The people of Northern Ireland thought that The Troubles were behind them, but Brexit might be unravelling all of that. And art imitates life, doesn’t it? Or is it the other way around? Anyway, in our lead book this week a straight-down-the-line Belfast clergyman just wants to do the right thing but finds himself neck deep in violent Unionist shenanigans. As always, if this doesn’t tickle your mystery bone then we’ve got more books for you to check out, and these cover cyber warfare, two books about missing children, and a murderer who leaves a fruit gum at each crime scene. Sweeeeet.
Witness by Simon Maltman
Here’s some Irish noir of the pulp fiction variety that initially flew under our radar, but we’re going to tell you about it now. Written by Northern Ireland author Simon Maltman, Witness is about Pastor Tom Carter, the son of a loyalist paramilitary. He wants to set up a youth centre in Belfast, so he goes to see his uncle for some money. Well, that draws him into his father’s old circles and soon Uncle Paul has Tom pinned in a situation a pastor really shouldn’t find himself party to. Out now.
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Net Force: Attack Protocol by Jerome Preisler
Net Force is a special cybersecurity unit set up by the president of the United States, but until the right boxes are ticked by the bureaucrats in Washington it won’t have the teeth to fight back in a cyber war. And that’s what’s coming. Those pesky Russians are at their keyboards 24/7 and, allied with black hat hackers on the Dark Web, they have a plan to bring down their American counterparts which would leave the US open to attack. More cyber action in this Tom Clancy/Steve Pieczenik franchise lands on 1 December.
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Piece of My Heart by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke
TV producer Laurie Moran has made her name by solving cold cases on screen, but when the crime comes closer to home she’s all at sea. Just days before her wedding, the young nephew of Laurie’s husband-to-be disappears while playing on the beach. Seven-year-old Johnny has simply vanished, and when his bodyboard washes up on the shore, everyone fears the worst. Everyone except Laurie – and what she is about to discover could blow her new family apart. Piece of My Heart by the bestselling team of Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke, is out now.
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Deadly Cry by Angela Marsons
A little girl is wandering alone in a shopping centre, with only her teddy for company, as Deadly Cry opens. It’s Angela Marsons‘ latest Detective Kim Stone book, and out now. The child’s mother is subsequently found dead, and thus begins a particularly trying case for Stone. After the body of another young mother is found in a park, her little boy missing, Stone is feeling the pressure to catch the perpetrator. Then, a letter arrives from the killer, addressed to Stone and pleading for help. She must get inside the mind of a murderer – and it’s not a pleasant place to be.
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The Fruit Gum Murders by Roger Silverwood
With a cover that sets the taste buds tingling, The Fruit Gum Murders is Roger Silverwood’s 21st book to feature the irascible (and wonderfully named) DI Michael Angel, based in the little Pennines market town of Bromersley. Veteran cop Angel has seen it all over the years, but he’s taken aback when the body of a man is found half-clothed in bed in a hotel room. It looks like he’s wearing lipstick. And there’s a red fruit gum on the floor! When another body is found, accompanied by the same sweet delicacy, Angel must take on the not so tasty task of finding the killer. Out now.
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