It’s the middle of summer and while it’s hard for many of us to have a holiday at the moment, at least there is some hot crime fiction out there to keep our minds engaged. The lead book in this week’s On the Radar column is one that brings together cold, pallid flesh, a dark mystery and some even darker humour – The Big Chill by Doug Johnstone. We’ve also got brutally twisted thrillers by Catherine Ryan Howard, Simon Lelic and DA Mishani, plus a very popular domestic noir novel by Jeneva Rose. It’s time to discover your next crime read here on Crime Fiction Lover…
The Big Chill by Doug Johnstone
A Dark Matter, the first book in this Edinburgh-based series featuring a family of undertakers who are also private eyes, came out at the start of the year and earned a five star review on this site. Now the Skelf women are back for another instalment. Embalming and investigation collide in dramatic fashion when a car crashes into the open grave at a funeral that matriarch Dorothy is conducting, and she can’t resist the urge to learn more about the dead driver. It’s a move destined to take her to some dark places indeed. Meanwhile, her daughter and granddaughter are making decisions that could lead to even more strife in Douglas Johnstone’s darkly comic and hugely original take on the classic PI novel. The Kindle edition is out now, the paperback on 20 August.
Buy now on Amazon
The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard
Crime fiction meets true crime in this psychological thriller that’s out now. Two decades ago, Eva Black was the only member of her family to escape the twisted clutches of a killer called the Nothing Man, who was never brought to justice. Now she’s decided to tell her story, and her true crime memoir is a best-seller. But one reader has a vested interest in the book and the further he reads, the angrier he becomes. Because supermarket security guard Jim Doyle was – is – the Nothing Man, and the more pages he turns, the more he realises how dangerously close Eve is to finding him. It’s time for the Nothing Man to strike again.
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The Search Party by Simon Lelic
In a coastal town, 16-year-old Sadie Saunders is missing and a search party is out looking for her. Not the coast guard. Not neighbourhood watch. Not a police detail. While the authorities are indeed searching for the missing girl, her friends think they’re looking in the wrong places and head into the woods to find her in their own search party. But each of the five takes a secret into the woods with them and not all of them will come out unscathed… Simon Lelic’s brand new thriller featuring DI Fleet lands on 20 August.
Pre-order now on Amazon
Three by DA Mishani
DA Mishani is an Israeli author specialising in detective and literary crime fiction. Originally published in Hebrew, Three tells the story of three women – divorced single mother Orna; Latvian Emilia who is on a spiritual quest; and mother of three Ella, who is also a scholar. They all cross paths with a man called Gil. While they aren’t entirely truthful with him, each is played into a trap in this clever psychological thriller. The translation arrives on 18 August. In 2013, we reviewed the author’s book The Missing File.
Pre-order now on Amazon
The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose
When a book is called The Perfect Marriage, you just know the partnership featured within its covers is going to be anything but, don’t you? Prepare yourself for a tasty slice of domestic noir from the pen of Jeneva Rose, out now. Lawyer Sarah Morgan is at the top of her game, a partner at 33 in her Washington, DC, law firm. In contrast her writer husband Adam is struggling, and the fact that his wife is constantly working isn’t helping their relationship either. So Adam has an affair – and when his mistress is found dead in the couple’s second home he is arrested for her murder. His only hope is that Sarah will act in his defence, but would YOU support the man who let you down so badly?
Buy now on Amazon
