Welcome back to our report on new crime fiction releases. This week we don’t have any big name authors but we do have a set of books that will grip you and take you on a suspenseful and thrilling ride. There are some crash victims with a secret in Elle Marr’s latest; crime at the 1923 Chelsea Flower Show; murder in Ohio and the Lake District with Kate Michaelson and Mark Edwards respectively; and a hot collection of short stories edited by Michel Lee Garrett and T Fox Dunham. Plus there’s an updated printing of the first crime novel to sell a million copies in the US – The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart. Today’s the day to discover a crime author you’ve never tried before…
The Alone Time by Elle Marr
Two young sisters survive when the Cessna they’re travelling in with their parents crashes in the wilderness of Washington state, and manage to fend for themselves for 12 weeks until they are eventually rescued. Now, 25 years later, Fiona and Violet Seng’s lives have been moulded by those childhood experiences. Fiona uses her trauma to create controversial artworks, while her sister has fought addiction and failed relationships to become a writer. They never talk about what happened back then, until a documentary focuses on the girl survivors and threatens to finally uncover the truth… The tense psychological thriller, The Alone Time by Elle Marr is out on 1 May.
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
Death at Chelsea by Anna Sayburn Lane
Ah, the Chelsea Flower Show – a world-renowned horticultural event full of beautiful blooms, dazzling displays and tantalising topiary. Oh, and sneaky sabotage and dastardly death, if Anna Sayburn Lane’s latest book is anything to go by! With the 1923 Show fast approaching, the skills of detectives Mrs Jameson and Marjorie Swallow are called upon when a famous garden designer suspects that someone is sabotaging her priceless Himalayan Sapphire Lilies. But it isn’t just the flowers that are wilting as rival gardeners, intrepid plant hunters and even King George V get caught up in a poisonous plot. Can our sleuthing duo sort things out before everything turns to mulch? Death at Chelsea is out for Kindle on 2 May.
Order now on Amazon
Hidden Rooms by Kate Michaelson
Runner Riley should be at the top of her long-distance game, but for months she has been struggling with various bewildering symptoms, from vertigo to fainting spells. The doctors are baffled and things go from bad to worse when her brother’s fiancée dies suddenly, and the police put him in the frame for her death. Can Riley battle through her mystery illness and prove the innocence of her sibling? It wouldn’t be crime fiction if she didn’t give it a try, but what Riley uncovers takes her back to childhood haunts and she is unprepared for what they are concealing. Put all the pieces together when Hidden Rooms by Kate Michaelson arrives on 30 April.
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
The Darkest Water by Mark Edwards
British thriller author Mark Edwards takes his readers to the Lake District in the North of England with his latest, where baker Calvin opens a new business in a small village and promotes it on social media. Soon, he’s getting creepy DMs, but that’s not the worst of it because next the corpse of a man buried up to his neck and left to drown is found on a nearby beach. There’s a killer loose and DI Imogen Evans must catch them before the body count rises – never mind what Calvin’s stalker is up to… The Darkest Water is out now.
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
Burning Down the House edited by Michel Lee Garrett
If you’re of the opinion that crime fiction is same as it ever was, then Burning Down the House edited by Michel Lee Garrett and T Fox Dunham, arriving on 22 April, may give a new perspective. In this compilation, each short story was inspired by a Talking Heads song, and its aim is to raise money to support the fight against climate change while exploring the legacy of the iconic rock band. Contributors including Bobby Mathews, Libby Cudmore, Gregory Galloway and James DF Hannah have taken song titles like Road to Nowhere, Once in a Lifetime and the titular Burning Down the House to create tales with a touch of social conscience spanning the gamut of crime fiction genres.
Order now on Amazon
The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart
Her name has fallen into obscurity, but Mary Roberts Rinehart was one of the most successful American authors of the early 20th century, described by the New York Times as a writer who “helped the mystery story grow up”. Kazabo Publishing has chosen her mystery The Man in Lower Ten as the first volume of its Modern Reader Edition series. The story of an unknown man found dead in a berth on the train to Ontario was the first crime novel to sell a million copies in the US when it was first published in 1909. But golden age purists beware – this new edition has been updated contemporary English and provided with new context by adding short paragraphs at the beginning of chapters to briefly explain any references that might trip up modern readers. See what you think on 30 April.
Order now on Kobo
