Booked for Murder — Val McDermid

The fifth and sixth novels starring the self-proclaimed “cynical socialist lesbian feminist journalist” from the internationally bestselling crime writer.
 
“The macho world of the whodunit has never seen a sleuth like Lindsay Gordon” and now she must investigate the murder of a bestselling author and a kidnapping with international implications (Manchester Evening News).
 
Booked for Murder: Why would anyone want to kill Penny Varnavides, bestselling author of the Darkliners series? Her demise can't be the freak accident it first appeared; it's an exact replica of the murder method in her forthcoming book. Only three people knew the plot of Penny's unpublished novel: her literary agent, her editor, and her ex-girlfriend Meredith.
 
In an effort to clear Meredith's name, Lindsay Gordon delves beneath the glittering facade of the seemingly glamorous world of London publishing in search of a murderer. While hobnobbing with industry notables, Lindsay encounters an unsavory mix of soured relationships, desperate power plays, underhanded fraud, and seething rivalries.
 
Hostage to Murder: Spraining an ankle is rarely a stroke of luck, but for Lindsay Gordon, jobless in Glasgow, the injury is her introduction to young freelance journalist Rory McLaren. And when a local car dealer's stepson is kidnapped, Lindsay and Rory trade journalism for detection. The trail leads them to St. Petersburg and a dangerous snatch-back operation. It's a journey that brings a whole new dimension of risk into Lindsay's life. Back in Glasgow, it becomes clear that Lindsay and Rory have stumbled into a bigger, more violent piece of business than either of them could have guessed -- one which will test Lindsay to her absolute limits.