Saturday, 23 April 2011

Forthcoming books to look forward to from Quercus Books and Maclehose Press


When human remains are recovered from the bottom of the River Clyde suddenly Glasgow’s underworld is buzzing with the news that the dredged up bones belong to Gentleman Joe Strachan, Glasgow’s most successful and ruthless armed robber. Strachan’s daughters hire Lennox to find out who has been sending them large sums of cash each year on the anniversary of their father’s most successful robbery. Despite the fact that his instincts tell him otherwise Lennox takes the job and soon realises that he should have listened to his instincts. The Deep Dark Sleep is by Craig Russell and is the third book in the series to feature Lennox. It is due to be published in July 2011.

Commissario Soneri returns in the second novel by Valerio Varesi. In The Dark Valley, it is autumn in Parma and Commissario Soneri decides to leave the city and return to his home village in the Appenines for a much needed holiday. The small and rather isolated village revolve around the fortunes of the Rodolfi family. All of a sudden the family finds itself in the midst of a financial scandal with worrying implications for the whole community. Not long afterwards a decomposed body is found in the woods by a hiker. Reluctantly Soneri finds himself involved in investigating what is going on. The relationship between the patriarch Palmiro and his son Paride complicate matters. Matters go from bad to worse when he learns that his own father and Palmiro were once friends. The Dark Valley is due to be published in September 2011.

Sonia Varika is a former actress who has found solace in alcohol and isolation, but when her body is pulled from a fire it is almost beyond recognition and she is the only survivor in the house that she shared with a small family of African refugees. For her ex-lovers Police Colonel Chronis Halkidis and Simeon Piertzovanis (the landlord of the gutted building) her fate is a heavy reckoning. Reflection gives way to guilt and then the fanatical desire to hold those responsible by any means necessary. With corruption rife in his own force Halkidis finds his investigation hindered from within. Fuelled by their need for revenge and by their own twin addictions of cocaine and alcohol Kalkidis and Piertzovanis find themselves resorting to increasingly violent means as they try and unmask a conspiracy that unites the church and state against the interest of justice. Ashes is by Sergios Gakas (trans from Greek) and is due to be published in July 2011.

Pacific Heights, San Francisco. Psychiatrist Vera List discovers two of her clients are having an affair with the same man. But what at first seems like a strange coincidence soon evolves into a serious concern. This Hollywood-suave, mystery man, who insists on anonymity, seems to know both women's most intimate secrets. Moreover, he appears to be using this knowledge to push them to their mental limit. Fearing for their sanity, Vera seeks help. Help is Marten Fane: intelligence operative for hire, and the go-to man when you are fresh out of options. Fane, along with his crack team of surveillance experts - John Bucher, Roma Solis and Bobby Noble - must find this man, and stop him. Yet as Fane delves deeper into the world of his target, his gut instinct is confirmed: this is not just some creepy Lothario. In fact, they are dealing with a frighteningly calculated professional conducting a disturbing psychological experiment. This experiment will end in death, unless Fane moves like lightening to stop it. Pacific Heights is by Paul Harper and introduces the characters of Fane and Company where a professional surveillance team must stop a rogue black ops agent’s sinister experiment. Pacific Heights is due to be published in August 2011.

The Devil’s Light by Richard North Patterson is due to be published in July 2011. It is August 2011 and an Al-Qaeda operative masterminds the theft of a Pakistani military weapon. A chilling transmission is then broadcast to the world promising a major attack on a US city to mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Intelligence indicates that the weapon has been smuggled out from Pakistan and is on its way to the US with New York City or Washington as the likely target. Agent Brooke Chandler once a prodigious Middle East operative who is trying to deal with the loss of those close to him senses a deception but can he convince his superiors?

The Mayan Resurrection is the sequel to The Mayan Prophecy. After sacrificing himself to prevent mankind’s extinction, Michael Gabriel finds himself imprisoned in a torturous purgatory-like dimension in the Mayan netherworld. The war between good and evil wages on, as Michael Gabriel’s fate and that of plant Earth, hangs by an increasingly thin thread. The Mayan Resurrection is by Steve Alten and is due to be published in August 2011.

The Crowded Grave is by Martin Walker and is due to be published in August 2011. A French/Spanish summit that is due to be held is being threatened by Basque separatists and he is also having problems with animal rights campaigners. Bruno’s day has not started well. A local archaeological team has found a well-preserved skeleton and Bruno senses a link between the two groups and the mysterious corpse. Bruno must think fast, and keep his wits about him especially as the answer may lie a little closer to home.

