Crime

Upcoming: THE MAIDENS by Alex Michaelides (Celadon/W&N)

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MichaelidesA-MaidensUSThe Maidens by Alex Michaelides has been getting a fair amount of pre-publication buzz. It’s the author’s second novel (his debut was The Silent Patient). The synopsis suggests an intriguing campus thriller, and certainly piqued my interest:

Edward Fosca is a murderer. Of this Mariana is certain. But Fosca is untouchable. A handsome and charismatic Greek tragedy professor at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by staff and students alike-particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens.

Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge.

MichaelidesA-MaidensUKMariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld?

When another body is found, Mariana’s obsession with proving Fosca’s guilt spirals out of control, threatening to destroy her credibility as well as her closest relationships. But Mariana is determined to stop this killer, even if it costs her everything-including her own life.

Alex Michaelides’s The Maidens is due to be published by Celadon Books in North America (June 15th) and W&N in the UK (June 10th). Looking forward to reading this.

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Upcoming: VELVET WAS THE NIGHT by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey)

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MorenoGarciaS-VelvetWasTheNightUSLast year, Silvia Moreno-Garcia‘s Mexican Gothic (justifiably) stormed all over the book charts. This year, the author returns with Velvet Was the Night, a mystery/noir/thriller novel set in 1970s Mexico. In addition to that great, eye-catching cover, the synopsis sounds suitably intriguing as well:

A riveting noir about a daydreaming secretary, a lonesome enforcer, and the mystery of a missing woman that brings them together.

1970s, Mexico City. Maite is a secretary who lives for one thing: the latest issue of Secret Romance. While student protests and political unrest consume the city, Maite escapes into stories of passion and danger.

Her next-door neighbor, Leonora, a beautiful art student, seems to live a life of intrigue and romance that Maite envies. When Leonora disappears under suspicious circumstances, Maite finds herself searching for the missing woman—and journeying deeper into Leonora’s secret life of student radicals and dissidents.

Meanwhile, someone else is also looking for Leonora at the behest of his boss, a shadowy figure who commands goon squads dedicated to squashing political activists. Elvis is an eccentric criminal who longs to escape his own life: He loathes violence and loves old movies and rock ’n’ roll. But as Elvis searches for the missing woman, he comes to observe Maite from a distance—and grows more and more obsessed with this woman who shares his love of music and the unspoken loneliness of his heart.

Now as Maite and Elvis come closer to discovering the truth behind Leonora’s disappearance, they can no longer escape the danger that threatens to consume their lives, with hitmen, government agents, and Russian spies all aiming to protect Leonora’s secrets—at gunpoint.

Really looking forward to reading this one. Velvet Was the Night is due to be published by Del Rey in North America and in the UK, on August 17th, 2021. New editions of the author’s The Beautiful Ones (April 27th) and Certain Dark Things (September 7th) are also due out this year, published by Tor Books.

Also on CR: Excerpt from Signal to Noise

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Quick Review: POSSESSION by Katie Lowe (St. Martin’s Press)

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LoweK-PossessionUSA true-crime podcast inches perilously close to the truth for Hannah…

The past haunts her. The present hunts her.

Ten years ago, Hannah’s husband was brutally murdered in their home, and she (conveniently) doesn’t remember a thing about that night. But the police charged someone else—a stranger—and put him away for life. And Hannah packed up her six-year-old daughter and left London behind.

But now her hard-won countryside peace is threatened. Conviction, a viral true crime podcast known for getting cases reopened and old verdicts overturned, has turned its attention to Hannah’s husband’s murder for its new season. They say police framed the man who was found guilty, and that Hannah has more suspicious secrets than just her memory loss: a history of volatility; citations at the clinic where she worked as a psychiatrist; dependencies on alcohol and pills; and a familicidal grandmother, locked away in a Gothic insane asylum until her death. As Hannah loses the trust of everyone she loves, the only person she feels she can confide in is a former colleague, Darcy, who’s come back into her life—but who may have motives of her own. But Hannah can’t tell even Darcy her deepest secret: that she’s still tormented by the memory of her husband and the crater he carved through her life.

Possession is the new novel by the author of the much-buzzed-about The Furies. I thought it looked interesting, and I’ve been seeing a fair number of suspense/crime novels that feature a true-crime podcast at its centre. While I haven’t listened to many, my partner loves My Favorite Murder and a couple of others, so I thought it might be interesting to see how Lowe incorporates that cultural phenomenon into the novel. Turns out, the author does it very well. I enjoyed this. Continue reading →

Excerpt: SPOILS OF THE DEAD by Dana Stabenow (Head of Zeus)

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StabenowD-LC5-SpoilsOfTheDeadToday, Head of Zeus has provided us with an excerpt from Spoils of the Dead, the fifth book in Dana Stabenow‘s Liam Campbell series. Due out next week, let’s start with the synopsis:

It’s Labor Day in Blewestown, Alaska, and it seems most of the town’s thirty-five hundred residents have turned out to celebrate – or to cause trouble. Not Liam Campbell, though. He’s checking out the local watering hole in his new town. He’s finally made it out of Newenham and is ready for a quiet life with his wife.

