Bourbon Street Books, a New Mystery Imprint from HarperCollins

We're slightly embarassed to admit we missed this news from last month: HarperCollins created a FaceBook page on August 2nd announcing a new mystery imprint, Bourbon Street Books, featuring "a new line of paperback mystery, crime, and thriller books".

Bourbon Street Books will publish two paperback originals on October 23rd: The Hollow Man by Oliver Harris; and the seventh book in the "Anna Travis" series by Lynda La Plante, Blood Line.

In addition to new titles, the imprint will publish a variety of backlist mysteries, reprints and reissued classics. This latter category features a number of Dorothy L. Sayers books, including the "Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane" mysteries — Strong Poison, Have His Carcase, Gaudy Night, and Busman's Holiday — which will be published on October 16th.

— ♦ —

The Hollow Man
Oliver Harris

Waking up on Hampstead Heath not far from a crashed squad car, Detective Nick Belsey wants out — out of London and out of the endless complications of his life. When Alexei Devereux, a wealthy hermit, vanishes, leaving behind a suicide note and his Porsche, Belsey discovers an opportunity — a new identity and a fortune — waiting for the taking.

Unfortunately, there are others who share the detective's interest in Devereux, including Scotland Yard. A dead rich man with suspicious financial holdings is bound to have some dangerous ties and a few ruthless enemies. Now, Belsey and his clever plan are about to be overshadowed by far more ambitious players with their own brilliant — and deadly — scheme.

    

— ♦ —

Blood Line
Lynda La Plante
An Anna Travis Mystery (7th in series)

Still reeling from the death of her fiancé, Detective Anna Travis has thrown herself into her new role as the chief inspector for London's murder squad. When Scotland Yard's missing persons bureau is unable to locate the son of a court employee, the superintendent—James Langton, Anna's former lover turned sometimes friend — urges her to take on the suspicious assignment.

But is this new investigation purely a missing persons case — or a full-blown murder inquiry? An ominous pool of blood with no locatable victim leads Anna on a desperate hunt for a man who has disappeared without a trace. With no body, and increasing pressure to make an arrest, Anna becomes obsessed with the smallest details of the case. Now, one man has vanished, a killer may be loose on the streets, and, as Langton looks on, Anna Travis may be losing control of the investigation — and of herself.