On the Radar — Finally, crime fiction readers have the chance to find out what the new crime writing talent Emma Healey did next. Four years since her innovative and award-winning book Elizabeth is Missing, the author brings us Whistle in the Dark. That’s our starting point for this week’s new books, and we’ve also got murder on a submarine, murder at a writers’ retreat, murder in the Grand Raj Palace, and a North Korean kidnapping case. Wow! Read on…

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Whistle in the Dark by Emma Healey
Her debut, Elizabeth is Missing, was one of our top books of 2014 and also won the Costa First Novel Award that year. Now at last Emma Healey is back with another standalone, out 3 May. 15-year-old Lana goes missing for four days, then is found, but she refuses to say what happened and the police are stumped too. Lana’s mother Jen tries her best to get things back to normal, but Lana is acting strangely, refusing to go to school and sleeping with the light on. Jen feels like she has a stranger in her house – how can she discover what happened in those four lost days and get her daughter back?
Pre-order now on Amazon

The Retreat by Mark Edwards
It’s been two years since Julie lost both her daughter and husband in a tragic accident in the river near her home. Little Lily’s body was never found, and Julia clings on to the hope that her child is still alive. Broke and desperate to make some cash, she decides to open her home as a writers’ retreat, but writers have overactive imaginations and one in particular, a horror writer called Lucas, becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to Lily. Cue some strange goings on at the retreat, as Julia and Lucas combine forces to get to the bottom of the mystery. Out 10 May.
Pre-order now on Amazon

Star of the North by DB John
Last week we brought you news of The Good Son, a new novel from South Korea. This week, author DB John is set to take us behind the bamboo curtain with a thriller set in the rogue state of North Korea. It opens in 1998, when a young girl goes missing from a South Korean island. Two decades later, the girl’s twin sister Jenna sets off on a mission to infiltrate North Korea and find her. Along the way there’s a look at how some people have to risk their lives just to get by in this totalitarian state. Out 10 May.
Pre-order now on Amazon

Murder at the Grand Raj Palace by Vaseem Khan
Inspector Ashwin Chopra (retired) and his trusty betrunked sidekick, baby elephant Ganesha, are back in a tale that will tax all of their combined powers of deduction. An American billionaire apparently commits suicide in the swanky Grand Raj Palace hotel. The venue is about to host a huge and prestigious wedding and wants things sorted quickly – but then Chopra makes a discovery that makes him think the death was foul play. He moves into the hotel to investigate and of course his wife Poppy insists she must come along too. This quirky, cosy crime novel is out 3 May. We interviewed author Vaseem Khan here.
Pre-order now on Amazon

Pressure by Betsy Reavley
The latest novel from Betsy Reavley arrives on 4 May and it sounds like it could be… claustrophobic. In fact, it’s a bit like Agatha Christie on a submarine. The North Sea research vessel has been taken over by a film crew, working on director Frank Holden latest opus. Trouble strikes when the engines go down and the sub sinks to the bottom of the ocean. The backup oxygen systems kick in and the crew go to work fixing it, but things get even worse when one of the actors is found stabbed in the throat. Gradually it’s revealed that most of the people on board have high opinions of themselves and, more importantly, possible motives. Will the murderer be identified and will anyone escape alive?
Pre-order now on Amazon

The House Swap by Rebecca Fleet
Like any domestic noir it all starts in such humdrum normality. Caroline and her husband Francis take advantage of a house swap to escape their city flat for the pleasant London suburbs. She had an affair with a colleague, Carl, back in 2013 and they want to try and rekindle their marriage. The house is cold and stark but then Caroline picks up on small personal details. It’s clear the owner isn’t a stranger to her. And that person is now in her own home. Fleet’s debut novel is a family drama and psychological thriller with an eerie edge.
Pre-order now on Amazon

The Underneath by Melanie Finn
Kay is spending the summer with her family in a rented farmhouse in Vermont but soon she can’t let go of the idea that a terrible fate has befallen the owners. Her husband is called away and she is left with the kids and her traumatic memories of her time in Africa. There is also the lingering stress of her difficult marriage and her investigations lead her to a local, Ben, who has a history chequered with violence. Before long, their lives are entangled and we are promised a thoughtful thriller that digs into the nature of violence. Out 3 May.
Pre-order now on Amazon

Blackout by Alex Segura
The sunny streets of Miami beckon for this dark dose of modern noir. Pete Fernandez is an exiled PI in the Magic City and he picks up on a cold case when some new evidence emerges. He’s partnered up with Kathy Bentley and their investigation leads them to one of Miami’s charismatic cult leaders. As well as riling up the cult’s dangerous followers they soon spark up some conflict with a local politician that will put their lives in danger. Fernandez has an old-school self-destructive alcoholic streak but we’re offered a fresh take in the fourth book in the series. Released 9 May.
Pre-order now on Amazon

Read about last week’s new books here.