MacBride piles it on with gusto. Every victim is left worse than the last one.

Bareback By Kit Whitfield Vintage A�7.00 548pps SET in London, not a London I know, nor want to, Whitfield's yarn is more horror than thriller.

Londoners are up to their necks in werewolves. People who don't wear scarves reveal scarred necks. A new word to me, lycanthropy - the transformation of humans into wolves - launches DORLA, or the Department for the Ongoing Regulation of Lycanthropic Activity.

These are the Barebacks who patrol the city's streets in search of those "citizens" breaking the curfew. The book's lead character, Lola Galley, heads up one of the DORLA squads. A friend of hers has had his throat ripped out.

Normally she would not take a case where she would be personally involved. But what she wants, and what she has to do, are never the same. Didn't do a thing for me.

Bad Blood By Linda Fairstein Little Brown A�12.00 400pps BIG money and marriage-breakups between celebs that lead to murder bring out the curious side of the public. Fairstein's thriller opens in a packed New York courtroom. No research needed. Fairstein was once Manhattan's best-known prosecutor of sex crimes, so she knows whereof she speaks. Celeb murders also bring out the worst in the tabloids. Screaming 72-point headlines: "Dial M for Mogul" and "Hubby Hires Hitman". And the trial hasn't even begun. Amanda Quillan, wife of business mogul Brendan, has been strangled. Assistant DA Alexander Cooper is assigned to the case. As the trial opens, it becomes clear that Mogul has hired the sharpest defence team possible. So Cooper has to be even sharper just to keep up with them. Meanwhile, the tabloids have discovered the fact US medicare are doling out viagra to convicted rapists. What will the tabloids say? Medicare Cocks Up?

Where The Truth Lies By Rosemary Ingham Macmillan A�10.00 266pps ONE YEAR divorced, Isabel Lincoln's internal dialogue is all negative. And when we leave her, at close of play, it is still negative.

Though for no obvious reason;

the tragic denouement had nothing to do with her. Or had it? Isabel runs a comprehensive in north London. One of the teachers seems to have the school's interests at heart. Turns out he has more interest in the students, a 15-year-old girl in particular. Nasty or unfairly accused? People take sides.

Lots of sexual politics. The mostly male school board may not want to sack the teacher, but that might mean expelling an innocent 15-year-old. Thoughtful and convincingly argued.