I Came to Find a Girl by Jaq Hazell

This is an unusual thriller set on the fringes of the modern art world that is dark, haunting, twisted - and, in its own way, unforgettable. It centres on Mia, an art student in Nottingham, who gets seduced by Jack Flood, the cold, heartless enfant terrible of modern art. She goes back to his hotel room, has a drink and the next thing she knows, she is waking up in a state of undress on the bed.

She is horrified, of course, but even more horrified to find that Flood uses a video camera to film most of his life (it’s art, apparently). Will her forgotten night in his hotel room end up in a gallery somewhere? Should she go to the police? And what has happened to her missing friend Jenny?

The book switches from Mia’s story to descriptions of Flood’s self-obsessed videos, featuring his daily life, his exhibitions, and the women he meets and exploits. While the sections that deal with Mia are sharp, gripping and well-written, the chapters about the videos are often as self-indulgent as Flood’s character and, unfortunately, slow the pace down.

It takes rather too long a build-up (until about page 160) for Mia to swing into action, but overall this is a smart modern thriller, with a strongly feminine outlook (still unusual in crime fiction). Jaq Hazell may be an author to watch.

Savage Lane by Jason Starr

Jason Starr is the author of a group of fine psychological thrillers dating back more than 15 years, including Cold Caller, Nothing Personal and Fake I.D. They tended to depict ordinary people (usually male) who made one bad decision (such as borrowing money from the wrong person) which trapped them in an inexorable plot of betrayal, fear and death.

Starr has since branched out into werewolf novels and comic books, but Savage Lane sees him return to his old familiar world, although this time his characters are a little more grown up and they have moved from New York to the city’s greener, affluent suburbs.

As usual in fiction, suburban life may look comfortable on the surface, but underneath things are seriously wrong. The story centres on Mark and Deb, who are married with children and live in the well-to-do community of Savage Lane. Their lives should be comfortable but Deb likes the booze rather too much and Mark likes Deb’s friend Karen rather too much. Things very soon start to spiral out of control, and Starr concocts a hypnotic story of lust and obsession.

But while this is a hard-to-put-down book - you are likely to find yourself repeatedly thinking ‘I’ll read just one more chapter’ - the smartly set-up story seems to run out steam towards the end, with no real sense of a climax (apart from a clumsy stand-off scene). By any other author, this dark thriller would be almost a triumph. But by Jason Starr’s own high standards, it should be better.

Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths

In the bitter winter of 1951 Brighton, two young children have gone missing and it is down to Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens to lead the hunt for them, in this atmospheric period mystery. When their bodies are found in the frozen ground, surrounded by sweets, the mystery takes on a grim (as well as Grimm) fairy-tale aspect, with the papers dubbing them ‘Hansel and Gretel’. Stephens is stumped, but determined to find the killer - a task which may involve enlisting the help of his old pal Max Mephisto, magician and flamboyant star of the Theatre Royal panto, who is also a master of misdirection (a technique the killer may be using).

Author Elly Griffiths has deservedly built up a band of followers for her series of mysteries featuring forensic archaeologist Dr Ruth Galloway. ButSmoke and Mirrors is the second novel in her other series, featuring Stephens and Mephisto and evocatively chronicling the shabby gentility and shadowy theatrical world of post-war seaside Britain.
The disappearance of little Annie and Mark, and the shock it brings to the town, are eloquently captured by Griffiths as she transports the reader back to the spartan, uncomfortable world of rationing, gas fires and frozen pipes. The contrasting duo of the workmanlike Stephens and theatrical Mephisto are likeable central characters, while the inspector’s sidekick, Emma Holmes feels like she could spin off into a series of her own. But, unfortunately, the underlying plot is not as gripping as the descriptions of an icy Brighton, and at times the story plods rather than flies. Coupled with an unremarkable resolution of the mystery, Smoke and Mirrors is one of Griffiths’s less compelling plots, but the book is memorable for its chilling atmosphere.

Blood, Salt, Water by Denise Mina

This is Denise Mina’s 12th book and she is showing no sign of losing her power to draw readers into a shadowy world of crime. Blood, Salt, Water opens in the tiny Scottish seaside town of Helensburgh with small-time criminal Iain beating to death a woman, on the orders of his crime boss. Meanwhile, in Glasgow, a police monitoring operation has gone awry with the sudden disappearance of the woman they were watching on suspicion of being involved in a criminal scam involving £7m.

These two story lines appear separate though, of course, we know they are destined to come together; but, despite that predictability, the book keeps both strands intriguingly and carefully balanced, sucking us into their respective worlds. Alex Morrow, at the heart of the police investigation, is an engaging and sharp character while, such is the skill of Denise Mina’s writing, that we even have sympathy for Iain, the diminished-responsibility killer wrestling with his demons. A subtle but steely crime story that worms its way into the reader’s head.

