Summer is usually a bumper time for book reading, with long haul flights and lazy holidays on the beach. Even though that might not be happening for everyone this year, now’s a great time to indulge in a great crime thriller. Here’s three new releases I’ve enjoyed recently:
Find Them Dead – Peter James
Another great DI Grace novel from Peter James! It features all the hallmarks that we have grown to love – the multiple viewpoints, the seat of your pants action as well as the slow burning story of the main enduring characters.
But what is brilliant with Find Them Dead is that the storyline is centred around a court case rather than a major investigation. This is a big departure for Peter James and the police characters themselves but it really works. Not least because you get to understand the inner workings of a drugs trial from the mind of one of the jurors. The level of detail really demonstrates how challenging it must be in that situation. What is also great, especially with this installment, is that you don’t need to have read the whole series in order. You can pick this one up, enjoy a brilliant read and then go back to the start.
Lies To Tell – Marion Todd
One of the things that most annoys me about books (although I really shouldn’t complain) is when you find a great author, but then they take aaages to release a new novel. So it’s like all my birthdays have come at once with the third book in the DI Clare McKay series by Marion Todd.
The underlying narrative follows on from In Plain Sight, but what faces DI McKay and her team is far from similar to the last case. In fact, she in plunged into the secretive world of ethical hacking, witness protection and questioning who can you really trust. Putting COVID-19 aside, the themes in the book are really current to the world we are living in right now, and if you stop and think about it, they are a bit scary though. There are multiple story lines running through the story, as you can imagine with ‘real’ police investigations. It’s not difficult to keep up though, and there are plenty of breadcrumbs for you to play amateur detective! This is another strong novel from Marion Todd, let’s hope we don’t have to wait too long for the next!
Fair Warning – Michael Connelly
This was the first Jack McEvoy novel that I’d read, having previously read many of the Bosch novels (and being an avid fan of the TV adaptation). Whilst I would say that I didn’t enjoy it as much as other Connelly books, it wasn’t enough to put me off trying out the previous ones. The theme is one which will echo amongst many readers in the modern world – dating in a social media driven society and its many pitfalls. It’s one of those novels where you don’t fall in love with the main character, and in fact they have many traits which will drive you to distraction!
*These books were provided to me as a NetGalley reviewer