On the Radar — There’s already a buzz in the crime fiction world about the new Bryant & May novel by Christopher Fowler, and you’ll be able to read our review soon. This week we’ve also got the latest Harlan Coben, and a packet of psychological thrillers and police procedurals.
The world’s two most venerable detectives, octogenarians Arthur Bryant and John May, yet again defy the reaper’s scythe and investigate the murder of a woman who chained to a concrete block on the shore of the River Thames. All is not well with Arthur, however. Although he’s sprightly physically, he suffers from frequent dislocations of reality. While it’s one thing to imagine that the Thames-side wharves are still bustling with dockers and tall ships, having a conversation with a certain Mr Charles Dickens is another matter entirely. This is published on 24 March, but while you are waiting, why not read our Guide to Christopher Fowler’s Bryant and May Novels?
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Coben fans can refresh their memories of books like Stay Close, Seconds Away, Six Years and Missing You. Fool Me Once takes us into the world of nanny cams. Harlan Coben’s protagonist Maya has one so that she can do the day job and maintain surveillance on her two-year-old daughter. Watching Maya’s father having fun with the little girl ought to be a delight, but there is a problem. Joe, the gentleman in question, has every right to be with his daughter, except that he was brutally murdered two weeks earlier. The greatest of all detectives said, “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” Coben has great fun with this maxim, and you can share his solution from 24 March.
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DI Fisher first appeared in Good Girls Don’t Die (2014) and now the Essex cop has to deal with a horrific multiple murder, which seems even more atrocious because it happened on Christmas Day. As the killer becomes the sixth corpse when he turns the gun on himself, Fisher can tick the ‘who’ box on her report. The investigation into ‘what with’ reveals that the police attempt to eradicate illegal firearms has more holes in it than an Emmental cheese. The ‘why’ section exposes an even more shocking truth in this police procedural. Published on 24 March.
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There is probably an MA thesis somewhere which explores book titles using Shakespearean quotes. In this psychological thriller a young woman who survived a childhood abduction now must face the imminent release from prison of the man who snatched her 17 years earlier. Sarah D’Villez decides that a new identity and a new life in an isolated Welsh village will protect her. Her hopes are not realised however, and this debut novel shows how ghosts from the past have a habit of making a chilling impact on the present. Published on 24 March.
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Appropriately published by Bloodhound Books this chiller is, as the cover and title suggest, not a suitable gift for your maiden aunt. ‘Blood’ refers both to the effects of a particularly vile serial killer, and the surname of the policeman – DI Gary Blood – who is tasked with tracking him down. The perpetrator appears to be harmless enough; after all, who heard of a sadistic psychopath who enjoys crochet? Ah, but just wait until you find out what he uses instead of wool. The author’s three previous books are Rainbows In Puddles (2013), Shit Happens (2014) and The Schmoogly Boo (2015). Make of that what you will, but you can read her latest from 26 March.
This police procedural features Plymouth cop DI Charlotte Savage whose career has not lacked controversy. Those who have read Touch, Bad Blood, Cut Dead, and Tell Tale will be aware that she has suffered personal tragedy – a murdered daughter – and any number of gruesome serial killer huts, not all of which have ended happily. Her bosses want her to keep a low profile, but when it becomes clear that a child murderer is operating on her patch, the red mist descends and she shows that she can be just as ruthless and uncompromising as the killer she hunts. Out on 24 March.
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You can get a first taste of this psychological thriller by checking out the trailer below. The book is set in Chicago, and we are eavesdropping on the life of Darcy Godfrey. Quiet girl. A librarian. Thoroughly unremarkable. Unremarkable, that is, until she happens upon a blog which appears to focus on her life in minute detail. Included in that life is the sad fact that her mother was murdered. When the killer himself dies in mysterious circumstances, all the evidence points to Darcy, and the cops like the vengeful daughter scenario. Only one person knows the truth, and Darcy must find the all-knowing author of the blog if she is stay out of jail. Available on 24 March.
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