On the Radar — Craig Robertson is a Scottish author who often comes up with an unusual theme or concept for his novels. For instance, he wrote a murder mystery set in the Faroe Islands, where there are approximately two murders every century… provided you don’t include the pilot whales. So let’s lead off with his new book Murderabilia which has the deliciously steal-able strapline ‘Everyone has a hobby, some people collect death’. We’re OK though, we just collect books about death. Read on and choose your poison…
Highly recommended by none other than Martina Cole, Murderabilia is the latest in the Narey and Winter series. Ex-journalist Robertson certainly knows how to spin a good yarn and if you’re reading this one on your daily commute you might find yourself taking a little more notice of your surroundings. Here a Glasgow train is stopped by a body hanging from a bridge, and the corpse’s clothes are neatly folded beneath it. Sinister. Out September 22.
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Another railway-based nail-biter, this time from award-winning Cath Staincliffe. We’re on a busy Manchester to London train, packed with people coping with the everyday dramas of life. They’ll pale into insignificance when they meet Saheel, sitting in the middle of the carriage, a deadly rucksack in his lap. How will a bunch of ordinary people handle such an extraordinary event – expect a bumpy ride in this tense and twisty thriller. Out September 22.
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Time to step away from the ordinary in this second outing for Guillermo Downes, which follows on from Buenos Aires-based journalist Marrison’s highly-praised debut The Drowning Ground. A brutal murder at a lonely Cotswold farmhouse is sickening enough, but a chance discovery takes Downes and his sidekick, the aptly named Sergeant Graves, into much darker territory in this tense thriller. Out September 22.
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Meet PC Lucy Clayburn, who is working undercover on the trail of a prolific female serial killer in Manchester. It’s dangerous work and Lucy doesn’t quite realise how close to disaster she is in this grippingly gruesome tale which bears the chilling legend – ‘a stranger is just a killer you haven’t met yet’. A former cop and also a journalist, Paul Finch has written for The Bill and Doctor Who but in the crime fiction world is best known for his best-selling DS Heckenburg series. Out September 22.
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Great title from a neatly named debut author – a publisher and literary agent who was formerly a journalist. So is the book’s protagonist Jack Winter, who now works in PR, killing stories that his clients don’t want published. Then along comes a client who wants to take tings a step further, but just how far is Winter prepared to go? The first in a series. Out September 29.
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