We’re cooking here in the UK and people all across the Northern Hemisphere are feeling the heat as the Earth’s temperature keeps on ticking up. We’ve got some red hot crime fiction for you this week as well, starting with Damien Boyd’s new procedural, Seeing Red. There’s some new Venezuelan crime fiction, the case of a scary psychiatrist (is there any other kind?) plus some codebreaking and espionage. And if you want some guaranteed sizzling hot crime fiction, check out our latest production on Video Evidence.
Seeing Red by Damien Boyd
Fans of the police procedural should write 11 August in big letters on the calendar – that’s when Damien Boyd‘s Seeing Red is published. It’s the 16th in the West Country-based series featuring DI Nick Dixon – who is acting Detective Superintendent as the story begins. When an unauthorised body is found in a newly dug grave in a rural Somerset churchyard, the carefully-constructed scene matches a series of brutal attacks blamed on a serial killer in Devon, and a DNA profile neatly points to the same suspect. But Dixon, fresh from his latest bruising encounter with the Professional Standards Department, knows there’s something off and this is a copycat, He’s been ordered not to make waves, but is the under-fire cop prepared to stick his head about the parapet once more?
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His Final Patient by JS Monroe
The latest addition to the ever-growing category labelled ‘twisty psychological thrillers’ is His Final Patient by JS Monroe, out on 13 August. A psychiatrist claims he can predict when people will die and appears to be using his skills with chilling accuracy. Could he be messing with your mind or deadly serious? We’re about to find out as DI Silas Hart investigates the troubling case of a man who shot himself after announcing it’s his ‘death day’. The man was carrying an hourglass, rekindling memories of two suspicious deaths that have haunted Hart for years. But when the psychiatrist turns his attention onto the detective, could Hart be facing his ‘death day’ too?
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The Adventures of Juan Planchard by Jonathan Jakubowicz
How about a bit of Venezuelan crime fiction? Middle-class nobody turned millionaire Juan Planchard is living the high life, with homes in Caracas, Madrid and New York. He dines out with oligarchs and is invariably seen with a supermodel on his arm. He’s made his money by weaponising the corruption that is devouring his country, and revels in his success. But then, in the middle of the chaos, greed and blood money, Juan falls hard for Scarlet, a sharp, seductive American beauty who could just be his downfall… The Adventures of Juan Planchard by Jonathan Jakubowicz arrives on 13 August.
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Codebreakers by Stella Sands
Sharp sleuthing and killer linguistic skills prove a winning combination in Codebreakers, the second book in Stella Sands‘ Wordhunter Mystery series, out in the US on 11 August. Maggie Moore has a way with words and is an expert in forensic semiotics, while laconic detective Silas Gabriel Jackson is the king of good old-fashioned observation. Together they’ve set up their own agency to make the most of their unique talents – which will come in useful as the pair must decode clues embedded in words and symbols to uncover a sadistic criminal who preys upon unsuspecting men. Their people skills, however, need a bit of work.
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The Hiding Season by AC Glass
She also writes as Ava Glass, but on 14 August AC Glass introduces the paperback of The Hiding Season, a standalone action espionage thriller. Maya Landry is happy to stay out of the limelight, and finds the perfect role as the out-of-season caretaker at an exclusive ski resort for the elite in the mountains of Montana. There’s nobody around, which suits her fine, but then Maya finds a body and realises that isn’t true. There’s a killer on the loose and she’s the only witness. Then a man offers his help and puts Maya in a deadly quandary – should she believe him… or run for her life?
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The Residency by CD Major
An artist’s dream opportunity on a lonely isle in the wilds of Scotland becomes the stuff of nightmares in CD Major’s spooky and gothic The Residency, making an appearance on 13 August. Ginny was once a promising painter with a glittering future ahead. Now she’s a single mum, just scraping by in London, who on a whim applies for an all-expenses-paid artist’s residency… and is surprised to be accepted. It’s not long before Ginny and her daughter are on a boat to a remote Scottish island, and that’s where the problems begin. She’s sure she can hear whispering voices in the vast property where she is staying, and swears the paintings are changing overnight. Oh, and why is the gallery out of bounds?
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