Look out for these – Hot new books to look out for in January 2014; a great mix of debut and established crime, featuring some corking reads plus a teaser for the first part of a new trilogy that's out now.

I’ve seen so many excellent authors’ books scheduled for publication in the new year that I’ve decided to use this post to concentrate on what’s hot in January 2014.  I’ll review some of these in depth during January, so I've kept the detail light, but hopefully enough to get you excited about what’s coming up.

Romancrimeblogger

 

Stay alive by Simon Kernick   I’ve been waiting for the new Kernick book and I’m sure lots of The Crime Warp readers have been too.  In typical Kernick style, the book centres on a complete innocent swept away by events beyond their control to face danger, mayhem and death.  A family outing takes a bizarre turn when they hear a shot fired and see a woman chased by three gunmen.   As soon as the gunmen appear, you know this family’s life will never be the same again.  Put some quality time aside for this novel as I know it’ll be hard to put down.

 

In the morning I’ll be gone by Adrian McKinty   Emerald Noir is my favourite part of the crime genre.  I’ve blogged about McKinty’s previous books and been waiting to find out what happened to Sean Duffy after he was demoted at the end of I hear the sirens in the street.  This third book is still set firmly during the troubles and centres on the spectacular escape of IRA man Dermot McCann from the Maze prison.  Duffy and McCann are on a collision course, it should just depend on who finds the other first, but then MI5 come knocking at Duffy’s door and the trail leads Duffy to a locked room mystery.  This third Sean Duffy novel has all the ingredients of another McKinty Emerald Noir classic.

 

East of innocence by David Thorne   Thorne is the newbie author in my selection, with his debut novel set in Essex.  Daniel Connell was a City lawyer; now living in disgrace scraping a living in Essex.  Connell’s friend asks him for help, claiming to be the victim of a particularly nasty case of police brutality. Connell feels it’s his duty to help, but quickly becomes the focus of the police’s attention himself.  Connell soon finds that he’s become the pursued and it’s not just the present trouble with the police and local criminals that’s the issue, it’s the past mystery of his mother’s disappearance that has reared it’s ugly head again.  The book blurb says “fans of Simon Kernick and Peter May’s Lewis trilogy will be hooked on this dark, captivating portrayal of the Essex criminal underworld”.  

 

Entry Island by Peter May   Detective Sime Mackenzie is part of an investigative team looking into a murder on the remote Entry Island, 850 miles off the coast of Canada.  With only 130 inhabitants, the pool of suspects is small and the investigation should be no more than a formality.  However, Mackenzie believes he knows the suspect even though he has never met her.  As the investigation progresses Mackenzie is haunted by dreams and flashbacks of a past life on a remote Scottish Island.  These dreams lead Mackenzie to believe the prime suspect is innocent, despite evidence that clearly points to her guilt.  Mackenzie needs to find a way to reconcile the facts and evidence of the case, with a seemingly irrational conviction of the suspect’s innocence. 

 

I’m planning more detailed reviews for Stay Alive and In the morning I’ll be gone during January, so do keep an eye out for those.  I’ve also just finished a book called Game, by Anders de la Motte.  I won’t go into detail about Game or the remaining two in the trilogy, but it’s enough to say that I was absolutely delighted with it and I’ll post the full review up in the next couple of weeks, so watch out for that one too!

 

Happy reading over the Christmas break

 

Romancrimeblogger