Here in our new books report this week there’s a fine seam of great reading. Crime fiction gold, you could say. And one of the books literally involves the Yukon gold rush of the late 19th century. We’ve got award-winning American crime author SA Cosby’s latest. An award-winning Icelandic writer with his crime debut. A book set on the golden isle of Fiji. And a whole lot of other shiny book-shaped objects to catch your eye. Seven lucky books… read on.
King of Ashes by SA Cosby
The Carruthers family is in crisis, and it’s up to eldest son Roman to put things right in SA Cosby’s The King of Ashes, out on 10 June. Roman is a financial whizz, and he’s going to need all this wits about him to get the family out of their current predicament. Their father is in a coma after a car crash, while Roman’s sister Neveah is trying to keep the family’s cremation business going. Meanwhile, younger brother Dante is in debt to some dangerous criminals. When it becomes clear that their father’s crash was no accident, it’s down to Roman to square things with the gangsters. After all, he has particular skills with numbers – but they’re about to learn that he’s no pushover…
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
Broken by Jón Atli Jónasson
It’s time to head to Iceland, where two misfit police officers end up searching for a missing teenager. Dóra is recovering after being shot in the head, on the job. She’s struggling with everything. Rado’s refugee heritage has him sidelined by other officers on the force, and his family’s connections to organised crime don’t help. But the case is shoved in their direction and, when they upset the wrong people on the wrong side of Reykjavik, the stakes are raised. Are you ready from some hardboiled crime fiction with an Icelandic flavour? The author is famous around the world as co-writer of The Deep, the 2012 film by Baltazar Kromákur, and Broken is out 12 June.
Order now on Amazon
A Shipwreck in Fiji by Nilima Rao
As the second book by Nilima Rao to feature police officer in exile Akal Singh begins, the sergeant is being fobbed off with a trio of time wasting tasks. He must leave Suva to travel to the neighbouring island of Ovalau and check out strange sightings of German soldiers thousands of miles from the front of the World War I, while also supervising the only constable stationed there – an 18-year-old prone to hysterics. Singh’s third job is to chaperone two strong-willed European women on a sight-seeing tour. Things get complicated with the murder of an unpopular local and the imprisonment of a troublesome group of Norwegian sailors. Who said this was going to be straightforward? A Shipwreck in Fiji arrives on 10 June.
Order now on Amazon
Subscribe to the CFL weekly newsletter and get all the latest to your inbox every Thursday.
The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay
Now to London in the 1970s for The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay, published for Kindle on 10 June. To much fanfare, a world-class Picasso exhibit is opening at the Tate Modern, curated by Modern Collections keeper Diana Gilden and her assistant Lily. At the glitzy launch party, everything is going swimmingly until Lily stops in front of a canvas and loudly declares the work a fake. The comment causes a scandal, putting not only Lily’s career at risk but also her mentor’s. But what if she’s right? Time to step behind the scenes of the art world for a fast-paced thriller that combines glamour, secrets, tensions and lies.
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
The Rush by Beth Lewis
The Yukon gold rush of the late 19th century provides the backdrop of Beth Lewis‘s The Rush, out on 12 June. Fortunes are being made as quickly as they’re lost, and Dawson City has become a lawless settlement. At the centre of it all are three women – journalist Kate, here after receiving an anguished letter from her sister; hotelier Martha, under threat from the local strongman who is buying up the town; and Ellen who feels her future slip away as her husband fails to find gold. Their lives and fortunes are destined to intertwine after a woman is murdered and the trio resolve to unmask the killer.
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
Angelhunting by Ji Hong Sayo
Former thief turned private detective Seamus Caron manages to make a modest living by hunting down lost money and wandering husbands. His best friend is Sandra Blair, a homicide detective for the Toronto Police, and when she calls for his help on a murder case, Seamus finds himself perilously close to an all-out gang war. The victim was a notorious mob lawyer, which raises the stakes and forces the reformed crook to call in a few favours. But with the past calling him, will Seamus be strong enough to resist? Find out when Angelhunting by Ji Hong Sayo arrives for Kindle on 10 July.
Order now on Amazon
The Disclosure by Mel Taylor
Emmy Award-winning reporter Mel Taylor’s latest crime novel is published on 10 June, and The Disclosure goes behind the scenes in a world he knows intimately. TV reporter Booker Johnson has the scoop of a lifetime when a former judge on the run after being accused of murder comes out of hiding. The judge claims he’s innocent of killing his wife, but when a key witness is murdered in a similar way, Booker finds himself trapped in a deadly maze where his personal and professional lives are on a collision course. It’s clear that the killer has him in their sights – is it worth risking his life for an exclusive story?
Order now on Amazon
