SEPTEMBER 2021 - ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY - 6 OF THE BEST!

Six new authors for me to try.

America, Canada, Australia, Ireland and the UK. I'll be globe-trotting when I read this lot ...

DDC Morgan - Pills & Soap (2021) - purchased copy

Second in series after Blood & Cinders.

Six months after his adventure in Blood & Cinders, Reg Calloway finds himself working as head of security for a London film studio turning out low-budget Brit flicks.

When the studio boss's car is blown up, Special Branch suspects Irish terrorists are responsible but Calloway doesn't buy it. He saw a woman fleeing the scene. Finding the woman and uncovering her connection to the case becomes his obsession.

Calloway's under pressure from all sides - Special Branch and his studio bosses are convinced that the IRA are behind the bomb but when the terrorists give Calloway an ultimatum to find the real bomber or else, he knows for sure that the mysterious woman who fled the scene is the real key to everything.

His investigation takes him into the dark side of the London film business - its exploitation of starlets, its underworld connections and its Faustian star makers who trade young souls for broken dreams.

As Calloway delves into some of the seediest recesses of 1950s London he risks everything in an attempt to find the truth and see that justice, in some form, is served.

Gillian Godden - Fool's Gold (2021) - Net Galley reviewer site

Another author I haven't yet read.

A new life…

With their wretched life in Liverpool behind them, Julie and Ralph Gold head to London for their next big break. Julie’s had enough of slumming it, she's ready to quit their life of crime and go legit.

The same old game…

But it seems their reputation has beaten them to it, and the underworld is already bubbling with news of the their arrival.  And as much as Julie tries to go straight, the more people underestimate them and treat them like fools. And there is only so much Julie can take…

One last trick.

So when they are offered one final big job, Julie knows they should say no. It’s risky and could cost them everything they have. But it could also be their last chance to make it big.

And when fools rush in, the Golds take the spoils.

Read what happens next for Julie and Ralph Gold in another gripping story by Gillian Godden.

Wayne Arthurson - Dishonour in Camp 133 (2021) - Net Galley reviewer site

Second in an interesting looking series.

Even thousands of miles from the front lines, locked in a Canadian prisoner-of-war camp, death isn’t far away.

When Chef Schlipal is found dead, Sergeant August Neumann, head of Camp Civil Security and decorated German war hero, must find out what would drive the men of the camp, brothers-in-arms, to turn on each other. He’s learned, of course, that beneath the veneer of duty and honour, the camp is anything but civil.

When the trail of clues ends at the edge of the prison yard, Neumann must consider a crime bigger than the camp. Is someone getting out of the prison? If so, can he follow? If he can’t, he might have to live with the dishonour of Camp 133.

Mark Westmoreland - A Violent Gospel (2021) - purchased copy

Snakes and cash - what more do you want?

If there’s a bad idea in Tugalo County, chances are that Mack and Marshall Dooley are behind it. When the brothers heist a snake-handling church’s money-laundering operation, things go south in a hurry.

This part of the north Georgia hills ain’t much, just hardscrabble folks trying to get by. It’s the perfect place to wash a load of cash -- and an even better place to make your enemies disappear.

When Mack goes missing, Marshall cuts a deal with a local crime boss to rescue his brother. Navigating a storm of wild women and a literal nest of vipers, the Dooleys can’t trust anyone other than themselves to get out of the mess they’ve made.

Praise for A VIOLENT GOSPEL:

“Let me be the first to sing A Violent Gospel’s praises. Mark Westmoreland’s debut is the literary equivalent of The Dukes of Hazzard driving onto the set of Elmore Leonard’s Justified. This book is filled with folks who know right from wrong but don’t like boring.” —David Tromblay, author of As You Were and Sangre Road

Anna Willett - The Family Man (2021) - purchased copy

Another author I've been meaning to try for a while.

Utterly gripping crime fiction…

A householder who is clearing out the loft comes across a carefully concealed box containing a video camera.

When he plugs it in, unsure due to its age that it will even play, what he sees there has him immediately calling the police.

Senior Sergeant Veronika Pope and her team in the Special Crime Squad study the footage of the torture of four individuals held captive, all physically and mentally abused.

Assured this is no hoax, although all indications are that this happened long in the past, the team races to trace the identity of the victims.

Someone got away with murder once, will Sergeant Pope permit them to do so again?

THE FAMILY MAN is a gripping suspense thriller with a creepy edge.

Anna Willett is the bestselling author of DEAR NEIGHBOUR, UNWELCOME GUESTS, PEST and many other gripping thrillers. Her books are set in South Western Australia.

LJ Ross - Impostor (2019) - Audiobooks monthly choice

First in a three book series.

Impostor, is the first instalment in Ross's brand new Dr Alex Gregory series, narrated by actor Hugh Dancy.   

After an elite criminal profiling unit is shut down amid a storm of scandal and mismanagement, only one person emerges unscathed. Forensic psychiatrist, Doctor Alexander Gregory, has a reputation for being able to step inside the darkest minds to uncover whatever secrets lie hidden there and, soon enough, he finds himself drawn into the murky world of murder investigation. In the beautiful hills of County Mayo, Ireland, a killer is on the loose. Panic has a stranglehold on its rural community, and the Garda are running out of time. Gregory has sworn to follow a quiet life but, when the call comes, can he refuse to help their desperate search for justice? 

Murder and mystery are peppered with dark humour in this fast-paced thriller set amidst the spectacular Irish landscape.