Pretty Is by Maggie Mitchell

This haunting debut novel by American Maggie Mitchell comes with a cover emblazoned with “Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train”, which might sell a few copies but does great disservice to a book that is a highly original piece of work in its own right.

The story centres on two women who, when they were 12, were abducted by a mysterious man and held captive until they were found and ‘saved’ a few weeks later. Now, as grown women, Chloe (who has changed her name from Carly-May) is a fading actress who drinks too much; Lois is a professor of literature with a student who seems in some way concerned with her past.

They no longer know each other but are both still troubled by what happened all those years ago. Lois has written a book based on the kidnap (under a pen name - there’s a lot of hiding of identities going on)  and, when it’s adapted for a film, the screenplay finds its way to Chloe, who realises it is based on her own background.

This novel is dense and unsettling, with a structure more akin to a literary novel than a straightforward crime story (the author is a university English teacher). There are alternating viewpoints, between Chloe and Lois, and a section which is a lengthy extract from Lois’s novel, and the result is multilayered and memorable.

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

The rights for this debut novel by a British writer have already sold across Europe and in the US and the publishers have high hopes for huge seller.

And it is easy to see what has got them excited. This slick chiller about a group of girls on a hen night is the sort of confection that sells well at the moment: half chick-lit and half thriller.

It all starts when Nora gets an email with the subject line “CLARE’S HEN!!!”. The problem is that she doesn’t know anyone called Clare.... except for the girl from university that she last saw 10 years before. But why would she want Nora at her hen night?

Despite misgivings, Nora and her good friend Nina decide to go along for the hell of it. Which is exactly how it turns out. It is clear from the outset that things are not going to go smoothly: the hen is at a remote house in the middle of a woods (where, naturally, there is no mobile phone signal). The weather is grim. And there’s a very bossy girl running the event.

From a reader’s point of view, so far, so good. Nora is an engaging character and narrator, who tells the story in a chatty style. Author Ruth Ware lays out the story well, creates a very believable group of girls and really captures the spirit of a weekend away, before turning it into a breathless race for survival.

So, it’s a shame, with a good set-up and an author who can clearly write, that the plotting becomes predictable, the denouement is lumberingly obvious and the book simply goes on for too long. If the excited publishers had imposed a bit more stringent editing, they might have got the best-seller they were hoping for. But this is more
of a near miss than a hit.

Only We Know by Karen Perry

The debut novel by Karen Perry, The Boy That Never Was, was set in modern-day Ireland and North Africa several years earlier, where a momentous event had taken place. This follow-up sticks to that basic pattern: the story is set in Dublin, 2013 and Kenya, 1982, where there was a day that none of the main protagonists will forget. Luke, Nick and Katie were children then, and the tragic riverside incident has not been mentioned since.

Now, years later, Luke disappears, and it becomes clear that those childhood events are still haunting everyone's lives. And when threatening messages start to arrive, it seems that someone else knows what happened in 1982.

We follow the developing story of Luke's disappearance through the eyes of Katie and Nick. They have compelling voices and the book is beautifully written, with just the right balance of teasing the reader with clues and hitting them with revelations.

Although similar in structure to The Boy That Never Was, this novel has a different feel to it, and the flashbacks are more poignant, as they draw a contrast between the naive children of that time and the adults they have become. If I had to nitpick, Only We Know is probably 50 pages longer than it needs to be, but otherwise this a fine psychological suspense story that polishes and hones the style of the debut.

The Truth by Oscha Arango

This psychological thriller has been a bestseller in its author’s native Germany, and it is not hard to see why. It is a sharp, dark and slyly witty story about a charming sociopath, Henry Hayden (who may remind some readers of Tom Ripley). Henry is at the top of his game: he is successful - a bestselling author with a loving wife, a beautiful home and a Maserati. But there is a secret at the centre of all this: he can't write. All his books are written by his wife in secret. Add the fact that he has a mistress and she has just declared herself pregnant, and the book opens with the prospect of Henry's life falling apart.

But Henry is not a man to let that happen, so with calculated coldness he sets about dealing with the problems, creating a dark and enveloping web of lies and deception - not to mention a trail of bodies.

The book offers dark, clever entertainment and is worth reading for that alone. Sadly, it doesn't end with a bang. It is more like a hit single that has a wonderful hook, chorus and verses but finishes with a fade out rather than a climax. Nevertheless, it’s great fun along the way.

Going to the Dogs by Dan Kavanagh

This is the fourth and final book in the re-released Eighties crime series by Dan Kavanagh - aka the Man Booker Prize-winning novelist Julian Barnes. This last story sees the regular central character Duffy, the bisexual copper turned security adviser, taken out of his normal urban London setting and becoming involved in shenanigans in the Home Counties. It all starts when an old acquaintance, Vic Crowther, finds a dead dog on his library floor, after it has been thrown through the window of his country home (which he shares with Belinda Blessing, a former Page Three model).