Alexander Seaton returns in this third novel Crucible of Secrets. It is Midsummer 1631 and whilst Alexander Seaton and his fellow masters are enjoying some time off with their students Robert Sim the librarian of Marischal College is murdered. The university and town authorities investigate the murder and Seaton is asked to look into his private life. In the course of the investigation his personal feelings threaten to cloud his judgment as he discovers a side of the librarian he could never of guest at. It is only when a second apparently unrelated murder takes place that Seaton begins to piece together the connections. Crucible of Secrets is by Shona MacLean and is due to be published in August 2011.

The Tenderness of the Wolves author Stef Penney returns with The Invisible Ones. Small-time private investigator Ray Lovell is in a hospital bed veering between paralysis and delirium. But before the accident that landed him there he had promised to find Rose Janko. Rose married to Ivo Janko the charismatic son of a travelling gypsy family. When Ray starts to investigate her disappearance he is surprised at the hostility that he receives from Rose’s family. The Janko’s are a family touched by tragedy and perhaps it is Rose’s discovery of whatever they are trying to hide is at the bottom of her disappearance. Soon Ray wishes he never got involved. The Invisible Ones is due to be published in September 2011.

John Meyer Frey rots on Death Row for murdering a girl when he was seventeen. His victim’s father is desperate for revenge, while his prison guard is torn by feelings of compassion for the young man. Both of them see their hopes thwarted when Frey dies of heart disease. Across the Atlantic, a cheap crooner sees a drunkard harassing several women and loses his temper. The incident would normally be dismissed as just another drunken brawl but Detective Inspector Ewert Grens is made suspicious by certain details of the case. The investigation will blow apart the debate between the death penalty and the wider conflict between public justice and private revenge. Redemption is by Anders Roslund and Börge Hellstrom and is due to be published in September 2011.

In the first the thaw of spring the body of a young woman surfaces in the River Thorne. Rebecka Martinsson working as a prosecutor joins forces with Police Inspector Anna-Maria Mella as they are drawn into an investigation that focuses on old rumours about the disappearance of a plane carrying supplies for the Wehrmacht in 1943 and a killer who will no doubt kill again to keep the past buried. Until Thy Wrath Be Past is by Åsa Larsson and is due to be published in August 2011.

One autumn day in 1992, former pop singer Lennart Cederstrom finds something unexpected in the forest: a baby girl in a plastic bag, partially buried. He gives her the kiss of life, and her first cry astounds him; it is a clear, pure musical note. He takes her to his wife and persuades her that they should keep this remarkable child. But the baby becomes a strange girl, made more unusual by their decision to hide her in their basement to keep her from the prying eyes of government departments. When she reaches puberty, a terrifying scene sees her kill both her parents. When her scheming adopted brother returns to find her over their bodies, he seizes the opportunity and enters her into an X Factor-style talent competition. She quickly becomes famous. In spite of this, she remains very lonely, until she befriends another damaged girl on the internet. They form a powerful bond and soon create a growing gang of other disgruntled girls and, calling themselves the Wolves, they set out to take revenge for all they've ever suffered. John Ajvide Lindqvist’s Little Star is the dark, sad and shockingly real story of a friendship between two damaged children and the terrible consequences for those who cross them. Little Star is due to be published in September 2011.

Out of Sight by Isabelle Grey is her debut fiction novel. Patrick Hinde thought that he had moved on from his painful past but when his parents come to stay he finds himself catapulted back to his childhood. The last thing he remembers is strapping his son into his car on the way to taking him to the child-minder. Instead, distracted he drives to his surgery and leaves his son forgotten in the car. Five years later now living in the South of France Patrick Hinde has no wife or son and refuses to get into a car. But what will happen to his relationship with Leonie when she finds out what he has done. Out of Sight is due to be published in July 2011.

Philip Kerr returns with his eighth Bernie Gunther novel The Man With the Iron Heart. The Man With The Iron Heart is due to be published n October 2011.

Things have been pretty hectic for Dr Siri, now he is off with his wife and friends. But there is o rest for the wicked. With the help of a little blackmail they are accompanying an American MIA team whose mission it is to discover what happened to a stoned airman downed ten years earlier. In the remote Plain of Jars, Dr Siri and the morgue team must expose a killer in their midst before they too become victims. Slash and Burn is by Colin Cotterill and is due to be published in October 2011.

CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Temple returns with a new Jack Irish novel White Dog. When beautiful and wayward sculptor Sarah Longmire is charged with killing her lover Mickey Francis and Jack Irish is asked by her defence counsel to make inquiries. Sarah’s guilt seems clear cut but Jack’s investigations that soon finds that Mickey’s life was not what it seemed. The more Jack is convinced of Sarah’s innocence the more he finds himself attracted to her and the more dangerous he becomes to those who want the whole problem to go away. White Dog is due to be published in October 2011.

