The first two crime books in our first news column of January 2024 are suitably wintry. In both Helle and Death and Blizzard, severe snow impacts the plot, but in very different ways as one is a mystery and the other more of a thriller. But if you want to melt the ice in other ways we’ve got a teacher, a professor and an amnesiac driving the storylines of the remaining three books. Read on to discover this week’s new crime fiction releases.
Helle and Death by Oskar Jensen
There’s more than a hint of the Agatha Christie about Oskar Jensen’s witty murder mystery Helle and Death, out 18 January. We have a remote Northumbrian country house, sudden snowfall that traps the group of people staying there, and an unexpected death. Oh, and Torben Helle – art historian, Danish ex-pat and owner of several excellent Scandinavian jumpers, who is one of the attendees at a 10-year reunion that goes badly awry. It’s up to Torben to get to the bottom of what’s happening before the murderer strikes again. Is he equal to the challenge?
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Blizzard by Marie Vingtras
French author Marie Vingtras picked up some prestigious awards for her debut, Blizzard, and now an English translation is ready, out on 18 January. A blizzard rages as storm hits Alaska, where an untied shoelace leads to a living nightmare for Bess. One minute she is walking in the snow with a young boy, then the child has vanished. Bess is a ditzy California girl, while her partner Benedict is the last in his family’s long line of rugged Alaskans. Benedict knows better than to venture out in such weather but he has no choice. With the help of Cole, a washed up drunk, and Freeman, a black Vietnam vet who seems wholly out of place in the North, the frantic search for Bess and the boy is destined to uncover some dark truths…
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The Teacher by Tim Sullivan
An elderly former teacher is found dead at the bottom of the stairs in his home in a village is South West England. He lived alone and it looks like he stumbled and fell to his death – except for the stab wound evident on his body. DS George Cross is soon on the case, hoping to find out plenty about the victim, but what he learns is that the curmudgeonly Alistair Moreton was adept at upsetting people, from his neighbours to his ex-pupils. Moreton may not have had many friends, but with Cross on the case he is sure to find justice. The Teacher by Tim Sullivan is out on 18 January.
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To the Dogs by Louise Welsh
Professor Jim Brennan is on the crest of a wave and tipped for the top job at his university. He has a lovely wife, two wonderful children, a flashy car and a pedigree bichon frise dog – not bad for the son of a hardman who grew up in a room and kitchen. But someone is bent on bringing the professor down, and when his son is arrested on drugs charges, Jim is approached by men he thought he had left safely in his past, men who have demands and who won’t take no for an answer. Is his carefully constructed world about to fall apart? To the Dogs by Louise Welsh is out on 18 January.
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Halifax: Resurrection by Roger Simpson
Formidable forensic psychiatrist Jane Halifax is back, but as Halifax: Resurrection opens she is in a coma after a near-fatal car accident. When she awakes, Jane has no idea who she is and no recollection of the crash – or of her partner, Tim. Instead, she is haunted by memories of past cases, and a young woman named Luna is the only one who seems able to bring Jane back to the present. Linked to a 32-year-old case from Jane’s past, Luna has a quest of her own she can only solve with Jane’s help. But first Jane needs to heal, and soon she discovers there are things other than the car accident hampering her recovery… Book 2 in Roger Simpson’s reworking of his Australian TV series Halifax f.p arrives as a paperback on 9 January.
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