Edinburgh’s man in black, Ian Rankin, is such a legend that he’s been invited to the launch of The Cure’s new album. We hope Robert Smith is reading because as he puts the finishing notes to the band’s 14th LP, Ian Rankin is about to release book 24 in his John Rebus series and the musician might just want to bag himself an early review copy in the process. Game recognise game, right?
The new Rebus book heads up our weekly crime fiction report this week, but we’ve also got some splendid alternatives by authors including John Banville, Cathy Ace, Zelly Ruskin and Nick Triplow.
Midnight and Blue by Ian Rankin
Ah John Rebus… how the mighty have fallen! Midnight and Blue, out on 10 October, is number 24 in Ian Rankin’s series and we find our former copper getting his comeuppance in prison. Rebus is going slowly mad in there, until a murder at midnight in a locked cell presents a new mystery. They say old habits die hard… and our man has never been one to shy away from a conundrum. But he has no badge, no authority at all and no safety net – and with prisoners and their jailers all prime suspects, he has nowhere to turn to either. How is this one going to pan out?
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The Drowned by John Banville
Let’s head to the rural coast of Ireland in the 1950s for Booker Prize-winner John Banville‘s The Drowned, which washes up on 10 October. A loner finds an empty car abandoned in a field, and the discovery kicks off a baffling missing person’s case for DI Strafford, drafted in from Dublin. Is a husband right in claiming that his wife has jumped into the sea? Working with flawed but brilliant pathologist Quirk, Strafford is determined to get to the truth of the matter, but events from the past threaten to derail his investigation.
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The Corpse With the Pearly Smile by Cathy Ace
Cathy Ace’s 14th Cait Morgan mystery arrives on 7 October, and The Corpse with the Pearly Smile finds the Welsh Canadian criminal psychologist in paradise. But it all turns sour in Tahiti for Cait and her retired cop husband Bud Anderson when she literally bumps into a body floating in a picturesque lagoon. Suddenly the picture perfect resort begins to show cracks and it becomes apparent that many dark secrets are lurking within the test group of holidaymakers who have been invited to sample the facilities. When another of them comes to a sticky end, it’s up to Cait and Bud to test the waters.
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Not Yours to Keep by Zelly Ruskin
Debut author Zelly Ruskin’s Not Your to Keep is out on 8 October, and it has family at its heart. In Massachusetts, adoption specialist Billie Campbell is grappling with her own fertility issues. She dreams of adopting, and obsesses about her pregnant client’s baby. Secretly, her husband Tyler is uncertain that he wants to become a father – and he’s also hiding the upsetting anonymous texts and photos he’s been receiving lately. Which means his mind isn’t really in the game when the infant is abducted and Billie is prime suspect. Then she vanishes too and it’s up to Tyler to find both her and the baby before it’s too late.
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The Last Days of Johnny Nunn by Nick Triplow
Campaigner Fraser Neal is dead against the council selling publicly-owned social housing in the London Docklands to private developers and displacing vulnerable residents. And then he’s dead literally, in an alley behind Tennessee Fried Chicken’s wheelie bins. Neal also claimed to be a police informant, but DS Max Lomax of Special Operations isn’t so sure. As Lomax tries to put together the facts of Neal’s death, he’s unaware his investigation is linked to Johnny Nunn, a former boxer living on the streets, who has given everything to the search for his missing daughter. Could Nunn be the key to it all? The Last Days of Johnny Nunn by Nick Triplow is out on 10 October.
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org