Like most people, I can’t believe another year has shot by – I spent most of it writing the new Sam Becket mystery: travelling, researching, writing, rewriting. But here we are in 2010, and CAGED will be published in the UK on April 29 (you can order now on www.severnhouse.com and on www.amazon.co.uk ) – though if you’re in the US, it won’t be published there until July 29.

If you’ve been waiting for the trade paperback edition of SHIMMER, that will go on sale in the UK on March 30, and in the US, on June 30.

As always, I hope you find the new books and have a good time with Sam and Grace and their horribly beleaguered family and friends. Please do go on letting me know what you think of new and old titles – and I thank all those of you who’ve already taken the time and trouble to send me emails and letters. I’ve said it before, but it’s no less true – it’s a great way to feel connected to readers.

(And if, by chance, you like audio books, I’ve recently discovered that you can find some of my titles at brilliant prices on iTunes…)

CAGED

The keeper’s rats are kept in a comfortable cage until they’ve served their purpose. The keeper feels they’re as individual as humans; they like to eat, play, fight and procreate. And some like to kill…

Life is good in the Becket household. Sam’s planning a birthday surprise for Grace, Cathy’s back from California and Grace is seeing patients again. Even Sam’s partner, Martinez, is in love.

And then the killings begin. A newly-wed couple are found horribly slain in Miami Beach, their nude bodies bizarrely displayed.

As Detective Sam Becket’s investigation gets into stride, a second couple are abducted. Soon, couples all over Miami-Dade are fearing for their lives, and Sam and the squad are battling an unseen enemy, against whom no one is safe.

No one.

To be published in hardback on April 29 2010 by Severn House Publishers.