On the Radar — Yes, the latest book from English author Carol Wyer is here and it’s called The Missing Girls. Her first two have enthralled huge audiences as eBooks on Kindle and her detective DI Robyn Carter is finding her stride. There’s plenty more this week, though. The much anticipated new Department Q novel is here, in which we’ll find out more about Danish detective Carl Morck’s team in Copenhagen as they take on a variety of bizarre murder cases, plus we have the new release in the Millennium series featuring Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist…
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The Missing Girls by Carol Wyer
Staffordshire investigator DI Robyn Carter is back for her trickiest case yet. A drugs bust on a self-storage warehouse garners a result – but not the one the officers expected. Instead of unearthing a stash of the hard stuff, they find the body of a young woman hidden in a made-to-measure trunk. It’s the start of a hunt for a particularly evil serial killer, and when the investigation comes close to home, Robyn struggles to put personal feelings aside and catch the perpetrator. Out 14 September.
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The Scarred Woman by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Scandinavian crime fiction has been lit up by the novels of Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, whose Department Q series we have followed ever since it began in 2011 with Mercy. Entitled Selfies in Danish, like several of the previous novels more than one plotline is spun by the author and here we have three dole scrounging young women plotting various crimes including a robbery, a lady who works in the social services planning to murder dole scroungers, the case of an elderly lady with her head bashed in, and a cold case that Carl Mørck, Assad and Gordon are all working on. Meanwhile, their colleague Rose is receiving psychiatric treatment and on top of all that, all these various schemes and misfortunes seem somehow linked. Find out more on 19 September. The author is interviewed here.
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The Woman Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz
Last year, David Lagercrantz reintroduced us to Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series with The Girl in the Spider’s Web. His latest sees Lisbeth Salander in secure confinement in Flodberga prison – but she has a way out, thanks to her genius hacking skills. A detente has been found with journalist Mikael Blomkvist, who is still running Millennium magazine and he working on an expose. Salander points him towards a Stockholm stockbroker linked to the death of child psychologist at the institution Salander she was treated at when she was young. Out now.
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The Zealot’s Bones by DM Mark
Best known for his DS Aector McAvoy modern-day crime stories set in Hull, here David Mark becomes DM Mark and makes his first foray into historical crime fiction. Out on 21 September, the book takes us back to Mark’s usual setting but in the year 1859. The place is in the grips of a cholera epidemic, which is providing convenient cover for someone who is killing prostitutes. Enter Mesach Stone, an ex-soldier who works as a bodyguard for a wealthy Canadian traveller with an interest in some old bones buried in the Lincolnshire countryside which may have some religious purpose. But Mesach makes it his business to catch the killer in this historical crime thriller.
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Sherlock Holmes – The Cry of the Innocents by Cavan Scott
Calling all Holmes fans. On 19 September multi-talented author Cavan Scott’s Cry of the Innocents hits the shelves. Following a knock on the door at 221b Baker Street, a Catholic priest says the words ‘il corpe‘ then suddenly collapses dead. Holmes would do well to keep a wide perimeter, because the clergyman appears to have died of cholera, but soon another priest dies and the detective deduces that poison may have been the cause. The priests had been sent by the Vatican to verify a miracle – the still not rotten body of an 18th century slave trader. Out 19 September.
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The Cost of Living by Rachel Ward
Bea Jordan is a frustrated checkout girl in a local supermarket. She is determined to investigate when a young woman is attacked after leaving the shop. She finds help from the trainee, Ant, but her efforts could cost her dearly. Rachel Ward has a great pedigree and enjoyed success with her YA novels but this one is aimed squarely at the grown ups. As the compelling cover suggests it is still promising a cosy feel but there are hints of a darker edge in a contemporary story that is first in a new series. Released 21 September.
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The Concierge by Gerard Gilbert
We can look forward to something a little different as hedge fund managers and Middle East politics don’t make for the usual ingredients in a fast-paced thriller. London-based Max and Harry are on the trail of a stolen rare diamond at the behest of a billionaire. It is the type of artefact that doesn’t lose its value and is typical of their work. Soon, international terrorism is being stirred into the mix and we are promised pulse-pounding crime fiction with some unique twists. The book is out now and drawing comparisons with Terry Hayes’ I am Pilgrim for its geo-political scope and thrills.
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The Cryptic Crossword Caper by Russell Atkinson
We were once in awe of a book in which the game of bingo became an arena of death, so we are similarly smitten by the idea behind The Cryptic Crossword Caper. Self-published by Russell Atkinson, it’s a cosy mystery in which recently widowed Mags sets off to the Big Sur coast with her crosswords and mystery novels for her book club. She finds the body of a crossword writer and thus begins a mystery but before she can start filling in 11-down an FBI agent is in town searching for missing gems. As a reader, you’ll not only enjoy the written plotline, but a crossword, Sudoku and two cryptograms play a part, providing you with further clues. Out now.
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Bloody Scotland by Anderson, Brookmyre et al
The list of contributors for this selection of stories is a veritable Who’s Who of contemporary Scottish crime fiction. Lin Anderson, Chris Brookmyre, Val McDermid, Denise Mina, Louise Welsh, Stuart MacBride to name but six of the dozen stellar names. We can expect macabre tales themed around Scottish buildings and structures. The iconic Edinburgh Castle looms over the tourists in one dark tale and a story of murder in an Iron Age broch, a prehistoric stone tower found in the far north, provides the shadowy thrills in another. It has been released to coincide with the Bloody Scotland international crime writing festival running 8-10 September in Stirling.
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