Neil Broadfoot (Constable, £8.99) Punctuated by grisly murders and unpredictable twists, Neil Broadfoot’s Stirling-based Connor Fraser books are swiftly elevating him to the top rank of Scottish crime fiction. This third instalment has Fraser, a former police officer now working in security and protection, entangled with Colin Sanderson, imprisoned for murdering two students but now released after his conviction is deemed unsafe. A PR firm wants Sanderson to write his autobiography, offering ambitious Sky reporter Donna Blake, familiar from the previous books, the opportunity to ghost-write it. Having refused a police guard, Sanderson accepts protection from Fraser, though there are reservations on both sides. But then a dead body is found, bearing the hallmarks of Sanderson’s previous kills. While he doesn’t skimp on the action in this lean and compelling thriller, Broadfoot finds time to develop his supporting characters and, as some of O’Connor’s family secrets