Look out for these! Hot picks for October 2013 – lots of reading for those darkening autumn nights

The nights are definitely drawing in and a friend of mine said that she was looking to stock up on books and do lots of reading rather than just watching TV during the dark evenings.  I’m trying to do the same; cutting down on TV, reading new books and perhaps different books from usual.

I’m part way through Robert Harris’ An officer and a spy which grabbed me from the get go.  Harris has characterised the protagonist superbly and it really is like seeing an onion being peeled away, chapter by chapter.  I got about half way through and was just aghast at …… sorry, plot spoiler if I carry on.  It’s a great book, but pricey – thank goodness for Hampshire's libraries which still stock a great range of up to date books.

Anyway, turning to October’s hot picks.  I‘ve chosen five books this month, four are out already [although for one of these I’d wait a couple of weeks for the paperback/Kindle edition] and one in November, so not long to wait for the new ones.  There’s a genuine mix that includes international big name authors, as well as home grown writers, so plenty to choose from.

Jeffrey Deaver – The October List: When I saw the description of this book, it felt like a cliché – Memento style with the end at the beginning of the book then working backwards to the start.  Absolutely not!  It’s sharp and tense, with plenty of action and mystery throughout.  Follow the clues to piece together what happened to Gabriella, why her daughter Sarah was kidnapped, how she ended up in a dingy Manhattan apartment waiting for Joseph and finally understanding what the October List is.  Working from end to beginning makes it a little more challenging for the reader but all the more satisfying as the pieces finally come together at the end, or is it the start, of the book.

Barbara Nadel – A private business: Nadel has a long pedigree as a mystery writer, which shows in this book, the start of a series with new characters – former policeman and private investigator Lee Arnold and his new assistant Mumtaz Hakim.  Maria Peters, former stand up comedian thinks she is being watched and asks Arnold to investigate.  Peters is frightened and although she has found God through Pastor Grint and her local evangelical church, she can’t find peace as her past continues to haunt her, increasing the fear she feels almost daily.  Nadel paints a great picture of the East End in London during the run up to the 2012 Olympics – a real sense of place, people and some aspects of urban life that we might actually prefer to turn a blind eye to.

Elly Griffiths – Dying Fall: Griffiths continues her series about Ruth Galloway, forensic archaeologist.  Ruth’s old university friend Dan has died in a house fire, just after writing to Ruth asking for a second opinion about some bones and whether they are connected to The Raven King.  Dan’s death is not an accident, but Ruth agrees to travel north with her daughter Kate to investigate, despite receiving several anonymous texts warning her to “Stay away from Pendle”.  This seems at first like a light book with some curious characters such as Cathbad the druid and more than its fair share of personal relationship issues.  Don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s all fluff, as there’s something that’s more than just unpleasant in Pendle.

Brian McGilloway – Hurt: You’ll not be surprised to see me writing about Brian McGilloway’s new book, as I’m a real fan both of Emerald Noir generally and McGilloway in particular.  Hurt is the second Lucy Black novel, which starts with the discovery of a young girl’s body on a railway line.  A murder set up to look like suicide.  Black finds the girl, Karen Hughes, has a troubled past - with a father in prison and an alcoholic mother it’s not surprising the girl was in care.  However, it soon becomes clear that Karen had a hidden life and “friends” that work hard to remain hidden.  Black has a lot to contend with besides the case– a drunken colleague, office politics, an unresolved personal relationship, her father in the background and her mother the ACC who appears when Lucy doesn’t really want her to.  All these combine to make this is a dark story, which conveys an honest picture of life in Northern Ireland and how its “troubled past” still determines much of present day life. 

Martin Cruz Smith – Tatiana:  Yes Arkady Renko is back! Martin Cruz Smith's new book Tatiana hits the shops on 12 November.  This book is bang up to date, with Renko at the centre of a story of corruption, killing and cover up.  Renko is still recovering from injuries in a previous case – shrapnel in his head means a sudden movement could kill him.  Far from making him want to take things easy, this silent death sentence emboldens Renko.  He starts to investigate the murder of a journalist Tatiana Petrovna, even though there is no official case.  He travels from Moscow to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad in a search for the truth and finds the answer through a trail of lies, deceit, bribery and murder that are characteristic of Putin’s Russia.  If you’re wondering whether Renko has changed, it’s best summed up in typical understatement by his friend Victor who says of Renko “he isn’t a ray of sunshine”!

I hope there’s plenty there for you to choose from here.  I’ll be back in November with more hot picks, meantime, happy reading and if you read any of these books, please do post feedback about what you think of them.

Romancrimeblogger

PS – there’s a free 41 page sampler of Brian McGilloway’s Hurt plus a Lucy Black short story on Amazon at the moment, in case you want to try before you buy!