Last week we told you about an intriguing bit of marketing by Fahrenheit Press, which released its second crime book on Amazon without announcing the title or the author’s name. It was a daring move but set up a tantalising mystery and created plenty of buzz about the release. Funnily enough dozens of crime fiction lovers have bravely ordered it sight unseen.

Now the cautious among us can make their choice, as here on Crime Fiction Lover we exclusively reveal that the book is: The Lobster Boy and the Fat Lady’s Daughter by Charles Kriel.

Step right up, folks, because this is screwball noir meets Southern gothic as detective Mel Barry looks into the case of her step-father, Charlie ‘The Lobster Boy’ Koontz, who’s been arrested and framed for the murder of a small-town community leader. The Lobster Boy is Koontz’s performing name, and in the midst of a circus troop Mel’s on the trail of a brutal killer. It’s being described as a Lynchian mystery.

The Lobster Boy and the Fat Lady’s Daughter is set on the carnival lot of a tobacco town in south Georgia. It’s a milieu author Charles Kriel is familiar with – he was born in the back of a circus wagon and his early life was spent travelling across America with his carney kin. Ironically, at 15 he ran away from the circus to join ‘normal’ society, became a DJ and ended up working for the BBC. He’s been a writer, a photographer, and has travelled to war zones promoting press freedom.

The press couldn’t get much freer than writing about lobster boys, could it, and now he’s a published crime author… The book is released 30 October and you can pre-order below. Watch for our review, coming soon.

Is it anything like what you were expecting? Let us know in the comments below.

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