On the Radar — Our lead book this week takes us out to the sunny LA suburb of Santa Monica but if the gruesome deaths there are too hot to handle, then there are chills aplenty too. Yes, we have ghostly chills in a haunted house story by Peter James and actual physical chills care of Alan Russell’s new Alaskan abduction novel. Much more to choose from as well. Which will make your TBR pile?
The beach resort of Santa Monica is rocked by a series of gruesome deaths. For instance, a Brit has been found dead on the beach, crammed into a suitcase, his passport jammed between his teeth and minus his eyes and tongue. In The Santa Monica Suicide Club, PI and former cop Mandy tries to make sense of the carnage. The author acknowledges his debts to such luminaries as Chandler, Rankin, Dexter, Highsmith and Leonard. Available from 6 October.
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This is a standalone novel about a family who moves away from Brighton – where author Peter James‘ Roy Grace books are set – to start a new life in a dilapidated Georgian house in the countryside. Some of the former residents of the house on Cold Hill are no longer of this world and they begin to resent the newcomers. Here, Peter James takes a huge stride away from his usual police procedurals into the world of the supernatural. We reviewed the Roy Grace novel You Are Dead earlier this year, and this one is out on 8 October.
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The remote Alaskan wilderness makes for a chilling crime fiction setting. It is to this location that Nina Granville turns when she needs a break from the whirligig of engagements and social functions which come as standard due to her relationship with an aspiring politician. However, her new-found isolation turns into a living hell when she is abducted and held prisoner. Her social and networking skills count for nothing in the frozen and empty northern forests, and she must reconnect with what survival skills she has in order to outwit her captor. On the shelves from 6 October.
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Martina Cole returns with a revenge drama about childhood sweethearts, and a dream come true which is then brutally shattered. What follows is a brooding search for vengeance which simmers and crackles over two decades, until Sharon casts off her widow’s weeds and exacts a terrible revenge on those who took the life of her beloved Lenny. Out in all formats from 6 October.
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Detective Sasagaki certainly has a slow burn. When he is called to investigate the mysterious death of a man in 1970s Osaka, he meets with no immediate success. But Sasagaki is nothing if not persistent. Over the next 20 years he doggedly identifies his suspects and observes their lives. Finally, he has his evidence lined up and ready to present to the courts. Will it be strong enough to bridge the gap of decades of indifference? This is published on 8 October, and here’s a link to some more Japanese crime fiction.
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This compendium includes the work of some of the finest pulp authors and has a worthy objective. All profits will go towards PROTECT: The National Association to Protect Children in the US. You’ll find pieces by Reed Farrel Coleman, Joyce Carol Oates, Thomas Pluck, Graham Wynd and David Morrell, the author of First Blood, which introduced the world to John Rambo. If you are a fan of the dark, the extreme, the outrageous and the downright chaotic in crime fiction, then why not treat yourself to this anthology and be assured that you are giving to a good cause? We reviewed the first Protectors book here. Available now.
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Sandford steps away from the hugely successful Prey series, featuring the Minneapolis trouble-shooter Lucas Davenport, and brings us a futuristic thriller set in 2066. American scientists discover that an apparently man-made object is approaching Saturn. Whoever designed the space ship is years ahead of the game, and as American scientists try to catch up, there is deception, treachery and cliff-hanging suspense on a global scale. Saturn Run will be published on 6 October.
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You can check out last week’s new releases here.