On the Radar — This week our new books column brings a good selection of books, with an eclectic mix of themes and styles represented. For those who love historical crime fiction, Abir Mukherjee and Alan Furst bring you their latest, set in 1920s India and World War II France respectively. There’s a bit of modern noir for fans of James Carol and Phillip Kurthausen, who play with innovative concepts in their latest releases. And for the cosy crime lover, how about the new one by Hannah Dennison?
Sign up for our weekly crime books newsletter here.
Death in the East by Abir Mukherjee
The glaswindian author Abir Mukhurjee is back with the latest in his award-winning Sam Wyndham historical crime series. A captain in the colonial administration in 1920s Calcutta, Wyndham has decided to tackle his opium addiction head-on, so he travels to the Assam region of India to detox on an ashram. When he gets there, however, he sees a ghost from his past. He was sure the man was dead, but does the emergence of this person provide a clue to a brutal murder that took place back in London in 1905 – and one that is actually very personal to Wyndham? You’ll be able to find out what’s made Abir Mukherjee one of the UK’s most exciting crime authors when Death in the East arrives on 14 November.
Pre-order now on Amazon
Tidings of Death at Honeychurch Hall by Hannah Dennison
Here we have two iterations of the C-word in one volume – that’s cosy and Christmas, in case you were wondering – with the fifth in Hannah Dennison’s popular Honeychurch Hall series, out on 14 November. Kat Stanford is right in the thick of things when a fundraising event goes badly wrong. Visitors have been promised the chance to view some rarely seen antiques, but one couple have come an awfully long way for the privilege, and their behaviour sets off alarm bells for Kat. Then the butler dies in a most freakish manner, and then another dead body turns up in a nearby quarry, suddenly the festive season seems anything but… For a Golden Age take on the holiday season, try Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan.
Pre-order now on Amazon
17 Church Row by James Carol
The tragic death of their daughter prompts Nikki and Ethan Rhodes to seek a new start. They move into a revolutionary new home, full of hope and optimism that things are about to get better. The place is run by a virtual assistant called Alice and technology caters to their every need. At first it seems like fun and they revel in the novelty of it all, but then things begin to go wrong. Can the house really be working against them? You may never regard Alexa the same way again. Out now for Kindle, out 14 November as a paperback. A hi-tech home also features large in JP Delaney’s The Girl Before.
Buy now on Amazon
Under Occupation by Alan Furst
He’s been called America’s preeminent spy novelist, and Alan Furst’s latest historical crime novel (out on 14 November) is set in turbulent times – occupied Paris in 1942 to be exact. French resistant fighters are everywhere, covertly doing their best to defeat Hitler and his forces. Just before one of their number is caught and killed by the Gestapo he manages to palm off a document to novelist Paul Ricard, an innocent bystander to it all. On closer inspection, it appears to be a blueprint of a part for a military weapon and Ricard knows he must try to get it into the hands of members of the resistance network. But how? Also see our review of A Hero in France, another Alan Furst novel set in Paris.
Pre-order now on Amazon
How to Kill Your Friends by Phillip Kurthausen
Let’s just say that Meredith likes to take advantage of what the men in her life have to offer, and when the time is right, move on… It’s at just such a time that a man from her past enters her life again and the opportunity is there to get even more from the bargain. At the moment, she’s in a rundown flat and is short of cash, so this is just the kind of break she needs. The question in this psychological thriller is: just how far is she willing to go? How to Kill Your Friends is out now.
Buy now on Amazon