On the Radar — It’s thriller time! As we head towards the summer holidays, this week’s books offer all kinds of holiday thrills. We’ll start off with James Henry’s 80s throwback police procedural Yellowhammer, set in the golden fields of Essex. We’ll jet over to LA where Nicolas Obregon continues the story of his Japanese detective, Iwata. And New York, Guatemala and Bora Bora – yes, you read that right, Bora Bora – are also on the itinerary with blood, death and mystery being flung far and wide by authors like JP Delaney, Tom Wood and debutante Catherine Steadman.
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Yellowhammer by James Henry
Old-style policing is brought back to life in James Henry’s second Essex-based police procedural, set in the 1980s. Two bodies are found at a remote farm, one is eminent historian Christopher Cliff, while the identity of the second is a mystery. DI Nick Lowry is under pressure to solve the case, with the investigation complicated by the fact Cliff was an old pal of the chief constable. As the July temperatures rise, Lowry has his work cut out to keep his team on point and get to the bottom of it all. Out 26 July.
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Sins as Scarlet by Nicolas Obregon
Nicolas Obregon’s outstanding debut, Blue Light Yokohama, introduced us to Inspector Kosuke Iwata, a homicide detective in Tokyo. Now Iwata has left behind family and dark secrets and he’s scratching out a meagre existence as a private detective in Los Angeles. He gets pulled into investigating the death of Meredith Nichol, a transgender woman and his wife’s sister, who was strangled. But this was no hate crime. Iwata is soon digging into corruption and murder as he searches for his own redemption in the detritus of LA in a pitch noir psychological thriller. Out 26 July
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Believe Me by JP Delaney
Last year, JP Delaney brought us the stylish thriller The Girl Before, and the author is back with another psychological novel in time for the summer holidays. Claire is a young English drama student in New York trying to make herself a career. She ends up working for a firm of divorce lawyers playing the role of single, available woman. She’s the honey in a trap for wandering husbands who are inclined towards cheating on their wives. Then one of the marks, Patrick Fogler, becomes a murder suspect and the police ask her to lure him into a confession. Entrapment doesn’t sit comfortably and soon Claire is doubting everyone. Who does she believe? A psychological thriller that twists and switches and is out 26 July.
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Kill for Me by Tom Wood
After their crime boss father dies, two sisters vie for control of the family business in Guatemala City in this thriller that’s out on 26 July. For the past two years the bodies have piled up and the US Drug Enforcement Agency seems powerless to stop the fighting. Now one sister has a weapon that could win the war – a cold, amoral killer-for-hire known as Victor. He’s previously worked for the CIA and MI6, but this time Victor’s skills may not be enough to put an end to a family feud that’s spiralling dangerously out of control.
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Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman
Downton Abbey actress Steadman makes her writing debut with this thriller that has already been optioned by Reese Witherspoon’s production company. Documentary maker Erin is heading for her big break, while Mark is riding high as an investment banker. The pair are about to marry when Mark lose his job, but they put their worries aside to book their dream honeymoon and head off to Bora Bora. It’s a taste of paradise – until they go scuba diving and find something in the water… Out for Kindle, and in print on 26 July.
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A Taste of Shotgun by Chris Orlet
Denis Carroll, owner of The Brass Lantern, gunned down a robber five years ago but his brother, Vince, took the rap. They didn’t count on the police finding a stash of marijuana and Vince ended up behind bars. The Goodwin brothers, with their own psychotic leanings, supplied the weed but with their niece planning a revenge killing that she hopes to pin on Denis it’s all kicking off. Small town American noir from the imprint All Due Respect, now taken on by Down & Out with plans for plenty more low-life lit. Out 20 July.
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Flight of the Fox by Grey Basnight
Indie publisher Down & Out is set to release an action thriller that sounds a bit like a cross between classic Harlan Coben and Michael Crichton. When mathematics professor Sam Teagarden uncovers a decades-old government conspiracy, he’s soon being hunted down by both mini-drones and living, breathing, deadly hitmen. His flight takes him from New York to Washington and on to Key West as he fights to stay alive and blow the lid on what could be the biggest deception of the 20th Century. It’s out 23 July.
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Signature Killers by Robert D Keppel and William J Birnes
Reprinted with people who enjoyed Mindhunter in mind, Signature Killers is part of Penguin’s Trust Crime Classics series. In it, authors Robert D Keppel and William J Barnes analyse cases such as the Lovely Heart Killer, the Midtown Torso Murders and the killing sprees carried out by the likes of Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy looking for patterns and evidence of their sadistic compulsions. Criminologist Keppel has worked on over 2,000 murder cases, and has worked here with writer Birnes to put some of these stories together. Out 26 July.
Pre-order now on Amazon
