On the Radar — Cosy crime fiction, action thrillers, vintage, cold climates, World War II – we’ve got just about every kind of crime book on offer in this week’s new releases. Let’s start things off with a macabre serial killer offering, which is both a debut and a knockout at that. Sing along was we say, ‘Shake, rattle and kill…’
Rattle by Fiona Cummins
Debut author Fiona Cummins is an award winning former showbusiness reporter with the Daily Mirror, but there’s little in the way of glitz and glamour in this thriller that puts a whole new twist on the phrase ‘skeletons in your closet’. In a quiet, run down part of London a man lives with his ailing wife and a jaw dropping collection of bones and skeletons. He is keen to add to his macabre hoard and begins to spirit away children, seemingly at random. Can DS Ella Fitzroy work out the whys and wherefores of his horrific quest before the abductor loses all self-control? Out 26 January, and watch for our review.
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Rogue’s Holiday by Maxwell March
Originally written by Margery Allingham under the pseudonym Maxwell March in 1935, this book has been reprinted by Ipso books and given a excellent new cover. It’s out 28 January and The Man of Dangerous Secrets and The Devil and Her Son will follow. Rogue’s Holiday introduces Inspector David Blest, who finds himself on a motor boat, with a gun to his head and an unconscious companion on the deck. Blest has been on the trail of an elusive killer, at a fashionable resort on the English coast and meets Judy Wellington, apparently in ill health and running from some past secret. Somehow he has ended up in the killer’s crosshairs.
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Devour by LA Larkin
British-Australian author LA Larkin is fascinated with Antarctica and here poses the questions: what if ancient microbes were living in a subterranean lake underneath the polar ice cap; and what if those microbes were dangerous superbugs? The book begins with a murder as someone tries to sabotage a British Antarctic mission, and investigative reporter Olivia Wolfe is sent to investigate. More used to reporting on wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya, she gets caught up on the problems the mission faces with a Russian team also in Antarctica. Somebody is spying on Wolfe, and somebody wants to get their hands on the bacteria samples the British are discovering. Badly. It’s out 26 January and you can watch a clip about the author’s inspiration below.
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The Nowhere Man by Gregg Hurwitz
It’s five years since we reviewed The Survivor by action thriller author, Gregg Hurwitz. The author has had a hit with Orphan X last year and The Nowhere Man is the sequel. At age 12, Evan Smoak was taken from a children’s home and raised on a secret government programme, developing him into an assassin. But black ops aren’t for him and now he uses his skills to defend the powerless. Now he’s been drugged and is held captive, without a clue who’s holding him or why. Whoever they are, though, they better watch out… And you can watch out for this book on 26 January, along with our review.
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VI’s Ring by Ed Lynskey
There has been no noir from Ed Lynskey in recent times but fans of this series will enjoy a whodunnit set in the charming small town of Quiet Anchorage, Virginia. This is the seventh cosy mystery featuring the sister sleuths Isabel and Alma Trumbo. The younger sister of one of Alma’s ex-husbands has been murdered at the local Buttercup Bed & Breakfast. The elderly amateur sleuths soon get involved to tease out the puzzle. You can expect a lot of fun as they tackle the investigation to apprehend the culprit. It is just released and is available now as an ebook.
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Kill the Next One by Federico Axat
Buenos Aires born Federico Axat sets this twisty psychological thriller in the USA, a place where he lived for a time before returning to his native Argentina. Ted is a man with everything – high-flying career, gorgeous wife, beautiful children… and terminal cancer. He’s about to end it all when a stranger rings the doorbell and offers him a tempting proposition: why not kill two deserving men before dying and then, in turn, be killed too? It’s like a game of deadly dominos but is Ted desperate enough to set the chain reaction in motion? Out 26 January.
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Corpus by Rory Clements
Clements is well known for his historical spy thriller series set in Tudor England with the intelligencer John Shakespeare. This time we find ourselves in 1936 Berlin with the storm clouds gathering over Western Europe. The hero is Professor Thomas Wilde, an American lecturing at Cambridge who is called in to help a friend after a couple of murders. He is drawn into the intrigues of a sensitive political conspiracy set against the epic backdrop of this tense period in 20th century history. Be ready for a compelling and intelligent historical thriller in this series opener. Released 26 January – our full review is coming soon.
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The Communion of Saints by John Barlow
It’s five years since we reviewed Hope Road, the first in John Barlow’s LS9 series. The Communion of Saints marks book three, and John Ray is still battling to leave his criminal past behind and keep his life on track. When allegations of historical sexual abuse emerge at a Catholic boys’ home in Leeds, Ray is surprised to receive a plea for help from West Yorkshire Police. Surprised, and sceptical – why ask him? As he begins to dig deeper, Ray is about to uncover a much more complicated scenario. Expect plenty of Barlow’s trademark dark humour and cinematic style in a tale of innocence, vengeance, good and evil.
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