On the Radar — Maybe it’s the way the atmosphere is gradually heating up. Or it could be that sea change in politics everyone is talking about. Or it could be because Liverpool won the Champions League. Whatever the cause, a whole range of crime authors seem to be looking at their long-running series and deciding to start something new. This week, three of our five new releases see top names in the genre striking out in new directions. Nicci French: domestic noir. Tess Gerritsen: modern gothic. Patricia Cornwell: space-age cybercrime. Exciting, or what? And, earlier this month Ann Cleeves did it with The Long Call. Read on and discover the next novel for your crime shelf…
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The Lying Room by Nicci French
The husband and wife team Nicci Gerrard and Sean French, better known as Nicci French, are best known for their Frieda Klein series. Now they’re stepping into unknown territory with their first standalone in 10 years. It’s domestic noir, and out on 3 October. On the face of it, Neve Connolly is a pretty ordinary woman. She’s a trusted family woman and friend, a loving mother and wife. She’s made mistakes – who hasn’t? But now one of those mistakes is about to shatter her carefully constructed persona and with murder involved, you can bet we’re in for a thrilling ride. Also see our review of Thursday’s Children, book four in the Frieda Klein series.
Pre-order now on Amazon
The Shape of Night by Tess Gerritsen
Here’s another author who has cast off her regular gig to try something new. Tess Gerritsen is best known for her Rizzoli and Isles series, but on 3 October she’s going all modern gothic with a ghostly mystery set in a small seaside town in Maine. Food writer Ava Collette leaves Boston hoping to finding inspiration for her latest cook book and to escape from the aftermath of a personal tragedy. If she’s looking for peace, though, the town of Tucker’s Cove, and the house she rents, are definitely the wrong choices. Because Brodie’s Watch has a disturbing history – and soon Ava is haunted by a ghost who seems to know all her innermost thoughts… Is she going mad, or in terrible danger? Read our interview with Tess Gerritsen.
Pre-order now on Amazon
Dead Cat Bounce by Robert White
Out now via Fahrenheit Press is Dead Cat Bounce, the latest by prolific crime author Robert White. This new novel involves the missing fortune of Mrs Bello, the old lady who lived above the grocery store and who definitely didn’t trust banks. After she passed, her family wanted to know where her money was hidden but weren’t able to find it. But wait a second, is the small fortune that’s landed at the feet of Butchie Parmenter the legacy of Old Lady Bello? He’s come by it easily, but will he be able to hang onto it in this old school pulp crime novel?
Buy now on Amazon
Now You See Them by Elly Griffiths
Elly Griffiths’ fifth Brighton mystery is arriving on 3 October, but it will take you back in time to 1963. With mods and rockers making the trip down from London for pitched battles on the beach, newly promoted Superintendent Edgar has plenty on his plate. Young women are going missing and it’s more sinister than them jumping on the back of a moped and whizzing off to Croydon with a mod boyfriend. Edgar has also now married his former sergeant Emma Holmes and home life doesn’t suit her cop sensibilities. We recommended The Stone Circle, part of Elly Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway series, last year.
Pre-order now on Amazon
Quantum by Patricia Cornwell
It’s goodbye for now to Kay Scarpetta and hello to a new kid on the crime fiction block. Captain Calli Chase is a NASA pilot, quantum physicist and cybercrime investigator and she makes her debut on 1 October as Patricia Cornwell starts a brand new series. On the eve of a top secret space mission, Chase detects a tripped alarm in the tunnels deep below a NASA research centre. It’s the first move in a dangerous game which could endanger both the space programme and the security of the USA. But as Chase begins to dig deeper, a trail of clues lead her to a horrific conclusion – could the saboteur be her twin sister, Carme? For more cybercrime, try Blackout by Marc Elsberg.
Pre-order now on Amazon
