The stars of crime fiction are out this week here in our new books column. Michael Connelly, Sophie Hannah, Val McDermid and Vaseem Khan are all names dedicated crime fiction lovers are aware of. And in JK Flynn and Nick Kolakowski, two of our favourite indie authors join the bill. If you’ve been waiting for the right crime novel to come along, here are six to choose from!
The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly
Whip smart criminal lawyer Mickey Haller finds himself in untested waters in Michael Connelly’s The Proving Ground, arriving on 21 October. He’s about to take on his first civil lawsuit, but this is a murder trial in all but name. An AI chatbot encouraged a 16-year-old boy to kill his girlfriend and Haller is gunning for the company that created it. He enlists the help of a character familiar to Connelly fans. No, it’s not his half-brother Harry Bosch; this time into the spotlight steps journalist Jack McEvoy, first seen in The Poet and more recently in Fair Warning. Together they aim to uncover a whistleblower in hiding, but with billions on the line, this courtroom battle is about to get messy…
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The Last Death of the Year by Sophie Hannah
It’s New Year’s Eve, 1932, and as 1933 beckons, Hercule Poirot and his good friend Inspector Edward Catchpool have travelled to the Greek island of Lamperos for some rest and relaxation… two words not often associated with the Belgian detective. Even Catchpole is not convinced, but Poirot’s lips are sealed. After a strange guessing game takes a sinister turn, it is up to our hero to put his little grey cells to use and thwart a murdered who is determined to strike before midnight. Make a date with 23 October, when Sophie Hannah carries on the story of Agatha Christie’s globally famous detective.
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The Silent Bones by Val McDermid
Fans of Val McDermid will be delighted to hear that a new Karen Pirie thriller arrives in the UK on 23 October and in the US on 2 December. As The Silent Bones opens, Scotland is being hit by torrential rain. Nothing unusual there, but the deluge causes a landslide on a Scottish motorway that reveals a body that’s been engulfed in tarmac for over a decade. It’s a puzzle for Pirie and her Historic Cases Unit, because the victim had been prime suspect in another murder when he disappeared. Meanwhile, new evidence opens another case that has been long closed – and what could a book club have to do with it?
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Quantum of Menace by Vaseem Khan
The name’s Khan, Vaseem Khan – and this popular crime author has a licence to write a brand-new spy novel with the blessing of the Ian Fleming Estate. Quantum of Menace is a Bond spin-off out on 23 October. The focus here is on Q, aka Major Boothroyd, who has been unexpectedly ousted from his job of developing technologies to be used by MI6’s 00 agents. He returns home to sleepy Wickstone-on-Water, where a childhood friend has died in suspicious circumstances. Quantum computer scientist Peter Napier left behind a cryptic note, and that’s enough to pique Q’s interest. Can he unravel the truth as danger closes in?
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Bad Copper by JK Flynn
What would you do for a cool half a million pounds? That’s the question facing Police Inspector Rupert Jones in JK Flynn‘s Bad Copper, out on 21 October. Jones is a cop whose life has hit a downturn. He’s recently divorced and living in a caravan park – just how much worse can things get? Then the most tempting offer comes along – all Jones has to do is not try to save someone’s life and the £500,000 in cash will be his. He’s tired of being a loser and fed up with having no money, so will he take the bait and head off into a bright new future?
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Righteous Trash by Nick Kolakowski
Jake Halligan has left the dark days behind and is living the quiet life with his wife and daughter in rural Idaho. But family ties are strong, and with a sister who is the West’s most dangerous arms dealer, Jake finds himself pulled back into the old ways. As the bullets start flying and with everything he knows at risk, Jake’s peaceful existence is history. Featuring a pregnant teenager, gangs of gun-toting thugs, a wetwork specialist from New Orleans, high-powered politicos, and a backwoods shooting competition just begging to be robbed, Righteous Trash by indie author Nick Kolakowski arrives with a bang on 23 October.
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