On the Radar — There are some big beasts trampling around in the crime fiction jungle this week. If we flag up the names Ellroy, Kellerman, Coben and Mosse, that should be enough to persuade most readers to raid their wallets, but we also have a crime fiction debut by the respected political commentator Andrew Marr. Read on to find out more.
Perfidia by James Ellroy
James Ellroy is one of the greatest living crime novellists and is a renowned chronicler of the darker side of The American Dream. Here he may even out-Ellroy himself and his dystopian view. It is December 1941, Roosevelt has uttered his chilling words, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” Back in LA, Japanese immigrants have to live with a new reality. Internment beckons, while the brutal murder of a Japanese family pits officer against officer within LAPD ranks. And what of Hideo Ashida, a police chemist and the only Japanese person in the department? Perfidia is out today, 11 September.
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The Golem of Hollywood by Jonathan & Jesse Kellerman
The Kellermans are certainly a formidable fiction dynasty. Father Jonathan, mother Faye, and son Jesse have all written crime books in their distinctive styles, but in this new novel father and son join forces to take on what might be a Golem – an amorphous monster from Jewish folklore, usually created from clay. It has appeared in film and literature before, usually in Eastern Europe, but this time it seems to strike in modern LA. Detective Jacob Lev has to decide if a disembodied head found in Hollywood Hills is the work of a flesh-and-blood psychopath, or the awakening of something far worse which has its origins in medieval Prague. Released 16 September.
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The Einstein Pursuit by Chris Kuzneski
Jonathon Payne and David ‘DJ’ Jones are former members of an American special forces team. They first came to our attention in the 2002 novel The Plantation. The Florida-based author admits that he wanted to kill off the partnership at the end of the first book, but relented, and now Payne and Jones embark on their eighth adventure. On the verge of achieving a medical breakthrough that could change human existence for ever, a group of scientists working in Stockholm are massacred in a terror attack. Payne and Jones are brought in by the international authorities, and they soon discover that the killings are the work of a group controlled by one man – a man who wants sole ownership of the Stockholm secret. Out now.
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Found by Harlan Coben
Here the big hitter Harlan Coben turns his attention once again to the young adult market. PI Myron Bolitar has featured in several Coben books, but after the murder of his brother, he has had the job of bringing up his nephew, Mickey. This is the third book in Mickey’s own series, and the adventurous young man has to battle with not just his teenage angst and the disappearance of a friend, but his investigations bring him uncomfortably close to the full truth about the death of his father. We reviewed the previous novel in this series Seconds Away here, and Found is out today, 11 September.
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Head of State by Andrew Marr
The Glasgow-born Marr is well known in the UK as a newspaper editor, political journalist and TV presenter. In this, his first venture into crime fiction, we are told to expect a cross between CP Snow and Tom Sharpe. The story is set in 2017, and Britain is on the verge of finally leaving the European Union. The crucial vote is only days away. The cast list is peppered with real life characters, including Hilary Clinton as the occupant of The Oval Office, ex-Chancellor Osborne retired to the Lords, and King Charles III still talking to plants and pondering the dire state of modern architecture. When the widely admired Prime Minister Bill Stephenson is found dead at his Downing Street desk, conspiracy theorists start to connect his death with that of a young investigative journalist. It’s out today.
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The Taxidermist’s Daughter by Kate Mosse
Kate Mosse is an award-winning author of literary, historical and supernatural novels. Now, she weaves these interests together and adds a dash of murder. In a rural churchyard, in Edwardian England, villagers gather to honour an ancient but macabre ritual. A bell tolls the passing minutes, but before the ceremony ends, a woman lies dead, garotted by an unseen killer. Constantia Gifford is drawn into the search for the killer but she must also look after her ailing father, who is the book’s eponymous taxidermist. The coastal Sussex village of Fishbourne has always been at the mercy of a high tide, or a storm surge, but is it now home to a killer? If you want to learn more about the author, and listen to her talk about her work, she features in October’s Cheltenham Literature Festival. Out today.
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Poisoned Ground by Barbara Nadel
Since 2012 we have been treated to the distinctly unusual partnership of Lee Arnold and Mumtaz Hakim in Barbara Nadel’s series. Arnold is a PI, and with the reliable Hakim, he works the streets of East London which are home to a large Bangladeshi community. The third Hakim and Arnold story sees a woman whose husband is incarcerated in one of London’s toughest prisons seeks their help. She claims he is not the terrorist that British officials think he is. Nadel explores the contentious and current topic of how Islamic communities, with their entrenched belief systems, cope in a modern Britain where freedom of speech and live-and-let-live are taken as given. Available now.
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