On the radar — We get sent information about far more books than we have the resources to review here at Crime Fiction Lover, but we still want to share them with you. So we’ve started a new regular in our news section called ‘On the radar’. Each one will round up some books new books or things we’ve come across that have interesting aspects to them. So, here’s the first edition…

Fly in the Milk
Watch out for TK O’Neill. His book Fly in the Milk starts off with an ex-boxer found dead after apparently driving off a cliff in the month of March 1978, in Minnesota. If you know Minnesota, you’ll know that March is a pretty chilly time and even chillier if you’re dead. I read a few samples on the Bluestone Press website and I had to go to the fridge and get some mayonaise, because this stuff looks hardboiled.

The Padre Predator
David Harry is back with a new book set in South Padre Island, Texas which is a lot warmer than Minnesota! It follows on from his first story Padre Puzzle, and here a Texas Ranger washes up dead on the beach and Jimmy Redstone who’s recuperating on the island is drawn into the investigation. The scale of the crime here escalates from drug cartels and murder to a major conspiracy. Harry’s books seem to get a good response from his readers.

The Dispatcher
My feet are cold so I want to stay in the relative warmth of Texas. The Dispatcher is Ryan David Jahn’s upcoming novel and this one is set in the tiny town of Bulls Mouth. Ian Hunt thinks his daughter is dead but out of the blue receives a phone call from her. He heads off to hunt down whoever’s taken her resulting in bullet riddled chase down Interstate 10. We’re sending our support out to the author and his family too, after hearing the other day that his wife has had a cancer diagnosis. Our wishes are with them.

Or the Bull Kills You
From Bulls Mouth to bullfighting – the final book on the radar today is set in Valencia, Spain. Jason Webster has created Chief Inspector Max Cámara, who hates bullfighting, but must investigate when the body of a promising young matador is found mutilated and murdered. There’s an election on, as well as the Fallas festival involving five days of celebrations and fireworks, and Cámara must negotiate the distractions and find the killer. This book was longlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger and comes out on 1 March with its new publisher Vintage.

If you pick up any of these releases, let us know what you think of them below…