As the UK ships Romanian fruit pickers back into the country for this year’s harvest after exiting the EU, more interesting to crime fiction lovers will be a new indie outfit set up to translate Romanian crime novels into English. First on the roster from Corylus Books will be Sword by Bogdan Teodorescu – our lead book today – but there will be more to follow including titles by Teodora Matei and Bogdan Hrib. Corylus was set up by experienced Romanian publisher Hrib, former CFL contributor Marina Sofia, Newcastle Noir organiser Jacky Collins and author and translator Quentin Bates. Icelandic crime fiction is also on the Corylus agenda.
Meanwhile, this week we also bring you an eclectic range of titles – from Casablanca to Somerset – to keep the coronavirus lockdown interesting…
Sword by Bogdan Teodorescu
The streets of Bucharest aren’t safe. A killer dubbed Sword is offing members of the Roma community, one by one, with brutal efficiency using a single blow to the throat. As the police struggle to find the killer, the body count rises, while with an election on the horizon candidates whip up public sentiment for their own ends, and the book becomes a political thriller that’s fused with racial tension and conflict. If you like social commentary and an unfamiliar setting, mark 8 May in your diary.
Pre-order now on Amazon
The Ocean Dove by Carlos Luxul
In this nautical thriller, terrorists have taken control of a ship and are sailing it towards a big port city. Security agent Dan Brooks is new in the job and is part of the team charged with preventing tens of thousands of deaths. But what can he do when his bosses cut him adrift and follow agendas for their own gain? Well, he takes on the terrorists off the books, of course. Author Carlos Luxul has worked in shipping logistics and says he has met presidents, war criminals and cannibals. It’s out 28 April.
Pre-order now on Amazon
Lake of Darkness by Scott Kenemore
Travel back a century, to the midst of World War I and the mean streets of Chicago, for this unusual mix of crime and the supernatural, out on 5 May. Someone is snatching and decapitating the children of black refugees and officer Joe ‘Flip’ Flippity is determined to bring the killer to justice. He’s African American and as such treated as a second class citizen by his fellow officers, so why is the city mayor so interested in getting Flip’s help? As he digs deeper, Flip is about to stumble upon more mysterious murders, strange psychological puzzles, and terrifying hints of something ‘other’…
Pre-order now on Amazon
The Butcher of Casablanca by Abdelilah Hamdouchi
If you’ve not sampled Moroccan noir before, now’s your chance with a book that’s out now for Kindle and on 5 May in print, and is the follow-up to Bled Dry. A series of gruesome murders shake Casablanca, taunting Hanash, the city’s most renowned detective. The killer is always one step ahead, seeming to know just how the police will pursue him and how to obliterate evidence that could lead them to identify his victims. Hanash is floundering, but he knows it’s just a matter of time before his adversary makes a mistake. As the latest victim is dumped outside police headquarters, it looks like that moment has finally arrived.
Pre-order now on Amazon
Down Among the Dead by Damien Boyd
Number 10 in the series featuring DI Nick Dixon arrives on 6 May, and as it opens a body has been discovered on an archaeological dig site in Somerset. The remains are recent though, and DCI Peter Lewis knows the identity of the deceased. The way they died also points to a case Lewis was a part of 15 years ago, involving serial killer Daniel Parker. Lewis comes under pressure to pin this new murder on him quickly and quietly – so why does he insist on assigning it to Dixon? Reopening the original investigation uncovers all manner of shocking revelations – and then another body is found…
Pre-order now on Amazon