On the Radar — Yes, there’s good weather at last in the UK and so we’ll start this week’s new books pile with something light-hearted, bubbly and refreshing. But, don’t worry if you prefer melancholy because there’s plenty of that too, with gothic horror, deadly prison gangs, death row and an obsessed weirdo all appearing in new crime books this week…
Party Girls Die in Pearls by Plum Sykes
Dontcha just love a book title that rhymes and an author’s name that sounds like a character from Cluedo? The first in a new series of tongue-in-cheek crime novels by the former ‘It’ girl and Vogue journalist Plum Sykes is set in Oxford University, where Ursula Flowerbottom is intent on working hard and getting a good degree. But a ghastly crime on campus puts paid to those plans, and instead Ursula sees an opportunity to nab an exclusive for the student newspaper with the ‘help’ of her fellow fresher, the glamorous American Nancy Feingold… Out 1 June.
Pre-order now on Amazon
She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper
Get ready for some modern pulp from the pen of Jordan Harper as a shy, teddy-bear-toting 11-year-old girl is picked up from school one day and dragged into a world of bank robberies and violence by her ex-con father. What Polly doesn’t know to begin with is that her papa made dangerous enemies while in jail, and the Aryan Steel gang is not a church preaching forgiveness. Amid the fights and the heists, the reticent child is forced to grow up fast and find the kind of heroism that will save her life. Drops 6 June – watch for our review.
Pre-order now on Amazon
Dis Mem Ber by Joyce Carol Oates
It’s a striking title, which was taken from one of the seven stories in this collection from prolific author Joyce Carol Oates. They all feature women and steer towards gothic horror as the writer explores the dark crevices of disturbed minds. The title story features an 11-year-old who gets into a car with a mysterious relative, with fateful consequences. All the stories have been published elsewhere but this brings them together in a single macabre volume. It’s a collection of unsettling tales with a final biting satire on air travel in Welcome to the Friendly Skies. Out 6 June.
Pre-order on Amazon
Dark Dawn Over Steep House by MRC Kasasian
Book five in the Gower Street Detective series is out on 1 June and sees London’s foremost Victorian detective, Sidney Grice, at something of an impasse. Having hit a wall in his latest case, Grice settles down to write a book. However, his ward March Middleton has other ideas and what she discovers leads the pair on a sinuous trail in search of a serial offender. What secrets are there to be found in the shadowy ruins of a once-loved family home, Steep House?
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The Only Child by Andrew Pyper
Blending crime and horror, Andrew Pyper brings us the story of Dr Lily Dominick, a forensic psychologist with a most unusual patient. He has no name, is a dangerous psychotic, and has been accused of the worst crimes. If we told you this particular fellow was over 200 years old and inspired the likes of Bran Stoker and Mary Shelley, would you be tempted to read on? What about if we said he also claimed to be the good doctor’s father as well? Intriguing gothic-inspired chiller arriving 8 June – watch for our review.
Pre-order now on Amazon
A Twist of the Knife by Becky Masterman
Brigid Quinn is an ex-FBI agent and she carries plenty of baggage. While visiting her hospitalised father she meets former colleague, Laura Coleman, who is working on a cold case. Marcus Creighton faces execution after the murder of his wife and three children 15 years earlier. Brigid promises to help in this tale of injustice that explores how far we can trust the stories we tell ourself from our past. This is the third in the Brigid Quinn series and we reviewed the most recent, Fear the Darkness, here. Available in ebook now and in print 8 June.
Pre-order on Amazon
The Mentor by Lee Matthew Goldberg
Here’s a book perfect for anyone interested in the publishing industry. Kyle Broder’s hero and mentor William Lansing has written a book, and as Kyle has newly become an editor at a big publishing company he’s overjoyed to receive the manuscript. Trouble is, it’s the most depraved thing he’s ever read and it even seems to mirror the cold case disappearance of a woman from Kyle’s university years earlier. Is the mentor’s manuscript a memoir of murder, and is our hero’s career and indeed his life at risk? Out 13 June for Kindle.
Pre-order now on Amazon
Click here to read about last week’s new books.
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Due to popular demand, we’re launching an email newsletter for crime fiction lovers. It’ll start early June, and we’ll be sending out a weekly update that will include new books, just like you’re reading about here, as well as links to what’s new on the site. The latest book reviews, features including author interviews, and previews of crime TV shows, for instance.
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