A dark deed, a tragedy, the thing best left buried – unresolved secrets from the past that rock the present are a major trope of crime fiction. It rears its head again this week as we feature two of America’s biggest crime and thriller authors – Dean Koontz and Harlan Coben – in our weekly new books column. One has written about an old abduction and theft, the other about a murder case a decade ago… If that’s not your thing, go further into our list for two books about terrorist plots in Glasgow, plus the start of a new series by Rebecca Bradley.
The Other Emily by Dean Koontz
It is 10 years since Emily Carlino vanished after her car broke down on a California highway, her disappearance linked to serial killer Ronny Lee Jessup. Emily’s heartbroken boyfriend David Thorne has never got over the loss of the love of his life. Obsessed with what happened that night, he even visits Jessup regularly in prison in the hope that the murderer will give him some crumb, some clue, some closure. Then David meets Maddison Sutton and his word turns upside down. Because everything about Maddison is just like Emily. Is she his lost love, or an irresistible dead ringer – and does David even care? The Other Emily by best-selling master of suspense Dean Koontz is out on 23 March.
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Win by Harlan Coben
Win is short for Windsor Horne Lockwood III, a man with plenty of money who is on a mission. Two decades ago, his cousin Patricia was abducted and valuables were stolen from the Lockwood family estate. Now, along with the corpse of a recluse, a suitcase has been found containing a Vermeer painting and the Lockwood loot. When Win finds out that the person the FBI suspects of kidnapping his cousin and stealing the objects was also implicated in an act of domestic terrorism, he sets off to get his own form of justice in Harlan Coben‘s latest standalone. Out 25 March.
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Before the Storm by Alex Gray
Book 18 in Alex Gray’s William Lorimer series is out on 25 March, and Before the Storm finds the DSI with his hands full in Glasgow. It’s close to Christmas and things are pretty low-key in the city – until Counter-Terrorism hears whispers of a plot to carry out an unspeakable atrocity on Christmas Eve. They need someone with local knowledge – and who better than Lorimer to step into the breach? But as his investigations founder, he gets help from a most unexpected source… a refugee from Zimbabwe whose investigative skills are a match for Lorimer’s own.
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The April Dead by Alan Parks
Arriving on 25 March, Alan Parks’ latest thriller will be just in time for its title. The fourth book in the Harry McCoy series starts with a bang as an improvised explosive device goes off in Glasgow. Then an American sailor goes missing from a nearby naval base. McCoy suspects the cases are linked and that more is to come, so he sets out to find the group behind the bomb and its leader. However, with the threat of more bombings on the way, the detective is pulled sideways into a gangland feud that could compromise his ability to solve the case and save the city.
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Blood Stained by Rebecca Bradley
The first in a new Sheffield-set crime series finds Detective Claudia Nunn facing something of a dilemma. There’s a serial killer on the loose in the steel town, and Nunn’s colleague DS Dominic Harrison has been leading the case. The murderer has been using a dating app to lure his victims, but when Harrison’s wife goes missing and a pool of blood is found in the couple’s garage, he becomes the prime suspect. Is he being framed, or a master criminal? As Nunn digs for the truth, she is about to be shocked by what she uncovers. Blood Stained by Rebecca Bradley is out on 25 March.
Pre-order now on Amazon