On the Radar — This week our new crime books column sees the return of Carol Wyer with a new book in her Natalie Ward series, and it’s one for lovers of domestic noir. We’ve also got ex-cops, espionage, organised crime and the refugee crisis in the mix. Don’t you love the way crime fiction authors come at the topic from so many different angles? Read on and pick your next crime read…
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The Sleepover by Carol Wyer
Sleepover. A word to strike dread into the heart of any parent. But instead of manic teenagers and midnight feasts, things are about to take a fatal turn for two families in Carol Wyer’s latest DI Natalie Ward novel, out 5 September. When 14-year-old Roxy tells her mum says she’s going for a sleepover at her best friend Ellie’s house there’s no reason for alarm bells to ring. The two families are neighbours and the girls are in and out of each other’s homes every day. But Roxy was lying, and soon she’s lying dead. As Ward investigates she begins to see cracks in the family Roxy left behind. Then Roxy’s mum goes missing too… Here’s our review of The Birthday, the first in the Natalie Ward series.
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Endgame by Daniel Cole
Locked-room mysteries are often dismissed as old hat, but we’ll wager that in the hands of Ragdoll creator Daniel Cole the trope is about to get a lethal new twist. William ‘Wolfe’ Fawkes has been drummed out of the police force in disgrace, so why should anyone take a blind bit of notice when he says the supposed death by suicide of his former colleague Finlay Shaw needs a more thorough investigation. Shaw was found dead in a locked room, after all, but Wolf’s instincts tell him something is amiss and he teams up with his former partner, Detective Emily Baxter, and private investigator Baxter to get to the bottom of things. But is Wolf ready for what he is about to discover? Out on 5 September
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The Silent War by Andreas Norman
Espionage was simple, back in the day, wasn’t it? It was the Russians versus everyone, right? Swedish crime author Andreas Norman here puts MI6 up against his own country’s intelligence. Agent Bente Jensen receives evidence that MI6 agent Jonathan Green was part of a cell that tortured and killed prisoners in Syria. It’s not just Green who wants to stop this getting out, but MI6 itself and as they try to discredit her they start to discover the flaws in their own agents. What’s more, Green and Jensen have a shared past… Don’t they always? It’s out 5 September.
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Blood on the Water by Jack Flynn
Two stories intertwine here in this Boston-based gangland thriller. Firstly there’s that of Homeland Security agent Kit Steel, whose husband and son were murdered by mob boss Vincente Carpio… or one of his associates. Then there’s Cormack McConnell, chief of the Harbour Union and no stranger to operating at the edge of the law. Someone’s out to get the guy, but who, and why? Is it his darling daughter’s boyfriend, Buddy Cavanaugh? Or has he crossed the Carpios, or someone even deadlier? Find out on 5 September.
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No Place of Refuge by Ausma Zehanat Khan
The Syrian refugee crisis is brought close to home for Inspector Esa Khattak and Sergeant Rachel Getty when NGO worker Audrey Clare, sister of Khattak’s childhood friend, goes missing. After a French Interpol agent and a young Syrian man are found dead at the Greek refugee camp where Audrey worked, Khattak and Getty set off to trace Audrey’s last movements in the hope of finding her. The more they dig, the more they realise Audrey was working well outside of her remit, and had been on the verge of exposing a dangerous secret at the heart of the refugee crisis. Had what she discovered put her in the firing line? This is book four in the Khattak and Getty series and is out now, read our review of book two, The Language of Secrets, here.
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