On the Radar — This week we see a return to action for bestselling Ben Aaronovitch whose young adult supernatural crime has certainly found its niche, and also Roger Smith who writes an altogether darker and grittier form of ultra-violent crime fiction. There are also horns sounding on ocean liners, historical crime novels, and a standalone release from Norway’s queen of crime, Karin Fossum.
The latest case for PC Peter Grant opens with the discovery of a mutilated corpse in Crawley and the suspect is Robert Weil, an associate of the twisted magician called the Faceless Man. Is he responsible or is there a serial killer on the loose? If that wasn’t enough, Grant also has a stolen spellbook, a town planner has just gone under a tube train, and something very odd is happening on a housing estate in Elephant and Castle. Is there a connection between all of these incidents? If you like your police procedural with a hint of the supernatural, or are a fan of the Merrily Watkins series by Phil Rickman, this could be just the series for you. Broken Homes is out today.
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The author of Dust Devils and Capture is back with another crime story set in Cape Town. Described as fast-paced and Violent, it sees a rich, white family attempt to conceal a murder committed by their son. They have everything to lose, it seems, and they choose to keep their wealth and status ahead of a clear conscience. Trouble is, when you cover up one bad deed, who knows what you’ll have to cover up next. Sacrifices is available via Amazon in the United States already. It’ll drop in the UK in print and digitally later this year. US readers head here to purchase. Watch for our review soon.
It’s December AD39 and Marcus Corvinus is enjoying the Winter Festival away from Rome, in the home of his adopted daughter in the Alban Hills. However, his peace is soon ended by the death of a local politician, Quintus Caesius, whose badly beaten body is found at the rear entrance of the local brothel. Small town Bovillae, is full of secrets, gossip, rivalry and bitter feuds. To make matters worse, there’s a long list of suspects with a grudge against Caesius, but who disliked him enough to kill him, and what exactly was he doing at the brothel? Solid Citizens is out today.
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The fourth instalment in The Hangman’s Daughter series opens in 1666. The monastery at Andrechs is a centre for pilgrimage. When the hangman’s daughter Magdalena and her family arrive at the monastery, they find that the monks in this don’t just say mass and pray for people’s souls. Two of the monks have been involved in carrying out experiments using cutting-edge technology – experiments that have set the monastery on fire in the past. Now one of the brothers has disappeared and his lab has been destroyed. With foul play suspected, hangman Jakob Kuisl and his family are approached to look into the matter. The Poisoned Pilgrim is out now.
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Having used Stonehenge as his muse in The Stonehenge Legacy, Sam Christer is back with a new thriller, and this time it’s the King Arthur legend that takes centre stage. The book opens on a star filled summer night in the Welsh mountains, with an old man waking to the unfolding of an ancient prophecy. Meanwhile, Stateside, an antique dealer lies dying from a stab wound. And, in San Francisco, Special Agent Mitzi Fallon is about to start her new job – lead investigator with the FBIs Historical, Religious and Unsolved Crimes Unit. She’s on the hunt for a priceless Celtic relic stolen from the murdered antiques dealer. As the investigation progresses, Mitzi finds herself drawn into one of the most famous myths in history. The Camelot Code is out today.
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Berlin, February 1941. A murderer is on the loose and indulging in a killing spree. The Murder Squad finds itself on the biggest manhunt in the city’s history. Georg Heuser – young, idealistic, brilliant – is charged to crack the case. Move forward to July 1959 and lawyers Max Kraus and Paula Siebert are investigating a series of terrible war crimes committed near the Russian Front, an area known as Ostland. The man accused is Georg Heuser. His guilt is assured but what turned this man into the monster he became? David Thomas has extensively researched and dramatised this true story. Ostland is out now.
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Pilgrim is the codename for a man who doesn’t exist. Adopted by a wealthy family, he was the former head of a secret espionage unit, but then he disappeared into retirement and wrote a book that’s about to come back to haunt him. It’s a definitive guide to forensic criminal investigation. NYPD detective Ben Bradley is on Pilgrim’s trail and he’s using his book to track him down. Pilgrim’s investigation turns into a race against time to stop an unknown adversary who is prepared to commit mass murder in the name of his god. I am Pilgrim is out now.
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Back in the Noughties, Conrad Allen made a bit of a splash writing historical mysteries set on the great vessels that traversed the oceans a century prior – they were the 747s of their day. Duckworth has reprinted Murder on the Lusitania, Murder on the Mauretania and Murder on the Minnesota with bold new graphic covers by Matt Nieman Sims. On board each time is Allen’s detective character George Porter Dillman who solves robberies and murders, attempts to attract women, and generally has a good old romp – with a fair bit of high seas danger thrown in – on these luxury liners. All three books are re-released today.
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Riktor is a funny fish. In fact, he was called ‘The Pike’ at school on account of his underbite and his unusually pointy teeth. But there’s even more that’s not quite right about him. He works in a nursing home, telling his colleagues that he wants to provide special end-of-life care to the patients. Really, though, he craves being close to death. He likes sitting in the park by the fountain; he doesn’t like or understand other people. When he’s arrested on suspicion of murdering a patient he’s exasperated. But is Riktor as innocent as he makes out? In this standalone novel by Karin Fossum, the author really does look at crime from the criminal’s perspective. Read more about the author’s Inspector Sejer series here, and watch for our review soon. I Can See in the Dark comes out 1 August.
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