Award News: Petrona Award Entries 2024

I am pleased to announce that 31 of the 32 titles that were eligible for the 2024 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year have been entered by the publishers.

The winner of the Award will be announced online later this year.

The rules for eligibility are:

• The submission must be in translation and published in English in the UK during the preceding calendar year ie 1 January – 31 December 2023.
• The author of the submission must either be born in Scandinavia* or the submission must be set in Scandinavia*.
• The submission must have been published in its original language after 1999.

(E-books that meet the above criteria may be considered at the judges’ discretion (does not include self-published titles))
*in this instance taken to be Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

More details about the award and the history behind it can be found on the Petrona Award website. The winner of the 2023 Award was Femicide by Pascal Engman, translated from the Swedish by Michael Gallagher and published by Legend Press.

The award is sponsored by David Hicks.

Entries 

[15 titles are by Female authors and 12 by Male plus 3 teams of Female and Male authors and 1 team of 2 Male authors. There are 22 translators (11 Female (15 titles), 11 Male (16 titles)) and 6 countries are represented (11 Sweden, 7 Iceland, 7 Norway, 3 Denmark, 2 Finland and 1 France).]

Maria Adolfsson - Cruel Tides tr. Agnes Broomé (F, Sweden, Zaffre)

Tove Alsterdal - You Will Never Be Found tr. Alice Menzies (F, Sweden, Faber & Faber)

Samuel Bjork - The Wolf tr. Charlotte Barslund (M, Norway, Bantam)

Stella Blómkvist - Murder at the Residence tr. Quentin Bates (F, Iceland, Corylus Books)

Kjell Ola Dahl - The Lazarus Solution tr. Don Bartlett (M, Norway, Orenda Books)

M T Edvardsson - The Woman Inside tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles (M, Sweden, Macmillan)

Anki Edvinsson - The Snow Angel tr. Paul Norlen (F, Sweden, Thomas & Mercer) 

Carin Gerhardsen - Black Ice tr. Ian Giles (F, Sweden, Head of Zeus)

Johana Gustawsson - Yule Island tr. David Warriner (F, France, Orenda Books)

Anne Mette Hancock - The Collector tr. Tara F Chace (F, Denmark, Swift Press)

Jørn Lier Horst - Snow Fall tr. Anne Bruce (M, Norway, Michael Joseph)

Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger - Stigma tr. Megan E Turney (M&M, Norway, Orenda Books)

Arnaldur Indridason - The Girl by the Bridge tr. Philip Roughton (M, Iceland, Harvill Secker)

Jógvan Isaksen - Dead Men Dancing tr. Marita Thomsen (M, Denmark, Norvik Press)

Ragnar Jonasson & Katrín Jakobsdottír - Reykjavík tr. Victoria Cribb (M&F, Iceland, Michael Joseph)

Katrín Júlíusdóttir - Dead Sweet tr. Quentin Bates (F, Iceland, Orenda Books)

Lars Kepler - The Spider tr. Alice Menzies (M&F, Sweden, Zaffre)

Camilla Läckberg & Henrik Fexeus - Cult tr. Ian Giles (F&M, Sweden, HarperCollins)

Asa Larsson - The Sins of our Fathers tr. Frank Perry (F, Sweden, MacLehose Press)

Jenny Lund Madsen - Thirty Days of Darkness tr. Megan E Turney (F, Denmark, Orenda Books)

Niklas Natt och Dag - 1795: The Order of the Furies tr. Ian Giles (M, Sweden, Baskerville)

Jo Nesbo - Killing Moon tr. Seán Kinsella (M, Norway, Harvill Secker)

Jo Nesbo - The Night House tr. Neil Smith (M, Norway, Harvill Secker)

Max Seeck - The Last Grudge tr. Kristian London (M, Finland, Welbeck)

Lilja Sigurdardottir - White as Snow tr. Quentin Bates (F, Iceland, Orenda Books)

Yrsa Sigurdardottir - The Prey tr. Victoria Cribb (F, Iceland, Hodder & Stoughton)