He’s been in town for about a week when an archaeologist invites him out to his dig site outside of town. He’s on the verge of a momentous discovery, one he says will be worth the State Trooper’s time.

Two days later, the archaeologist is dead, murdered on his own dig site. And Liam Campbell is about to learn that he’s traded one troubled bush town for another.

Now, on with the excerpt!

Continue reading →

Excerpt: THE PACKAGE by Sebastian Fitzek (Head of Zeus)

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FitzekS-PackageUKNext week (February 4th), Head of Zeus are due to publish the latest novel from Sebastian Fitzek in the UK: The Package.

Fitzek is one of Germany’s most successful and popular thriller/suspense novelists, with a growing fanbase around the world. This latest novel, translated by Jamie Bulloch, sounds particularly interesting and chilling. Here’s the synopsis:

All you’ve done is taken in a parcel for a neighbour. You have no idea what you’ve let into your home.

Emma’s the one that got away.

The only survivor of a killer known in the tabloids as ‘the barber’ – because of the trophies he takes from his victims.

Or she thinks she was.

The police aren’t convinced. Nor is her husband. She never even saw her tormentor properly, but now she recognises him in every man.

Questioning her sanity, she gives up her job as a doctor in the local hospital and retreats from the world. It is better to stay at home. Quiet. Anonymous. Safe. He won’t find her here.

And all she did was take a parcel for a neighbour.

She has no idea what she’s let into her home.

The Package is due to be published by Head of Zeus on February 4th in the UK. The excerpt begins after the jump.

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Upcoming: THESE TOXIC THINGS by Rachel Howzell Hall (Thomas & Mercer)

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HowzellHallR-TheseToxicThingsUSI’m a relative newcomer to Rachel Howzell Hall‘s fiction. She is the author of the Eloise Norton crime series, and the stand-alone novels They All Fall Down and the excellent And Now She’s Gone (hopefully not to be a stand-alone for long). The author’s next novel is These Toxic Things, due to be published by Thomas & Mercer:

Mickie Lambert creates “digital scrapbooks” for clients, ensuring that precious souvenirs aren’t forgotten or lost. When her latest client Nadia Denham, a curio shop owner, dies from an apparent suicide, Mickie honors the old woman’s last wish and begins curating her peculiar objets d’art. A music box, a hair clip, a keychain — twelve mementos in all that must have meant so much to Nadia who collected them on her flea market scavenges across the country.

They mean a lot to someone else, too. Mickie has been getting threatening messages from a long-dormant serial killer to leave Nadia’s past alone.

It’s becoming a mystery Mickie is driven to solve. Who are the women, now dead or disappeared, who once owned these odd treasures? How did Nadia really come to possess them? Who is the killer watching every move Mickie makes? Discovering the truth means navigating the secrets of a sinister past. One, Mickie fears, might be inescapably entwined with her own.

Rachel Howzell Hall’s These Toxic Things is due to be published by Thomas & Mercer in North America and in the UK.

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Very Quick Review: THE LAW OF INNOCENCE by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown/Orion)

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ConnellyM-MH7-LawOfInnocenceUSMickey Haller, murderer?

On the night he celebrates a big win, defense attorney Mickey Haller is pulled over by police, who find the body of a former client in the trunk of his Lincoln. Haller is immediately charged with murder but can’t post the exorbitant $5 million bail slapped on him by a vindictive judge.

Mickey elects to represent himself and is forced to mount his defense from his jail cell in the Twin Towers Correctional Center in downtown Los Angeles. All the while he needs to look over his shoulder — as an officer of the court he is an instant target, and he makes few friends when he reveals a corruption plot within the jail.

But the bigger plot is the one against him. Haller knows he’s been framed, whether by a new enemy or an old one. As his trusted team, including his half-brother, Harry Bosch, investigates, Haller must use all his skills in the courtroom to counter the damning evidence against him.

Even if he can obtain a not-guilty verdict, Mickey understands that it won’t be enough. In order to be truly exonerated, he must find out who really committed the murder and why. That is the law of innocence.