Wednesday, 20 April 2011

Vera

The transmission date for the first episode of Vera the police procedural based on Gold Dagger winning author Ann Cleeves Vera Stanhope novels will be on Sunday 1 May 2011 from 8:00pm-10:00pm. The other episodes will be shown on 8th, 15th and 22nd of May respectively at the same time. Vera is due to be shown on ITV1

Monday, 18 April 2011

Latest Crime News Round Up

Book Right News With the London Book Fair over for another year lots of book deals appear to have been done. According to the Bookseller, publishers Harvill Secker have acquired a dystopian crime novel by Finnish writer Antti Tuomainen, set in a futuristic Helsinki. Harvill and Secker will publish the book entitled the healer in 2013. The Healer won the Finnish Academy of Crime Writers' Award 2010 for Best Crime Novel of the Year from the London Book Fair!

Publishing director Wayne Brookes at Pan Macmillan has acquired world rights in two books by F R Tallis from Clare Alexander at Aitken Alexander. The first, Strix, a 19th-century Gothic horror novel which is due to be published in the late Spring 2012.

Suzie Dooré, Hodder fiction editorial director has bought an as-yet-untitled novel about a freed slave who becomes a spy during the American Civil War. It will be published in February 2012. She has also bought the rights to a standalone horror novel by Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurdardottir. The novel is called Blessed are the Children and tells the tale of three friends who are terrorised by the ghost of a drowned child while they renovate a derelict house.

Becky Hardie at Chatto & Windus has acquired The Tale of the Raw Head and Bloody Bones, the debut novel by Jack Wolf about a genius but psychotic 18th century surgeon. Publication date is yet to be confirmed. Chris Smith, editorial director at HarperCollins has acquired the rights to Jack Higgins novel A Devil is Waiting.

Arcadia have bought for their Eurocrime series the rights to two books. The first Cold Hearts is by Gunnar Staalesen and is a thriller about a series of murders in the Norwegian city of Bergen. It will be published in autumn 2012. The other crime book is The Iron Chamber by Matti Joensuu, The Iron Chamber is about a series of mysterious set of murders in Finland and it will be published in autumn 2012.

Sookie Stackhouse author Charlaine Harris has signed a deal with Quercus for a new three-part graphic novel series. The series entitled Cemetery Girl will be co-written by Christopher Golden.
Bloomsbury has acquired world rights in a series of six crime novels by Bath Literature Festival director James Runcie. The first novel in the series is entitled Grantchester Murders, and features character Sidney Chambers, honorary canon of Ely Cathedral, as he works with friend Inspector Horatio Keating to unravel case after case. Granchester Murders will be published in May 2012.

Ebury have acquired a two-book deal from Lisa Scottoline. The first, novel in the two- book deal Save Me, will be published in March 2012.

Faber have acquired Chris Pavone's début thriller The Expats for a high five-figure sum. The novel follows Kate and her husband as they relocate to Luxembourg and she thinks she is leaving her secret life in the CIA behind. Faber plans to publish in summer 2012.

 
Nomination news!
The Crime Writers Association has announced the Dagger in the Library 2011 long-list. Sponsored by Random House Group, the Dagger is awarded to an author for a body of work, with writers nominated by UK libraries and readers' groups and judged by a panel of librarians. The shortlist will be announced at the CWA reception at CrimeFest on 20th May, with the winner, along with the CWA's other Daggers, revealed at the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate on 22nd July. The CWA's Daggers celebrate the best in crime and thriller writing.
The longlist in full:
Congratulations to all the nominees!

 
The finalists for the 2011 Thriller Awards have been announced by the International Thriller Writers (ITW) organization, recognizing the best books and short stories published in this genre from the previous year. The winners will be announced this July during ThrillerFest VI.
The finalists are:
Best Novel

 
Best Paperback Original
  • Down Among the Dead Men by Robert Gregory Browne (St. Martin's Press)
  • You Can’t Stop Me by Max Allan Collins and Matthew Clemens (Pinnacle)
  • The Cold Room by J. T. Ellison (Mira)
  • Torn Apart by Shane Gericke (Pinnacle)
  • The Venice Conspiracy by John Trace (Sphere)

 
Best First Novel

 
Best Short Story

 
The Strand Magazine has announced its nominees for the 2010 Strand Magazine Critics Awards
Best Novel:
Best First Novel

 
Universal Studios has released a new trailer for its sci-fi/western action thriller Cowboys & Aliens based on the graphic novel by Fred Van Lente, Andrew Foley, and Luciano Lima from an idea by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg.

