When it’s all doom and gloom, it’s good to know that some crime novels – despite the subject matter – are written to raise a smile or two. So we get underway this week with a caper about old ladies icing their husbands, and another novel the likes of which we’ve never seen before. Big Bad Wool sounds almost like the crime equivalent of Animal Farm but seems a lot less bleak. We’ve also got murder in Toronto, a harrowing abduction and two novels involving antiquities – one that takes us to Turkey and the other to Naples.
Let us know which one makes you smile!
The Retirement Plan by Sue Hincenbergs
Pam, Nancy and Shalisa had big hopes for their retirement, but when their husbands lose all their savings in an ill-advised investment deal, the three women are hopping mad… and out for revenge. With their sights firmly set on long holidays, endless cocktails and plenty of leisure time, the trio decide to take matters into their own hands. After all, each of their spouses is well insured and they’re entitled to the money, right? Time to call on the services of the local hitman and barber, but not everything will go to plan… Expect plenty of laughs when The Retirement Plan, a debut by Sue Hincenbergs, arrives on 6 May.
Order now from Amazon or Bookshop.org
Big Bad Wool by Leonie Swann
If you’re a fan of Shaun the Sheep, then cosy crime novel Big Bad Wool by German author Leonie Swann should head to the top of the reading list. It’s out on 6 May and features a herd of sheep detectives – yes, you read that right. Miss Maple, Mopple and the rest of the flock, with the help of their goat neighbours, must spring into action when a werewolf begins picking them off, and then kills a human, too. They’re going to need all of their detective training, courtesy of their shepherd, if Miss Maple and her pals don’t want to end up as lambs to the slaughter.
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Detective Aunty by Uzma Jalaluddin
Recently widowed Kausar Khan has her heart broken again with the news that her daughter, Sana, has been arrested for killing the unpopular landlord of her clothing boutique. Determined to help, Kausar returns to the Golden Crescent suburb of Toronto, where after 20 years away, she finds things much changed. The evidence is stacking up against Sana, but there’s definitely something her daughter isn’t telling her. As Kausar digs for the truth, with the help of some old friends and her plucky teenage granddaughter, is she prepared for what she might find? Detective Aunty by Uzma Jalaluddin is out on 6 May.
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Such Quiet Girls by Noelle W Ihli
A bus is hijacked in broad daylight, and its young passengers and driver held for ransom in Such Quiet Girls by Noelle W Ihli, published on 8 May. The book was inspired by actual events. The captives include Sage and her little sister Bonnie, who are frightened but have each other, and Jessa, who had just got the driving job after lying on her CV. They are imprisoned inside a shipping container buried 20 feet underground, desperately holding onto the promise that they’ll be freed once a ransom is paid to the hijackers. But it’s dark and cramped – and, as every minute passes, it’s becoming harder to breathe. If everyone in the container is to survive, they’ll need to come up with a plan.
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The Wooden Library by Barbara Nadel
Turkish detective Çetin İkmen makes his 27th outing in Barbara Nadel‘s The Wooden Library, published on 8 May. When Nurettin Süleyman, distant cousin of Inspector Mehmet Süleyman, buys The Wooden Library, an ancient building in Istanbul once owned by their ancestor, İkmen jumps at the chance of cataloguing its priceless contents. But when a rotting body is found there things take a nasty turn. The dead man is Senol Ulusoy, the man who sold Nurettin the library – and the pathologist soon uncovers something that turns the case on its head, something that goes beyond the simmering rivalries between two families.
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The Fatal Scroll by Eric Siblin
The Fatal Scroll by Eric Siblin, out on 6 May, digs into the dark side of the antiquities trade, and features a mysterious papyrus scroll that is about lead its owner into all kinds of bother. History teacher Marcus Sinclair is intrigued by a papyrus scroll he inherits from his antiquarian uncle but, because he can’t unroll it without causing damage, he has no idea what it contains. Marcus heads to Naples where he meets a Google engineer, an investigative journalist, a tech mogul and a bunch of academics searching for the lost library of Herculaneum. Who could have guessed that ancient artefacts could provide so much drama?
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