Some crime fiction lovers delight in meeting famous faces from the past in the pages of a mystery novel. If you’re one of them, our lead book will please you. Midnight Burning by Paul Levine has Charlie Chapin and Albert Einstein taking on the Nazis. There’s plenty more to choose from too with books by Anna Britton, Mindy Mejia, Richard A Danzig, Barry Finlay plus a you-are-the-detective puzzler from Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper. Read on…
Midnight Burning by Paul Levine
Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin – yes, you read that right – are the stars of Midnight Burning, Paul Levine‘s latest crime novel, out on 16 September. It’s 1937, and as the thunderclouds of war begin to gather, the two friends find themselves trying to outwit Nazi agents who are plotting an armed insurrection which includes the assassination of some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Armed with nothing more than their ingenuity and raw courage, plus the fierce resolve of Georgia Ann Robinson, the LAPD’s first black female officer, the pair are taken on a roller coaster ride as they battle to save America from a fascist threat within its borders.
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Left in the Ashes by Anna Britton
DI Juliet Stern and DS Gabe Martin are called to the scene of a possible arson attack in a derelict New Forest building in Left in the Ashes by Anna Britton, out on 18 September. There’s a body in the smoking ruins, and Stern and Martin soon identify her as Zara, a young influencer who liked to hike alone in her free time. There’s a long list of possible suspects, including Zara’s boyfriend and her jealous best friend, but the investigation gets muddied when Martin’s past comes back to haunt her. A serial killer called The Barrel Man kidnapped Martin and her brother when they were children – and now he’s abducted someone else close to her…
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The Whisper Place by Mindy Mejia
There’s an unusual crime fiction double act at play in The Whisper Place, in the shape of a former police officer and a psychic detective, Max Summerlin and Jonah Kendrick. And their latest case is a doozy – a man walks into their office searching for his missing girlfriend, but he knows nothing of her past, or even her name and he refuses to go to the police. Meanwhile, a woman is desperately fleeing from her past, driving across the country with all her worldly goods packed into her car. As Max and Jonah begin to join the dots, they’re wandering into dark and dangerous territory. The latest in Mindy Mejia’s Iowa Mysteries is published on 16 September.
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The Creeping Hand Murder by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper
Interactive crime books have been a big hit in recent months, and the latest to hit the bookshelves is The Creeping Hand Murder by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper – out on 16 September. It’s set in London in November 1933, where seven people receive mysterious letters that send them in a tizzy. Someone knows their terrible secrets! Summoned to an opulent townhouse, the seven soon become six after one of them is stabbed right in front of the others. The problem is, somehow no one saw a thing. It’s a mystery that has even the best brains of Scotland Yard stumped – can you solve the case?
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The Collectors by Richard A Danzig
Fans of the legal thriller should take note of 15 September, when The Collectors by Richard A Danzig arrives on Kindle. It features Chance Cormac, whose latest client is convinced he has been the victim of art fraud. The man maintains that a valuable abstract painting he recently bought may be a forgery, but as Chance begins to dig deeper, it becomes clear that both the painting, and his client, might not be what they seem. Meanwhile, a frantic call sends Chance to Costa Rica, where Damian and JR have been unwittingly caught up in the black market of selling human organs. But with a corrupt police force and mounting danger, he fears he may be too late to help to save his friends.
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The Shadows of Truth by Barry Finlay
Retirement never seems to work out too well for crime fiction protagonists, does it? Latest to fall into that trap is investigative reporter Jake Scott, whose days of chasing down criminals are over. Or are they? Jake is on a much-needed cruise vacation with his homicide detective girlfriend, Dani Perez, and her daughter, Emilie, when a passenger is found dead on the balcony next door. Dani knows a murder when she sees it, and soon the pair are entangled in a web of secrets and deceit linked to a powerful high-tech company. Oh, and there’s a big storm on the way, to further throw a spanner in the works. The Shadows of Truth by Barry Finlay arrives on Kindle on 15 September.
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