On the Radar — Our weekly news column kicks off today with a graphic novel for fans of Sherlock Holmes originally made in Japan. You even read it backwards like a kanji script. There’s also a regular selection of crime novels to choose from including elements of the supernatural, Irish dancing, family trauma and World War II. Oh, and there are serial killers as well, so watch out for them…
Sherlock: A Study in Pink
Want to try something different? How about a manga version of this Sherlock Holmes tale, adapted from the TV adaptation starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the great consulting detective. This story was the very first Sherlock episode, broadcast in 2010, loosely based on the short story A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes and Watson meet, and are soon investigating what looks like a series of suicides. This graphic novel is black and white, and was first published in Japan. You’ll read it in the traditional manga right-to-left format across all 208 pages. It’s out now for Kindle and in print on 28 February. We’ve included samples from the artwork at the bottom of this week’s news column – let us know what you think.
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The Doll Funeral by Kate Hamer
It is the early 1980s and teenager Ruby learns that Barbara and Mick are her adoptive parents. She covers up the bruises from Mick’s abuse and finds solace in the haunting Forest of Dean alongside a shadowy ghostly companion. There is a twist of the paranormal here and author Kate Hamer builds a dark tale as Ruby searches for her real parents. This is the second book from the author of the well received The Girl in the Red Coat. Hamer is known for her evocative prose and this ambitious literary story touches on the dark issue of domestic violence with a supernatural flourish. It is released 16 February.
Pre-order now on Amazon
What You Don’t Know by JoAnn Chaney
It is seven years since Denver-based Detective Paul Hoskins and his partner solved a massive serial killer case. They found 31 bodies and put Jacky Seever, a local businessman, in prison. Then the copycat killings started. Hoskins has fallen out of favour in the force and Sammie Peterson, a journalist who covered the case, has been reduced to selling make up in the mall. They both see a chance to rebuild their lives. The aftermath of Seever’s crimes unfolds in a tightly plotted and suspenseful thriller that promises to be a sparkling debut from Chaney. It is due for release 9 February.
Pre-order now on Amazon
The Black Sheep by Sophie McKenzie
If you can’t trust your family, then who can you trust? That’s the premise of this new standalone, out 9 February, by the author of the award-winning Girl, Missing (currently celebrating the 10th anniversary of publication). It’s a year since Francesca was widowed and she finally feels like it’s time to move on thanks to the support and love of her family. But a message that arrives out of the blue sends her reeling and has her questioning everything – what if her husband was murdered? And what if her family helped to make it happen?
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Dead Girls Dancing by Graham Masterton
We love a good police procedural here on CFL and Graham Masterton’s DCI Katie Maguire fits right in. This is number eight in a series which is set in Cork and this one has Irish dancing at its heart. Thirteen young women perish in a fire at a dance studio in the city – a tragedy – but one which piques the interest of Maguire. Because there has been a recent spate of fires… and in one, the victims were dead before the blaze began. Who ever thought River Dance would lead us to this pretty pass?
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The Shimmering Road by Hester Young
US author Young follows up her debut, the Gates of Evangeline, with the second in a projected trilogy featuring New York journalist Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Cates. Charlie is prone to visions, and when the mum-to-be’s sleep is disturbed by nightmarish dreams about her unborn child she is understandably worried. Then comes some news that shakes her to the core – the mother she never knew has been murdered. It’s the start of a thrilling, mystical journey. Out on 9 February.
Pre-order now on Amazon
Eyes Like Mine by Sheena Kamal
This book has a great cover, with the title text nestling in the layers of forest quite nicely, and the bright orange stands out with a spot varnish. The publicity that comes with it claims that Nora Watts, the heroine of the story, is as kick-ass as Lisbeth Salander. Nora gave up her baby girl 15 years ago, but receives a phone call telling her that the girl has gone missing. The troubled protagonist goes looking for the teenager, and this pulls her into a past she’d sooner forget. It’s out 9 February.
Pre-order now on Amazon
The Draughtsman by Robert Lautner
Hitting the shelves on 9 February is this literary historical thriller by Robert Lautner. The author takes us back to Berlin in 1944, where Ernst Beck has at last found work helping a firm making ovens. However, their big new order is from none other than the SS, and these are ovens designed to burn day and night on the concentration camps. Beck’s job is to design crematoria for the disposal of thousands of murder victims and he faces that dilemma so many Germans must have faced at the time – does he turn a blind eye and get on with the job, keeping his family safe, or become complicit in the Holocaust?
Pre-order now on Amazon
Touching the Sun by Maynard Sims
If you like the laid back style of John Macdonald’s Travis McGee series, you might also enjoy Touching the Sun by Maynard Sims. Here, Harry Beck leads a carefree life in the Bahamas, until… all hell breaks loose on the island. He thought he was made for life but people close to him are profiting from the misery on nearby Haiti and he can’t sit back and watch. There’s no-one he can trust.
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Read about last week’s new releases here, and enjoy the artwork from A Study in Pink below.
