There is never a dull moment in crime fiction – join us as we look forward to the latest mystery, thriller and noir releases in August starting with Erin Flanagan’s Come with Me. There are killer bees, a perplexing missing persons case, a sinister religious commune and, well, another perplexing missing persons case. Long-buried, dark secrets are always the best kind, don’t you think?
Come with Me by Erin Flanagan
The Edgar Award-winning author of Deer Season, Erin Flanagan, returns on 22 August with Come with Me, a suspense-packed standalone crime novel. Widowed single mother Gwen Maner returns to her Ohio hometown with her daughter and soon begins to settle in, thanks to old friend Nicola Kimmel. It is Nicola who finds Gwen a lucrative job, manages to rent a house for Gwen on her street, and who wins the heart of Gwen’s daughter. The act of a true friend? Maybe. As their lives become more entwined, Gwen begins to think that Nicola isn’t helping at all, but vying take over every aspect of her life. And the consequences may be deadly…
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Bee Conspiracy by David Boito
Expect a buzz when David Boito’s thriller comes out on 18 August. Bee Conspiracy could be set to put you off the humble bumble, featuring as it does an LAPD cop and a Special Agent for US Fish and Wildlife working together on a case that involves a swarm of weaponised insects. Detective “Duke” Wayne is stuck on admin leave from the LAPD Robbery-Homicide division when he’s asked to compile a Field Investigation Report on an accidental death from bee stings. But Kelso Bagley, a Special Agent with the Fish and Wildlife Service suspects premeditated murder – and as the pair work the case together, they’re about to uncover a much larger conspiracy at play.
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The Returned by Amanda Cassidy
Irish journalist and former Sky News reporter Amanda Cassidy was shortlisted for the John Creasy Debut Dagger for her first book, Breaking. Now she’s back with another slice of domestic noir, The Return – out on 24 August and set in Ireland. Nancy refuses to believe her son died in a house fire six years ago. She ran back to get him, but claimed his cot was empty. After all this time, she thinks she sees him at a playground, alive and well. Heavily pregnant Detective Ally Fields returns to the town she grew up in to investigate a fire at an apartment block. Why then is it leading her back to a cold case fire from six years ago in which Nancy Wills’ child died? As Ally tries to piece together the truth, her own childhood memories refuse to stay laid to rest.
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Tender Things Shall Die by Stephen Edward Reid
Historical crime fans should put 25 August in the diary – that’s when Stephen Edward Reid’s Tender Things Must Die is published. It’s 1865, and Arman Shaw lives alone on the outskirts of a small religious village near London. He lives a solitary life and hasn’t seen another soul since the death of his wife, 441 days ago. Arman longs to return to the congregation, but every day spent in isolation makes it harder to go back. That changes with the arrival of Violet Walker on his doorstep. Her husband, an old friend of Arman’s, has been murdered and the local congregation wants to execute the man responsible. But Violet wants the murderer to have a trial – and she wants Arman to defend him.
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Don’t Look Away by Rachel Abbott
Book four in Rachel Abbott‘s series featuring DS Stephanie King finds the officer embroiled in a mystery that hasn’t been solved in more than a decade. It was 11 years ago when Nancy Holland’s sister disappeared on a family holiday in Cornwall. Lola hasn’t been seen since, and Nancy has never returned – until now. She’s been drawn back to the seaside village and to the cottage where young Lola was last seen. But when a skeleton is discovered, is Nancy really ready to unearth long-buried secrets? And is her digging into the past about to put her in danger too? Don’t Look Away is out now.
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