If you’re a Harry Bosch fanatic, do not let the pain of Bosch: Legacy’s demise set in. The LA detective’s creator, Michael Connelly, has something new on the way and it’s our lead book in this week’s report. From Santa Catalina Island to the Peak District to Croatia, we’ve got some wonderful mystery reads for you in some wonderfully imaginative settings. Six books to choose from… or you can grab ’em all!
Nightshade by Michael Connelly
American crime writer Michael Connelly breaks with all his traditions by leaving Harry Bosch, Mickey Haller and Renee Ballard behind and giving his fans a new book in springtime – and it’s the start of a whole new series too. Nightshade is published on 20 May, and features Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Stilwell, exiled to Santa Catalina Island after department politics drove him off a homicide desk on the mainland. Stilwell is starting to enjoy the slower pace of life in a small community where the only way to get from A to B is by boat or a gussied up golf cart – but when the bloated body of an unidentified woman with a purple streak in her hair is found at the bottom of Avalon harbour, weighed down by an anchor, he can’t resist getting involved in the investigation… whether he’s welcome or not.
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Red Water by Jirica Pavičić
It’s 1989, and on Yugoslavia’s Dalmatian Coast the investigation into a young woman’s disappearance grinds to a halt as the country is plunged into civil war. In the tumultuous months and years following the disappearance, the missing girl’s case is forgotten – but not by her mother, father and twin brother, who never give up on their pursuit to find her. It will take another three decades before the truth comes out as, haunted by the case he never managed to solve, Inspector Gorki is determined to finally get to the truth. The award-winning Croation novel Red Water by Jirica Pavičić, translated by Matt Robinson, is out on 22 May.
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
Creepy Crawly by Andrew Lowe
Already a big hit with ebook readers, Creepy Crawly by Andrew Lowe is published in print by Vinci on 22 May. It’s the first in a series featuring DI Jake Sawyer and set in the Peak District. Sawyer reluctantly returns to his rural home town to investigate a series of gruesome killings – and in the process must confront his own demons. He’s back where his mother was murdered, and as long-buried memories resurface, Sawyer is pushed to the brink. Can he get it together and capture a murderer before they strike again?
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The Putney Bridge Killer by Biba Pearce
The discovery of a woman’s body under Putney Bridge poses a conundrum DCI Rob Miller. The crime scene looks familiar – echoing that of the Surrey Stalker, a sadistic predator Miller took down five years ago. And that’s a problem, because the Surrey Stalker is dead. Whoever is on this latest killing spree knows things only the original murderer could have known, including crime scene details withheld from the press. Miller thought he’d got his man back then. Was he wrong? Find out when for The Putney Bridge Killer by Biba Pearce comes out on 22 May.
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The Chemist by AA Dhand
AA Dhand was a pharmacist before he created the DI Harry Virdee series, which was adapted for TV by the BBC earlier this year. His experiences have inspired The Chemist, out on 22 May. It feature Idris Khan, local pharmacist and pillar of the community in Leeds. He has hundreds of customers who come to him each day for their dose of methadone, including Idris’s childhood sweetheart, Rebecca. Then one day she doesn’t arrive for her daily dose and he goes out to find her only to find himself slap-bang in the middle of a turf war between Yorkshire’s two most powerful drugs cartels. Oops!
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Shatter Creek by Rod Reynolds
The second book in Rod Reynolds’ series featuring Hampstead County PD Detective Sergeant Casey Wray arrives on 22 May, and Shatter Creek finds her at a crossroads in her job. The shockwaves from Black Reed Bay are still reverberating and not everyone believes Casey can be trusted, but she has to put that aside to investigate a shocking daytime double-homicide in downtown Rockport alongside rookie cop Billy Drocker. They have a suspect in their sights, until a key witness goes missing and suddenly the evidence just doesn’t seem to fit. Can Casey solve the crime, and save her career in the process?
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
