On the Radar — You’ve come to the right place if you’re searching for a new crime book to read. This week, our new releases start off with the latest from North East author Howard Linskey. It’s fitting, really, seeing as Newcastle Noir is being held this weekend and Howard is one of the star guests. There are also new releases set around both world wars, in Ancient Rome, on Merseyside, on Mount Everest and we’ve got a murder mystery game set in a Scottish castle too.
The Search by Howard Linskey
A murderer is about to die after years behind bars. In all that time, Adrian Wicklow has refused to reveal where he buried little Susan Verity in the long, hot summer of 1976. As he stares death in the face, Wicklow promises to at last share the secret he has kept close to his chest for so long. But can he be trusted? Detective Ian Bradshaw isn’t convinced in a story that adds a new twist to the classic cat-and-mouse format. Out 4 May.
Pre-order now on Amazon
The City of Lies by Michael Russell
It’s autumn, 1940, and in Dublin an IRA plot to capture a diplomatic bag on its way England to goes horribly wrong. A Garda man is killed. A couple of days later, violence erupts between rival gangs at a race meeting. Out in the wilds of rural Ireland, four bodies are found, burned to a crisp inside an incinerated house. It’s the latter occurrence which attracts the attention of DI Stefan Gillespie, but as he digs deeper, connections between the three events become all too clear in a novel which views the machinations of the World War II from an Irish perspective. Out 4 May.
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Day of the Dead by Mark Roberts
DCI Eve Clay of the Merseyside Police is back in the third book of the series. A vigilante called Vindici has broken out of prison and videos of paedophiles being tortured and killed are being posted online. This serial killer is enjoying some public support and that doesn’t make it easy for Clay and her team. Then, from Mexico, a photo of Vindici at the Day of the Dead festival throws the investigation in a new direction. Ex-teacher Mark Roberts has previously been longlisted for a CWA Gold Dagger and brings Liverpool to life in these police procedurals. Released 4 May.
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The White Road by Sarah Lotz
According to the blurb, this is a book for anyone who liked the film The Descent, or the book Into Thin Air. Big selling author Sarah Lotz has come up with adrenalin junkie Simon Newman. First, he has a scrape with death while trespassing in a cave system in Wales. His accomplice dies, but Newman’s video of the experience goes viral. In the grip of fame, he is compelled to top the feat by replicating the danger, but this time on the mighty Mount Everest – the top of the world, a summit that has killed over 200 people. What could go wrong? Out 4 May.
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Deposed by David Barbaree
We’re back in the first century AD for this thriller set in Ancient Rome. It is a complex tale of political intrigue among the rulers of a restless and rebellious empire. A fallen emperor is locked in a cell, blinded. His only friend, a young boy, brings him food. A decade later, a new emperor is counselled by a wise but blindfolded senator who arrives with a young ward. The rebellious Barbaree has written a tale with a colourful Roman backdrop tainted with vengeance. Perhaps it could be badged ‘toga noir’ but there is no denying the epic scope to this ambitious thriller. Out 4 May.
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A High Mortality of Doves by Kate Ellis
This intriguingly titled novel takes us to a remote Derbyshire village, Wenfield, just waking from the nightmare of World War I. Flora Winsmore is the doctor’s daughter whose friend Myrtle Bligh is stabbed to death. Myrtle’s mouth is slashed open and stuffed with a dove. Two more deaths swiftly follow and Inspector Albert Lincoln arrives from Scotland Yard to investigate. Like so many he is physically and emotionally scarred by the war. Nevertheless, he delves into the mystery and the dark secrets of a wounded English village now exposed to the horror of a killer. Released 4 May.
Pre-order on Amazon
Murder Mystery Party 1: The Bet by Cornelia H.-Müller
Here’s something slightly different from Germany. The Bet is a murder mystery game that you can download and print out, or buy as a booklet. It sounds like a classic Golden Age set-up, and takes place in an old Scottish castle. Lord Ashtenburry has had to sell his castle to a Texan oil billionaire. When the new owner invites the old to an evening of entertainment at the castle, there is a murder. One of the guests? The owner? The butler who was included in the purchase? Inspector Hannibal Winter investigates. It’s a game meant for seven to 11 players, aged 12 and up.
Find out more here
