On the Radar — It looks like 24 August is going to be a big date on the crime fiction calendar with releases from veteran crime writing women on both sides of the Atlantic – Sue Grafton and Val McDermid. But today we want to start our crime fiction meal off with some fresh meat in the shape of Jonathan Lyon. We’ve already started having a look at his debut novel, Carnivore, and the writing is sublime. This could be the surprise hit of the summer. We’ve also got a 19th century London mystery, a psychological thriller in small-town Alabama, and more…
To receive the latest releases to your inbox every week, sign up for our newsletter.
Carnivore by Jonathan Lyon
This is the debut crime novel to read this summer, as 30-year-old author Jonathan Lyon reveals his talent through Leander, a male prostitute with an appetite for destruction. A poet and a player, a lover and a fighter, Leander’s favourite game is reeling his lovers in, infusing their lives with longing for him, then ditching them with a painful thud. He’s equally adept at giving and receiving physical abuse, but underlying this suffers from constant pain thanks to his myalgia. Leander is used to dominating through clever social deceptions, but he might just have overstepped the mark and drawn the attention of a vicious London criminal. It’s all a game to him, but how far will he push the stakes? Find out 24 August and watch for our review.
Pre-order now on Amazon
Insidious Intent by Val McDermid
A new Carol Jordan and Tony Hills book is always a red letter day for Val McDermid fans, so if you follow this leading Scottish author mark 24 August in your diaries. Single women are going missing from wedding celebrations, lured away by person or persons unknown. Maybe they nipped out for a smoke, but they’re ending up as charred remains in their own burning vehicles, abandoned at remote spots in the north of England. Jordan and Hills have their work cut out in a story that has all the twists and turns so beloved of the queen of Tartan noir, and with a side plot that features cyberbullying too.
Pre-order now on Amazon
Y is for Yesterday by Sue Grafton
We’ve reached number 25 in the Kinsey Millhone alphabetically titled series and this time the story begins in the late 1970s, when four boys at an exclusive private school sexually assault a classmate. This is way before Youtube, but they film the proceedings. What happens next leads to murder and prison for three of the boys; the fourth disappears without trace. Skip 10 years on and the first member of the group is released from jail, only to become target of a blackmailer. Can Kinsey help, or is this case going to be the death of her? We reviewed the spin-off Kinsey and Me here. Out 24 August.
Pre-order now on Amazon
Lawless and the House of Electricity by William Sutton
Victorian London has a seething underbelly and all the intrigues of the British Empire in its pomp. It’s an irresistible historical setting for the third in a series featuring Scotsman Sergeant Campbell Lawless of Scotland Yard. A body has dropped off a ship in the East End docks. One clue points to the aristocratic House of Roxburgh. The Earl is in the weapons industry and with a series of explosions rocking the country Lawless sends his agent Molly in behind the Roxburgh facade to delve deeper into a mystery that threatens to engulf Europe in conflict. Out 22 August.
Pre-order now on Amazon
All the Wicked Girls by Chris Whitaker
Hertfordshire-based author Chris Whitaker follows up his critically acclaimed debut The Tall Oaks with All the Wicked Girls. Nothing exciting ever happens in Grace, Alabama. That is until Summer Ryan goes missing. She’s the towns bright young thing, a model student and a musical prodigy, while her sister Raine is nothing but trouble. Shaken by Summer’s disappearance, the town grows increasingly unstable. Meanwhile, Raine throws herself into the search alongside an unlikely ally. Out 24 August.
Pre-order now on Amazon
If I Die Tonight by AL Gaylin
A teenage boy leaves a message on Facebook – so far, so yawn-worthy. But this reads like a suicide note from a youngster who has reached his limits. What has led Wade Reed to this? He’s a loner, loved and cherished by his mother and brother but shunned by classmates. And when one of the most popular boys in the school is killed in a hit and run accident, all eyes turn to Wade. Did he do it? Expect red herrings and wrong turns galore before all the pieces fall into place in this psychological thriller from the author of the acclaimed What Remains of Me. Out 24 August.
Pre-order now on Amazon
Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic
This debut novel has been scooping multiple Australian crime writing prizes including the Ned Kelly Best First Fiction award. Melbourne-based Caleb Zelic rushes to help a childhood friend, Gary Marsden, but arrives too late and finds him brutally murdered. Caleb is profoundly deaf but he is adept at reading people. He runs a business security firm with his partner, an alcoholic ex-cop, Frank Reynolds. Caleb pledges to find the killer but the tails are soon turned and Caleb runs back to his childhood home town, Resurrection Bay. Released 24 Aug.
Pre-order on Amazon
Last Stop Tokyo by James Buckler
Alex Malloy is running away to Tokyo. His legal career is in tatters and he needs to escape to a new life. He plans to start over teaching English. His fresh start quickly sours when he gets entangled with the intriguing Naoko Yamamoto who has her own secrets to hide. Malloy might be burdened with shame but it can get worse. Much worse. He soon finds himself in deep trouble and touching upon the deadly Tokyo underworld. This debut from Buckler promises a thriller, fringed in noir, with an exotic Far Eastern backdrop. Out 24 August.
Pre-order on Amazon
