On the Radar — In our new books report this week we’ll be unveiling two releases from the author of the Murdoch Mysteries, Maureen Jennings. She’s created a new character called DI Tom Tyler. They’re worth looking out for. But we kick off with some Argentine crime fiction before moving Stateside where we’re hunting a psychopathic killer. Oh, and author Seth Patrick has come up with a new detection technique: forensic revival. Intrigued? Read on…
A Crack in the Wall by Claudia Piñeiro
In her native Argentina, this author is a well-known journalist, author and screenwriter. Back in 2009, she signed with London-based independent publisher Bitter Lemon Press and made her UK debut with Thursday Night Widows (Premio Clarín). That book sold more than 200,000 copies worldwide, and was turned into a film by Marcelo Piñeyro. Her second release was All Yours (Tuya) in 2011 and now she’s back with a book that was originally titled Las grietas de Jara in her homeland. In this one, Pablo Borla’s life is falling apart. His marriage is nothing more than a series of rows about his daughter’s rebellious behaviour. His career as an architect isn’t faring much better. He works for a firm designing soulless office buildings that are desecrating the fabric of Buenos Aires. He also suspects that his secretary Marta is having an affair with his boss. When a young woman called Leonor unexpectedly arrives with the story of a murder that happened years earlier, everything changes. This is a crime that his colleagues are keen to keep hidden, whatever the cost. A Crack in the Wall is out now as a paperback, and on 19 July for Kindle.
Buy now on Amazon
The Gift of Darkness by Valentina Giambanco
Three boys were kidnapped in the woods near the Hoh River in Seattle 25 years ago. One of them never returned. Move forward to the present day, and a family of four has been found brutally murdered. The word ‘thirteen’ has been scratched close to their bodies. Homicide detective Alice Madison has a troubled past, but now she faces her biggest challenge – finding a killer in just 13 days. Madison believes both cases are linked and travels to the woods to confront a mystery that was never solved. Can she stop a psychopath? Alice must follow her instincts rather than her training if she is to stop another murder being committed. The Gift of Darkness is out now, and Giambanco’s short story First Watch
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Reviver by Seth Patrick
Our third book has an element of the supernatural about it, which fans of the series Medium may find interesting. Revivers are able to wake the recently deceased and so they can make witness testimony in their own murders. Its been 12 years since the existence of revivers was first revealed and forensic revival is now a routine part of a police investigation. Jonah Miller is one of the best, but during his latest revival, he has a terrifying encounter with a presence which isn’t just watching. It’s waiting, and Jonah is spooked. Then Daniel Harker, the journalist who first brought revivers to public attention, is murdered and Jonah is unwillingly drawn into the investigation, working with Harker’s daughter. Hidden truths reveal a threat that could have a catastrophic effect if it isn’t stopped in time. Reviver is being released today.
Buy now on Amazon
Her Last Breath by Linda Castillo
Was the death of an Amish man and two of his three children really just an accident? It was a rainy night. A speeding car hurtled towards them out of nowhere. At first glance, it just looked like a tragic accident, but then the evidence seemed to suggest something far more sinister. Why would anyone want to kill this family. Kate Burkholder returns for her fifth Amish-related investigation when she’s tasked with finding out who killed her best friend’s husband. It’s a journey that will take her right to the heart of the culture she herself was born into. Her Last Breath is out today.
Buy now on Amazon
The DI Tom Tyler Mysteries by Maureen Jennings
Rounding off our book report we have two books in a new series from the creator of the Murdoch Mysteries, which are currently being aired on Alibi. The author has left Victorian Canada behind and chosen England in the 1940s as her new setting. In Season of Darkness, the threat of a German invasion is a very real prospect, prompting the internment of all German nationals residing in the United Kingdom. One of these internment camps is located on DI Tyler’s patch, just outside the small town of Whitchurch in Shropshire. When a young woman is found dead in a lonely country lane, Tyler is forced to make an unlikely alliance with one of the internees, a psychiatrist who claims to be an expert in the criminal mind. Then there’s Beware This Boy. Here Tyler is called in to investigate an explosion at a munitions factory, which resulted in the death of several young women working there. At first it looks as though it was just an accident, but as Tyler begins to talk to some of the workers, it becomes evident that it was anything but. Season of Darkness and Beware the Boy are both out in August. This is a series that fans of Foyle’s War may want to watch out for.
Pre-order Season of Darkness
Pre-order Beware this Boy
