On the radar – This week’s book report brings you the usual mixed bag of contenders for your TBR pile, and highlights include the return of Scandinavian crime fiction star Henning Mankell, as well as a creepy new serial killer release from SJ Bolton. Or, maybe medieval Ireland takes your fancy as vengeance is in the mist with Peter Tremayne’s latest…

Like This, For Ever by SJ Bolton
A serial killer is on the loose and his targets are young boys, but he doesn’t realise that he’s being watched. Barney has seen everything and knows that when the killer strikes his victim will be just like him. The unfortunate person will be drained of all his blood, and his body dumped on a Thames beach. However, for detectives Dana Tulloch and Mark Joesbury there are no clues to help them and nothing to suggest who the next victim might be. Like This, For Ever is out on 11 April.
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Blind Justice by Anne Perry
The first of our books by crime writer, Anne Perry, is the 19th outing for her Victorian detective Inspector William Monk. Trial judge, Oliver Rathbone is a close friend of Monk’s with a reputation for being one of the best at the bench, but his latest hearing presents him with something of a dilemma. Charismatic preacher Abel Taft is loved by his congregation but stands before Rathbone charged with corruption and fraud, which has ruined those he has betrayed. With each witnesses testimony, his guilt seems certain, until the defence present their star witness and suddenly the prosecution looks to be all but lost. Rathbone realises he may hold a piece of evidence that could affect the case’s final outcome but can he, as the judge, become so directly involved? His decision will draw Monk into a case that involves great danger and will have lasting effects on both men’s lives. Blind Justice is out on 11 April.
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A Treacherous Paradise by Henning Mankell
Mark 6 June in your diary if you’re a Henning Mankell fan. That’s when his new book comes out and it’s great news for fans of the author. Be warned, however, if you loved his Wallander series, because his next release isn’t so categorically crime fiction. A Treacherous Paradise has been described as a ‘sweeping historical novel’ as it tells the story of Hanna Lundmark who, fleeing poverty in Sweden for Australia, ends up in a Mozambique trading port where she inherits the local brothel. She befriends the prostitutes, treads a path in an atmosphere of racial distrust, and becomes embroiled in a story that leads to murder. The author works in Africa with AIDS charities, and the book is partly based on a true story.
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The Seventh Trumpet by Peter Tremayne
From colonial Africa, we go even further back – to Ireland in 670 AD. When the body of a young nobleman is discovered not far from Cashel, Sister Fidelma and her companion, Eadulf, are called upon to investigate, but there is only one clue to the victim’s identity to go on – an emblem originating from the nearby kingdom of Laign. These are dangerous times, with war likely on the western fringes of the kingdom and a fanatical figure who claims to have been summoned by the ‘seventh angel’ and charged with ridding the country of the ‘impure of faith’. Is there a link between the deaths of the nobleman and an alcoholic priest? When Fidelma is abducted, it’s up to Eadulf to solve the case and rescue Fidelma before she becomes the killer’s next victim. The Seventh Trumpet is out now.
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Powder Burn by Mark Chisnell
You may have come across Mark Chisnell’s pre-WWII crime thriller The Fulcrum Files, or his nautical one, Wrecking Crew. He’s back with a new mandate – this time his main character Sam Blackett blends the qualities of Mikael Blomkvist of Dragon Tattoo fame, with those Katniss Evendeen of The Hunger Games. Powder Burn sees this investigative journalist head off to discover a mythical kingdom in the Himalayas for National Geographic, where she becomes embroiled in a bloody revolution. It will take all her fighting spirit, and a bit of good decision-making too, to extract herself from the situation alive. The first in a new series, it will be followed in 2014 by Chinese Burn. Powder Burn is out now.
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