On the Radar — Memory loss is not something we’re prone to here on Crime Fiction Lover – we never forget a great read! – but it’s central to our lead book in this week’s new books column. As well as Andrew Ewart’s Forget Me, don’t forget to check out Still You Sleep by our very own Kate Vane, as well as the three further books covered. Three of this week’s books are debuts, too, which is great if you’re looking for fresh blood. Which one will you go for first? Let us know in the comments below.
Forget Me by Andrew Ewart
A couple of years ago, Andrew Ewart came second to CJ Tudor and her novel The Chalk Man in the ITV Be a Bestseller Awards with this book, which has been picked up and published by Orion. Amnesia is the main theme and the main problem for the protagonist here – her husband has had a mysterious accident and has no memory of the event, nor of the past. The man submits to a new medical treatment that aims to unearth those memories, but what’s discovered about the accident is more than anyone bargained for. Actual detail on the story is sparse, but the deception involved in Forget Me might evoke memories of Gone Girl or Before I Go to Sleep. It’s out 20 February.
Pre-order now on Amazon
Still You Sleep by Kate Vane
The latest book by Crime Fiction Lover contributor Kate Vane is out on 18 February, and is the first in a new series featuring redundant crime reporter Freddie Stone and online journalist Tilda Green. Vikki Smith is a young woman with a learning disability, living independently for the first time. When she is found dead of a drug overdose it is treated as a tragic accident, but messages on social media suggest someone was exploiting her death for their own ends. Vikki’s mother is convinced she was murdered and Green and Stone decide to work together to get to the truth. With wildly different ways of investigation, can they find any common ground to achieve their goal?
Pre-order now on Amazon
Trap Door by Dreda Say Mitchell
Recently awarded an MBE, Dreda Say Mitchell is back and with writing partner Tony Mason has produced a new thriller set in the East End of London. Rachel is desperate for a job and bowled over when she’s offered a management consultancy role by high flyer Michael Barrington. Maybe now she can start clearing her debts without her suffocating father finding out about them. Soon things start to go south, and Rachel’s office is moved into the basement of the building’s basement. It’s an old workshop where, back in the 19th century, dozens of sweatshop workers burned to death in a fire. There’s something not right about Michael or the job she’s doing but what is it, and could it be linked to the tragic past that Rachel is trying to escape? Trap Door is released on 11 February.
Pre-order now on Amazon
The Holdout by Graham Moore
Recognise the name? Graham Moore won an Academy Award as screenwriter of The Imitation Game. His latest novel adds a new twist to the courtroom drama and is out on 18 February. It’s a case that grabs worldwide attention – a 15-year-old heiress vanishes and her teacher, 25-year-old African American Bobby Nock, is charged with her murder. It seems an open and shut case but in the jury room Maya Seale is certain of Nock’s innocence and eventually convinces everyone else to agree. Move on 10 years and a true crime series gathers the jurors together once more. Maya is now a defence attorney and when she is framed for murder she must prove her innocence by getting to the truth of what happened a decade earlier. Steve Cavanagh’s Thirteen is another court-based crime novel that’ll keep you guessing.
Pre-order now on Amazon
Firewatching by Russ Thomas
There’s an eye-catching cover on this debut by bookseller turned author Russ Thomas, out 20 February, and it promises to be hot stuff. Firewatching introduces DS Adam Tyler, the sole member of South Yorkshire’s cold case unit. He was sidelined there after an ‘incident’ and things are pretty dull, until a body is found bricked up inside the walls of a house, with all the signs pointing to the person having been buried alive. Tyler sees a chance to get his career back on track… until he makes a rash decision that could send him even further into the mire. For more Yorkshire crime fiction, click here.
Pre-order now on Amazon