On the Radar — Some have suggested that the numerically titled Stephanie Plum series has grown a little predictable, however author Janet Evanovich has branched out and begun co-authoring punchy new crime novels with like-minded writers. Curious Minds leads off our On the Radar column this week, written alongside screenwriter Phoef Sutton. We’ve also got new French crime fiction from the pen of Pascal Garnier, some Southern gothic, a 1940s reprint and even a victim who is literally off his face! Which new books will you be picking up next?
Curious Minds by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton
Janet Evanovich is the queen of kick ass crime according to the jacket blurb, and here she’s teamed up with Emmy Award winning producer and scriptwriter Phoef Sutton to kick off a new series. Curious Minds introduces the wealthy introvert Emerson Knight, who teams up with his erstwhile babysitter, the Harvard grad Riley Moon. Some of Knight’s money has gone missing, that leads to a missing man and in turn to some missing gold. Looks like there’s a conspiracy from Manhattan all the way to Washington. Curious Minds continue’s the Evanovich brand extension – she’s just published The Pursuit and The Scam, co-written with Lee Goldberg. It’s out 16 August.
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The Eskimo Solution by Pascal Garnier
Black humour with Hitchcockian suspense is promised in Pascal Garnier’s latest, translated from the French. A children’s writer rents a Normandy cottage and dreams up a plot in which a 40-something debtor called Louis plots to kill his mother for the inheritance. Not only is the writer struggling to get some piece and quiet because people keep dropping by, but somehow aspects of the story he’s working on begin to reappear in real life. We’ve previously reviewed The Front Seat Passenger, and this new novel is out 12 September.
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Arrowood by Laura McHugh
Ah, yes, that recurring theme of twins returns to our On the Radar page as two little girls are abducted from Arrowood – an ornate and historical house in Iowa, right on the banks of the Mississippi, in this Southern gothic mystery. When Arden Arrowood returns to her childhood home a decade later, she sets about solving the mystery of the twins and naturally finds that old Mississippi mud conceals family secrets, lies and heartrending terror too. This is Laura McHugh’s second novel, following Weight of Blood. It’s out on 11 August.
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There’s a Reason for Everything by ER Punshon
A dollop of authentic 1940s crime fiction is being re-published for Kindle on 1 August by Dean Street Press, including There’s a Reason For Everything. The new covers have been designed sympathetic to the book’s era, and half of the titles – which also include The Dark Garden, Diabolic Candelabra and The Conqueror Inn – have never been published in the US. In There’s a Reason for Everything, Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Owen of the Wychshire Constabulary is sent to investigate a haunted house but instead of ghosts finds the very real corpse of a paranormal investigator.
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El Guero by Tim Harron
Billed as a philosophical coming-of-age crime novel, El Guero is Tim Harron’s debut. It’s the story of T-, a young Irish Catholic growing up in New York who believes he has three options in life. He can become a cop, join the clergy, or become a criminal, a theme reflected in the book’s cover. He’s called el guero – the whitey – by the local hispanics and as you can guess he faces an inner conflict as the Mexican underworld beckons. It’s out now.
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Victim Without a Face by Stefan Ahnhem
This is not the sequel to Maybe I Should Just Shoot You in the Face, but it’s title certainly has all the impact of face removal. As in many contemporary crime novels – Nordic noir and otherwise – Stefan Ahnhem’s first English translation features new crimes inspired by old trespasses. Two men are dead, and they were both bullies when they were at school back in the 1980s. Fabian Risk is the lead detective on the case and… guess what… he was in their class! ‘Who else will pay for their childhood sins?’ he wonders. The author was a screenwriter on the Swedish film Wallander – Innan Frosten, and is based in Stockholm. Already available for Kindle and as hardback, the paperback is out on 11 August.
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The Penny Heart by Martine Bailey
Historical suspense is what’ll grab you in Martine Bailey’s latest which has just arrived as a paperback. Punishments were harsh a couple of centuries ago, and a con trick has earned Mary Jebb transportation to Botany Bay. Mary sends two engraved pennies to the men who sealed her fate. On the other side of the world, Grace Moore marries the gentleman Michael Croxton. Escaping her drunken father, finds she’s in a world of deceit, double-crossing, revenge and murder. And it’s all set off by the two penny love tokens sent by Mary Jebb. There is an epicurean side to this novel as well, with the author weaving in old recipes – one of her favourite subjects.
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