On the Radar — This week our new books column brings you five new ways to get your crime fiction mojo going. Starting off in Sweden we have the first of two Nordic noir thrillers, plus two contemporary American authors and some historical crime fiction set in Ancient Greece. Don’t get turned to stone by a snake-haired goddess, read some crime fiction…
Three Hours by Roslund & Hellstrom
Following on from Three Seconds and Three Minutes, Three Hours sees Swedish detective Ewert Grens dealing with an horrendous case of human trafficking which has left over 70 people dead on a container ship. Grens travels to Nigeria – he needs to try and get Piet Hoffmann, who has infiltrated a people trafficking ring, to help him solve the case. But Hoffmann is in too deep and soon realises he has three hours to extricate himself or the consequences could be catastrophic, not just for him, but for hundreds of other people caught up in the traffickers’ violent game. This new Nordic noir thriller is out 13 Aug. We’ve previously reviewed the authors’ Two Soldiers.
Pre-order now on Amazon
Miami Midnight by Alex Segura
This is the fifth and final chapter in the Pete Fernandez mystery series and a year has passed since Pete cheated death in Blackout. He’s finally getting life back on an even keel, running his little bookshop by day, working his private investigator gig at night. Pete has even managed to turn his back on the booze and has a promising romantic relationship, so he is none too keen when an elderly Cuban mobster asks him to investigate who killed the made man’s drug addict jazz pianist son and to find the missing daughter-in-law. But the deeper he digs, the more Pete believes this case and his own near-death experience could be linked. Out on 13 August. Read our guide to the best of American noir.
Pre-order now on Amazon
The Medousa Murders by Alexander Arrowsmith
Looking for a crime novel set in Ancient Greece? Look no further, because Alexander Arrowsmith’s sequel to The Athens Atrocities is out now. Still recovering from the murders of his wife and daughter in Athens, former general Polydektos is trying to live a quiet life away from the city. But the arrival of a Spartan ambassador and his family in Athens for peace talks instead leads to murder by none other than Medousa herself – and prompts a summons to the capital for Polydektos. It’s from Pericles, and the leader of Athens is not to a man who takes kindly to being ignored. You’ll find more Greek intrigue in Gavin Scott’s The Age of Olympus.
Buy now on Amazon
Cage by Lilja Sigurdardottir
Snare and Trap by Icelandic author Lilja Siguradardottir are followed up on 17 August by Cage, the dark and violent story of how single mother Sonja Gunnarsdottir is exploited by international drug barons, and tries to get her revenge on them. Just like The Godfather, they’ve pulled her right back in and, with her son under threat, she returns to London to try and deal with the kingpin Ingimar, along with one or two other adversaries. Meanwhile, Sonja’s lover Agla has been released from prison for financial crimes but it looks like she might be stepping straight back into her fraudulent ways. Money, drugs, drugs, money, with love from crime-free Reykjavik…
Pre-order now on Amazon
City of Windows by Robert Pobi
Just when you think we’ve run the gamut of detectives with an odd quirk or two, along comes Robert Pobi with Lucas Page in tow. Page is a physics professor, former child prodigy and ex-FBI agent. He’s wired differently to the rest of us and sees things – quite literally – from a different angle. So when his former FBI partner is gunned down in a moving car on a busy New York street in the midst of a blizzard, Page is earmarked as the man to solve the crime. But is he willing to put himself into the firing line again? Out 6 August. Read our interview with Robert Pobi here.
Pre-order now on Amazon
