At Crime Fiction Lover, we love discovering new crime authors and New Talent November is testament to that. However word has got out that we try and do all we can for new authors, and so every week we get dozens of review requests – not just from new authors but from established big names in the genre too. It’s painful for us to overlook all the books we just can’t review or write about, but at least during New Talent November we have a chance to shine a light on recent releases self- and independently-published novels. Here we have 10 to taste – and there are some very exciting books among them…

Altering Course by George Eliseo
Set in San Francisco, Altering Course finds ex-police detective Carmine LaRosa trying to get used to civilian life. When an old friend asks him to find a businessman who went missing while on a yacht journey, he decides a little private detective work might keep him limber. But he has other, more personal reasons for taking it on. Soon, he’s also hired by a mysterious Russian lawyer to find a missing bartender in Las Vegas. Maybe the PI game isn’t as easy as it seems – there are forces out to stop him from finding anyone…
Buy now on Amazon

Her Name is Violence by Matt Madigan
Here’s a novel with an 18 warning on it, which American indie publisher Past Midnight is labeling ‘hard core noir’. Her Name is Violence involves a missing child, a snuff flick, a gang of violent criminals, and an even more violent detective called Reid Hollow. He sees himself as a lone hunter in an underworld inhabited by human scum, and bears his own mental scars. Hollow’s not just out to get justice for the murdered child, it seems like he’s out for vengeance. This book was the result of a Kickstarted campaign and is being published this month after reaching its fundraising target. Find out more here.

The Worst of Evils by Ferguson Shaw
Scottish author Ferguson Shaw dropped us a line recently to tell us about his two self-published novels set in Glasgow. The first of them is The Worst of Evils, a case for missing persons investigator Kier Harper. The missing person in question is Janet Bell, who’s gone into hiding to avoid her violent ex-boyfriend. However her father has hired Harper to find her. What he steps into is something far worse than just the case of a woman on the run. There’s a gang war going on in Glasgow, a hitman is watching Harper, and the police are out to nail him as well.
Buy now on Amazon

Night of the Furies by JM Taylor
The American indie publisher New Pulp Press already has an impressive line-up of modern pulp titles which features everything from plots to blow up the Hoover Dam to monkeys trained to bite the jugular. Night of the Living Furies comes out this month and begins in 1930s Boston. Crimelord Rico DiGiacomo is murdered by his own right hand man, but the act is overheard by his son Giorgio. The boy harbours a vengeful passion for 30 years, before setting out to take down his father’s former henchman. But Bricks Mancini is now a crimelord himself and sends his men to find Giorgio. Watch the New Pulp website for details – it’s out 20 November.

I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead by Ed Aymar
Black Opal Books in the northwest United States has set out to support new authors, and one of them is Ed Aymar. I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead is the author’s debut and it tells the story of Tom Starks who, three years after his wife’s murder, is struggling to raise their daughter single-handed. When the man who killed his wife is released from prison, Starks hires two hitmen to kill. However, in true noir fashion, it’s a move that rather than solving a problem creates many more as Starks is drawn into their dark world. The tables are turned, and he and his daughter become their targets.
Buy now on Amazon

Empty Places by Martin Roy Hill
Formerly a journalist and a military analyist, self-published author Martin Roy Hill seems to enjoy writing about the recent past. Empty Places is set in the late 1980s and finds war correspondent Peter Brandt arriving home to America to find his ex-wife has been brutally murdered. The local police aren’t investigating it so he teams up with former cop Matt Banyon to find the killer. While Brandt nurses the guilt of his failed marriage, he wades into a plot involving corrupt politicians, anti-communists and drug smugglers.
Buy now on Amazon

Backwash by Bill Rogers
Bill Rogers used to inspect the schools in Manchester. Today, he’s showing self-published authors how it’s done, having written eight crime novels set in Manchester, many of which have hit respectable positions in the paid-for Kindle crime charts. The latest is Backwash, from the DCI Tom Caton series. This time Caton is just about to marry the criminal profiler Kate Webb, but a murderer in Manchester has other plans and the detective gets drawn into the case of a man found dead in a terraced house. There are links to illegal internet activity. On top of writing, the author also runs murder mystery evenings.
Buy now on Amazon

The Needle House by Rob Roughley
Just down the motorway in Wigan, we find self-published author Rob Roughley’s detective DS Lasser at work. In The Needle House he’s investigating the death of a young man called Billy Jones. There seems to be a connection to the Radfield family, who have long been the landlords and squires of the community. Perhaps some research into the family’s history that’s being carried out by a 17-year-old alongside a prominent author will shed light on the case. Maybe the last of the Radfield line, holed up in the old manor house, was responsible for the death, or maybe the mystery runs even deeper.
Buy now on Amazon

For the Price of a Hat by Geoff Newman
Jack McGraw has given up a promising career in the police to become a paramedic. As such, he’s often first on the scene when a crime has been committed and sees everything before the uniforms, the detectives, and the forensics folks. For the Price of a Hat takes place in Cornwall, where a Scottish businessman has been killed in his home. Could he have been killed by an aristocratic crook and his minions? Whatever the case, McGraw is in peril and his family is under threat too. Fin
Order now from Lulu

Watchers by Brid Wade
When a woman’s body is discovered in Drohola Woods in Ireland, we meet ex-Garda detective Matt Costello. He’s been called in by the estate’s owner to assist with the investigation. What he discovers is that she’s just one of 10 women who disappeared a decade ago. Even more worrying is the fact that fresh bodies are starting to turn up. Published by Tirgearr in the heart of Dublin, according to the author the book is a reaction to the sweary, sex-filled, high-on-drugs portrayal of Ireland seen in recent crime novels from the country. Currently, you can get an autographed copy of Watchers on Amazon.
Buy now on Amazon

Have you read any of these novels? Or have you discovered a self-published author you think is great. Please do let us know your thoughts in the comments below.