I've added details on Kathryn Fox's third novel, Skin and Bone, which has just been published. This book is not part of the Anya Chrichton series, but features Kate Farrer, the detective from Malicious Intent.
Fox, on her website has said that Anya will be back in the next book, but that she also has lots of plot ideas for other lead characters, some of whom appeared in Malicious Intent.
Is it just me, or is it becoming a trend to have this looser kind of 'series'? By that I mean, one where instead of the books always being centred around one or two main protagonists, the books in the 'series' feature different lead characters. The characters have some kind of connection with each other, although sometimes it's only a very loose one. Michael Robotham has done this very successfully, and I'm sure there are others.
Actually, now I've started thinking about it, it's not a particularly new phenomenon. American writer SJ Rozan has done it with her Lydia Chen / Bill Smith series where the characters feature in alternate books. And, though my memory's a bit hazy, I think McBain's 87th Precinct series may have concentrated on different lead characters in some of the books.
New trend or not, I like the concept. It has the familiarity of a series, but keeps it fresh.