Karin Smirnoff - The Girl in the Eagle's Talons tr. Sarah Death (F, Sweden, MacLehose Press)

Gunnar Staalesen - Mirror Image tr. Don Bartlett (M, Norway, Orenda Books)

Viveca Sten - Hidden in Shadows tr. Marlaine Delargy (F, Sweden, AmazonCrossing)

Antti Tuomainen - The Beaver Theory tr. David Hackston (M, Finland, Orenda Books)

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir  - You Can't See Me tr. Victoria Cribb (F, Iceland, Orenda Books)

Not Submitted 

Katrine Engberg - The Island (apa The Sanctuary) tr. Tara Chace (F, Denmark, Hodder & Stoughton)

And a nice graphic courtesy of Goodreads:        

Petrona Award 2024 - Eligibles

New Releases - June 2024

Here's a snapshot of what I think was published for the first time in June 2024 (and is usually a UK date but occasionally will be a US or Australian date). 100 titles this month. If I've missed anything or got the date wrong, do please leave a comment. 

Please note that, unless specifically mentioned, when a book has differing print and ebook release date, I use the print release date. Translators' names are included where known.

Further to my post about writers of colour and the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, I have identified the writers of colour (that I know of) with a ***.

• Adams, Will - The Beowulf Murders (ebook only) #2 Warne and Elias
• Ægisdóttir, Eva Björg - Boys Who Hurt tr. Victoria Cribb #5 Forbidden Iceland
• Ailes, Kat - Dead Tired #2 Mothers' Murder Club
• Amphlett, Rachel - Hangman's Gap
• Atkinson, Heather - A Savage Betrayal #3 The Savage Sisters
• Baker, J A - Little Boy Gone
• Baker, J A - The Passenger (apa In The Dying Minutes (2020))
• Bannalec, Jean-Luc - Death of a Master Chef tr. Jamie Lee Searle #9 Commissioner Dupin
• Barnes, Kerry - Bitter Enemies #2 Carrie Verne
• Belle, Kimberly - The Paris Widow
• Bettany, Jane - Murder at Maple Grange #3 Violet Brewster
• Billingham, Mark - The Wrong Hands #2 Detective Declan Miller, Blackpool
• Bishop, D V - A Divine Fury #4 Cesare Aldo, Florence, 1536
• Boland, Shalini - The Honeymoon
• Bottini, Oliver - The White Circle tr. Jamie Bulloch #6 The Black Forest Investigations
• Boyd, Damien - From the Ashes #14 DI Nick Dixon
• Bright, Verity - Murder in Mayfair #18 Lady Eleanor Swift, 1920s
• Bussi, Michel - Nothing Can Erase You tr. Sam Taylor
• Carter, Chris - The Death Watcher #13 Homicide Detective Robert Hunter, LA
• Cartmel, Andrew - Ashram Assassin #2 Cordelia, paperback sleuth
• Chase, Eve - The Midnight Hour
• Chaudhuri, A A - Under Her Roof ***
• Coles, Richard - Murder at the Monastery #3 Canon Daniel Clement
• Corry, Jane - I Died on a Tuesday
• Craven, M W - The Mercy Chair #6 Washington Poe
• Cress, Penelope & Higgs, Steve - Death of an Ice Cream Salesman #2 Mike Atwell
• Dalgliesh, J M - The Cuillin Dead #4 DI Duncan McAdam, Isle of Skye
• Dams, Jeanne M - Village Politics Can Be Murder #26 Dorothy Martin
• Dean, Will - The Chamber
• Doherty, Paul - Banners of Hell #24 Hugh Corbett
• Dolby, Hannah - How to Solve Murders Like a Lady #2 Violet Hamilton, Victorian era
• Douglas, Stuart - Death at the Dress Rehearsal #1 Lowe and Le Breton, 1970s
• Ellicott, Jessica - Murder at an English Séance #8 Beryl and Edwina Mystery, 1920s
• Enright, Robert - Don't Say A Word #2 DS Jack Townsend
• Everett, F L - Murder on Stage #3 Edie York, 1940s
• Fitzek, Sebastian - The Eye Hunter tr. John Brownjohn #2 Alexander Zorbach
• Foley, Lucy - The Midnight Feast
• Ford, P F - A Body Under the Bridge #6 West Wales Murder Mysteries
• Frank, Matthew - The Woman Who Fell #4 Ex-soldier police detective Joseph Stark, London
