On the Radar — Lots of themes and different styles this week, with a creepy occult thriller, The Murder House and a fish mystery set in Hull. But let’s kick things off with a throwback espionage novel that’s set just before World War II. The cover of Nemesis by Rory Clements features a Statue of Liberty with a swastika on its crown and some would say that resonates with one or two things going on today. Maybe the book does as well?
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Nemesis by Rory Clements
We gave Nucleus, the previous book in the Tom Wilde series, five stars and it we already think that Nemesis is going to be a hit. After his dabbling at Cambridge, Wilde is in France with Europe on the cusp of war. He discovers that one of his students is in a concentration camp after fighting in the Spanish Civil War and works to get him out. Meanwhile, U boat activity is on the up and there’s a plot to kill a high ranking British official. If you love World War II intrigue and that sort of thing then mark 24 January in your diary this minute!
Pre-order now on Amazon
Cold Bones by David Mark
DS Aector McAvoy is back in a novel set at the heart of Hull’s tightly knit fishing community. The novel opens with one of David Mark‘s trademark off-kilter crime scenes. An elderly women is found frozen in her bathtub, victim of a particularly cold-hearted killer. McAvoy must investigate without the input of his boss and mentor Trish Pharoah, who has other fish to fry in Iceland and is keeping her investigation under her hat. How will these two cope without each other’s input? Best to expect the unexpected? Out 24 January.
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The Last by Hanna Jameson
After a nuclear explosion over Washington, historian Jon Keller finds himself marooned in an isolated Swiss hotel with 20 other guests. Keller is desperate to discover the fate of his wife and daughters, but soon he has something else to worry about. There’s a killer on the loose in the hotel and no one is safe. As Keller sets out to investigate, he has a dilemma to ponder – when the rule of law has all but disappeared, what will pass for justice? Out on 24 January for Kindle and as a hardback the following week.
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Slow Motion Ghosts by Jeff Noon
Jeff Noon has written very successfully in science fiction and other genres, and now brings his skills and inventiveness to crime. Slow Motion Ghosts is set in London and the year is 1981. With the Brixton riots testing his colleagues, DI Henry Hobbes is shaken by a brutal murder. His trail to track the killer will take him into a bizarre subculture, tinged by the occult, and into a twisted reality he never knew existed. In fact, it’s a case that will challenge everything he hold sacred. Out 24 January.
Pre-order now on Amazon
The Woman in the Dark by Vanessa Savage
Would you contemplate living a property dubbed The Murder House by in-the-know locals? Well, this is crime fiction so of course you would! When Sarah and Patrick move into the beachside house he grew up in, they’re filled with optimism for the future. But this is The Murder House so things aren’t going to be so trouble-free. Soon Sarah has the feeling she’s being watched and their children are being plagued with nightmares. Meanwhile, Patrick is suffering a worrying change of personality… Out today.
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Terminal Breach by Steve Bradshaw
Indie author Steve Bradshaw released his international thriller Terminal Breach in August, and has now made it available as an audiobook with narration by Holly Palance. The tension is dialled up straight away when an infiltrator called Grey Wolf gains control of a nuclear missile silo in North Dakota. The US president’s only option is to obliterate the Midwest arsenal but this could kill millions. Meanwhile, a serial killer operating in Florida could point to the identity of the infiltrator, Grey Wolf. Can forensic investigator Dr Elliott Sumner unlock the case and save the president’s bacon?
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