On the Radar — Anya Lipska’s series featuring a Polish detective in London receives its latest addition this week, and we’ve got a brick of a book by Greg Iles – both of which will be reviewed soon here on Crime Fiction Lover. People trafficking, immigration, race and national security all feature as themes in this week’s releases. It all sounds pretty political but we guarantee the entertainment will be first class… This is crime fiction, after all.
A Devil Under the Skin by Anya Lipska
North East London’s version of The Odd Couple – that is Janusz Kiszka and Natalie Kershaw – return in another case played out on the seedy streets of Walthamstow. Cop Kershaw is suspended after shooting dead a man who was about to attack her with a samurai sword, while grumpy Polish investigator Kiszka is at his wit’s end, because his long time (married) girlfriend has disappeared along with her waster of a husband just hours before she was meant to ditch the husband and move in with Kiszka. There are corpses strewn along the way, as well as an encounter with a brutal ex-Spezsnaz operative working for the Russian mafia. The book is out on 18 June but while you wait why not read our review of the previous book in the series, Death Can’t Take A Joke?
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The Bone Tree by Greg Iles
This is the eagerly awaited sequel to Natchez Burning, which received a five star review from us in 2014. Penn Cage – lawyer, writer and Mayor of Natchez – has a tornado of trouble heading his way. His father is on the run after being involved in the shooting of a state trooper. His fiancée, editor of the local paper, is determined to find the near-mythical Bone Tree out in the swamp. If she succeeds, she knows it will stir up a hornets’ nest of secrets linked to race killings stretching back half a century. The FBI are homing in on the story, convinced that it will finally reveal the truth about what really happened in Dallas in 1963 when JFK was shot. Cage is fighting on all fronts with an ever-diminished group of allies. The book is out now, and our full review will follow shortly.
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A Brutal Trade by Faith Mortimer
This the seventh outing for amateur investigator Diana Rivers and, once again, she contends with the vagaries and eccentricities of the judicial system in Cyprus. Rivers teams up with Chief Superintendent Adam Lovell and, with the help of Sergeant Yiannis Loukiades, they investigate the murders of women who are the victims of people trafficking. Set against the political background of the Greek financial crisis, A Brutal Trade will be available on Kindle from 12 June, but is already out in paperback. Back in 2012 Faith Mortimer featured in our Women To Watch article, with an earlier Cyprus-set book, The Assassins’ Village.
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The President’s Shadow by Brad Meltzer
There’s just a tiny touch of Dan Brown about this tale of a young man employed as a minor functionary at The National Archives in Washington, DC. However, he is not just your common or garden document geek. He is a member of a centuries-old secret society founded by none other than George Washington. Members of the Culper Ring have just one mission – to protect the president when conventional methods fail. The discovery of a severed arm in the grounds of the White House sets in motion a dramatic and sinister series of events. This is the third book to feature Beecher White and his unique task. Published on 16 June.
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Last Train to Casablanca by Shayne Youngblood
Like the three previous stories in the series, in this novella the author appears to be the main protagonist. It’s impossible to use the name of the Moroccan city in a book title without conjuring up certain romantic images, but here Youngblood is working for Abdel, the head honcho of a human trafficking gang. He must balance his own moral code – flawed, but basically decent – with his instinct for self preservation and by protecting a particularly vulnerable young woman he finds himself at odds with the vindictive criminals who pay his salary. The book is out now.
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Selena by Greg Barth
You have 10-seconds to judge this book by its cover, OK? Go! Tick, tick, tick, tick… Time’s up! A young woman, rather bruised and battered? Check. Not a happy bunny? Check. She’s after someone with that shotgun? Check. Selena has survived a horrifying ordeal at the hands of a criminal gang, and now she’s out for revenge, cold or any other damn way. Publisher All Due Respect doesn’t mince words. Selena is a slutty, alcoholic whore with a shotgun. Barth says he was inspired by the Parker novels of Richard Stark, so expect a gloriously pulpy explosion of sex and violence, with not a moral principle in sight. Published on 15 June.
The Fixer by Joseph Finder
A hot-shot Boston reporter goes from hero to zero in a matter of a few short traumatic weeks. No job, no girl, no friends. Things couldn’t be blacker for Rick Hoffman. Until he finds a huge stash of dollars – millions of them – hidden in the family home. His father, who must know how the money came to be there, is little use as he is in a care home, trapped in the silent universe of his own dementia. Rick’s attempts to discover the provenance of the money lead to awkward discoveries about his father’s past, and a whole world of trouble. This time last year we took a look at a short story collection featuring another Finder hero, Nick Heller. Read our review of Face Off here. The Fixer is out in different formats from 18 June.
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Governing Passion by Don Gutteridge
There have been four previous books featuring investigator Marc Edwards, and here he is juggling two incompatible tasks in 1840s Toronto. The first is to prevent the destabilisation of the political balance of the fledgling country, and the second is to investigate the killing of a woman whose job – singing in a brothel – has put her in the vicinity of three very prominent men. Can the two cases – a constitutional crisis and a cold-blooded murder – be connected? Available on 15 June.
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The Wrong Man by Kate White
You can picture the scene. You’re just a few pages into the book and the attractive but socially insecure woman sitting alone in a Florida restaurant is about to engage a handsome stranger in conversation. You are screaming at her, “No, no…… NO!” Unfortunately, top interior designer Kit Finn isn’t listening and happily flirts with Matt Healey. She survives that first encounter, but agrees to meet him again back home in Manhattan. When she knocks on the door of his luxury apartment guess who doesn’t open the door? Kit has been conned, but just how badly, she is about to find out. We’re previously reviewed Kate White’s Eyes on You and The Wrong Man will be available from 16 June.
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Nothing But Grass by Will Cohu
Will Cohu’s tale uses the device of taking a common location, in this case rural Lincolnshire, but dividing the action between Victorian times and the present day. The two strands are pulled together by murder, illegitimate children, ghosts, and hidden money. Cohu lives in Lincolnshire, so expect the ambience to be spot-on. He also draws an interesting parallel between the modern day pressures of immigration and the influx of Irish labourers back in the 19th century. Available today, 11 June.
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