• Freeman, Dianne - An Art Lover's Guide to Paris and Murder #7 Countess of Harleigh, Victorian England
• Gatland, Jack - Crooked Was His Cane #19 DI Declan Walsh
• Gatward, Davd J - Ashes of Betrayal #18 DCI Harry Grimm
• Gerlis, Alex - Every Spy a Traitor #1 Double Agent
• Giles, Stewart - Fire on the Island #13 DI Liam O'Reilly, Guernsey
• Gray, Claudia - The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh #3 Mr Darcy & Miss Tilney
• Greene, Morgan - The Devil in the Dark #11 DI Jamie Johansson
• Greig, Andrew James - Silent Ritual #2 Private Investigator Tearlach Paterson, Scotland
• Griffiths, Elly - The Man in Black and Other Stories
• Harris, Oliver - The Shame Archive #3 Elliot Kane
• Harris, Robert J - Redfalcon #3 Richard Hannay
• Huber, Anna Lee - A Deceptive Composition #12 Lady Darby, Scotland, 1830s
• Hunt, Rosie - Murder at a Boarding School #6 Lady Felicity Quick, 1920s
• James, Alison - Just the Nicest Family
• Jenkins, Victoria - The Open Marriage
• Jordan, G R - A Rock 'n' Roll Murder #33 Highlands and Islands
• Jordan, Jack - Redemption
• Kaya, Kerry - Downfall #1 Carters: Next Generation
• Keogh, Valerie - The Mother
• Leadbeater, David - The Traitor's Gold #5 Joe Mason
• Lee, M J - What the Dead Want #10 DI Ridpath
• Lloyd, Ellery - The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby
• Lussey, Ken - The Eye of Horus #6 Bob Sutherland, WWII
• MacBride, Stuart - In a Place of Darkness
• Mara, Andrea - Someone in the Attic
• Mark, David - When the Bough Breaks #1 Sal Delaney, Traffic police
• Markin, Wes - The Winter Killings #5 DCI Emma Gardner, Yorkshire
• Marris, Gay - A Curtain Twitcher's Book of Murder
• Marston, Edward - Spring Offensive #11 Inspector Harvey Marmion and Sergeant Joe Keedy
• McCleave, Simon - Dead in the Water #5 DCI Laura Hart, Anglesey
• McPherson, Catriona - Deep Beneath Us
• Messina, Lynn - A Vicious Machination #12 Beatrice Hyde-Clare, Regency era
• Mir, Saima - Vengeance #2 Jia Khan ***
• Mitchell, Dreda Say (with Ryan Carter) - Girl, Missing ***
• Moore, Ian - Death in le Jardin #4 Follet Valley Mystery
• Morgan, Anna-Marie - Murder in the Bookkeeper's Attic #3 DI Grant McKenzie
• Morrison, Lynn & Radcliffe, Anne - The Ruby Dagger #2 The Crown Jewels Regency Mysteries
• Noel, Sarah F - An Indomitable Woman #7 Tabitha & Wolf
• North, Ely - Happy Camp: Discipline, Godliness, Fun #7 DCI Finnegan, Yorkshire
• Purcell, M A - Finding Hannah
• Raymond, Andrew - Cold Open #4 DCI Lomond
• Rayne, Sarah - The Murderer Inside the Mirror #2 Theater of Thieves, London 1908
• Rinder, Rob - The Suspect #2 Adam Green
• Robinson, Brooke - The Negotiator
• Robotham, Michael - Storm Child #4 Cyrus Haven
• Sinclair, J R - The Games People Play #4 DI Joseph Stone
• Sinclair, Rob - Rogue Hero
• Smith, Fiona Veitch - The Pyramid Murders #3 Miss Clara Vale, 1929
• Speechley, Ruby - Guilty
• Thomas, Sherry - A Ruse of Shadows #8 Lady Sherlock
• Tobin, Sam - Settle the Score #4 Manchester Underworld
• Vincent, Yvonne - Game of Trust #8 Losers Club, Scotland
• Walker, Martin - A Grave in the Woods #17 Bruno, Chief of Police, France
• Warren, Nancy - Death at Darrington Manor #2 Abigail Dixon, American reporter, 1920s
• Weaver, Ashley - Locked in Pursuit #4 Electra McDonnell
• Wells, Kate - A Body by the Henhouse #3 Jude Gray
• Wilson, Alexandra - The Witness #1 Rosa, Barrister ***
• Winspear, Jacqueline - The Comfort of Ghosts #18 Maisie Dobbs, Psychologist and Investigator, 1930s London
• Woods, Karen - The Trade
• Yokomizo, Seishi - The Little Sparrow Murders tr. Bryan Karetnyk #17 Kosuke Kindaichi, PI
• Zaidi, Malia - A Grave Betrayal #7 Lady Evelyn ***

