On the Radar — This week’s radar has picked on a selection of tales filled with hidden secrets and lies. Lives are changed and danger isn’t far behind. Only one thing is certain, these crime fiction writing femmes fatales will have you on the edge of your seat from the first page to the last. Read on for this week’s crime fiction books news…
Never Tell by Alafair Burke
When Julia Whitmire is found dead in the bath, it looks like a clear cut case of suicide to investigating detectives, Ellie Hatcher and JJ Rogan. Her left wrist has been slashed and there’s even a note on the dressing table. How could it be anything but self-inflicted? Julia’s parents are less inclined to agree with this conclusion. Why would a teenage girl with so much to live for want to end her own life? Her mother appeals to Ellie to investigate her daughter’s death, believing the note found would never have been written by Julia. Ellie is forced to consider an alternative hypothesis which she doesn’t find convincing. Could the girl possibly have been murdered?
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The Rose Petal Beach by Dorothy Koomson
Tamia Brennett’s husband Scott has been accused of something terrible. What it is, we don’t know, and he claims he’s completely innocent. When the police arrive with an arrest warrant, Tamia’s life goes into freefall, but the accusation is just the tip of the iceberg. Especially when she finds out who’s been making the accusations. Tamia must trust her instincts but her actions have dire consequences which ultimately result in tragedy. The arrival of a stranger in town brings shocking truths, changed lives, and some devastating choices. What could possibly have triggered this chain of events?
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Playing Dead by Julia Heaberlin
A few weeks after her father’s death, Tommie McCloud receives a letter from Rosalina Marchetti that will turn her world upside down. Rosalina claims she’s Tommie’s real mother, that she had been kidnapped 30 years earlier. Why is she making these claims and if they’re true, why was Tommie taken all those years ago?
Violent mobster, Anthony Marchetti is up for parole. Years earlier he was imprisoned for the murder of an FBI agent and his family. Could this man be Tommie’s real father?
When journalist, Jack Smith turns up claiming to know about her past, Tommie doesn’t know who she can trust. Can she even believe that Jack is who he says he is? Tommie must discover the truth for herself, but delving into the past isn’t just dangerous, it could prove fatal.
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The Cutting Room by Jilliane Hoffman
The victim, a student who went missing from a Florida nightclub, was drugged and tortured before her body was left in a dumpster. To make matters worse, her murder was broadcast live in a snuff club. The accused is a privileged playboy who was seen leaving the club with her. For Detective Manny Alvarez and Assistant State Attorney Daria De Bianchi, the main problem is the lack of cast-iron evidence. To get to the truth they must dig deep, but in doing so, they open a can of worms by exposing unsolved murders and abductions countrywide. Their only lead is a serial killer who will only help them in exchange for getting him off Death Row.
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