On the Radar — Three Sherlock Holmes short stories feature this week in The Redacted Sherlock Holmes by Orlando Pearson, and we’ve got an alternative crime fiction take on the 7/7 bombings as well as the latest Geraldine Steel mystery. Thursday is new books day so read on and enjoy…
Murder Ring by Leigh Russell
DI Geraldine Steel takes to the streets once more, this time to solve the murder of David Lester, a man so unobtrusive and ordinary that finding anyone who cared enough to kill him causes Steel all manner of problems. It takes a second killing in identical circumstances to focus minds properly, but Steel is also distracted by an unwelcome surprise in her personal life. You can read our review of an earlier Leigh Russell novel, Killer Plan. Murder Ring is published as a Kindle on 11 December.
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The Theseus Paradox by David Videcette
Author David Videcette is a former Scotland Yard cop, and he combines his experience with an audacious stroke of imagination, which sees the authorities having to question every single thing they thought they knew about the London bombings of 7 July 2005. An Islamic terror gang? Think again. A strike against the West for its meddling in Middle East affairs? Wrong. DI Jake Flanagan begins to tease the truth from a baffling tangle of contradictory evidence, but then he is suddenly suspended without good cause. As he becomes even more determined to find out why 52 innocent Londoners died that day, he realises that he could soon become the 53rd victim. Published on 15 December.
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She Can Kill by Melinda Leigh
So far in the series, which began in 2011, the woman can Run, Tell, Scream, and Hide. All very much on the receiving end, you might think, but now she becomes the aggressor. Like many of other Melinda Leigh books, She Can Kill is set in Pennsylvania, and we meet a former hitman who is trying to put his past behind him. Cristan falls for the recently divorced Sarah Mitchell, but they both face danger – Cristan from someone from his violent past, and Sarah from her bitter and vengeful husband. Available on 8 December.
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The Sleeper by J Robert Janes
This historical political thriller spans both world wars. American David Ashby is a decorated WWI veteran who has chosen to stay in Germany after the Armistice and raise his family. As the Nazis gain political power Ashby finds that he and his wife are at odds over the new regime, and he escapes to England with his young daughter. He becomes headmaster of a boarding school in Cornwall, but if he thinks that his wife – and German military intelligence – have finished with him, he’s in for a rude awakening. Out on 15 December.
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A Passion to Kill by Michael Kerr
DI Matt Barnes is back with his fifth story and he and his Serious Crimes Unit officers are faced with the sudden deaths of two presenters and a researcher from a popular real-crime TV show. Three separate suicides? That’s too much of a coincidence, thinks Barnes, and he is correct. However, finding and convicting the killer proves to be another matter altogether. Available on 8 December.
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The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman
The first novel in this innovative series came out in January this year. Don’t be misled by the Regency-cum-Georgian fol-de-rols on the cover. Cogman takes us into a fantasy version of London far beyond the imaginings of mere mortals. The crimes include worldly misdeeds such as kidnap, blackmail and extreme violence, but the enemy are distinctly not of this world. The Fae seem to be a grisly combination of housefly and Tinkerbell, but they are powerful and destructive. The action also takes us to La Serenissima, but this a Venice far away from tourist traps and fake gondolas. On the shelves from 3 December.
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The Redacted Sherlock Holmes by Orlando Pearson
The indestructible and ubiquitous consulting detective makes yet another reappearance, and one look at the impressive cover might give part of the game away. True to the original concept, the book consists of three short stories. In The Führer and his Deputies, WWII is over, Hitler is dead, and the British government has to decide what to do with his errant deputy, Rudolf Hess. Holmes becomes involved and discovers the astonishing truth behind Hess’s flight to Britain in 1941. In A Scandal in Nova Alba, Holmes must investigate regicide, but is forced to enlist three unlikely helpers – the three witches from Macbeth. The Minister and the Moguls sees Dr Watson take a leading role in the case of ministerial corruption and industrial double-dealing. Out on 8 December.
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Buried by Graham Masterton
The author is nothing if not versatile. He made his name as a writer of visceral horror stories, but his novels featuring the Irish detective Kate Maguire have struck a chord with crime fiction readers. The Cork-based Garda Síochána is called to a workers’ cottage beside an old woollen mill. Beneath the floorboards lie the corpses of a family, shot dead 90 years earlier. Were the family innocent victims of the brutal struggles between the IRA and the hated Black and Tan police auxiliaries? Or does the answer lie in an ancient feud which could reignite at any moment? The print version of this will be available in 2016, but it is released for Kindle on 10 December.
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To see last week’s new releases, click here.
