensues.

Hamburg state prosecutor Chastity Riley investigates a series of arson attacks on cars across the city.

Fearless Florida bounty-hunter Lori Anderson travels to Chicago to trap the head of a notorious crime family, in a high-stakes, nail-biting mission that sees her trapped in one of the city's tallest buildings during a blackout… ‘A real cracker' Mark Billingham ‘My kind of book' Lee Child ‘Like Midnight Run, but much darker … really, really good' Ian Rankin –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– A city in darkness. A building in lockdown. A score that can only be settled in blood… Working off the books for FBI Special Agent Alex Monroe, Florida bounty-hunter Lori Anderson and her partner, JT, head to Chicago. Their mission: to entrap the head of the Cabressa crime family. The bait: a priceless chess set that Cabressa is determined to add to his collection. An exclusive high-stakes poker game is arranged in the penthouse suite of one of the city's tallest buildings, with Lori holding the cards in an agreed arrangement to hand over the pieces, one by one. But, as night falls and the game plays out, stakes rise and tempers flare. When a power failure plunges the city into darkness, the building goes into lockdown. But this isn't an ordinary blackout, and the men around the poker table aren't all who they say they are. Hostages are taken, old scores resurface and the players start to die. And that's just the beginning… –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Praise for the Lori Anderson Series ‘This is romping entertainment that moves faster than a bullet' Jake Kerridge, Sunday Express ‘If you like your action to race away at full tilt, then this whirlwind of a thriller is a must' Deirdre O'Brien, Sunday People ‘With convincing, gritty local detail, unflinching violence, and a subplot of red-hot romance, all narrated by a likeable, fast-talking heroine, this punchy and powerful adventure will leave you wanting more' Sunday Mirror ‘Stripper-turned-bounty hunter Lori, with her sickly young daughter in tow, gets into high-octane escapes when she sets out to bring her former lover and mentor to justice. Lively' Sunday Times ‘The non-stop twists and turns – plus Lori's constant dilemma as she is torn between the instincts of motherhood and the need to stay focused on her perilous mission – draw in readers like a magnet and keep them hooked to the action right up to the emotional conclusion' Burnley Gazette ‘Deep Down Dead is an impressive thriller, the kind of book that comfortably sits alongside seasoned pros at the top of their game. Sultry and suspenseful, it marks a welcome first vow for an exceptional new voice' Good Reading Magazine ‘Gripping, entertaining and utterly addictive, this is a cracking start to an enthralling new crime series…' L

Elusive online journalist Scott King examines the chilling case of a young vlogger found frozen to death in the legendary local ‘vampire tower', in another explosive episode of Six Stories… ‘Matt Wesolowski brilliantly depicts a desperate and disturbed corner of north-east England in which paranoia reigns and goodness is thwarted. It's a big ask to come up with a new vampire tale, but Wesolowski achieves it magnificently. He is an exceptional storyteller' Andrew Michael Hurley ‘Disturbing, compelling and atmospheric, it will terrify and enthral you in equal measure' M W Craven ‘Beautufully written, smart, compassionate – and scary as hell. Matt Wesolowski is one of the most exciting and original voices in crime fiction' Alex North ________________ In the wake of the 'Beast from the East' cold snap that ravaged the UK in 2018, a grisly discovery was made in a ruin on the Northumbrian coast. Twenty-four-year-old Vlogger, Elizabeth Barton, had been barricaded inside what locals refer to as 'The Vampire Tower', where she was later found frozen to death. Three young men, part of an alleged 'cult', were convicted of this terrible crime, which they described as a 'prank gone wrong'. However, in the small town of Ergarth, questions have been raised about the nature of Elizabeth Barton's death and whether the three convicted youths were even responsible. Elusive online journalist Scott King speaks to six witnesses – people who knew both the victim and the three killers – to peer beneath the surface of the case. He uncovers whispers of a shocking online craze that held the young of Ergarth in its thrall and drove them to escalate a series of pranks in the name of internet fame. He hears of an abattoir on the edge of town, which held more than simple slaughter behind its walls, the tragic and chilling legend of the ‘Ergarth Vampire… Both a compulsive, taut and terrifying thriller, and a bleak and distressing look at modern society's desperation for attention, Beast will unveil a darkness from which you may never return… ________________ ‘Endlessly inventive and with literary thrills a-plenty, Matt Wesolowski is boldly carving his own uniquely dark niche in fiction' Benjamin Myers ‘A gripping and incredibly powerful novel of our times – the Six Stories series just keeps getting better and better' Kevin Wignall ‘Creepy, exciting and very well written' Yrsa Sigurðardóttir ‘Such a fantastic, creepy read!' Elodie Harper ‘Absolute genius' Louise Beech ‘Edgy and dark' From Belgium with Book Love ‘Wesolowski is on addictive, chilling and macabre form' Tattooed Book Geek ‘Visually stunning and chillingly complex. Five stars are not enough' The Book Trail ‘The epitome of a page-turner' The Book Review Café ‘Excellently chilling, fantastically dark' The Reading Closet ‘A spectacular read' Emma's Bookish Corner