That’s the thing with fictional serial killers, isn’t it? They want to apply their own strange notion of order on the world, and their victims are collateral damage – a necessary sacrifice, if you will – as they apply that vision. That seems to be very much the case with MW Craven’s latest, The Curator, which is one of our new releases this week. Whereas lots of writers like to base their books in London or New York, Craven chooses unfashionable Cumbria in the North of England – just as gloomy but offering a change of scenery. There’s always choice here in On the Radar, though, so if Cumbria’s not your bag then you can step back into the past, into a dystopian city or into a claustrophobic holiday home on an idyllic island. Which every seasoned crime fiction lover knows is to be strenuously avoided…
The Curator by MW Craven
Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw work for the National Crime Agency, and make their return in MW Craven’s popular series set in Cumbria. It’s Christmastime and a serial killer is leaving bodies here and there along with a strange hashtag at each crime scene: #BSC6. Although they have a suspect early on, this is a confusing case for Poe and Bradshaw because the person in question is denying things they obviously did and admitting things they obviously didn’t. More than that, some of the victims were anaesthetised and some weren’t. When an FBI agent gets in touch, things take a dark turn and they discover that they’re up against… The Curator! It’s out 4 June. We’ve previously reviewed Black Summer.
Pre-order now on Amazon
The Sun Casts No Shadow by Mark Richardson
Take a step to the left, exiting the reality you know and don’t particularly love, and enter the dystopian realm of author Mark Richardson when The Sun Casts No Shadow is released on 1 June. It’s the story of Wellington Thorneycroft who is beckoned by a nymph called Lilith to escape the city he lives in. He drinks and takes pills, so can’t be sure she’s real, but soon Lilith is suggesting that Thorneycroft take a job for Felix, something of a kingpin in the city and soon he’s stealing a blueprint for the city itself. A blueprint that could help him and Lilith escape… But his enemies have other ideas.
Buy now on Amazon
The Blues Don’t Care by Paul D Marks
Now, take a step back in time with award-winning crime writer Paul D Marks in a new release that arrives on 1 June. The Blues Don’t Care is an historical mystery set in Los Angeles in the midst of World War II and it oozes authenticity with the added attraction of some hot jazz. Bobby Saxon dreams of being the only white musician in an otherwise all-black swing orchestra performing at Club Alabam. To win a permanent spot in the band, he is press ganged into helping solve a murder a fellow band member is accused of committing. And Bobby is hiding a personal secret too…
Pre-order now on Amazon
Gone to Darkness by Barbara Nickless
Iraqi war vet and former railway cop Sydney Parnell is back on 2 June in Gone to Darkness, book four of this popular series by Barbara Nickless. She’s now the youngest homicide detective in Denver’s Major Crimes Unit, working alongside her K9 partner Clyde and old nemesis Len Bandoni, who is reluctantly acting as her mentor. It’s a team built on shaky foundations, but when faced with investigating the murder of a man tortured and beaten, then left in a refrigerated train car with cryptic messages carved into his body, it’s time for Parnell and Bandoni to form an unlikely alliance.
Pre-order now on Amazon
The House on Fripp Island by Rebecca Kauffman
Fripp Island in South Carolina sounds like the perfect holiday destination, and the well-to-do Daly family – Lisa, Scott, and their two daughters – are looking forward to spending their summer there. Lisa invites old friend Poppy and her family to come along too – what could be better? But what should be a laid-back, happy and convivial vacation begins to fall apart as past secrets set the adults against each other. Meanwhile, their children gradually forge a bond of their own. And out on the clear blue horizon, something dreadful is lurking… The House on Fripp Island, a compelling slice of domestic noir by Rebecca Kauffman, is out on 4 June.
Pre-order now on Amazon