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

Another half dozen into the library, three favourites and three new-to-me authors ....

Ian Loome - Quinn Checks In (2014) - purchased copy

A bit of a punt. This one popped up in my feed when browsing on Amazon. It has some good reviews and the premise of an ex-con PI always sucks me in. First in a series of 14 so far.

Liam Quinn’s out of jail and out of luck.

His short-lived forgery career behind him, Quinn turns his sharp mind and sharper wit to better use, as a private investigator.

But being an ex-con PI isn’t easy, especially when the bad guys want you on their side. And when an art heist leads to murder, he’s back on the run, from the mob, from the cops, from everyone. The only chance he has is recovering a stolen Dutch master.

So that should be easy.

Tired of taking wrong turns, Quinn’s determined to make amends. Even if it kills him.

Wit, murder and a good man who’s made bad choices; the Liam Quinn mysteries from Amazon bestseller Ian Loome.

Stephen Mack Jones - Dead of Winter (2021) - purchased copy

I think this was on offer for about a quid, maybe two. I've heard great things about Jones and his August Snow series, of which this is the third. I do like Detroit as a setting for crime fiction.

A shadowy Detroit real estate billionaire. A ruthless fixer. A successful Mexicantown family business in their crosshairs. Gentrification has never been bloodier.

Authentico Foods Inc. has been a part of Detroit’s Mexicantown for over thirty years, grown from a home kitchen business to a city-blocklong facility that supplies Mexican tortillas to restaurants throughout the Midwest.

Detroit ex-cop and Mexicantown native August Snow has been invited for a business meeting at Authentico Foods. Its owner, Ronaldo Ochoa, is dying, and is being blackmailed into selling the company to an anonymous entity. Worried about his employees, Ochoa wants August to buy it. August has no interest in running a tortilla empire, but he does want to know who’s threatening his neighborhood. Quickly, his investigation takes a devastating turn and he and his loved ones find themselves ensnared in a dangerous net of ruthless billionaire developers. August Snow must fight not only for his life, but for the soul of Mexicantown itself.

Paul Heatley - Snow Burn (2021) - purchased copy

An old favourite. Snow Burn is the 4th in the Tom Rollins series. I really enjoyed Blood Line, the first in the series. I've some catching up to do.

He wasn’t looking for trouble. But it was looking for him.

Former black ops specialist Tom Rollins has spent the last six months living in the wilds of Alaska. He’s enjoying the isolation, but his peaceful life comes to an end when he rescues a stranger, Roger Noakes, from two hitmen.

Turns out Roger is a crooked accountant who works for the Russian mafia. Some of their money has gone missing and Roger is the number one suspect.

And now that Tom has rescued Roger, mafia boss Yuri lets it be known that he is on their hit list too. Tom isn’t worried about himself, but he is afraid the mob might try to get to him through people he cares about.

And so he is dragged into a fight he never wanted against a formidable organization which is plotting to blow up the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, causing an ecological disaster in the wilderness he has come to love.

With the threat of large-scale devastation looming, and Yuri’s half-mad henchman Fedorov in hot pursuit, keeping his friends safe and alive will require every one of Tom’s lethal skills.

Snow Burn – book 4 of the superb Tom Rollins action thriller series. Perfect for fans of Lee Child, Jason Kasper & David Archer

Stella Rimington - The Devil's Bargain (2022) - Net Galley reviewer site

An author I've been meaning to try for years. This is the first in a new series hopefully. I do like a bit of espionage in my reading.

One lie put the nation at risk. Another might save it.

The new spy thriller from Stella Rimington, former head of MI5

Harry Bristow: policeman, father, chauffeur, fraud.

In 1988 Harry made one mistake: he took a bribe, letting a man he knew as Igor into Britain – and he's regretted it ever since. So when he recognises Igor many years later as his newly-elected MP, he knows he has to come clean. But the MP recognises him too – and Harry fears what he might do next.

Peter Robinson, MP: salesman, politician, bachelor, spy.

It was easy to get into Britain in 1988 as an illegal, working deep undercover, but the break-up of the Soviet Union cut Robinson off from his homeland. He's inching closer to Britain's levers of power – but now the one man who knows his secret has reappeared. With no way to contact Moscow, he must act fast to preserve his position and reap its rewards – at any cost.

Manon Tyler, CIA analyst, has just boarded a plane to London – with a report on Russian illegals to read.

Colin Conway - Cutler's Chase (2021) - review copy from author

I really need to keep up with Conway. He writes fast. Second in series and I've got to read the first yet!

What would you do for a murdered friend?

When a friend is murdered, John Cutler is determined to find those responsible. This means running afoul of the local police department, a drug-running crew, and a wanted man who’s eluded capture for more than a decade.

Now, danger lurks around every corner and in the shadows, but Cutler isn’t easily intimidated. Instead, he’s the type who will doggedly pursue justice at risk to his own life.

Soon, bodies appear wherever Cutler’s been—a trail of destruction left by a desperate man to cover his tracks.

As John Cutler closes in on the truth, can he catch a killer before he escapes the law once again?

Cutler’s Chase is the second book in an exciting new series from Colin Conway, the author of the 509 Crime Stories and the Flip-Flop Detective. If you want gritty crime fiction at a whiplash pace, then this book is for you.

Deon Meyer - The Dark Flood (2022) - Net Galley reviewer site

Another author and series that I love. Meyer has been read a few times before....

The Woman in the Blue Cloak (2018)
Blood Safari (2008)
Heart of the Hunter (2003)

Cobra (2012) (twice) and Trackers (2011) (before the blog began)

Disappearances ensnare two South African detectives in a web of corruption in this stunning thriller by the Barry Award–winning author of The Last Hunt.

Assigned to investigate the disappearance of a young university student and brilliant computer programmer detectives Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido hit dead ends. But the trail—including the death of a fellow police officer—leads to a series of gun heists and the alarming absence of certain weapons from the police registry, the ramifications of which could be devastating.

As Griessel and Cupido intensify their search, real estate agent Sandra Steenberg confronts her own crisis: state corruption has caused the real estate market to crash, exacerbating the dire financial straits facing her family. She puts aside her misgivings to work for a notorious billionaire and playboy, only to have him disappear on her. Now Griessel is forced to juggle between the man’s bitter wife, protective lawyer, and Steenberg, the last person to see him alive.

With propulsive and intricate plotting, sharp prose, and an ending that takes one’s breath away just when the dust seems to have settled, The Dark Flood spotlights the state capture and corruption that has overtaken the country, lending political weight to a powerful story.

Praise for the Benny Griessel series

“[An] outstanding series.” —The Wall Street Journal