This week’s new books column is packed with indie and alternative crime fiction, with titles from the UK, US and Canada to tempt you. We start off with the latest from Jake Arnott, one of the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ crime authors. There’s historical crime fiction with Alis Hawkins in the 1880s and with Max Talley in the 1960s, while Michael Bourne brings us an eco thriller set in the 1990s. We also have Joel Nedecky’s debut and an Hitchcockian romp from Shiela Roberts.
Blood Rival by Jake Arnott
It appears that a road rage incident put paid to Lee Royle, Kent’s most notorious gangster, but a year has passed and they’re no closer to the truth. Was it a random attack, or something premeditated? There are plenty of people with skin in the game, and none of them is spilling the beans. Royle’s wife, Jo, is now with ambitious criminal Eddie Spinks and both of them have good reason to keep their mouths shut. And what about Commander Ray Spinks of Scotland Yard, a former associate of Royle’s who has so much to lose? Add Terry Rice, the blind transgender phone-hacker into the mix, light the blue touch paper, and stand well back – because Blood Rival by Jake Arnott, out on 14 October, is an explosive read.
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The Hunters Club by Alis Hawkins
Historical crime writer Alis Hawkins’ Oxford Mysteries series continues on 16 October with the release of The Hunters Club. In 1883, there’s a spate of young men being found bound, gagged and hooded at the gates of their colleges in the wee small hours. The senior proctor asks Jesus College fellow Basil Rice to investigate – leading him into the unwelcome spotlight. Meanwhile, a young woman wrongly imprisoned by the University Vice Chancellor’s Court seeks the help of young academic and budding journalist, Non Vaughan, to clear her name. With their investigations leading them up similar paths, it becomes clear that Basil and Non must join forces if they are to succeed in their tasks.
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Peace, Love and Haight by Max Talley
Ah, the swinging 60s in San Francisco, when hippies were sharing a message of peace and love. That’s the time and the place for Max Talley’s Peace, Love and Haight – out 14 October in the US, 23 October in the UK. Loved-up idealism is the order of the day in the Haight-Ashbury district, until it isn’t, and the utopia transforms into a crime-ridden nightmare of heroin overdoses and tainted psychedelics. Looking on is gallery owner Freddie Dorn, but when a former girlfriend dies from an overdose and his best friend loses his mind to bad acid, Freddie decides it’s time to act. He works with the cops to entrap a dangerous dealer – with fatal consequences. Suddenly, the man whose heart was in art is being tapped up to work with both the police and the mob…
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We Bring You an Hour of Darkness by Michael Bourne
If eco thriller is a genre, then We Bring You an Hour of Darkness by Michael Bourne – out on 14 October – would feel right at home there. It’s 1993, and plans for a huge new ski resort in the Colorado wilderness are set to ruin the habitat of an endangered lynx. Not if a bunch of eco-terrorists have anything to say about it, though. After they repeatedly attack the infrastructure and property, the FBI sets up a national task force. With the local police and politicians in meltdown, it’s up to an intrepid bunch of reporters at Franklin’s struggling newspaper to step up to the plate and get to the bottom of it all, led by their editor Tish Threadgill.
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The Broken Detective by Joel Nedecky
Canadian crime writer Joel Nedecky makes his debut on 15 October with The Broken Detective. The shattered sleuth in question is Jake Joelsen, who is about to go to jail for assaulting his sick mother’s abusive boyfriend. Jake has two weeks’ grace in which to earn as much as he can to help his mum while he’s inside, and takes on a missing persons investigation. Nia Rowe hires him to find her troubled sister, Sadie, which leads him to a shady mega-church called Watershed Moments. With the clock ticking and Jake’s old addictions bubbling in the background and threatening to spill over, this could be the case that could finally break him.
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The Man Next Door by Sheila Roberts
Her gambling addicted ex-husband has frittered away all the money saved for their daughter’s college education and Zona is working two jobs just to make ends meet – which is why she finds herself moving back home with her mother, who’s just injured herself on a seniors’ cruise. No wonder Zona is looking for some excitement, and she finds it next door, where a grumpy, mysterious and sexy new neighbour grabs her attention. But there’s something off about him – and when the woman they can hear him in full-blown shouting matches with on the other side of the fence suddenly disappears, Zona and her mother are convinced that something nefarious has occurred. Are they right? Find out when The Man Next Door by Sheila Roberts arrives on 14 October.
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