On the Radar — Look out Jo Nesbo, stand aside Camilla Lackberg. The great Dane Jussi Adler-Olsen is coming through with a new Department Q story – The Hanging Girl. It’s hard to believe this is the sixth in the series to be translated into English and that we’ve reviewed every one of them here on Crime Fiction Lover. But if Nordic noir is not your thing don’t worry, we’ve got a sizzler set in Seville, a handful of American mysteries and also MJ Trow’s latest Elizabethan historical crime novel. Read on and take your pick…
The Hanging Girl by Jussi Adler Olsen
The Danish author’s career in business and the media would fill up a book on its own, but here he returns with the latest Department Q novel to be translated into English. This is the sixth book in the series featuring Detective Carl Mørck and his enigmatic assistants, Assad, Rose and Gordon. Mørck is annoyed when his mid-morning doze is interrupted by a telephone request for his help. Even more so when the rural cop calling him blows his brains out. With that on his conscience, Mørck, Assad and Rose head off to Oland to work on the cold case that so bothered the cop – a teenage girl whose body was found hanging in a tree. Previously in this series we reviewed The Marco Effect. Available on 3 September.
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Dynasty by Tom Holland
No shoulder pads here, no big hair and definitely no Colbys or Carringtons. This Dynasty takes us back to Ancient Rome. Crime collides with history on a grand scale as the dubious legacy of Caesar Augustus is carried on with debauchery and aplomb by Caligula, Nero, Agrippina and Tiberius. Murder, sexual perversion, treachery, and oppression are commonplace, and those who were thrilled by the battles in the forests so vividly portrayed in Gladiator will be tempted by the fact that the Empire’s German wars are not neglected in Dynasty. Published on 3 September.
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Pretty Dead by Anne Frasier
Savannah, Georgia. When the latest victim of a serial killer is none other than the mayor, the heat is on the investigators Elise Sandburg and David Gould. But what’s this, they’re working hard but still their bosses have called in the Feds? Smarting from this vote of no confidence, Sandburg and Gould are horrified to find that the FBI profiler sent to take over the case has history with Gould. Corpses, Spanish moss and the sickly scent of magnolias… Pretty Dead will be out on 1 September.
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From Russia Without Love by Stephen Templin
Not sure about the title, but if you are keen on special ops and crime spanning continents, then this may be for you. Retired SEAL Chris Paladin is – much to his reluctance – dragged back into service when a group of Greek extremists kidnap the son-in-law of the White House Chief of Staff. As the special ops team investigate, they realise that the terrorists are merely marionettes, with strings being pulled by the puppet masters in the Kremlin. Available 1 September.
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The Long Siesta by Nick Sweet
The Long Siesta is set in Seville, the capital of Andalusia, and Nick Sweet’s writing is described as neo-noir. It is the endlessly hot summer of 1998. Inspector Velasquez has his own problems – he’s a drug addict – but he must clear his head to investigate a killer who has a particular taste for executing priests. When it seems that Russian gangsters may be linked to the killings, Velasquez has to stay clean until he brings the killers to justice. Published 1 September.
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The Good Neighbor by AJ Banner
Set in Washington State this psychological thriller, sees Sarah McDonald put her life on hold after a fire destroys her home and threatens her sanity. As she and her recently-wed husband start to rebuild their lives, both materially and psychologically, Sarah uncovers old secrets that make her doubt everything about her life – her neighbours, her friends and even her husband become as strangers… On the shelves from 1 September.
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City of Echoes by Robert Ellis
Los Angeles is a classic crime location. Rookie cop Matt Jones is thrown in at the deep end when he has to tackle the case of a fellow officer gunned down in a parking lot off Hollywood Boulevard. Jones could do with a break in the case. Soon, he finds the murder is linked to a previous one and things start to point in the direction of police corruption and a cover up. So, should he fudge the evidence and continue his career in the LAPD, or expose the crooks and kiss his prospects – and maybe his life – goodbye. Out 1 September.
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Untouchable Things by Tara Guha
Rebecca Laurence is a London actress. Used to being centre stage, she is intrigued when she is invited to join a select group of artistic people who call themselves Friday Folly. The leader of the group is the enigmatic Seth Gardner. Soon, tragedy occurs and the curtain is drawn on the Friday Folly, their secrets and tangled relationships. This psychological thriller is the author’s debut novel, and she recently won the Luke Bitmead Bursary, an award set up to commemorate a young author who died at just 34. Untouchable Things is published on 1 September.
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Daughter of Ashes by Marcia Talley
This is the latest novel featuring amateur detective Hannah Ives – grandmother, archivist and breast cancer survivor. When she and her husband begin renovating an 18th century Maryland cottage they are horrified, and then intrigued, when a child’s mummified body is found in the chimney. Already interested in researching old homes, Hannah starts trying to identify the child and is shocked when her access to records at the courthouse is denied. Is someone with power and influence trying to keep the truth hidden? Out in hardback earlier this year, but released as a Kindle on 1 September.
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Secret World by MJ Trow
Trow is a prolific and successful historical novelist, and he returns with a new episode set in Elizabethan England, featuring playwright and detective Kit Marlowe. Back in his home town of Canterbury, Marlowe is drawn into the investigation of a murder. He is convinced that the woman arrested as the perpetrator is innocent, but his attempts to find the true killer attract unwelcome attention the court and the Queen herself. Last year we reviewed Trow’s The Blue and the Grey, set in the aftermath of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Secret World came out in print in May, and will be available for Kindle from 1 September.
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Which of this week’s books will you be buying? Let us know in the comments below.
