Oooo, we’re liking the pentagrammic symmetry of this week’s lead book. What do you think? Five on five, oh-five. And in five minutes one of five characters might be dead. But if we go one step further and say, “Six!” then you have the number of books here in our news report and on top of Ilona Bannister’s numerically themed novel we’ve got a London gangster piece, a caper in Cornwall, a sinister visit to the library – OH! – and a book featuring JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis and Agatha Christie as sleuths.
Read on and discover your next crime read…
Five by Ilona Bannister
There’s a magic number for Ilona Bannister’s new release – can you guess what it is? Well, the book comes out on 5 May – yes, the fifth day of the fifth month – and is called… Five. The number is not so magical for the quintet of strangers waiting for an early morning train to London though. It’s 7:01… and by 7:06, one of them will be dead. There’s a child and his mother, a businessman, an old woman and a gambler, and as the drama plays out in real time you’ll get to know each of them very well. But who is about to meet their end? Which one will you be rooting for and who would you be quite happy to say goodbye to?
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Karma by Damiano Polcaro
If wryly funny hardboiled British crime fiction is your cup of tea, then mark 8 May on the ol’ calendar because that’s when Damiano Polcaro’s Karma makes an appearance. It’s something of a sequel to the author’s debut, Bastard, and follows the story of a young lad from London’s East End who gets dragged into a world where he doesn’t belong. His life has been peppered with letdown after letdown, and now Dino relies on only one person: himself. Now he’s ready for payback, and he’s not going to let anyone stand in his way. Karma is coming, and things are about to get very messy.
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The Body That Floats by Jayne Chard
Let’s head to Cornwall for some cosy crime, courtesy of Jayne Chard. Julia, a retired head teacher with a fondness for order, and her half-sister Frankie are taking a well-earned break in the picturesque Cornish village of Portscatho – until the tranquillity of a morning swim is shattered by the appearance of a floating corpse. The police label it an accidental death, but the sisters are not convinced and are soon knee-deep in smugglers’ tunnels, taking a bumpy ride in the back of a builder’s van, and facing down a gun-toting local with questionable fashion choices. Find out more when The Body That Floats arrives on 7 May.
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The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego
A famous author, a journalist, a professor, a bookseller and an architect (five, again…) attend an exclusive after-hours event at New York’s most notorious library to see one of the most valuable and legendary books in the world… until things turn sour and one of them is gruesomely murdered. Each of the visitors has their own sinister reasons for attending – but with the fear of death around every corner, they are forced to confront awful truths about themselves and decide which secrets are worth dying – or killing – to keep. The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego is out on 5 May in the US, and 14 May in the UK.
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The Inklings Detective Agency by John R Kelly
For some time now we’ve been coming across crime fiction books that feature famous authors as sleuths – and John R Kelly’s The Inklings Detective Agency, published on 5 May, fits that bill in spades. In it, JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, Agatha Christie and other literary legends join forces to catch a killer. The year is 1936, and in Oxford, members of a secret society keep turning up dead. Our literary masterminds are soon on the case, with their investigations leading them to the streets of London and the shores of Loch Ness. It’s a frantic race against the clock if they’re to stop the culprit before whomever it is kills again.
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Sante Fe Psychosis by Max Talley
First published in 2022, Max Talley’s Santa Fe Psychosis has been expanded and is out on 5 May. This hardboiled thriller features Jackson Bardo, an out-of-work private investigator, who is summoned to New Mexico by his ex-girlfriend, Jenny – who owes money and is being threatened. But when Jackson arrives, Jenny has vanished and he must reluctantly team up with Santa Fe Police Detective Diego Juarez to find her. Then another girl turns up dead and the investigation heads into dangerous territory involving sex traffickers whose orders come from men who appear untouchable.
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