Blog Tour: Extract from Shrouded by Sólveig Pálsdóttir tr. Quentin Bates

Welcome to the latest stop on the blog tour for Shrouded by Sólveig Pálsdóttir translated by Quentin Bates. 

I am very pleased to be able to share an extract from Shrouded, the fourth to be translated into English, in this Icelandic 'Ice and Crime' series which began with The Fox, and was followed by Silenced and then Harm.

A retired, reclusive woman is found on a bitter winter morning, clubbed to death in Reykjavik's old graveyard.

Detectives Guðgeir and Elsa Guðrún face one of their toughest cases yet, as they try to piece together the details of Arnhildur's austere life in her Red House in the oldest part of the city.

Why was this solitary, private woman attending séances, and why was she determined to keep her severe financial difficulties so secret?

Could the truth be buried deep in her past and a long history of family enmity, or could there be something more?

A stranger keeps a watchful eye on the graveyard and Arnhildur's house. With the detectives running out of leads, could the Medium, blessed and cursed with uncanny abilities, shed any light on Arnhildur’s lonely death?

Extract

She again felt her own rapid heartbeat and her breath came with difficulty. The events of the evening had certainly been distressing enough to upset her and she felt a deep fatigue that settled on her whole body. Every step was an effort and the snow that clung to her boots seemed to be as heavy as lead. After making her way along Suðurgata, she had no choice but to pause and lean against the graveyard wall. She felt faint, could barely breathe and the weight in her chest was increasing. What was wrong with her? Was this a heart attack? Shouldn’t she feel her arm tingling? Or was this a stroke, but wasn’t a terrible headache a warning of what was to come? Arnhildur pulled off a glove and felt in her pocket for her old-fashioned phone. She was frightened but didn’t know who to call. Now she had the feeling that a brick had been placed on her chest. Terrified, she tried to think of anyone she could call for help, but nobody came to mind. She’d have to call an ambulance. She tried to punch in the emergency number but wasn’t sure if she was finding the right buttons. Now she couldn’t see clearly, and tried to feel for the buttons, but arthritis had robbed her fingertips of any sensitivity. Something crunched in the snow behind her. Now someone would undoubtedly come to her aid. She looked over the graveyard wall, peering among the gravestones and the bare branches, but saw nothing there but darkness. She glanced around, but the street was as deserted as before. Once again, she heard the clear crunch of footsteps coming her way. Someone was coming through the graveyard.

‘Hello? Anyone there?’ she called out as loudly as she could. There was no response and she couldn’t be sure that her voice was audible. ‘Will you help me? Hello? Help, please.’ Her voice was faint but she hoped it would carry through the winter silence.

There was no response, but she could hear and sense more clearly that someone was approaching.

‘I need help…’ She hesitated at the sound of something breaking, a tree branch broken off. What was going on? She pressed herself against the graveyard wall, knowing that she had to support herself while the world spun around her. The sound of panting breaths drew closer, and then there was a voice that said something she was unable to make out clearly.

