THE PROMISE by Robert Crais (Orion, hardback)
I’ve been a fan of Crais since I read ‘LA Requiem’. He has 20 titles under his belt now. He’s never let me down. His writing is always sharp and fluid, his plotting on the nose. And he doesn’t forget to bring the funny. Like the best US crime writing, there is no padding, placing Crais, in my mind, up there with Ed McBain, who I’ll come to later.
For this new novel, he returns to old favourites Elvis Cole and Joe Pike – but as an added bonus throws in Scott James and his faithful K9, Maggie, from last year’s ‘Suspect.’
Being a dog lover, the final scenes which place Maggie in jeopardy had me on the edge of my seat.
As usual, Cole is up to his license in trouble. The World’s Greatest Private Eye has been hired to find a woman who has disappeared after meeting a stranger on-line. Naturally, not all is as it seems. As usual, Pike is on hand to help him out and not say terribly much at all.
I hope Crais returns to all these characters very soon.
In the meantime, I’ve got two or three in his back catalogue to track down.
But I won’t need the World’s Greatest Detective to find them.
THE MISSING HOURS by Emma Kavanagh (Century, hardback)
When I began writing novels I was told to tell a story from the point of view of one character and stick to it. Readers become confused easily, I was told. I didn’t heed that advice – and if Emma Kavanagh was ever given it, so did she.
This novel is told through first person narratives from a number of different characters – police officers and suspects. She even slots in reports and articles about the Kidnap and Rescue industry, which plays a central role in the mystery.
As a result, I turned the pages of this riveting book so fast you’d’ve thought I was on some performance enhancing drug.
The plot sees a woman vanishing for a number of hours, then reappearing with no memory of where she was or what she did. During her lost hours there is a murder. Did she do it? What’s her connection to the victim?
I won’t tell you anything further because you’re better uncovering the delights of this masterful mystery for yourself.
SO NUDE, SO DEAD by Ed McBain (Hard Case Crime, paperback)
This is an early novel by Ed McBain which has not been in print for more than 50 years.
It’s not an 87th Precinct, rather what people would have called a trashy novel. It’s pulp. It’s sleazy. It has a naked woman on the cover.
I loved it.
This is no-nonsense crime writing. Spare, speedy and splendid.
The plot – an addict is implicated in a murder and rushes around the city to prove his innocence – is standard stuff but it’s the execution and McBain’s ability to say in a few paragraphs that would need a full chapter from some of today’s writers.
RAT RUN by Caro Ramsay (Severn House, hardback)
Caro is one of the queens of Scottish crime fiction.
No, scratch that. I hate this nationalisation of the genre.
She is one of the queens of crime fiction, period. And I’m not just saying that because she’s a pal. Although that ten-spot she slipped me did help.
Seriously, though. In seven Anderson and Costello novels she has become a firm favourite among many readers and this new entry in the series will not disappoint.
Many years after an horrific triple murder, heavy rains and flooding reveal bones that may mean there has been a serious miscarriage of justice.
The investigation, naturally, unearths skeletons not just from the earth but also in the closets of the disparate group of people living in an out-of-the-way row of houses.
Costello has problems, though. Her partner and boss is back after a period of sick leave following the harrowing events of the previous book, ‘Tears of Angels.’ She wonders if he can cope with the pressures of this new case. She’s also got a blister on her foot which is giving her gyp.
There is horror and humour. There are secrets and lies. There are hidden rivers and hidden motives. Not everything is as it seems.
And, of course, there are rats.
Fabulous stuff.