December is here, and while everyone else seems focused on Christmas trees and the holiday season, we’re getting ready for Ms Tree in a new collection from Max Allan Collins. And this week’s On the Radar brings glad tidings of murder and misdeeds aplenty in the writings of four other authors who are new to our site as well.
Ms Tree: Fallen Tree by Max Allan Collins
Fans of hardboiled detective crime fiction will be happy to hear that the sixth collection of veteran author Max Allan Collins‘ classic Ms Tree stories, published together for the first time, arrives on 31 December. Illustrated by artist Terry Beatty, Ms Tree: Fallen Tree features New Years Evil, Like Father, Coming of Rage and more. No case is too small, no violence too extreme for the 6ft tall, 9mm-carrying private detective who will stop at nothing to get the job done. Sounds like perfect New Year’s reading!
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
New York Minute by Stephen Aryan
There’s more noir-ish crime, with a Big Apple setting, in Stephen Aryan’s New York Minute – out now. This is a writer who has made his name in the fantasy genre, and this crime debut offers an alternate view of the city that never sleeps. Former cop turned private investigator Cole Blackstone doesn’t think anything could surprise him – until he’s approached by mobster Karl Dolman, whose daughter, Selina, has vanished. A gang war is brewing, and if Cole and his friend Bracken Hart are to derail it they’ll need to navigate the mean streets and delve into the depths of the city’s underworld before all hell lets loose.
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Mr Hogarth’s Morning by Thom Braun
The Mr Hogarth of the title of this historical crime novel is none other than famed artist William Hogarth, renowned for his works depicting the seedier side of 18th century London. It’s one of those paintings that is causing ructions in the Hogarth household – an image of a woman walking across Covent Garden Piazza raises questions for the artist’s wife, Jane, and also appears to hark back to her husband’s past. Meanwhile, another Covent Garden resident, Prudence Hyssop, is determined to put the past behind her as the new year approaches, and gentleman painter Jonathan Smallow has murder on his mind… As the plot lines begin to intertwine, it’s not a pretty picture. Mr Hogarth’s Morning by Thom Braun is out now.
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Shallow Ends by David James Keaton
Anyone who has ever been bothered by the loud and pulsating beats of a passing party bus should enjoy David James Keaton‘s Shallow Ends, out now. A group of 13 friends are living it large on one such vehicle, a modified fire truck – and the birthday celebrations are in full swing when the atmosphere turns a little icy. Because the driver has his foot on the gas and isn’t prepared to stop, they’re careening along a desolate, empty highway, and there’s nothing they can do about it. As the booze flows and tempers flare, what started out as a bit of lighthearted fun is about to become a night when dark secrets are laid bare…
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Dangerous Hunger by Myron Beard
A beautiful, terrified woman who is convinced that her life is in danger asks for private investigator Scott Hunter’s help in Myron Beard’s Dangerous Hunger, out now. They meet in a deserted Santa Fe building, but before the woman can fill Hunter in, a loud noise scares her away. The note she leaves behind leads him the following night to a dark restaurant – and a body. Something’s cooking and as Hunter sifts through the evidence, he encounters some unlikely suspects. Can he solve the case before he himself ends up in hot water?
Order now on Amazon