‘Who’s there?’ The weight in her chest was increasing. ‘Hello!’

There was nothing to be seen across the street, not even the pavement, just the dim glow of lights from houses and along the street by the lake.

‘Who are you?’ Arnhildur whispered, her voice feeble. She was faint and she heard a sound, almost like the howl of a dog, but couldn’t be sure if it came from her or someone else. Was she suffering an attack that distorted her senses? She summoned the last of her energy to ask again for assistance.

‘Could you help me? I can’t see the buttons…’

Before she could say any more, she felt a heavy blow to her head and shards of pain flashed through her nerves. She dropped to her knees. Heavy breaths and gasps could be heard, someone swearing.

This was a voice she’d heard before and she tried to see who was speaking, but saw nothing even though she felt that her eyes were open. Now she sensed that hands were grasping her under the arms and she was being dragged. There was an indistinct scraping sound, panting and her body bumped across the uneven ground, but she no longer felt anything. Then there was another blow, and the ice-cold snow settled to cover ​her​.

***

Many thanks to Ewa, Sólveig, Quentin and Corylus Books for this extract and the opportunity to be involved.

Now check out the rest of the Tour!

New Releases - May 2024

Here's a snapshot of what I think was published for the first time in May 2024 (and is usually a UK date but occasionally will be a US or Australian date). 113 titles this month. If I've missed anything or got the date wrong, do please leave a comment. 

Please note that, unless specifically mentioned, when a book has differing print and ebook release date, I use the print release date. Translators' names are included where known.

Further to my post about writers of colour and the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, I have identified the writers of colour (that I know of) with a ***.