This tale plays for more laughs than the London trio, which have gritty city realism to counterbalance Barnes’s acerbic humour. Going to the Dogs is more knockabout and the satire of noveau riche types is a little laboured and perhaps showed that Barnes had exhausted the sardonic fun of the series - this story appeared in 1987 and the author has never gone back to write another Duffy adventure.

While it is great to have these classics back in print, it seems a shame the publisher went for individual hardbacks of each novel. More new readers might have been attracted by a reprint of Penguin’s paperback Duffy Omnibus of 1991 which put all four short books into one volume at a reasonable price.

Time of Death by Mark Billingham

Following the hellish time he endured on a remote Welsh island, it may be surprising that DI Tom Thorne is back just weeks later (in the world of the books) with a new murder case to solve. But a surprise is exactly what it is, because he is not expecting this one.

After the dramatic events of the last book, The Bones Beneath, he is supposed to be enjoying a well-earned holiday in the Cotswolds with his girlfriend, Helen.

For townie Thorne the prospect of country walks and green wellies is as appealing as root canal work. So, when Helen discovers that an old schoolfriend in her home town is caught up in the case of two missing schoolgirls, he does not put up much resistance to the idea of paying a visit. And, as surely as night follows day, he gets sucked into the dark events in the seedy rural town.

The partner of Helen's friend has been held by the police on suspicion of abduction, the town is crawling with reporters and the local police are sure they've got their man. But Thorne, of course, has his doubts.

In a story that reveals as much about Helen's background as it does about the claustrophobia of small-town life, the writing displays the virtues that have made Mark Billingham a bestseller: wit, careful plotting, attention to detail (some of it gruesome) and great characterisation – not just Thorne and Helen but subsidiary figures such as the e-cigarette-puffing local police chief. Even if Time of Death does, perhaps, go on a bit longer than the story really justifies, and the perpetrator is not exactly hard to spot, it is an entertaining read. This won’t disappoint Billingham's legions of fans.

On a note of yearning: I know writers like to bring a bit of variation to their work – and you might call me a stick-in-the-mud – but after Thorne novels set in Wales and the Midlands, I am looking forward to the time he gets back to his old London stamping ground. I’d like to say he’ll be happier at home, but that’s unlikely. Though at least he will know where the good pubs are.

Game of Mirrors by Andrea Camilleri

This is the 18th outing for Inspector Montalbano, the gastronome, would-be womaniser and police detective (who’d probably put his own attributes in that order, too).

The case starts with a mysterious bomb explosion outside an empty warehouse – mysterious because it appears that someone has gone to quite a lot of trouble in order to cause damage worth a handful of euros.

At the same time, there is the equally curious matter of Montalbano’s attractive female neighbour, who seems to be taking rather an interest in the easily distracted inspector. There is often a female distraction in Montalbano stories, but it looks like there could be more to this than mere flirtation. Surely she is not interested in him for his charm (and his knowledge of restaurants)?

The plot in Game of Mirrors is perhaps not Camilleri’s finest, but his slyly witty writing remains on form (even at the age of 85 – which he was when this book was first published in Italian in 2011). And, as always, his work is given a seemingly effortless translation by Stephen Sartarelli.

Montalbano is as charming as ever, and the good news is that there are another five books in the series awaiting translation.

Toxic by Jamie Doward

“Sometimes banks are more dangerous than bombs” runs the sell-line on the cover of this new conspiracy thriller by British journalist Jamie Doward. And a good line it is too, as it captures the spirit of the times: banks are not just untrustworthy but evil, with the power to bring down the Western world.

Add a febrile plot involving Arab plotters, the CIA, a nuclear power station and a headless, handless body washed up on an English beach, and you have the ingredients for a book that is bang on the mood of the moment.

At the heart of the story is Kate Pendragon, a financial investigator seconded to MI5, who makes a likeable central character with a memorable penchant for cocktails and random one-night stands. Unfortunately, some of the secondary characters are less well drawn and can be tricky to differentiate. Is this person from the CIA, MI5 or one of the Saudi Prince's advisers, you might find yourself wondering, as the action jumps between locations. This slows down the early chapters, but the later stages rattle along satisfyingly. The plotting is a bit loose and there's a feeling that Doward, rather than being driven by a central idea, has picked his zeitgeist-y elements and then come up with a recipe to suit his ingredients. However, there's an enjoyably tense will-she won't-she climactic scene, which sees Kate risk the ultimate sacrifice.

Doward appears to have been trying hard to create a bang-up-to-the-minute thriller and, even if it falls short, Toxic is a promising debut. He could crack it next time.