Friday, 13 July 2012

Forthcoming books to look forward to from Jonathan Cape, Vintage Origins, Chatto & Windus and Harvill Secker


At Toad Hall, lair of multibillionaire Baron Aristotle Krapaud, a cabal of industrialists and fat cats plot the violent overthrow of the French state by the intervention of horribly beweaponed automaton soldiers.  Meanwhile, the brutal murder of a famous Parisian artist, mysteriously stabbed to death in his locked and guarded studio, is subject to the investigations of the tenacious Detective Sergeant Roderick Ratzi, in pursuit of the mysterious masked assassin stalking the cutthroat commercial world of the Grandville art scene.  As the body count mounts and events spiral exponentially out of control, aided by his brilliant deductive abilities and innate ferocity, LeBrock battles against the outrageous odds in this funny, high-octane thriller, an adventure shot through with both high art and comic book references, a glorious illegitimate offspring of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Ian Fleming with animals.  Bête Noir signals the welcome return to anthropomorphic steampunk detective fiction of master storyteller and graphic novel pioneer Bryan Talbot. Bête Noir is due to be published in December 2012.

Lafferton is struggling through a bitter winter, with heavy snowfalls paralysing the town, though at least the police can be sure the ram raiders who have been targeting antique and jewellers' shops will be lying low.  The biggest worry the elderly have is how to keep warm, until 82-year-old Doris Upcott is found strangled in her home, followed by the deaths of two other residents of the same sheltered housing complex.  Each time, the murderer has left a unique signature at the crime scene, which should help DCS Simon Serrailler, desperate to identify him before he kills again.  When links are found between these and three similar murders elsewhere, Serrailler is obliged to cross deep into unfamiliar territory in his search for answers. A Question of Identity is by Susan Hill and is due to be published in October 2012.

Eva is walking by the river one afternoon when a body floats to the surface of the icy water.  She tells her daughter to wait patiently while she calls the police, but when she reaches the phone box Eva dials another number altogether.  The dead man, Egil, has been missing for months, and it doesn't take long for Inspector Sejer and his team to establish that he was the victim of a very violent killer.  However, the trail has gone cold.  It's as puzzling as another unsolved case on Sejer's desk: the murder of a prostitute who was found dead just before Egil went missing.  While Sejer is trying to piece together the fragments of a seemingly impossible case, Eva gets a phone call late one night.  A stranger speaks and then swiftly hangs up.  Eva looks out into the darkness and listens.  All is quiet.  Gripping and thought provoking, "In the Darkness" is Karin Fossum's first novel featuring the iconic Inspector Sejer and it is due to be published in July 2012.
 
Harry is out of his depth.  Detective Harry Hole is meant to keep out of trouble.  A young Norwegian girl taking a gap year in Sydney has been murdered, and Harry has been sent to Australia to assist in any way he can.  He's not supposed to get too involved.  When the team unearths a string of unsolved murders and disappearances, nothing will stop Harry from finding out the truth.  The hunt for a serial killer is on, but the murderer will talk only to Harry.  He might just be the next victim.  Appearing in English for the first time, "The Bat" is the legendary first novel from the worldwide phenomenon Jo Nesbo.  The Bat is due to be published in October 2012.
  
The first book in the critically acclaimed Intercrime series, "The Blinded Man" is an intelligent and gripping crime novel.  This title is first published in the United States under the title "Misterioso" and is due to be published in July 2012.  Two of Sweden's most powerful businessmen have been murdered.  In the face of mounting panic amongst the financial elite, a task force has been created to catch the culprit before he kills again.  To his surprise, Detective Paul Hjelm, currently under investigation for misconduct after shooting a man who took an immigration officer hostage, is summoned to join the team.  However, the killer has left no clues - even removing the bullets from the crime scenes - and Hjelm and his new teammates face a daunting challenge if they are to uncover the connection between the murdered men and identify any potential victims before he strikes again.

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