On the Radar — The beginning of August was a big week for new releases, and the end of August looks like it will have a similarly bountiful range of new crime fiction offerings. So in this week’s news we’ve got some of the biggest names including both Kathy Reichs and James Patterson. But hopefully, you’ll also spot some new and interesting authors too, that you’ll want to add to your TBR list.
One quick note before we hit the virtual bookshelves – a big thank-you goes out to our contributor Spriteby who has been writing this On the Radar column for a good while but has now stepped back from the duty. She’s done fantastic work for the site, and for everyone who reads it. Right, let’s get criminal…
Brought up in the north of England, Jacqui Rose is now a self confessed ‘London addict’. This is her third book, and is the story of Laila, a smart and beautiful 16-year-old from an immigrant family. She incurs their wrath when she falls in love with an English boy. There are worse consequences ahead for Laila, however, and she finds herself in a dangerous world of violent men and cruel beliefs. Dishonour faces head on the challenging issues of inter-faith relationships and forced marriage, and promises to be a pacy and gripping thriller. It is out on 29 August.
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Lovers of forensic mysteries look out – Temperance Brennan is back in the latest Bones novel from Kathy Reichs. The Canadian forensic anthropologist returns to one of her old stomping grounds – Charlotte, North Carolina. There, the murdered body of a young girl is found with the business card of a man who was killed in a fire months previously in her wallet. While working on the case she learns of a Gulf War veteran accused of smuggling artefacts into the United States. Are the cases connected? They might be, and soon Tempe is burrowing into a conspiracy that stretches from South America to Afghanistan. Bones of the Lost is out today.
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This is the latest outing for Carter’s LAPD Detective Robert Hunter. Following earlier appearances in The Crucifix Killer and the Night Stalker, Hunter is used to facing down the worst excesses of the criminal mind, but in this latest case he encounters his greatest challenge yet. He is forced to participate in a sickening on-line game show where an unknown prisoner is tortured and killed. Hunter and his partner Garcia try their best to track down the perpetrator, but he is cyber-smart, and remains resolutely one step ahead. Readers of Carter’s previous books will know that they are not in for a cosy fireside tale. This is gripping and sometimes shocking stuff which is not for the fainthearted. It’s available today.
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This is another thriller from the seemingly inexhaustible pen of James Patterson and his co-writers. When an ex-CIA agent apparently commits suicide from a sixth floor balcony, the case is wrapped up by the authorities with suspicious speed. Ben Casper is an investigative political journalist and the dead woman was his best friend. When he begins to unravel the conspiracy surrounding Diane’s death, not only does he discover that she had a secret life, but his probing seems to trigger further deaths. Does he press on with his hunt for the truth and put his own life at risk, or does he take the easy way out? Mistress will be released on 20 August.
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Having worked as a co-writer with James Patterson, in 2011 Peter De Jonge struck out on his own with Shadows Still Remain. There he established the character Darlene O’Hara. Now the NYPD detective returns to face an unusual case. Ex-junkie Gus Henderson has turned up claiming to have murdered his lowlife buddy 10 years ago, in a park on Avenue B. The police excavate the site but instead of the corpse of a petty criminal, they find that of a young boy who has been interred with a comic book, a CD, drugs and alcohol. Is a ritualistic gang dragging New York children into the darkness and killing them? O’Hara has to prove herself by solving the case. The book’s out now.
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You won’t find everything on Amazon! Crime author Ben Solomon has made his website The Hard-Boiled Detective a centre for old-school detective fiction. Head over there and you can subscribe to the series of hardboiled short stories he writes – there are 21 available, each with a different main character. The prose is tough and the stories gritty, but it’s not foul-mouthed as some contemporary attempts at hardboiled can be. Solomon is taking his own approach to self-publishing. Subscribe for $29 (currently on special at $13) and you gain access to all the stories. When a new one arrives you can log in and download it for Kindle, as an ePub or PDF. Try the free sample story here. One story is available on Amazon, and that’s number nine, Carlo Spinetti.
Karen Sandler’s first books were adult romances. She then switched to young adult science fiction, but has now turned her hand to crime fiction. Clean Burn introduces PI Janelle Watkins, an ex-cop who has been invalided out of the service. Her speciality had been child abductions and abuse, but following Nietzsche’s epigram about gazing into the abyss, she is determined never to go there again. However, when two clients beg her to find their missing children, she relents. Clean Burn will be out as a paperback on 27 August.
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Delaney introduced us to DI Sean Corrigan earlier this year in Cold Killing, and now he’s back. Corrigan has a dark and damaged past, and this gives him a unique personal insight into the twisted minds of those he is paid to hunt down. A determined killer is preying on women in their own homes, but Corrigan senses that the disappearances are a prelude to a terrible main event. The author is an ex-Met Policeman himself, so expect the procedural details to be spot on. Corrigan and his Murder Investigation Team face a battle of wits with a ruthless and calculating killer. The Keeper will be available on 29 August. Watch for our review.
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