 

 


 
The film is set in 1873 in the Arizona Territory. A stranger (Daniel Craig) with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don’t welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). It’s a town that lives in fear. But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known.Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he’s been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveller Ella (Olivia Wilde), he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents –- townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors –- all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.

 
According to the Bookseller, with the 50th anniversary of James Bond on the screen due to take place in 2011 Michael O'Mara have recruited Sir Roger Moore to provide a guide to the cars, gadgets and girls of the James Bond movies to help celebrate the spy series' 50th anniversary on the big screen. -----

 
 Laura Wilson reviews a number of crime fiction novels in the Guardian (16 April 2011). These include Steve Mosby’s Black Flower’s and Patrick Easter’s The Watermen which introduces readers to a river policeman in what looks as if will be a great addition to the historical crime fiction genre.

 
The Bookseller also inform us that Headline have poached author Chris Kuzneski from Penguin with Headline publishing a new series about a team of treasure-hunting renegades.
Book2Book state that Jon Riley at Quercus has won the keenly contested multi-house auction for UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada in David Mark's debut literary crime novel The Dark Winter. Quercus will publish The Dark Winter as a lead title in Spring 2012. The Dark winter is set in Hull and East Yorkshire and introduces readers to Highland born DS Hector McAvoy. Far from being an alcoholic loner, McAvoy is obsessed with a need to understand the true nature of people and be the 'good' man he feels his beloved family deserve.

Orion have acquired The Child Thief the first of two new novels from Dan Smith. The Child Thief is a chilling story of murder and vengeance set in the frozen wastes of 1930s Ukraine and a dark tale of what happens when the family bond is torn apart.

An interesting article on the current trends in crime fiction can be found on the Shelves of books blog. However, it has always been known that crime fiction is the best genre to correlate social history.

Russian author Boris Akunin who is best known for his Erast Fandorin Series was recently at the London Book Fair as part of the British Council-organised Russia Market Focus cultural programme. Below he speaks to the British Council's Scott Andrews about his work, crime fiction in Russia and why his mother won't read his books!

Russian author Boris Akunin talks to the British Council from British Council on Vimeo.

 
Edgar award winning author Jason Goodwin has written an excellent article in the Telegraph explaining why crime fiction novels make the best guide books.

The Telegraph’s Julia Handford with the retirement of Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallender looks at a number of veteran sleuths who are still around.

The Independent has an interesting article about female cops on television which is a timely reminder of the fact that “Vera” which is based on the novels of CWA Gold Dagger winner Anne Cleeves is due to be shown on ITV1 on 1 May at 9:00pm. There is also Sophie Hannah’s The Point of Rescue that is due to be shown on 2nd and 3rd May on ITV to look forward to as well. Whilst The Point of Rescue is the title of the novel, the title used for the ITV televised version is Case Sensitive. See here for an earlier blog about the television programme.

A very brief but interesting interview with Donna Leon can be found in the USA Today where she talks not only about her character Brunetti but also her love of Venice.



 
Debut author Simon Toyne recently had his book launch for Sanctus the first in a trilogy at Waterstones Piccadilly. In the run-up to the book launch Monks could be found out various train stations handing out extracts from the book to commuters. 5 videos were also launched and they can all be found here.

 



  
The launch went very well indeed and a large number of family, friends, reviewers and members of the public joined Simon in helping him celebrate the publication of his book. (Pictures @Ayo Onatade)









Alibi has teamed up with HarperCollins and Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Harrogate to unearth some of the country's hottest new crime-writing talent of 2011. More information can be found here.

 
An informative article in the Metro about e-book piracy and the effect that it is having on author's and their work.

 
Arminta Wallace in the Irish Times writes on whether or not Italy is becoming the new place to write about instead of Scandinavia.

 
According to Yahoo News Star Trek director J J Abrams is due to write a thriller which is to be published by Mullholland books. The title is currently unknown.

 
It has been announced that The Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards in Oct will follow a 6 part Crime Thriller documentary series on ITV3 called 'A-Z of Crime Writing'

 
According to the Guardian, the new Sherlock Holmes novel that is being written by Anthony Horowitz is due out in November. The novel The House of Silk is narrated in first person by Dr Watson.

 
The Telegraph have a good article about the filming of the forthcoming televised version of the Kate Summerscale novel The Suspicions of Mr Whicher.

