On the Radar — Whether it’s racism in the South (or anywhere else for that matter), women’s rights or wrongful convictions and cover-ups, crime fiction authors are often at the front of the queue when it comes to highlighting contentious social issues. This week, two of our new releases are right there on the front line, picking away at injustice – Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke, and the true crime novelisation of Unbelievable, soon to appear on Netflix. There’s dark dealings in North Devon in Ann Cleeves’ latest, a creepy serial killer in Germany and a fascinating reprint of an old Maigret novel for you to check out as well…
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Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke
If you loved the award-winning Bluebird, Bluebird (reviewed here) then you’ll be thrilled to hear its sequel is out on 12 September. A nine-year-old boy has gone missing in a tiny Texan lakeside town that seems trapped in a political time warp. Texas Ranger Darren Matthews must battle his way through a mire of small town prejudices, suspicions and sheer pig-headedness if he’s to find little Levi King. As crimes of both past and present collide, Matthews also has personal demons to face in the aftermath of what occurred in Bluebird, Bluebird. A tempting and timely thriller set in Trump’s America.
Pre-order now on Amazon
Unbelievable by T Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong
The #MeToo movement has been smashing down the barriers that prevented some women from speaking up about sexual crimes against them, and on 13 September a series is due to hit Netflix that chimes completely with the #MeToo sentiment. Back in 2008, an 18-year-old woman called Marie reported a rape to Colorado police. Inconsistencies in her story led to her being branded a liar, and even charged with wasting police time. Two years later, a similar rape occurred and this in this true crime adaptation you’ll see how detectives eventually vindicated Marie’s story… but not before the serial rapist claimed other victims. The book arrives in the UK on 3 Sept and you can order using the link below.
Pre-order now on Amazon
The Long Call by Ann Cleeves
We may have said farewell to Jimmy Perez, and the Shetland series, in Wild Fire, but Ann Cleeves is not a woman to rest on her laurels. Enter her new creation detective Matthew Venn and a dramatic new setting – the Two Rivers region of North Devon. Venn is a local, and he’s home to attend his father’s funeral. But he also has a new job, and the dust hasn’t had time to settle on his shiny desk before he’s knee deep in a murder investigation when the body of a tattooed man is found on the beach, stabbed to death. Venn may have ties with the area, but it’s soon clear he and his investigation are not welcome. Out 3 September.
Pre-order now on Amazon
The Alphabet Murders by Lars Schutz
Advertising copywriter and debut author Lars Schultz has come up with an intriguing premise for this serial killer thriller, set in Germany and out now. Someone is murdering people and tattooing their skin with letters of the alphabet. It’s up to criminal profilers Jan Grall and Rabea Wyler to find a way of catching the perpetrator, but the pressure mounts when they receive a mysterious package containing a blood-encrusted scrap of skin marked with another letter. And then Grall’s hotel room is marked with a Z… For more crime featuring body art, try Alison Belsham’s The Tattoo Thief.
Buy now on Amazon
Maigret and the Wine Merchant by Georges Simenon
It all started with Pietr the Latvian and now, nearly six years later, Penguin Classics has reached book 71 on its mission to republish each of Georges Simenon’s 75 Maigret novels. Here, a wealthy victualler is shot and killed in Paris, and it turns out the man might have had a line of people out to kill him longer than the queue at his door on a Saturday afternoon. Family, colleagues, lovers… There are four more books to go in the series, the last going on sale in January 2020. You can take a photographic tour of Maigret’s Paris here. Maigret and the Wine Merchant is out 5 September.
Buy now on Amazon