Allan, Claire - The Affair
Arlidge, M J & Julia Crouch - The Wrong Child
Baldwin, Jackie - Murder at Whiteadder House #3 Detective Grace McKenna, Edinburgh
Bell, Alice - Displeasure Island #2 Claire Hendricks
Belshaw, T A - Murder on the Medway #4 Amy Rowlings, 1939
Blómkvist, Stella - Murder Under the Midnight Sun tr. Quentin Bates #8 Stella Blómkvist, Lawyer
Bond, Martha - Murder in the Bay #4 Lottie Sprigg Country House
Brody, Frances - Six Motives for Murder #2 Nell Lewis, Prison Governor, Yorkshire, 1960s
Brook, Lee - The Stalker's Twisted Game #16 West Yorkshire Crime
Buckley, Fiona - To Seize a Queen #23 Ursula Blanchard, an Elizabethan lady
Burrowes, Grace - A Gentleman in Search of a Wife #5 The Lord Julian Mysteries
Calvey, Linda - Faith
Campbell, AJ - Did I Kill My Husband?
Cartwright, Jack - A Secret To Die For #2 DCI Cook, Lincolnshire
Christer, Sam - Jasmine, Rose Petals and Murder (ebook only)
Connolly, John - The Instruments of Darkness #21 Charlie Parker, PI, Maine
Cooksley, Jody - The Small Museum
Creed, Ben - Man of Bones #3 Revol Rossel
Cress, Penelope & Higgs, Steve - Death by Dickens #1 Mike Atwell
Dawson, Mark - Dead of Winter (ebook only) #4 Charlie Cooper
Dixon Helena Murder on the French Riviera 16 Miss Underhay
Ellis, Emmy - Grabbed #4 DI Tracy Collier
Ellis, Emmy - Sunk #5 DI Tracy Collier
Ellis, Emmy - Rhombus #28 Cardigan Estate
Field, David - Unhallowed Ground #1 DCI Mike Saxby
Field, David - The Slaughtered Widow #3 Bailiff Mountsorrel Tudor Mysteries
Flatland, Helga - Toxic tr. Matt Bagguley
Ford, P F - Death in a Skip #8 Slater and Norman
Ford, P F - Death of a Pensioner #9 Slater and Norman
Fraine, A L - An Ill Wind #6 Detective Loxley, Nottinghamshire
Galloway, K T - Vanishing Act #9 O'Malley & Swift
Gardner, Ashley - A Darkness in Seven Dials #17 Captain Lacey, Regency Era
Gardner, Frank - Invasion #4 Luke Carlton, Ex-Special Boat Service commando
Gatland, Jack - Broad Sword #6 Tom Marlowe
Grant, Tracy - The O'Roarke Affair #29 Rannoch Fraser
Greene, Morgan - The Trade
Greenwood, Ross - Death in Bacton Wood #3 DS Ashley Knight, Norfolk
Harris, Theo - Born to Kill #7 DC Kendra March
Harrow, Ruth - The Guilty Girl
Hawkswood, Sarah - Litany of Lies #12 Bradecote and Catchpoll, Worcestershire, C12
Hayder, Mo - Bonehead
Hedgecock, Liz & Harmon, Paula - Murder at Work #5 Booker & Fitch
Holland, Sam - The Puppet Master #3 Major Crimes
Hood, D K - Eyes Tight Shut #22 Detectives Kane and Alton
Hunter, Alice - Bad Apple
Hunter, Evie - The Takedown
Hurst, Daniel - The Family Trip
James, P C - Ramsay and the Smuggling Ring #2 One Man and His Dog, 1960s
James, Peter - They Thought I Was Dead: Sandy's Story #20 Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, Brighton
Jordan, G R - The Esoteric Tear #32 Highlands and Islands
Kabler, Jackie - The Life Sentence
Kinsey, T E - An Assassination on the Agenda #11 Lady Emily Hardcastle, 1908
Kovach, Carla - Her Last Goodbye #15 Detective Gina Harte
Lackberg, Camilla - The Cuckoo tr. Ian Giles #11 Patrik Hedstrom and Erica Falck, Fjallbacka
Lane, Anna Sayburn - Death at Chelsea #3 Marjorie, 1920s
Louth, Nick - The Two Deaths of Ruth Lyle #1 DI Jan Talantire, Devon
Lynch, Rachel - Shared Remains #12 DI Kelly Porter, Lake District
McCleave, Simon - The Llangollen Killings #19 DI Ruth Hunter
McGowan, Claire - Truth Truth Lie
MacIntyre, Colin - When the Needle Drops #1 Mull Mysteries
McLean, Rachel (with Joel Hames) - The Cairn #3 Cumbria Crime
McLean, Rachel (with Millie Ravensworth) - Death at St Paul's Cathedral #5 Diana Bakewell
MacNeal, Susan Elia - The Last Hope #11 Maggie Hope
McPherson, Catriona - The Witching Hour #16 Dandy Gilver, Society Sleuth, 1920s Scotland
McPhillips, Fiona - When We Were Silent
Mackenzie, M R - The Reckoning #5 Anna Scavolini
Madeley, Richard - Father's Day
Manning, Nina - Her Last Summer
Mariani, Scott - The Golden Library #29 Ben Hope, Ex-SAS
Markin, Wes - The Secret Diary of Lacey Ray #8 DCI Yorke
Marsons, Angela - Guilty Mothers #20 DI Kim Stone
Martin, Faith - Murder On the Train #21 DI Hillary Greene, Oxfordshire
Maslen, Andy - The Unseen Sister #2 Detective Kat Ballantyne
Mason, Kelly - A Mystery at Moor House #3 Lady Ellen Investigates, 1920s
Masters, S R - How to Kill with Kindness
Matheson, Nadine -The Kill List #3 DI Henley, London ***
Menuhin, Karen Baugh - The Twelve Saints of Christmas #12 Heathcliff Lennox Investigates
Meyrick, Denzil - The Estate
Mistry, Liz - The Blood Promise #1 Solanki and McQueen, Scotland
Morgan, Phoebe - The Trip
Morrison, Lynn & Radcliffe, Anne - The Missing Diamond #1 The Crown Jewels Regency Mysteries
Morton, Mandy - The Suspicions of Mr Whisker #13 The No. 2 Feline Detective Agency
Mukherjee, Abir - Hunted ***
Myers, Amy - Murder at Tanton Towers #1 Cara Shelly, café owner
Nadel, Barbara - The Darkest Night #26 Cetin Ikmen, Policeman, Istanbul
Nagendra, Harini - A Nest of Vipers #3 The Bangalore Detectives Club, 1920s ***
Nixon, Keith - A Deadly Truth #10 Solomon Gray
Norek, Olivier - Between Two Worlds tr. Nick Caistor
O'Sullivan, Darren - The Night They Stole My Baby
Pastor, Ben - The Venus of Salo #8 Wehrmacht Captain Martin Bora, 1939
Penrose, Andrea - The Thunder of Stones #8 Lady Arianna Hadley, Regency England
Phifer, Helen - The Girls on Floor 13 #3 Detective Maria Miller
Reynolds, Amanda - Her Husband's Lie
Rhodes, Tyler - A Comedy of Terrors #7 Max's Campervan Case Files
Robards, Karen - Some Murders in Berlin
Ross, L J - Death Rocks #21 DCI Ryan
Rowson, Pauline - Death on Board #5 Inspector Alun Ryga, Dorset
Ryan, Chris - Traitor
Shaw, William - The Wild Swimmers #5 DS Alexandra Cupidi
Siciliano, Sam - The Gentleman Burglar #9 Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Smith, Nikki - The Guests
Spencer, Tom - The Mystery of the Crooked Man
Staincliffe, Cath - The Fells #1 Detectives Donovan & Young
Stratmann, Linda - Sherlock Holmes and the Mycroft Incident #7 Early Casebook of Sherlock Holmes
Tay, Tania - The Other Woman ***
Taylor, Marsali - Death at a Shetland Festival #12 Shetland Sailing Mysteries
Torrance, Gaynor - The Boy in the Reeds #7 DI Jemima Huxley, Cardiff
Walker, Fiona - The Village Detectives and the Art of Murder #1 Village Detectives
Walker, Rosie - My Husband's Ex
Wassmer, Julie - Murder at the Allotment #10 Pearl Nolan, Whitstable
Watson, Sue - You, Me, Her
Weston, Kate - You May Now Kill the Bride
Williams, T A - Murder on the Italian Riviera #7 Armstrong and Oscar

