On the Radar — This week our On the Radar new crime fiction column gets going with a creepy thriller about child snatching by CJ Tudor. We’ve also got two totally different World War II novels, an atmospheric family secrets thriller set on the Hebrides and a serial killer from Liverpool who ends up in Taipei. Something for everyone, right?
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The Other People by CJ Tudor
She kept readers guessing with The Chalk Man and The Taking of Annie Thorne, now the singularly twisted mind of the writer that is CJ Tudor is at it again with a spooky psychological thriller arriving on 23 January. Late one night, Gabe is driving home on the motorway, stuck behind a tatty old rust bucket. Then a child’s face appears in the rear window of the car, mouthing the word ‘daddy’. It’s his five-year-old daughter Izzy, and Gabe is destined to never see her again. Three years on, he still drives that same route, hoping to find Izzy. His wife Fran and their other daughter Alice are doing a lot of driving too – because Fran knows the truth, and she’s desperately trying to keep one step ahead of the perpetrators…
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Hitler’s Secret by Rory Clements
On 23 January 2020, British historical author Rory Clements proposes that we step back in time to 1941, when his spying Cambridge don hero Tom Wilde returns to the espionage stage. Hitler’s weapons experts have been working on a technology so secret that even the Fuhrer himself doesn’t know about it. However, American intelligence does, and guess who they propose should smuggle the plans out of the country before the Third Reich can develop the weapon and use it to win World War II? You can read reviews of previous Tom Wilde books here.
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Our Fathers by Rebecca Wait
There’s a wild and desolate island setting for this tale that’s out on 23 January – Litta in the Hebrides. The story itself is pretty desolate too. Tom is just eight when his father cracks, takes a shotgun and shoots his wife, baby daughter and son, before turning the gun on himself. Tom is the sole survivor, and he leaves the islands in the hope of escaping his past. Now, 20 years on, he’s back and he wants answers. But his uncle and the other islanders seem reluctant to move away from their memories of ‘a decent man who just snapped.’ Can Tom break through the wall of silence and get to the truth at last? For more atmospheric Hebrides-set crime, try Coffin Road by Peter May.
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The Secret Guests by BW Black
Two young girls called Elizabeth and Margaret are at risk as bombs fall in London in 1940. As fears for their safety grow they’re sent elsewhere to see out World War II. Guessed who the duo is yet? Yes, these are the British princesses, and their safety is paramount for the sake of morale. New MI5 recruit Celia Nashe is drafted in to watch over the pair, much to her disgust, as she was hoping for a much more exciting posting. When a dead body turns up at the gates of the crumbling castle in rural Ireland where they are all holed up, Celia and her charges are suddenly caught up in an intriguing and dangerous mystery. Out on 23 January. Enjoy more World War II intrigue in Howard Linskey’s Ungentlemanly Warfare.
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Born Slippy by Tom Lutz
“Drive boy dog boy, dirty numb angel boy…” No, not that Born Slippy. This isn’t Trainspotting. Author Tom Lutz is the founder of the LA Review of Books and has his own literary voice, which you can discover in Born Slippy, a unique blend of political satire and noir, with a touch of humour. It has a wild plot as well, with a Liverpudlian sociopath called Dmitry first meeting carpenter Frank Baltimore in New England, and later going on a killing tour of Asia. Frank heads out to Taipei after Dmitry’s office there goes up in flames, meets Dmitry’s wife and one thing leads to another… Full of surprises, this one, and it’s on sale now.
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