If you’re feeling peckish, this week’s new books report might have you rushing out to grab a pie and a cosy mystery to enjoy afterwards. And, after you’ve devoured The Pie and Mash Detective Agency, we’ve got five more courses for you including some delectable North African crime fiction, a pulsating sleeper agent thriller, a mystery in 1860s America, a boarding school murder and a surrogacy double cross. You might need a cup of tea to go with all of that, so put the kettle on then savour our news column…
The Pie and Mash Detective Agency by JD Brinkworth
The title conjures up a dusty office in the depth of London’s East End, but instead this cosy crime book introduces private detectives-in-training Jane Pye and Simon Mash. They’re a millennial couple who signed up for a night class on a whim and now find themselves on the hunt for local schoolteacher Dev Hooper’s girlfriend, Nellie Thorne. But as the duo don their matching trench coats and hurriedly flip through their course notes, they soon realise that they’re out of their depth. Because this Nellie Thorne is the fifth of that name to vanish in the past half century… spooky! Written by JD Brinkworth, AKA writers Jo Dinkin and Catherine Brinkworth, put The Pie and Mash Detective Agency on your menu for 26 February.
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The End of the Sahara by Saïd Khatibi
We see very little North African crime fiction, so this is an interesting new release. Let’s head back to the autumn of 1988, when Zakia Zaghouani, the stunning nightclub singer at the Sahara Hotel on the outskirts of an Algerian city on the edge of the desert, is found murdered. Her body is discovered by a shepherd, and suspicion immediately falls on Zakia’s lover. With the incompetent Inspector Hamid in charge of the case, it’s up to the suspect’s lawyer to get to the truth of the matter. It appears that the singer’s family, friends and confidantes all have something to hide. So, who is the murderer? Find out when The End of the Sahara, written by Saïd Khatibi and translated by Alexander Elinson, is published on 26 February.
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Caller Unknown by Oliver Johnson
Oliver Johnson’s Caller Unknown is out now, and boasts a most unusual premise. When seven children are found drugged and alone at the side of a highway, nobody can predict what will happen next. They are the Apostles, created by a sinister organisation – and at the heart of a terrifying plan. One of their number is Ed, who can remember little of his past and begins to build a future for himself, until, as his college days approach, he receives a call that could turn his carefully constructed new life to dust. The only option is to run – but with the people who once held him in their thrall now hot on his tail, should he just stop and fight?
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The Case of the Hydegild Sacrifice by David Cairns
Lovers of historical crime will be pleased to hear that The Case of the Hydegild Sacrifice, fourth book in the Major Gask and Erroll Rait Mysteries series by David Cairns, is out now. There’s a palpable sense of unease as Gask and Rait arrive in 1860s America in the hope of escaping the attentions of a gang of Afrikaaner criminals. Instead, they find a country reeling from the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. But are the investigations to be trusted? The pair unite with Pinkerton detectives in a bid to unravel the sinister secrets of the Hydegild Sacrifice – a case that threatens to shake the very foundations of a nation still reeling from the Civil War.
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What I Told My Friends by Alice Leigh
Anyone who devoured books set in boarding schools as a kid should add What I Told My Friends by debut crime author Alice Leigh to their to be read list. It’s out on 26 February and takes Malory Towers to a whole new level! Prestigious boarding school Hill High Manor boasts some very bright pupils and a spotless reputation. Until, that is, head girl Emily Asbourne is found dead on the ground below the belltower. Chloe Carter is just one of the many people who had reason to hate Emily, but it is beloved music teacher Mr Aides who is eventually imprisoned for the murder. Now he is about to be released, and Chloe is outside the prison, waiting for him and ready to share a secret…
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Pinky Swear by Danielle Girard
A surrogate mother goes missing just days before the birth of the baby in Danielle Girard’s Pinky Swear, published on 26 February. Lexi is desperate for a child, and thrilled when her childhood best friend Mara agrees to carry the baby for her. They’ve known each other since middle school, so why has Mara gone without a word of explanation? As she frantically searches for her friend, Lexi is shocked to realise that Mara may not have been telling her the truth – about anything at all.
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