Shell Game

Un'anziana ex prostituta viene aggredita, ferita e poi impiccata in uno squallido monolocale di New York. Candele e barattoli pieni di insetti ne circondano il corpo senza vita. La polizia pensa al sinistro rituale di un folle, ma Kathy Mallory, agente della omicidi dai trascorsi misteriosi e dalla mente contorta non è convinta. Comincia a scavare negli archivi della centrale, a caccia di indizi su un delitto avvenuto anni prima. E scopre che da quel momento qualcuno aspetta che venga l'ora della giustizia. Della vendetta.

"Le parole della O'Connell sono lucide e affilate come un bisturi." (Carlo Lucarelli)

A volte la violenza esplode quando e dove meno te l'aspetti. Come a Dayborn, graziosa cittadina sprofondata nella calda, languida atmosfera della Louisiana. E' lа che, diciassette anni fa, la dottoressa Cass Shelley и morta sotto i colpi di una folla inferocita, lapidata senza pietа per una colpa immaginaria. Da allora, tutti a Dayborn hanno fatto del loro meglio per dimenticare. Tutti tranne Tom Jessop, lo sceriffo che da quasi vent'anni si interroga sul destino della piccola Kathy Shelley, scomparsa subito dopo l'omicidio della madre. Quella bambina oggi и una donna, a tutti nota con il nome di Kathy Mallory, detective della Crimini Speciali di New York. Messo da parte il distintivo e la sua nuova vita, Kathy torna a Dayborn decisa a ottenere non semplice giustizia, ma 'vendetta'. Per stanare gli assassini di sua madre deve affrontare un'indagine intricata e rischiosa, ai margini della legalitа. Solo quando la veritа verrа a galla in tutto il suo orrore, Cass Shelley potrа riposare in pace nella tomba vegliata dall'angelo di pietra.

"Una O'Connell in splendida forma per un thriller da non perdere." (Booklist)

"Ancora una volta Carol O'Connell avvince il lettore fino all'ultima pagina." (Publishers Weekly)

"Brava da morire." (Richard North Patterson)

Il cadavere di una donna dalle mani spappolate viene ritrovato al Central Park di Manhattan. In assenza di impronte e di documenti il detective Palanski identifica la vittima in base al nome sull'etichetta della giacca: è Cathy Mallory, geniale e irriducibile cane sciolto della sezione Crimini Speciali della Polizia di New York, recentemente sospesa dal servizio per motivi disciplinari. Quando il notiziario di mezzogiorno la informa della propria morte, Mallory si getta nelle indagini con foga. E scopre che la vittima è in realtà Amanda Bosh, venticinquenne da tempo coinvolta nella relazione con un facoltoso uomo sposato. Per stanare l'assassino Mallory è pronta a tutto, persino a trasformarsi in un vera e propria esca umana.

– Я убила нас обоих. Другого выхода не было. – Джоанна сидела тихо, смиряясь с последними минутами жизни Тимоти Кида, переживая их вместе с ним. Еще какое-то время она могла дышать, жить.

Чем больше Иэн Зэкери дергался, тем быстрее умирал. Красное пятно от вина расползалось по дивану, точно кровь Тимоти. Она не готовила подобную картину осуществления правосудия.

…Джоанна осталась одна.

После вынесения оправдательного вердикта присяжные один за другим умирают насильственной смертью. На месте преступления убийца оставляет на стене кровавый знак: изображение косы. Нью-йоркская радиостанция в популярной передаче проводит собственное расследование. Но детектив Особого отдела Кэти Мэллори считает, что это опасная и нездоровая игра.

Фатальный триллер Кэрол О'Коннелл «Присяжные обречены» – впервые на русском.

An anthology of stories

The most venerated and bestselling authors in the mystery world reveal how they created their most beloved serial characters.

Andrew Bliss, art critic pens the phrase "art terrorism" to describe the murder of artist Dean Starr. No one suspects he knows anything about a crime committed in a gallery 12 years earlier. Detective Kathy Mallory wants to reopen the case and a number of people in high places start to get nervous.

Carol O'Connell succeeds triumphantly, once again, in creating an intriguing crime scenario and also an engaging group of characters, all damaged in their own different ways, who pursue their destinies in a city that is both darkly dangerous and resilient to disaster. After bringing in a unanimous and very dubious acquittal in a murder case, only three of the original jurors remain alive. And someone, known only as the 'Reaper' because of the signature of a bloody scythe left at the crime scenes, is clearly determined to make a clean sweep of the terrified survivors. Detective Sgt. Riker, although on paid sick leave after a teenage psychopath pumped four bullets into his chest, has a keen but unofficial interest in the case. And his NYPD Special Crimes partner, Kathy Mallory, orphan, sociopath and computer genius, is resolute that there will be no more personal defections in her life, and determined to discover the identity of the killer before he, or she makes a complete mockery of justice.

‘Mallory’s progress is enthralling…beautifully observed in fine, controlled prose’ – MAIL ON SUNDAY

Fifteen years after Inspector Louis Markowitz adopted the wild child, no one in New York’s Special Crimes section knew much about Kathy Mallory’s origins. They only knew that the young cop with the soul of a thief could bewitch the most complex computer systems, could slip into the minds of killers with disturbing ease.

In Central Park, a woman dies, while a witness watches, believing the brutal murder to be a prelude to a kiss. Mallory goes hunting the killer, armed with under-the-skin knowledge of the man’s mind and the bare clue of a lie.

