It’s been five years since we last saw Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, but at last Texan author Joe R Lansdale is back with his unique blend of grit and whimsy. We reckon the series will have gained fans since it was adapted for television, so you might want to tune in. We’ve also got a creepy thriller from Chris Whitaker, forensic investigations with AK Turner, edgy pulp with Rio Youers and a new paperback from Martine Bailey.
Read on and choose your next novel.
Sugar on the Bones by Joe R Lansdale
The 13th book in Joe R Lonsdale’s popular Hap and Leonard series arrives on 16 July, with the pair of private investigators taking a deep dive into the untimely death of a woman whose family had plenty to gain from her passing. Minnie Polson was a client who had dismissed Hap and Leonard just before she perished in a fire, and now the duo feels somehow responsible. It only makes them all the more determined to get to the bottom of things, but as they look closer they begin to dredge up questions about the relatives Minnie left behind. Did Minnie’s family really have it in them to commit a crime this grisly? Or is there a larger, far more sinister scheme at work?
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All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
Missing teenagers, star-crossed love, a serial killer… Chris Whitaker‘s new standalone novel has all of these things. Out on 16 July, All the Colours of the Dark is set in Monta Clare, a small American town rocked to its core when popular local teenager Joseph ‘Patch’ Macauley is abducted. His best friend Saint Brown is determined to find Patch, no matter what the cost. But be careful what you wish for, because when Patch is eventually released from the pitch dark room where he was imprisoned, he is a changed person – obsessed with Grace, the young woman who he says was being held captive with him. There’s no evidence she ever existed, but as Patch embarks on a quest to find her, Saint is shadowing his every move.
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Dead Fall by AK Turner
It’s outing number four for mortuary technician Cassie Raven, a woman with a singular talent – she talks to the ‘guests’ she encounters at Camden Mortuary… and sometimes they talk back. In Dead Fall by AK Turner, published on 18 July, Cassie is shocked to find the body of Bronte, a talented singer on the brink of stardom, in her morgue. They were at school together, and although they weren’t friends Cassie’s instincts are telling her that Bronte didn’t jump from her 10th floor apartment, she was pushed. As social media’s keyboard detectives type themselves into a frenzy, the only person willing to listen to Cassie’s theories is Phyllida Flyte, now working for the police watchdog. Can the pair get to the bottom of this before the killer strikes again?
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Sharp Scratch by Martine Bailey
Sharp Scratch by Martine Bailey is out as a paperback on 18 July and is set in 1983 in Salford, where Lorraine Quick is personnel manager at Memorial Hospital. She is trained in the new science of psychometric testing, and when a general manager post is about to be filled, her skills are called upon to pinpoint the most suitable candidate for the job. Or not – because Lorraine’s profiling reveals some disturbing results. Then two suspicious deaths occur in quick succession at the hospital. Could a killer be on the loose in the corridors? Her colleagues are unconvinced, but maybe Lorraine’s personality tests could lead to a stone cold murderer…
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The Bang-Bang Sisters by Rio Youers
The Bang-Bang Sisters are Brea, Jessie and Flo, a killer rock band with an unbreakable bond. But on the quiet, they also act as vigilantes, traveling the country in their beaten-up tour van and making criminals who have slipped through the system face the music. In Reedsville, Alabama, they close the net on a notorious serial killer known as ‘The Wren’. But this time, it’s a trap set by Chance Kotter, a ruthless mobster with a personal axe to grind. In the next 48 hours the sisters’ loyalty will be put to the test… and it’s likely that only one of them will survive. Rio Youers’ pulpy, thrilling and fun novel will be available digitally on 16 July.
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org