Crime fiction lovers, we have some pretty important releases for you this week. Anthony Horowitz and Sara Paretsky are established names in the genre, Alyssa Cole and Ella Berman are rising stars, plus we’ve got a classic from the 1940s reprinted. April is off to a very fine start in our book…
Read on to find out more.
Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz
The crime fiction character Anthony Horowitz makes his fifth appearance in author Anthony Horowitz‘s entertaining Hawthorne series when Close to Death is published on 16 April. Something is amiss in an exclusive gated community in Richmond. Everything was just fine for its upmarket residents – until the arrival of the Kenworthy family. They’re noisy and brash, with multiple big cars and assorted small children, and they soon put everyone’s backs up. But killing one of them seems a bit drastic… until Charles Kenworthy is found dead on his porch, a crossbow bolt in his chest. Daniel Hawthorne is called in, but when everyone seems a likely suspect, how do you pinpoint the real murderer? For a first look at the lovely hardback edition, click here.
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole
Alyssa Cole’s 2020 crime debut When No One is Watching won an Edgar award, so this one is worth looking out for. Historical preservationist Kenetria Nash lost her career after a breakdown and being diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, so when she is offered the position as resident caretaker of a historic home on an island in the middle of the Hudson river, she is keen to take the job. Her alters have been dormant for years, and Ken is looking forward to the chance to work alone until the arrival of members of the home’s conservation trust just as a storm is about to hit. They’re forced to stay together, but one of the party is the man who brought her life to ruins all those years ago – and when he is found dead, Ken is the prime suspect… One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole is out on 16 April.
Order now on Amazon
Pay Dirt by Sara Paretsky
Over her 22-book journey, legendary private detective VI Warshawski has solved more cases than we can count, but the latest one has hit her hard. She did her job, brought home the missing child she had been hired to find – and then watched as the youngster was killed by their father. Vic is in the depths of depression, not eating, letting herself go, and her friends are worried. In a bid to pull her out of her despair, they send her to Kansas for a weekend of college basketball and to check out Angela, one of Vic’s protegés, who is making her mark in the game. Bad move, because things are about to get a whole lot worse. Pay Dirt by Sara Paretsky is out 16 April in the US, with a May publication for UK readers.
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The Lifeline by Phyllis Bottome
First published in 1946 and set in 1938, Phyllis Bottome’s Lifeline is a tale of espionage and spy craft in the run-up to World War II, and it has just been reprinted by Muswell Press. The dapper and debonair Mark Chalmers is a master at Eton. Dark haired and athletic, he speaks French and German fluently and is fond of wine, food and women. His comfortable life changes when he is recruited by British intelligence for a dangerous mission. Chalmers is parachuted into Nazi-occupied Austria to pass on information to a British agent, and soon finds himself fighting fascism alongside the Austrian-German Underground.
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The Comeback by Ella Berman
Grace Turner’s star was on the rise in Hollywood when she unexpectedly quit the business and disappeared from the public eye with no explanation. A year on, she is back in LA, a changed woman who seems determined to do things her own way this time. That resolve is about to be tested when Grace is asked to present a lifetime achievement award to director Able Yorke, the man who dominated her and her life for almost a decade. It’s a chance for her to set the record straight, once and for all – but is Grace ready for the biggest performance of her life? Find out when Ella Berman’s The Comeback arrives on 11 April.
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
Click here to read about last week’s new books.