Look out for these! April’s hot picks and some big name authors

Here’s my April post, highlighting four books on my reading list.  This month’s choices feature three big name authors as well as a newbie writing partnership, which I believe has a lot of promise.

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Nearly out – 25 April 2013 – Nightshade by Stephen Leather  I’ve read a number of Leather’s books and find that his writing has a way of quickly drawing you in and wanting to carry on turning the pages.  This is no exception, cleverly mixing the occult and reality.  The story begins with a man who shoots dead eight children and then commits suicide.  The police see it as an open and shut case, but more clues emerge, especially after a young girl rescued from her abductors says she can speak to “those beyond the grave”  However, things don’t bode well for the people in contact with this exceptional child.

May 2013 – The Dying Hours by Mark Billingham  Yes, Thorne is back.  He’s been demoted to a uniform post and is treated with contempt by his former murder squad colleagues as well as his new uniform “buddies”.  Thorne hasn’t lost his keen eye though and is soon suspicious of what appears to be an unusual pattern of suicides.  However, Thorne’s new lowly status means nobody wants to listen to him, forcing Thorne to take matters into his own hands to find a killer who seems to be able to make people take their own lives.

Do look out for the interview with Mark Billingham on the Crime Warp in May.

June 2013 – Dead Man’s Time by Peter James  It took me some time to warm to Roy Grace, but these books are now firmly on my reading list.  This one begins with the theft of a mass of valuables from a mansion and the elderly owner left dying.  However, one of the pieces has a deep meaning for the family and the victim’s relatives are not going to rely on the law to get it back for them.  As Grace tries to track down the stolen piece, the trail he follows isn’t just stolen goods, but murder, greed and anger from the past.

As an added extra for Peter James fans, I’ll be interviewing him on the Crime Warp this summer.

June 2013 – Everyone Lies – A D Garrett  This novel is the first collaboration between thriller writer Margaret Murphy and forensic scientist Professor Dave Barclay.  The book brings together demoted Detective Inspector Kate Simms and burnt out forensics Professor Nick Fenimore.  Simms is working on a no hope case, looking at why junkies in Manchester keep turning up dead. The pace heats up when a celebrity dies with the same drug in her system and the media become very interested. Simms has to deal with intransigent superiors, evidence that doesn’t make sense and the knowledge that the only person who can unlock the case is Fenimore.  But can a demoted DI, desperate to get back her former status afford to take a chance on a man tarred by the failures in his own past?

I’ll be back in June with more hot picks to look forward to.  I hope you try some of my recommendations and please do leave any comments you have about these books or my reviews on the blog – I genuinely value all feedback.

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