On the Radar — With new books from Karen Rose, MC Beaton, Lisa Gardner, Tammi Hoag, Sara Paretsky, Frances Brody and Casey Kelleher it’s a good week for female crime authors, but a man like Linwood Barclay will not go out with a whimper. Plenty for your TBR list this week, so read on…
Daphne Montgomery is an Assistant DA, and her private life is a bit of a train crash. She is on enforced personal leave. A six-year-old girl nicknamed Angel is discovered, in shock and terrified, near a car wreck containing the adults of two adults, so Daphne has to abandon her recovery programme and try to solve the mystery surrounding Angel. This may be salvation for Angel, but damnation for Daphne. Broken Silence is out in Kindle today, 10 October.
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Canadian author Linwood Barclay returns with a new crime thriller. Cal Weaver is a small town private investigator, mourning the tragic recent death of his son. In the two months since his son’s death, he has not been able to think straight and can’t do his job properly. When he makes the error of picking up a teenage girl out hitch-hiking on a rain soaked night, and discovers that she may know something about his son’s death, he is sucked into a mystery which could threaten not just his career – but his life. Out today.
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If you like crime fiction books by Agatha Christie or Alexander McCall Smith you may well enjoy the Agatha Raisin series. Incomer Gloria French is at first welcomed in the Cotswold village of Piddlebury. She seems like a textbook do-gooder, raising funds for the church and caring for the elderly. But she has a bad habit of borrowing things and not giving them back, so when she is discovered dead, poisoned by a bottle of elderberry wine, folk in the village don’t mourn her passing too intently. Agatha Raisin is hired to track down the murderer. But the village is creepy and secretive and the residents don’t seem to want Agatha to find out who the murderer is, and Agatha’s investigations are hampered by a past romantic entanglement. The latest Agatha Raisin novel is out in Kindle now.
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When Tamara Allistair lost her family, she quickly learned that the only person she could rely on was herself. Now Tamara wants revenge against the man who wronged her. But going after a target with far-reaching connections is a dangerous gamble, and soon Tamara is the one being threatened. A man with his own share of family issues, ex-marine C.J MacNamara, knows that protecting Tamara is the right thing to do. Keeping her safe is no easy task, but getting her to trust him is an entirely different challenge. CJ puts his own life on the line to protect the woman who is more worthy of love than anyone he’s ever known. This intriguing mixture of crime and romance is out now.
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Tami Hoag is an American novelist best known for her work in the romance and thriller genres. New Year’s Day is a time for new beginnings, but Minneapolis homicide detectives Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska are focused on endings: specifically, the tragic end of an unidentified young woman discovered on the side of the freeway. Kovac and Liska are determined to do the girl the small justice of returning her body to her family as they investigate her case, but it is no simple task matching the broken corpse to any of the scores of missing persons reported, especially when no-one seems to be looking for her. Meanwhile, recent widow Jeannie Reiser is frantic when she is unable to get in touch with her daughter, Rose. Because Rose is 18 she’s legally an adult and not a missing child. Jeannie’s desperate attempts to get the police to believe her child is in trouble lead her closer and closer to an evil even Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska may be unable to stop. It’s out today for 99p.
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In this, the latest book featuring Chicago private detective VI Warshawski, we are partly taken back to the heady but dangerous Vienna of the 1930s. Kitty Saginor, the daughter of a Jewish female scientist, made it out of Austria in 1939, and settled in America. As Warshawski is drawn into an investigation involving Kitty’s past, she becomes a target for powerful contemporary figures who want those secrets to remain buried. Out 24 October.
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The fifth Kate Shackleton mystery is set in Yorkshire during the 1920s and has a cover to suit. When the India Office seek help in finding Maharajah Narayan, they call upon the expertise of amateur detective Shackleton. But soon a missing person’s case turns to murder. Shot through the heart, it’s clear to Kate that Narayan’s body has not been in the woods overnight. As Kate digs deeper, she soon discovers that revenge takes many forms, and that answering one question in this puzzling case only serves to raise another. The Kindle edition is out now.
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“I cover some pretty disturbing storylines when writing, and whilst most of my readers enjoy my books, I know that some readers will find some of the subject matter difficult to read. But the issues I cover do happen, they are out there. And with every dark, murky tale, there is always a survivor: a strong person who battles through their harsh reality somehow, and that is what I champion.” This from the author’s blog, and her new novel bears out these convictions. Sophia O’Hagan has been released after an eight year prison sentence to find her family has been torn apart. In a desperate attempt to rebuild her life, she must take chances that expose her to great risk. Heartless is out now.
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Finally, for crime fiction fans who also enjoy comics and graphic novels, there’s Retrowood from Asylum Press. Inside you’ll meet PI J Parker Wrighte who pursues the deadbeats of 1930s Hollywood. The Retrowood: Hi or Lo series sees Wrighte investigating a case for Louis Orwell, one of the most powerful men in the city. Though he dreams of a better life, at every turn in this case he’s haunted by his past, growing up in the Dust Bowl. His best friend’s murder, drunken priests, sadistic nuns, gambling and more… Retrowood 1 is available free, digitally here. On 22 October, the miniseries Retrowood: All Roads Lead to Rome will kick off.
