On the Radar — Our selection this week leads with a dramatic fictional account of the death of the celebrated mathematician and codebreaker Alan Turing. Elsewhere, we have books where women are both victims and perps, there are drug couriers in supercharged cars, a crack KGB man turned vagrant, and a man with a decidedly gruesome occupation.
Here we have a book by the Swedish author who was chosen to continue Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series – The Girl in the Spider’s Web comes out in August. Here he writes about the mathematician and codebreaker Alan Turing. A down-at-heel policeman, Leonard Corell, in the Cheshire town of Wilmslow has to investigate the suicide of the brilliant but tormented hero of Bletchley Park. Corell must balance his aversion to Turing’s sexuality with his desire to find out the truth about the man’s death. Available on 7 May.
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This novel was preceded by Huntress Moon and Blood Moon. A former Hollywood screenwriter, Alexandra Sokoloff says she’s had enough of women being portrayed as the helpless victims of predatory males in crime novels, so here we have a powerful woman as the killer. FBI agent Matthew Roarke is horrified when a colleague is murdered right before his eyes, but his horror turns into a steely resolve to track down a mysterious woman who seems ever-present at a string of crime scenes going back years. The eBook is available on 5 May, with print and audio versions arriving in July.
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Combining psychological thriller and police procedural elements, I Let You Go is the tale of a young woman who is implicated in the death of a young child. In an attempt to escape the trauma, she moves to a new home – an isolated cottage in rural Wales. Meanwhile, two Bristol police officers are investigating the child’s death. The two separate threads within the novel collide with dramatic consequences. Previously only available digitally, the paperback version is out on 7 May.
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Our very own contributor Keith Nixon is the creator of the ex-KGB operative Konstantin Boryakov. Having survived the unspeakable rigours of the Russian secret police, Boryakov ended up in the seaside town of Margate where he’s been living as a professional tramp. Here he drags himself out of the gutter to help investigate a serious conspiracy involving a top businessman, a former reporter, and a seemingly limitless supply of dead bodies. You can read our review of The Corpse Role here. I’m Dead Again comes out 11 May.
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South Africa gives its crime authors an ready-made backdrop of mistrust and hatred, and this book is no exception. When a respected, black female doctor is found dead, tensions rise because her relatives suspect foul play. Author Elaine Proctor is a former anti-apartheid activist and film-maker, and in this novel she taps into a rich vein of intrigue, old passions, and dark secrets, as the investigation into Ouma’s death fracture the community within the old lady’s home village. The paperback version will be available on 7 May.
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Los Angeles resident Eric Beetner has a track record of writing fast-paced crime fiction in the hardboiled, pulp style. The Rumrunners tells the story of the Stanleys, a notorious crime family who employ another family, the McGraws, as their gofers and drivers. But Tucker McGraw has had enough and turns his back on the family business. Unfortunately for him, a shipment of narcotics belonging to the Stanleys has gone missing, and Tucker must return to the old ways he abandoned and find the drugs before the Stanleys seek their revenge. Out on 12 May.
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Tom Tanner cleans crime scenes after the forensics boys and girls have done their stuff. Blood, bodily fluids, and splattered brains must all be removed and – bizarrely – he loves his work. Amid the gore as he attends yet another crime scene, Tanner realises that he has mopped up an almost identical mess on a previous occasion and begins to think he may be cleaning up after a serial killer. Helped by his tart-with-a-heart Ivy, Tanner begins his quest to track down the brute responsible for the deaths, but not before the killer returns the compliment. Published on 12 May.
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This novel revisits the classic scenario of someone who seems to have it all. The beautiful home, the brilliant job, the luxurious lifestyle – Laura can honestly place a tick in each of those boxes. However, when Laura is involved in a series of apparently unconnected accidents, she begins to experience a creeping dread that someone, somewhere is out to do her serious harm. This debut novel by the former BBC journalist will be published on 21 May.
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Check out last week’s releases here.