There’s nothing like crime fiction involving a butler to take you back to the Golden Age, the inspiration for so many cosy crime novels. So we’ll start this week’s new books report with the latest from Cathy Ace, then migrate into psychological thrillers, detective crime fiction and perhaps even hopscotch over to some true crime about female murderers…
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The Case of the Bereaved Butler by Cathy Ace
The members of the WISE Agency are being pulled in different directions and will have to keep their wits about them in Cathy Ace’s The Case of the Bereaved Butler, out on 18 March. First, Mavis and the dowager Althea jump in to offer the services of the agency when the brother of the Duke of Chellingworth’s butler meets an untimely end. An accident… or murder? The man’s widow is convinced it is the latter – cue a tricky investigation. The same applies as Annie and Tudor look into a spate of thefts at the local pub, while Carol is soon digging into the past when a elderly rich businessman engages WISE to find the people who took him in as a wartime evacuee.
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Finding Sophie by Imran Mahmood
Your only child is missing – how far would you go to get her back? That’s the moral conundrum facing Harry and Zara when their 17-year-old daughter vanishes without a trace. The police are stumped and as the couple’s previously solid relationship begins to unravel it appears they can agree on only one thing. Their neighbour is acting mighty suspiciously, won’t open the door and refuses to answer questions. Looks like if they want the answers they seek, Harry and Zara may have to take matters into their own hands. Is that the right decision? Find our when the psychological thriller Finding Sophie by Imran Mahmood comes out 14 March.
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Blessed Water by Margot Douaihy
We first met crime fiction’s favourite (and probably only) punk nun sleuth in Scorched Grace, which we reviewed last year. Now Sister Holiday is back on the hunt for clues in New Orleans, helping former fire inspector Magnolia Riveaux in her new business enterprise, Redemption Detective Agency. They’re on the trail of a straying husband when they discover the body of a local priest in the swollen Mississippi River. Holiday is preparing to take her vows with the Sisters of the Sublime Blood and feels honour bound to find the priest’s killer – but is she about to get more than she bargained for? Blessed Water by Margot Douaihy arrives on 12 March.
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On the Run by Max Luther
Thriller fans should take note of 14 March – that’s when On the Run by Max Luther is published. Alex Drayce is a private bodyguard, in the US to protect a wealthy business who has received death threats. But Alex’s focus blurs when he’s offered a nice payoff for a week of easy work, helping Carlos Garcia to find his daughter, who has vanished in Las Vegas. That simple task soon turns into something much more dangerous, leaving Alex on the run from the police and a ruthless gang out for his blood. But they may be in for quite a shock, because Alex is a man with skills of his own…
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Dog’s Twilight by Roger Teichmann
The murky world of the opportunist blackmailer takes centre stage in Dog’s Twilight by Roger Teichmann, out on 12 March. No one is really sure why bestselling author Tessa Wainwright has returned to Oxford after so many years of living abroad. Vince, her agent and factotum doesn’t have a clue, but student Conrad Merrivale, who has a holiday job at the hotel where Tessa is staying, has worked out exactly why she is visiting. Merrivale has a drug habit and sees a way to fund it by demanding cash to keep quiet, setting in motion a chain of events that will eventually lead to violence and tragedy.
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Women Who Murder edited by Mitzi Szereto
A diverse group of international authors share an array of deadly true crime tales in the anthology Women Who Murder, edited by Mitzi Szereto and published for Kindle on 12 March, with the paperback version out on 12 April. The writers traverse the world and dip back into history to come up with stories that chillingly explore the darkest corners of human nature. They reveal disturbing histories of notorious women, from infamous black widow murderers to the spine-tingling stories of females who shocked the world with their sinister deeds, and dig deep to discover what made them commit such terrible crimes.
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