New Releases - April 2024

Here's a snapshot of what I think was published for the first time in April 2024 (and is usually a UK date but occasionally will be a US or Australian date). 120 titles this month. If I've missed anything or got the date wrong, do please leave a comment. 

Please note that, unless specifically mentioned, when a book has differing print and ebook release date, I use the print release date. Translators' names are included where known.

Further to my post about writers of colour and the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year, I have identified the writers of colour (that I know of) with a ***.

Abell, Stig - Death in a Lonely Place #2 Jake Jackson
Adams, Jane A - The Nail #5 DI Mike Croft
Alexander, Magda - Murder at a Funeral #9 Kitty Worthington
Amsinck, Heidi - Back From the Dead #3 Jensen
Aubrey, Daniel - Dark Island #1 Freya Sinclair, Reporter, Orkney
Bagshawe, Tilly - The Secret Keepers
Bailey, Murray - Singapore Rain (ebook only) #1 Ash Carter Novella
Black, Ricky - Street Deeds #5 Dunn Family
Bowen, Rhys (with Clare Broyles) - In Sunshine or in Shadow #20 Molly Murphy, PI, 1900s New York
Bradley, Rebecca - Shattered Silence (ebook only) #10 DI Hannah Robbins
Brolly, Matt - The Alliance
Brook, Lee - Beneath the Surface #15 West Yorkshire Crime
Brown, Benedict - The Puzzle of Parham House #13 Lord Edgington Investigates
Buchholz, Simone - The Kitchen tr. Rachel Ward #2 Chastity Riley reloaded
Bugler, Sheila - Dark Road Home
Cambridge, Colleen - A Murder Most French #2 An American In Paris Mystery
Campbell, AJ - My Perfect Marriage
Campling, Michael - Lawful Duty #1 Detective Constable Spiller, 1990s
Carroll, B M - One of Us is Missing (ebook only)
Cartwright, Jack - Into Death's Arms #12 Wild Fens Murder Mystery
Chapman, Julia - