On the Radar — Let’s start our weekly news column with a harsh, cold crime novel set in Sweden. The Father is the first in a new series called Made in Sweden, written by two screenwriters who go by the nom de plume Anton Svensson. We’ve also got a Linda Fairstein New York thriller, books set in the Virgin Islands and Haiti, and a whole bunch of homicide. An average week, then, at CFL HQ.
With the sub-heading Made In Sweden, Part 1, this will delight fans of Nordic noir. Anton Svensson is actually the writing partnership of Stefan Thunberg and Anders Roslund and when three brothers bullied by an autocratic father decide to turn to crime, they carry out an audacious series of bank heists. The detective who tries to hunt them down has been damaged by a similar upbringing and he empathises with the brothers and their friend. But this has to be put to one side in the search for justice. Out today, 6 August.
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This is the fourth novel in the Karl Kane series. Kane is an investigator, and a man with a past. His mother was raped and murdered, and when the man who killed her – and molested him – enjoys an early release from prison, Kane is quick to link the newly liberated Walter Arnold with two missing girls. On the one hand there is his desire for vengeance, on the other his instinct for justice… which will prevail? Published on 10 August.
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The author is an Algerian-born journalist who specialises in the murky world of international art dealing. The Collector is her first novel and it introduces us to a young woman – Marion Spicer – who works for international auction houses, sniffing out fraudulent sales and scams. In order to receive a bequest from her estranged father she must embark on a mixture of treasure hunt and crossword puzzle involving aspects of her late father’s art collections. Expect a sexy and savvy modern heroine who drills down to find the grim truth beneath the glitzy surface of the champagne- and canapé-fuelled world of art sales. Available now.
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Matt Sinclair is a homicide cop in the San Francisco Bay port of Oakland. He has been temporarily relegated to desk duty after a procedural foul-up out on the streets, but when a teenager from a wealthy home is found dead at a bus stop it’s time for him to track down the killer. The stakes are raised when further bodies are found with an identical MO. Brian Thiem is an ex-cop who walked those self-same Oakland streets, and is also an Iraq War veteran. This police procedural is out on 11 August.
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The classic novel set in Haiti is Graham Greene’s The Comedians (1966). The island, in fiction if not in fact, has never been anything but turbulent, dangerous, and rife with crime and corruption. Cane’s novel is set in 2001 and when a child goes missing three different women join forces. This mission brings them face to face with black magic, violence, poverty and danger. Available today, 6 August.
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Nathan McBride is a CIA operative with years of special ops behind him. In Contract to Kill, he is drawn into a deadly game between the shadowy fringes of the US government and private security contractors. This time the playing field is the borderland between the US and Mexico, and the stakes are huge sums of cash. That, and his life, of course. This is the fifth Nathan McBride novel, and it’s on the shelves or available for download from 11 August.
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Set in the distinctly up-market tourist enclave of the US Virgin Islands, C Michele Dorsey introduces us to Sabrina Salter, who has traded the chilly and inclement streets of Boston for the sun-soaked resort of St John. Salter keeps an inn on the island, and when one of her guests is found dead in his hammock she becomes the chief suspect. The only way she can escape the attention of the police is by finding the true culprit. Out on 11 August.
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Devoted fans of the Alexandra Cooper novels will know to expect a feisty and fearless heroine and a breathtaking background featuring New York’s secret places, both above and below ground. Fairstein’s unmatched knowledge of NYC history and topography provides the perfect setting. Lawyer and activist Cooper goes missing and it is left to her long time sparring partner, Detective Mike Chapman, to find her and bring to justice those she has upset. We reviewed Fairstein’s Night Watch in 2012, and Death Angel in 2013. Devil’s Bridge is published on 11 August.
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