On the Radar – In this week’s new books report, it’s a case of something old and something very new. The actor-turned-crime writer John Gordon Sinclair – he played Gregory in the film Gregory’s Girl – unveils his debut novel. In addition, we’ve got books that take you from modern day Alabama to 19th century Paris, finally ending up at an Essex manor house during World War I.
Seventy Times Seven by John Gordon Sinclair
Our journey starts in Northern Ireland with a gritty tale of murder and professional killers. Danny McGuire is a hit man bent on retribution. Eight years earlier, his brother was murdered and his latest assignment presents him with something of a predicament. He’s been contracted to kill a man known only as Thevshi – the Ghost. He’s the most elusive informant to ever penetrate the Republican movement and he claims to know who killed Danny’s brother. When Finn O’Hanlan, aka Thevshi, is attacked in a bar in Alabama, he realises he must find Danny, and quickly. Little does he realise what finding him will mean, but the pair have an added complication to deal with. Someone else is on the trail, someone with a secret who’ll go to any lengths to ensure that it stays secret.
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An Air That Kills by Andrew Taylor
It’s the 1950s and journalist Jill Francis has just moved to the small market town of Lydmouth from the bright lights of London, and Jill is embarking on her first assignment. Workmen demolishing a cottage make a gruesome discovery when they take a sledgehammer to what looks like a solid wall. When a hidden cupboard is opened up, the remains of a baby is found in a box. Everything suggests the corpse may have been there since the 19th century, but when a man is found dead new evidence prompts a rethink on the infant’s death. It’s out on Kindle 13 September.
Pre-order now on Amazon
In the Shadows of Paris by Claude Izner
Paris, the summer of 1893. Amateur detective Victor Legris promises his fiancée that he’ll quit sleuthing and stick with the day job – selling books. However he finds the temptation of his old profession a little too much. A killer is abroad, seeking vengeance over past events. However, when a bookbinder friend of Victor’s is found dead in a house fire, the bookseller feels compelled to investigate.
In the Shadows of Paris out in hardback on 4 September for the princely sum of £14.81, so if you’re new to this series, you may want to try The Predator of Batignolles, which is now available on Kindle.
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The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
With Classics in September just around the corner, our radar has picked up a re-release that’s well worth adding to any reading pile.
World War I is raging in Europe but a certain little Belgian detective is about to embark on his first case, deep in the Essex countryside. When her husband died, Emily Cavendish inherited not only his country manor house – Styles – but a vast fortune with it. She shares her home with her late husband’s two sons and several other family members. However, when she marries Alfred Inglethorpe, a much younger man, her family are greatly concerned about her new husband’s intentions. When Emily is murdered suspicion instantly falls on Alfred, but there is a house full of potential suspects. Lieutenant Arthur Hastings, who has been staying with the family on sick leave from the Western Front, decides to ask his friend Hercule Poirot to look into the matter.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles is due to be released on Kindle on 13 September.
Pre-order now on Amazon