Just wanted to post a very quick review of Michael Connelly’s latest thriller. I read it in two late-night sittings, on tenterhooks: I just had to know how Mickey Haller was going to get himself out of his latest predicament. If you’re a fan of Connelly’s novels, then you’ll no doubt have already picked up/read this one. If you still haven’t given Connelly’s thrillers a try, then I can’t recommend them highly enough. Gripping, well-paced, and another excellent read, The Law of Innocence did not disappoint. Continue reading →

Quick Review: THE ALBUM OF DR. MOREAU by Daryl Gregory (Tor.com)

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GregoryD-AlbumOfDrMoreauA fantastic science fictional twist on detective fiction and pop culture

It’s 2001, and the WyldBoyZ are the world’s hottest boy band, and definitely the world’s only genetically engineered human-animal hybrid vocal group. When their producer, Dr. M, is found murdered in his hotel room, the “boyz” become the prime suspects. Was it Bobby the ocelot (“the cute one”), Matt the megabat (“the funny one”), Tim the Pangolin (“the shy one”), Devin the bonobo (“the romantic one”), or Tusk the elephant (“the smart one”)?

Las Vegas Detective Luce Delgado has only twenty-four hours to solve a case that goes all the way back to the secret science barge where the WyldBoyZ’ journey first began — a place they used to call home.

It feels like a long time since I last read something by Gregory. I’ve enjoyed his work ever since I read Afterparty. He has a great writing and storytelling style. This new novella is a fantastic read: an intriguing, inventive science-fiction twist on detective fiction and pop culture. I really enjoyed this. Continue reading →

Upcoming: LIGHTSEEKERS by Femi Kayode (Mulholland/Raven)

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KayodeF-LightseekersUSI’m always on the look-out for a new thriller author to follow, and Femi Kayode‘s debut Lightseekers caught my eye. I like stories where an outsider is thrust into a situation or country/world in which they have no or little experience. I luckily already have a review copy of the novel, and hope to read it very soon. Here’s the synopsis:

A respected Nigerian psychologist travels to a remote southern border town to uncover the truth about the murder of three university students.

When Dr. Philip Taiwo is called on by a powerful Nigerian politician to investigate the public torture and murder of three university students in Port Harcourt, he has no idea that he’s about to be enveloped by a perilous case that is far from cold.

KayodeF-LightseekersUKPhilip is not a detective. He’s an investigative psychologist, an academic more interested in figuring out the why of a crime than actually solving it. But when he steps off the plane and into the dizzying frenzy of the provincial airport, he soon realizes that the mob-driven murder of the Okriki Three isn’t as straight forward as he thought. With the help of his loyal and streetwise personal driver, Chika, Philip must work against those actively conspiring against him to parse together the truth of what happened to these students.

A thrilling and atmospheric mystery, and an unforgettable portrait of the contemporary Nigerian sociopolitical landscape, Lightseekers is a wrenching novel tackling the porousness between the first and third worlds, the enduring strength of tribalism and homeland identity, and the human need for connection in the face of isolation.

Femi Kayode’s Lightseekers is due to be published by Mulholland Books in North America (March 2nd) and Raven Books in the UK (February 4th).

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Upcoming: THE THOUSAND CRIMES OF MING TSU by Tom Lin (Little, Brown)

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LinT-ThousandCrimesOfMingTsuUSThe Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin is described as a blend of the “violent ardor of Cormac McCarthy” and the “otherworldly inventiveness of Ted Chiang”. In an early blurb, Jonathan Lethem name-checks a number of comparators, including the Coen Brothers and Ray Bradbury. An intriguing mix. The novel is “a thriller, a romance, and a story of one man’s quest for redemption in the face of a distinctly American brutality”. Quite looking forward to giving this a try. Here’s the full synopsis:

An astounding debut that reimagines the classic Western through the eyes of a Chinese American assassin on a quest to rescue his kidnapped wife and exact his revenge on her abductors

Orphaned as a boy, Ming Tsu, the son of Chinese immigrants, is raised by the notorious leader of a California crime syndicate, who trains him to be his deadly enforcer. But when Ming falls in love with Ada, the daughter of a powerful railroad magnate, and the two elope, he seizes the opportunity to escape to a different life. Soon after, in a violent raid, the tycoon’s henchmen kidnap Ada and conscript Ming into service for the Union Pacific Railroad.

Battered, heartbroken, and yet defiant, Ming partners with a clairvoyant old man known only as the Prophet. Together the two set out to rescue his wife and to exact revenge on the men who destroyed him, aided by a troupe of magic-show performers, some with supernatural powers, whom they meet on the journey. Ming fights his way across the West, settling old scores with a single-minded devotion that culminates in an explosive and unexpected finale.

Tom Lin’s The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu is due to be published by Little, Brown in North America and in the UK, on June 1st, 2021.

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