Lost Donald E. Westlake Novel Discovered

Hard Case Crime today announced the discovery of an unpublished novel by acclaimed mystery writer Donald E. Westlake. THE COMEDY IS FINISHED, which Hard Case Crime will publish as its lead title in 2012, tells the story of an aging, politically conservative comedian kidnapped by a domestic terrorist group that threatens to kill him unless the government frees some of their imprisoned comrades. Westlake, who died on New Year’s Eve 2009, was a three-time winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award, received an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay of The Grifters, and was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, the organization’s highest honor. THE COMEDY IS FINISHED will be only the second novel ever to be published in hardcover by Hard Case Crime, the award-winning line of mystery novels published by Titan Books. One of Westlake’s long-time publishers, Hard Case Crime has also published authors such as Stephen King, Mickey Spillane, Pete Hamill, Madison Smartt Bell, Ed McBain, Lawrence Block, and Max Allan Collins. In 2010, Hard Case Crime brought out Westlake’s novel MEMORY, then believed to be the author’s final unpublished manuscript. Subsequently Max Allan Collins told Hard Case Crime editor Charles Ardai about the existence of one more, a manuscript Collins had read in the early 1980s. Westlake worked on THE COMEDY IS FINISHED over the course of several years starting in the late 1970s, but decided not to publish the novel when, after completing it, he saw Martin Scorcese’s 1983 film The King of Comedy, whose premise also involves the kidnapping of a television comedian. “Aside from that one shared element, the two stories are completely different,” said Charles Ardai. “But Don apparently was concerned enough about the possibility that some readers might see a similarity that he set the book aside and never published it.” THE COMEDY IS FINISHED takes its title from the closing line of the tragic opera Pagliacci, and though the novel is about a comedian it is not itself a comedy. Rather, it is a high-tension suspense story focusing on the FBI’s efforts to capture the terrorists, the victim’s struggle to stay alive, and the kidnappers’ conflicts as their plans begin to go awry. “We are very excited to have the privilege to bring this lost work to light,” Ardai said. “Millions of fans around the world will get something they never expected to see again: a new novel by Donald Westlake.”
THE COMEDY IS FINISHED will feature a new cover painting in the classic pulp style by award-winning painter Gregory Manchess and will be released simultaneously in hardcover and e-book editions.

Thursday, 14 April 2011

Books to look forward to from Little, Brown

Yasuko lives a quiet life working in a Tokyo bento shop looking after her only child. When her ex-husband turns up without warning her world is turned upside down. Detective Kusanagi of the Tokyo police tries to put together the events that happened that day but finds himself confronted by the most puzzling and mysterious circumstances that he has ever had to investigate. Nothing makes sense and it will take a genius to understand the mastermind behind this particular crime. The Devotion of Suspect X is by Keigo Higashino and has already been made into a cult film. The Devotion of Suspect X is due to be published in July 2011.

When Hostage Police officer Helen Weeks walks into her local newsagent's on her way to work little does she know that this simple daily ritual will change her life forever. It's the last place she expects to be met with violence, but as she waits innocently at the till, she comes face to face with a gunman. The Demand - the crazed hostage-taker is desperate to know what really happened to his beloved son, who died a year before in youth custody. By holding a police officer at gunpoint, he will force the one man who knows more about the case than any other to re-investigate his son's death. That man is DI Tom Thorne. DI Tom Thorne teams up with Helen Weeks from In The Dark in Good as Dead. Good as Dead is due out in August 2011and is the forthcoming book from Mark Billingham.


The People Next Door is the debut novel by Christopher Ransom. In a quiet American suburb, the Nash family lead unremarkable lives until the new neighbours arrive. The Renders are beautiful, confident and charming and all this seduces the Nash’s. However the Renders are hiding a terrifying secret. They are not as perfect as they seem to be and in fact they are not even human. When Mike Nash learns what they are he finds himself in a heart stopping fight to save his family. The People Next Door is due to be published in July 2011.

Cage of Bones
is the third book by Tania Carver. Workers demolishing a building in Colchester make a horrifying discovery in the basement: a cage made of human bones… with a feral child inside. As Detective Phil Brennan and Psychologist Marina Esposito investigate, they expose the trail of a serial killer who has been operating undetected for thirty years – a killer with a disturbing connection to Brennan’s father. Cage of Bones is due to be published in September 2011.

On board a Washington State ferry Tyler Locke is informed by an anonymous caller that a bomb is set to detonate in ten minutes. On deck he finds classics professor Stacey Benedict has received the same information and they must work together to decipher a puzzle in ancient Greek. However, this is just a test created by a terrorist cell that is intent on using them to undertake an incredible mission to uncover the legendary riches of King Midas. The Midas Code is by Boyd Morrison and is due to be published in August 2011.