Mallory holds on to one truth: everybody lies, and some lies can get you killed. And she knows that, to trap the killer, she must put her own life at risk, for this killer has taken a personal interest in her…

‘Carol O’Connell is a gifted writer with a style as quick and arresting as Kathy Mallory herself’ – RICHARD NORTH PATTERSON

A stunning stand-alone novel from the national-bestselling author who 'has raised the standard for psychological thrillers' (Chicago Tribune).

Carol O'Connell's most recent Mallory novel, Find Me, was one of the most highly praised suspense novels of the year. 'A terrific find: a tightly wrapped, expert combination of suspense, mystery and show-stopping character' (Janet Maslin of The New York Times); 'yet another example of the spot-on talents of one of America 's finest writers of mysteries' (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). In Bone by Bone, however, she may have written her most unforgettable novel yet.

In the northern California town of Coventry, two teenage brothers go into the woods one day, but only one comes back. No one knows what happened to the younger brother, Josh, until twenty years later, when the older brother, Oren, now an ex-investigator for the Army CID, returns to Coventry for the first time in many years. His first morning back, he hears a thump on the front porch. Lying in front of the door is a human jawbone, the teeth still intact. And it is not the first such object, his father tells him. Other remains have been left there as well. Josh is coming home… bone by bone.

Using all his investigative skills, Oren sets out to solve the mystery of his brother's murder, but Coventry is a town full of secrets and secret-keepers: the housekeeper with the fugitive past, the deputy with the old grudge, the reclusive ex-cop from L.A., the woman with the title of town monster, and, not least of all, Oren himself. But the greatest secret of all belonged to his brother, and it is only by unraveling it that Oren can begin to discover the truth that has haunted them all for twenty years.

Written with the rich prose, resonant characters, and knife-edge suspense that have won the author so many fans, Bone by Bone is further proof that 'O'Connell is one of the most poetic yet tough-minded writers of the genre' (San Francisco Chronicle).

The past comes back to haunt, in the new novel featuring Kathleen Mallory – “the strongest new detective of the decade” (Kirkus Reviews).

Carol O’Connell’s novels continue to draw extraordinary praise for her “unforgettable protagonist” (The Miami Herald), “thoroughly original characters” (People), “gifted storytelling” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel), and “prose so stunning it takes your breath away” (Mostly Murder), all combining to produce some of the “most stylishly innovative and witty mysteries in years” (San Francisco Chronicle).

At their heart is NYPD sergeant Kathleen Mallory, a wild child turned policewoman possessed of a ferocious intelligence and a unique inner compass of right and wrong – which has drawn her now to a place far from home.

In a small town in Louisiana, Mallory steps off a train. Within an hour, one man has been assaulted, another has had a heart attack, a third has been murdered, and Mallory is in jail, although she has had nothing to do with any of these events. She is there for an entirely different purpose.

Seventeen years ago, Mallory’s mother died in this town, stoned to death by a mob, and the six-year-old Mallory vanished, to reappear later on the streets of New York. Now she has returned to find out who killed her mother, and what happened to the body, vanished as well, its only trace a winged angel in the local cemetery. Her search will take her through a dark and murky past, and into the company of people who have much to warn her about and even more to hide, but for Mallory there is no stopping – even if what she discovers is something better left buried in the grave.

Filled with the rich prose, resonant characters, and knife-edge suspense that have won her so many admirers, Stone Angel is Carol O’Connell’s most remarkable novel yet.

Carol O’Connell is also the author of Mallory’s Oracle, The Man Who Cast Two Shadows, and Killing Critics. She lives in New York City.

On a hot August afternoon, in an East Side apartment, a woman is found hanged. Carefully placed red candles and an enormous quantity of dead flies suggest some kind of bizarre ritual.

By some cruel miracle, the victim lives, but remains in a coma…

Mallory does not recognise her immediately. The blue eyes are undisguised by mascara and purple shadow. The former bleached straw hair has turned a more natural shade of blond. Even the nose is different. And there are no track marks on her arms.

Fifteen years have passed since Kathy Mallory lived on the streets of New York, succoured by hookers and thieving to survive. Now she has traded in her plastic pellet gun for a.357 revolver and a police badge. No one is allowed to call her Kathy anymore. Just Mallory.

Once upon a time, a junkie whore and police informer, known simply as Sparrow, had cared for a young street urchin when she was lost and alone. Now Mallory finds that she is staring her bitter past in the face, as she pursues a case which also has its origin in an unsolved murder committed years ago…

‘Mallory is one of the most original and intriguing detectives you’ll ever meet’ – Carl Hiaasen

When Kathleen Mallory was ten she was a street kid and a thief. Then a cop called Markowitz took her home to his wife to civilize her…

Now Mallory is in charge of a complex database and a police officer herself, and someone has just murdered the man she considers her father – the only man she has ever loved.

More used to the company of computers than people, Mallory descends into the urban nightmare of New York, to hunt down a cold-blooded killer.

Mallory's Oracle is a dangerous chase through the city's underworld, down the fibre-optic cables of hi-tech computer networks and behind the blinds of genteel Gramercy Park – and an investigation into the chilly heart of its damaged and elusive heroine.

"Something close to a masterwork" – THE TIMES

"Sgt Kathleen Mallory is one of the most original and intriguing detectives you'll ever meet" – CARL HIASSEN

"A stunning debut" – DAILY MIRROR

"A deeply satisfying read" – TIME OUT