This is a first. A Zamboni driver accused of murder is something we’ve never seen before but veteran crime fiction author Bryan Gruley has dreamed it up for his latest mystery. Bitterfrost is the first of six novels in this week’s crime fiction roundup, which is packed with cosy crime fiction, including a debut – Fair Play by Louise Hegarty. Have a browse and let us know if any of these are going to land in your TBR pile.
Bitterfrost by Bryan Gruley
Bitterfrost is the first in a brand-new gritty crime thriller series from Edgar nominee and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Bryan Gruley, and it’s out on 1 April. So let’s meet defence attorney, Devyn Payne and detective Garth Klimmek, who find themselves on opposing sides when a former ice hockey hero wakes up one morning to find two people dead and no memory of his part in their demise. Over a decade ago, Jimmy Baker quit the game after almost killing an opponent – now he’s in the frame for double murder. With the clock ticking, both Payne and Klimmek need to get to the truth. Is Jimmy Baker innocent or guilty?
Order now on Amazon
Fair Play by Louise Hegarty
Aaah, the good old murder mystery party – and in a grand old house too! But debut author Louise Hegarty manages to give an old trope new life in Fair Play, out on 3 April. Abigail and her brother Benjamin are close, and when he reaches a landmark birthday she surprises him with the aforementioned party with friends. It all goes well, with plenty of food and drink and a bit of shenanigans as the night progresses. But the following day, Benjamin is dead and an eminent detective arrives to investigate. Did the butler do it? The housekeeper? The gardener? Professor Plum? Whoever is the culprit, one thing becomes clear – Abigail didn’t really know her beloved brother at all…
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The Case of the Unfortunate Fortune Teller by Cathy Ace
We foresee the arrival of book 11 in Cathy Ace‘s cosy WISE Detective Agency series on 31 March. And as The Case of the Unfortunate Fortune Teller opens, Carol, Christine, Mavis and Annie will need more than a crystal ball to help their latest client. A fortune teller is convinced that someone is out to get her, but after a body is found the agency’s work is hampered by the fact that the woman is holding something back. Meanwhile, in Anwen-by-Wye, frenzied preparations for the village pantomime disguise the fact that there’s a thief on the loose, and as Christmas approaches, the arrival of some special guests sets everyone in a tizzy.
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The Museum Detective by Maha Khan Phillips
Inspired by a real-life antiquities scandal in Pakistan, The Museum Detective by Maha Khan Phillips is out on 1 April and introduces archaeologist Dr Gul Delani. When the police contact her, Gul’s first thought is that they have finally found her niece, Mahnaz, who went missing three years ago. Instead, they need her expertise – and she heads to a remote desert region in western Pakistan, where a drug bust gone wrong has uncovered a priceless mummy. Determined to stop the artefact falling into the wrong hands, Gul and her team of misfits find themselves in the midst of a dangerous conspiracy that threatens to collide with her ongoing search for Mahnaz.
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
The Gatsby Gambit by Claire Anderson-Wheeler
Lovers of Golden Age crime will be in their element on 3 April, when The Gatsby Gambit by Claire Anderson-Wheeler is published. Billed as a mix of Agatha Christie and F Scott Fitzgerald, it’s set in 1922, with the action taking place in the Gatsby Mansion in West Egg. Here is gathered an array of the era’s most illustrious guests, and after a sumptuous candlelit supper, they all retire to bed. The following morning one of the party is missing and later found murdered – and it falls to Greta, Jay Gatsby’s younger sister, to get to the bottom of the mystery.
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Falls to Pieces by Douglas Corleone
Secrets and lies are the bedrock of crime fiction, and you’ll find them both aplenty in Douglas Corleone’s Falls to Pieces, published on 1 April. Kati and her daughter Zoe live off grid in Hawai’i, staying off the radar and out of the public gaze. Until Kati’s fiance, attorney Eddie Akana, disappears along a popular hiking trail in a Maui national park and suddenly all eyes are on a woman desperate to stay out of the spotlight. Eddie’s law partner, Noah Walker, is doing everything he can to protect his new client from the press and the authorities… until Zoe goes missing too and a desperate Kati realises she must risk everything save her loved ones.
Order now on Amazon or Bookshop.org