A mysterious plane crash in the American West. A murder at a UK university. An ominous threat from a band of Israeli assassins. As a hard-bitten British cop and a youthful FBI agent investigate, they expose a link to the Dead Sea Scrolls – and a sinister band of ‘fallen angels’ who claim to be descended from Judas. The Dead Sea Deception is by Adam Blake and is due to be published in August 2011.

Broken Home is by Roberta Kray and is due to be published in September 2011. When a stranger brings news of a half-sister Hope never knew she had her world changes. Connie’s in deep trouble and the mysterious Flint needs Hope’s help to find her. To find her sister Hope must enter the dark underworld of the East End. If Connie’s going to be saved, Hope may have to get close to the enemy.

Never Knowing is by Chevy Stevens and is due to be published in December 2011. What if murder was in your blood? Sara Gallagher is finally happy. However, there is one big question that still haunts her – who are her real parents? Sara is ready to find out but after her birth mother rejects her again she discovers her biological father is an infamous killer. Sara soon realises the only thing worse than finding out your father is a killer is him finding out about you…

Dublin Dead
is the second novel by Gerard O’Donovan and is due to be published in December 2011. Journalist Siobhan Fallon enlists the help of DI Mike Mulcahy for a story she’s covering about the disappearance of a young woman from Cork. The duo find themselves dragged into the ruthless world of international drug smuggling and murder.

Hotwire sees the return of Maggie O’Dell. On a crisp autumn evening in Nebraska Maggie O’Dell is trying to make sense of the deaths of several teenagers. Sifting through what is real and what is hallucination Maggie realises that the surviving teens are being systematically eliminated. Meanwhile on the East Coast, army colonel Benjamin Platt is desperate to identify the pathogen that has infected children at a Virginia elementary school. Despite the miles that separate them, the two cases collide. Hotwire is by Alex Kava and is due to be published in July 2011.

Panic
is by Jeff Abbott and is due to be published in July 2011. Evan Casher had a perfect life: great parents, his first girlfriend and a huge online following for his films. But when he comes home from school to find his father missing and his mother dead. Evan is going to learn the hard way that the people he trusted the most were the people he knew least and that a sixteen-year old boy might be the only one who can be a murderer to justice.


When a storm strikes in the Scottish Highlands, Martin and Sue find themselves stranded in a simple hut miles from anywhere and completely isolated. But Sue starts to sense that they are not truly alone. With no way to escape, Sue and Martin must try to hold on to their sanity, as the shelter quickly becomes a prison – and their thoughts begin to turn murderous. The Haunted is by Niki Valentine and is due to be published in October 2011.

Mystery in the Minster is the seventeenth novel in the Matthew Bartholomew series by Susanna Gregory. It’s 1358 and the near destitute college of Michaelhouse in Cambridge is promised a welcome source of income – a legacy from the Archbishop of York of a parish close to that city. But there has been another claim to its ownership and it seems the only way to settle the dispute is for a deputation from Michaelhouse to travel north. However, once they arrive in the bustling city, Matthew Bartholomew and his colleagues learn that the Archbishop’s executors have died in unexplained circumstances and the codicil naming Michaelhouse as a beneficiary cannot be found. Mystery in the Minster is due to be published in August 2011.

Snakepit by Nick Brownlee sees the return of Detective Inspector Daniel Jouma and ex-policeman Jake Moore in the fourth book in the series. It has been a crazy year and what should have been a relaxing fishing trip together finds Jouma and Moore in trouble. They are kidnapped at see by a gang of murderous Somali’s and held hostage upon a ship skippered by the notorious pirate Omar Abdulle. To stay alive they must pool all their experience together to not only catch a killer but to also survive on the run in Somalia as well. Snakepit is due to be published in July 2011.

And for fans of Val McDermid the yet untitled new Carol Jordan and Tony Hill novel is due out in September 2011.

Wednesday, 13 April 2011

Forthcoming books to look forward to from Faber and Faber

Edgar® award winning novelist Jason Goodwin returns with An Evil Eye the fourth in his series featuring Yashmin the Eunuch. When the body of a Russian agent is found in a monastery well Yashim knows who exactly is to blame. He now finds himself with the task of confronting the person whose secret it is and along with his friends once again encounters treachery and politics played out against the backdrop of 1840s Istanbul. An Evil Eye is due to be published on 7 July 2011.

Bloodland
by Alan Glynn is due to be published on 1 September 2011. When a tabloid star is killed in a helicopter crash three years later a journalist finds himself being warned off against writing her story. A private security contractor based in the Congo loses control with dire consequences and an ex-prime minster in Ireland is finding it hard to suppress a dark secret from his period in office. A US Senator also finds himself in the middle of a dramatic news story that has just broken in Paris as he is about to begin his campaign to run for office. Bloodland is a follow-up to his acclaimed novel Winterland and takes place across Europe, America, Asia and Africa.

