On the Radar — Every Thursday, without fail, our team brings you new crime books to consider and this week we’ve got a fine set for you. Our first stop is Oslo, for a new detective story called Faithless featuring Frank Frølich. We’ve also got two books set in Florida, one from Sweden and another from Ontario, plus a couple of thrillers that’ll have you on the edge of your seat.

Faithless by Kjell Ola Dahl
Award-winning Norwegian writer Kjell Ola Dahl sees his fifth English translation here thanks to Orenda Books. To his horror detective Frank Frølich knows the dead woman found in a dumpster in Oslo. She has been scalded before being wrapped in plastic. Grim. Before long fellow detective Gunnarstranda has found another body and the complications pile up. Neither of the detectives are paragons of virtue and the investigation soon becomes even more personal for Inspector Frølich. If Dahl is not already on your radar then line up this chilling police procedural. Out in ebook now and print 15 April.
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Dangerous Ends by Alex Segura
Comic book writer and novelist Alex Segura is one of the emerging names in modern noir in the United States, and his latest book lands on 11 April. It sees the return of Pete Fernandez, an ex-cop in Miami who thought is days of chasing murderers were over for good. Now he’s a private detective who takes snaps of cheating husbands, chases down bail absconders and attends his AA meetings. That rhythm is interrupted by the arrival of Maya Varela, daughter of a Miami cop who murdered his wife. She wants him to help exonerate her father, but before long he’s crossing paths with a Cuban gang and even gets entangled in a hit commissioned by none other than Fidel Castro.
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The Special Girls by Isabelle Grey
DI Grace Fisher is a murder detective with the Essex Major Investigation Unit in Colchester. The team is called in when a young psychiatrist, Dr Tim Merrick, is found dead in some woods. It’s close to a centre for vulnerable women with eating disorders and the dark spectre of sexual abuse hangs over the mystery. She is soon teasing out the layers of deceit. There are echoes of the real-life Operation Yewtree and the investigation of historical sex offences. The third outing for Fisher is a twisty psychological tale that will keep the pages flicking past. Released 6 April.
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The Third Nero by Lindsey Davis
Best-selling author Lindsey Davis has hit a rich vein with her books set in Roman times. This is book five in the Flavia Albaa series and our classical heroine has hit hard times. She has been wed just a day and already the marriage is in trouble – her new husband may be permanently disabled and they are penniless. So when officials from the palace ask her to help expose a plot, she can’t refuse. A bizarre rumour is circulating that the Emperor Nero isn’t really dead, and could be due to return, and it’s making new Emperor Domitian ever more paranoid. Out 6 April.
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Prussian Blue by Philip Kerr
We’ve reached book 12 in the series featuring former SS officer Bernie Gunther, and the year is now 1956. With his cover blown, the investigator who was never keen on National Socialism is waiting for the next move in the cat-and-mouse game that, even a decade after Germany’s defeat, continues to shadow his life. Gunther is called upon to honour a debt – but is he prepared to kill to set the books straight? See-sawing between the 1956 and 1939, the story reaches a dramatic conclusion as the two eras collide. Out 11 April, and watch for our review.
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None so Blind by Alis Hawkins
It is 1850 and Harry Probert-Lloyd is losing his sight. It has forced his retirement as a barrister and he has moved from London to West Wales. The bones of a young woman have been unearthed from under a tree. Harry knows who it is. He has been dreading this day. Harry picks through the suspects and delves into his own past to investigate. He is determined to find the killer but, as the title suggests, there are none so blind as those who will not see. An original historical crime thriller dripping atmospheric mystery that will be one to savour. Released 13 April.
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Burn Country by Michael J McCann
Someone has been burning down the barns in Leeds County, Ontario, but now they’ve crossed the line. A charred body has been found in the remains of the latest one, and that puts it into a new category of crime – murder. There’s more. The dead man is a recently appointed senator in the Canadian government, as well as being an artists and activist. This means that Ontario Provincial Police detective Ellie March must work with RCMP man Danny Merrick, whom she finds rather polite and charming… But then isn’t every mountie polite and charming? Burn County is out now.
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Palm Beach Deadly by Tom Turner
This self-published novel has a greatcover and is the third in Tom Turner’s series set in Palm Beach, Florida, featuring the homicide cops Charlie Crawford and Mort Ott. Their case this time is the murder of Knight Mulcahy, a radio host who’s made himself wealthy by trashing people’s reputations live on air and has found himself dead in his pool house with his underwear around his ankles and a bullet through his heart. Lots of suspects, plenty of sin, but a case that sends Crawford in circles. Out now.
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Quick Sand by Malin Persson Giolito
We started with some Nordic noir and that’s where we’ll end. Quick Sand was the winner of the Swedish Crime Writer Academy Best Crime Novel of the Year 2016 and has now been translated into English. At its heart is an 18-year-old girl. Maja Norberg has spent nine months in jail, awaiting trial for a shooting in her school in which several people died – including her boyfriend and her best friend. Is she a mass-murderer, or a demonised victim? Now Maja is to enter the courtroom and all will be revealed… Out 6 April, and watch for our review.
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