THE DIAMOND FRONTIER by John Wilcox (Headline £19.99): RELUCTANT Victorian superhero Simon Fonthill is back in the thick of the action again on the highly dangerous frontier of the Transvaal.

Diamond fever has gripped the province, the Boers are ripe for revolt and the notorious BePedi tribe are still on the rampage after the recent defeat of their Zulu allies. Enter Fonthill, blackmailed into scouting for the British expedition to subdue the BePedi but cunning enough to use the mission for an honourable purpose. It's high adventure all the way with Fonthill and his Welsh servant '352' Evans risking life and limb at the hands of warriors thirsting to wet their spears in white man's blood. Fonthill may not be desperate to be 'up and at 'em' but when he is, you'd better watch out.

DANCE WITH DEATH by Barbara Nadel (Headline £19.99)

THE big city of Istanbul is the normal stamping ground of Inspector Cetin Ikman, a place where he can exercise his talents for deciphering the devious, duping the deadly and annoying his superior. An investigation ensues in a remote rural region of Cappadocia after the discovery of a woman's body. Not only is mystery piled upon mystery, but Nadel introduces the reader to a Turkey in which past and present intermingle seamlessly and the mystic is more powerful than the material.

THE JOHNSON COUNTY SHOOTING by Elliot Conway (Hale £10.99)

DARLINGTON'S Elliot Conway comes out with his six guns blazing in this fast and furious tale of a range war that puts the 'wild' into West. Hard-bitten regulators Murdoch and Skeeter don't rate hunting down cattle lifters as a tough nut to crack, but rapidly change their minds when rascally Circle T boss Calvin Kingsley and his vicious crew emerge as number one suspects. Already feuding with two other ranchers, Kingsley is ready to gun down anybody who gets in his way. Who said Westerns were dead?

CONSTABLE IN THE COUNTRY by Nicholas Rhea (Hale £17.99)

ANOTHER slice of 1960s constabulary Yorkshire life from Glaisdale-born Rhea to give your heart a warm glow on the darkest of nights. Where else but Aidensfield would you find such an appealing cast of characters, such a collection of bizarre incidents and such a welcome feeling. Step out with Constable Nick and you're in for a variety of delights, from tracking the elusive and fearsome Beast of Aidensfield to encounters with psychic cows, ghostly racehorses and clever sheep - not to mention the incorrigible Greengrass.

Published: 17/01/2006