Lethal Investments
by K O Dahl is due to be published on 8 September 2011. The child of a woman clearing up a mess that they have made on the stairways makes a gruesome discovery, the naked leg of a woman covered in blood. The woman is called Reidun Rosendal. As Oslo detectives Gunnarstanda and Frolich investigate the case the mystery deepens when their chief suspect Rosendal’s lover is also found murdered. Their attention turns to her place of work where the business and the private lives of them all mysteriously and heavily intertwined.

Helen FitzGerald returns with her third novel The Donor. Will Marion has two perfect kidneys but his twin daughters don’t. When they both fall sick time becomes critical and he has to make a decision. Should he buy a kidney and be an organ tourist, should he save one child but what about the other or should he sacrifice himself? There is even a fourth option but should that be the one he should take? The Donor is due to be published on 21 July 2011.

Burned
by Thomas Enger is a debut novel. Internet reporter Henning Juul is asked to cover the story of the woman in the tent case. A solitary tent has been found containing the body of a half buried woman who has been stoned to death. Lash marks have also been found on her back and one of her hands have also been cut off. But Juul has his own problems to contend with. He is emotionally and physically scarred after the loss of his son in a domestic fire and is struggling to be taken seriously by all of those around him. As he investigates the story he finds himself not only on an increasingly dangerous trail but also in a dangerous position as he is convinced that the case is much more complex than the police think it is. Burned is due to be published on 7 July 2011 and was a number 1 bestseller in Denmark.

Monday, 11 April 2011

Plugged by Eoin Colfer

Best selling author Eoin Colfer has a new novel coming out in May. Plugged which is a dark, comedic noir crime novel. Eoin kindly took the time to record this very brief promo for Shots.


Friday, 8 April 2011

In Memoriam

Craig Thomas

24 November 1942 –4 April 2011

Author David Craig Owen Thomas known as Craig Thomas was a Welsh author of thrillers, most notably the "Mitchell Gant" series.

He died after a recent illness from pneumonia following a short battle with acute myeloid leukemia.. Thomas is best known for writing “Techno-Thrillers” . He wrote seventeen between 1976 and 1998. His second book Firefox was adapted into a film in 1982 featuring Oscar winning actor Clint Eastwood who produced directed and stared as the main character Mitchell Grant. Firefox Down the sequel to Firefox was dedicated to Clint Eastwood. Aside from writing techno-thrillers Thomas also wrote books relating to philosophy the most recent being a two-volume book on the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche.

The BBC obituary can be found here and the Western Mail obituary here.

There is also an Unofficial Craig Thomas Companion web page.


Tuesday, 5 April 2011

Newsy Stuff

If you have not yet registered for Crime in the Court then please do so. More authors have been added to this fantastic line-up. Crime in the Court is due to take place on 21 June 2011 and is being hosted by Goldsboro Books. For more information as to how to obtain tickets please go here.

The Walter Scott Historical Fiction Shortlist has been announced and congratulations to all those nominated. The six novels cover imperial Japan, Tudor England, Tsarist Russia, and 19th Century Jamaica as well as turn-of-the-century Ireland and inter-war London.

The shortlist for the 2011 award is:

The Long Song by Andrea Levy

C by Tom McCarthy

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell

Ghost Light by Joseph O'Connor

Heartstone by C J Sansom

To Kill A Tsar by Andrew Williams

Congratulations also go to David Shelley at Little Brown who has been promoted from Deputy Publisher to Publisher of the group.

2011 is certainly the year of Michael Connelly and Orion aim to ensure that his presence is strongly promoted here in the UK. According to the Bookseller , Orion are planning a number of events for the author whilst he is in the UK in October.


Little Brown imprint Atom have according to the Bookseller acquired a mystery series by debut author Christi Daugherty described as "The Secret History for the YA audience” in a major two-book deal. The first book in the series Night School will be published in 2012.

According to Hollywood.com John Travolta is due to play John Gotti Sr in the biopic of his life which will focus on Gotti senior’s relationship with his son.

Saturday, 2 April 2011

Newsy Stuff

Charles Cumming whose excellent spy novel Trinity Six is wowing everybody (including me) in the crime fiction world can be seen below discussing the Cambridge Spy Ring.

