There’s a neat numerical symmetry to this week’s new books report here on Crime Fiction Lover. We’ve got seven sparkly titles, and they start with the new 007 novel! Along with the new series of Slow Horses previewed here on the site, that makes for a pretty heee-yowge couple of weeks ahead for anyone who loves spy stories.
But, getting back to the crime novels, we’ve got a political thriller from Miles Joyner, historical crime (with Shakespeare, no less) from Guy Jenkin, a book authors will love from Joe Zagets, Scouse crime fiction from Sean Watkin, a dead-and-buried tale from Canada by Elizabeth Urso, and a 90s-set mob story from Jason Allison. Lots to choose from – which will you be adding to your pile?
King Zero by Charlie Higson
We’re being told to get ready for a villain like no other with the new James Bond story, written by comedy-turned-thriller-author Charlie Higson, of Fast Show fame. When an agent is murdered in Saudi Arabia, 007 is dispatched to find out why and assess the threat. The information the spook had is a mystery to Bond, but it’s the reason the unprecedented villain has struck and the world’s favourite spy is led on a chase around the world, trying to corner a man with more power than any of us, including 007 himself, can comprehend. Watch for our review soon as King Zero by Charlie Higson hits the shelves on 24 September, from Penguin Random House.
Order now on Amazon
Shifta by Miles Joyner
When a mentally fragile lone wolf follows the orders of a chatbot and targets a cultural parade in downtown Washington, DC, bloodshed ensues – with many casualties and a young congressman killed. Executive protection specialist Yemi Uzunma is lucky to escape alive, and he has his own take on what happened and why. Yemi is convinced that a shady online prediction market called Bazaar is to blame, and sets out to learn everything he can about a mysterious, ideologically motivated assassination broker whose work is threatening the safety of his CEO sister’s clientele at Raptor Security. Political thriller Shifta by Miles Joyner arrives on 21 September.
Order now on Amazon
***Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter, The Rap Sheet, here.***
The Fatal Bellman by Guy Jenkin
When the multi BAFTA, RTS and Emmy award-winning writer of Outnumbered and Drop the Dead Donkey turns their hand to crime fiction, you can expect a strong plot and plenty of dark humour. It’s all there in Guy Jenkin’s The Fatal Bellman, out on 24 September, second in the Quill and Dagger series featuring William Shakespeare and Ann Marlowe. It’s 1605 and Will is enjoying huge success as a playwright and producer in London, but when Ann Marlowe arrives at The Globe unexpectedly, fleeing from Canterbury, the pair find themselves once again enmeshed in a bloody conspiracy involving King James, Lord Cecil and assorted murderous thugs. As the body count rises, Will and Ann have the fate of England in their hands. No pressure, then.
Order now on Amazon
#AuthorLife by Joe Zagets
Let’s dust off the old ‘write what you know’ adage and give it a new polish, in the shape of #AuthorLife by Joe Zagets – pen name for Zoje Stage, international bestselling author of horror/psychological thrillers, whose Something of a Calling we covered last week. #AuthorLife is out on 22 September and is the story of Mackenzie ‘Mack’ Lane, an author whose career has hit the buffers. Mack is fighting to stay relevant and avoid being cancelled as a Boring White Dude, but his solution to the problem is a risky, unethical publicity stunt that threatens to destroy everything. Just how far will a desperate writer go to make the bestsellers list? We’re about to find out…
Order now on Amazon
No Place Left by Sean Watkin
Welcome to Merseyside, where the snow is falling and the crimes are chilling. As No Place Left by Sean Watkin opens, a young baby is found dead on Southport pier, with the body of a patient from a secure mental health facility found on the snowy beach just a short time later. Enter DCI Win de Silva and DS Ben Barclay, whose investigations are about to lead them dangerously close to home. Are the deaths a mere coincidence, or inextricably linked to a conspiracy they thought they had under control? This is book three in the series, and fans are about to get answers to some tantalising questions. It’s out on 17 September.
Order now on Amazon
Hail Mary by Elizabeth Urso
We already have a famous set of funeral directors in crime fiction in the form of Doug Johnstone’s Skelfs – now it’s time to meet the Foremans, a Canadian clan whose burials are not always of the legal kind. We’re in North Shore Township, a place Mary Foreman fled years ago to escape her family’s legacy. Now the sudden reappearance of her estranged mother is threatening to scupper the chances of Mary’s uncle in the local election and she returns to help him. But the opening of a long buried time capsule at the local school threatens to put the family’s chequered history in the spotlight once again. Find out what happens when Hail Mary by Elizabeth Urso is published on 22 September.
Order now on Amazon
The Killing Yards by Jason Allison
The fates of a reformed drug trafficker and a straight-as-a-die young cop collide in Jason Allison’s The Killing Yards, making an appearance on 22 September. We’re in 1990s New York, a city rife with drugs and corruption, where ex-con Jimmy Lettner runs Manhattan’s hottest nightspot, Abattoir. He lost his daughter in a narcotics-fueled car wreck, and now keeps a clean club – although his right-hand man, Serge Thanakis, is secretly operating an ecstasy ring that’s drawing the wrong kind of attention. Meanwhile, Ben Hopkins, a rookie cop on the hunt for a fast track ticket to detective, goes undercover at Abattoir and finds himself out of his depth. With Jimmy on the ropes and Ben on the edge, how will this one end?
Order now on Amazon
