In Britain, across Canada and the US, all over the Northern Hemisphere flowers are blooming… foliage is flourishing… vines are creeping… plants are proliferating… and in some cases poisons are brewing in their deadly roots. We’d never really thought about it but botanical noir could well be a thing and our first two books certainly back the notion.
James Ellroy returns with some hard-hitting LA noir and we’ve also got trips to Scotland, South Carolina and Ireland. Crime is taking root everywhere, it seems.
A Botanist’s Guide to Tradition and Treachery by Kate Kahvari
The ever-flourishing world of crime fiction is always growing green shoots and A Botanist’s Guide to Tradition and Treachery by Kate Kahvari, out on 9 June for Kindle and 19 June in print, features botanist Saffron Everleigh in her fifth outing. Saffron is newly engaged and full of optimism as she sets off on a research expedition to Turkey with her fiancé, Alexander Ashton, and a bunch of fellow researchers. Like so many other fields academia is a man’s world and Saffron finds herself sidelined – until young research assistant Martin Neill meets an unexpected end and suddenly she is the main suspect. Among the ancient ruins there are poisonous snakes, but even more worrying, someone is working against them, keeping a much bigger conspiracy from coming to light.
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Blood Root by Jill Johnson
More botanicals… Professor Eustacia Rose has time on her hands after being arrested for possession of poisonous plants without the appropriate licence. Stuck in a cell, she begins to piece together long-forgotten memories. What was the mysterious academic paper her father was working on when he was arrested for murder? And who is the mysterious woman with long black hair? It’s all connected to Marcus Smith, her father’s unscrupulous assistant – but Eustacia will need the help of DCI Roberts and determined allies if she is to solve the mystery and clear her father’s name. Blood Root by Jill Johnson arrives on 11 June.
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The Red Sheet by James Ellroy
We head to Los Angeles in the early 1960s for James Ellroy‘s latest, The Red Sheet – published 9 June in the US and 16 July in the UK. The Cuban Missile Crisis has been averted, but Attorney General Robert Kennedy fears reprisals from the Russians and orders a red probe, putting the LAPD on the job and Freddy Otash is charge. Big mistake, because Otash has no scruples – and a dope habit. He has a commie union in his sights, until a Halloween night murder moves his attention elsewhere. Expect the unexpected – and a slew of real-life characters from the period – as Ellroy lets his noirish imagination run riot once again.
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Bad Deeds by Andrew Hunter Murray
Reformed burglar Alex now gets paid for doing something he’s good at. As part of a small firm of consultants – he breaks into offices and homes to test their security. Until he gets fired from his firm, evicted from his flat and dumped by his girlfriend, all in the same evening. What do do now? Well, Alex has a plan and steals a job that came in to his former employer. He finds himself heading to remote northern Scotland, following the trail of an ambitious young man who supposedly fell to his death with no witnesses. Which might not be the best idea he’s ever had… Bad Deeds by Andrew Hunter Murray is out on 11 June.
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Dirty Myrtle by Kennedy Weible
Let’s head to South Carolina for Kennedy Weible’s Dirty Myrtle, out on 9 June. We’re in Myrtle Beach, and Thanksgiving is approaching as Sailor Cassidy decides the way to get over a bad breakup is to conduct an amateur stakeout – a choice she may live to regret. Meanwhile, Officer Tuscaloosa ‘Tusk’ Knight is trailing a drifter on an off-the-books job for his captain. Things come to a head when Sailor’s disaster and Tusk’s assignment collide, and the pair stumble into a life-or-death mess involving kidnapping, half-wit criminals and a tangle of small-town secrets longer than the Carolina coast.
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Declan by Anne Emery
Old scores and past misdeeds are at the heart of Anne Emery’s Declan, arriving on 9 June. Four decades ago, the Declan of the title gathered up his family and fled Ireland under the cover of night after disobeying an order from his commanding officer in the IRA. Now he wants to return, and his sons Brenna and Terry decide to tag along. Which seems like a good idea, because mysterious men are watching from the shadows, and when Terry goes missing after a night on the lash, a frantic Brennan and Declan ask Declan’s brother Finn and Brennan’s old friend Detective Shay Rynne for help. But are they prepared for what is about to be revealed?
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