Of course one of the talking points of late has been the fact that for the big screen incarnation of Miss Marple by Disney they have chosen not to go with an older actress as befitting the status of Miss Marple as an elderly sleuth but have decided that she should be portrayed by Jennifer Garner. They are allegedly doing away with the perception of Miss Marple as a spinster and are going for the much younger generation. Comments regarding this casting can be found here, here, here and here. The Telegraph make it clear that they think the decision to cast Jennifer garner is a travesty. An article in the Guardian about the casing can be found here and here.

However according to Deadline.com who posted about the casting and Moviesblog.mtv the reboot is not yet a done deal.

---

For those of you that have been missing the excellent French police procedural Spiral will be pleased to know that BBC4 will be showing series 3- The Butcher Of La Villette. The first episode will be shown on BBC 4 tonight at 9pm.

Fans of the Danish crime series The Killing will want to read this excellent article in the Guardian. There is also a very good beginners guide to read as well. Fans will also be pleased to learn that BBC 4 will also be showing series 2 of The Killing as well as part of their Spring/ Summer schedule. The Killing is also being remade by Fox for the US

Author Carlos Ruiz Zafón writes in the Guardian about his hero John Le Carré. He is as Zafón explains is one of the finest – if not the finest – writers of the past 45 years. Of course Le Carré has been in the news a lot this week. Nominated for the Man Booker International Prize 2011 Le Carré asked for his nomination to be withdrawn.

According to Entertainment Weekly Michael Connelly has a good idea who would be the right person to play Harry Bosch. The person he has in mind is Billy Burke who played Bella’s sheriff father in the Twilight saga. For those non Twilight watching people (and that includes me) a picture of Billy Burke is below.


Awards

Left Coast Crime 2011 Awards for works published in 2010

THE LEFTY: Best humorous mystery novel - The Pot Thief Who Studied Einstein by J. Michael Orenduff (Oak Tree Press)

THE BRUCE ALEXANDER MEMORIAL HISTORICAL MYSTERY: Best historical mystery novel, covering events before 1950 - The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear (HarperCollins)

THE HILLERMAN SKY AWARD: The mystery (short story to novel length) that best captures the landscape of the Southwest - The Spider's Web by Margaret Coel (Berkley Hardcover)

THE WATSON: Mystery novel with best sidekick - Junkyard Dogs by Craig Johnson (Viking)


THE DILYS (IMBA loved selling the most) - Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny

Congratulations to all!

The Short Mystery Fiction Society have announced the winners of the 2011 Derringer Awards for short mystery fiction:-

Best Flash Fiction Story (under 1,000 words) - (TIE)

The Book Signing, by Kathy Chencharik, _/*Thin Ice: Crime Stories by
New England Writers*/_, Leslie Wheeler, Mark Ammons, Barbara Ross, Kat Fast, Eds., Level Best Books, November, 2010
and
The Unknown Substance by Jane Hammons, *A Twist of Noir*, December 27, 2010

Best Short Story (1,001-4,000 words) –

The Pewter Badge by Michael J. Solender, *Yellow Mama*, August, 2010

Best Long Story (4,001-8,000 words) - (TIE)

Care of the Circumcised Penis by Sean Doolittle, _/*Thuglit
Presents: Blood, Guts & Whiskey*/_, Todd Robinson, Ed., Kensington Publishing Corp., May, 2010 and Interpretation of Murder by B. K. Stevens, *Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine*, December, 2010

Best Novelette (8,001-17,500 words) –

Rearview Mirror by Art Taylor, *Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine*, March, 2010

Congratulations to all the winners and those nominated.
Presentation of the Awards will take place in conjunction with the short
story panel at Bouchercon 2011, held in St. Louis, MO in September.

News from the BBC

The BBC have announced a new psychological thriller for BBC One. The Fuse is an original five part drama that follows a politician who wakes up after an alcohol fuelled night and realises that he might be responsible for a murder.

Following on from the success of the first series of Silk, the BBC have announced that they have re-commissioned a second 6 part series which is due to be shown in 2012.

---

Fans of Philip Glenister (seen most recently in Mad Dogs) will welcome the news that he is soon to be seen in Ronan Bennett’s complex new thriller on BBC One entitled Undisclosed. Undisclosed revolves around the efforts of Harry Venn played by Glenister, a small-time solicitor who is forced to delve into his murky past.

Jeremy Jheu in the Telegraph reviews a number of thrillers.

There is an excellent interview with Peter James the new Chair of the CWA on the blog Of Books and Reading. Peter has recently come back from a visit to India.

For those of you that are interested in what books are Ian Rankin favourite literary crime novels then The Daily Beast have them here. Unsurprisingly Muriel Spark makes the cut! For Ian Rankin Fans there is also an audio interview with him talking about his new book The Complaints on The Leonard Lopate Show done on his latest tour of the US.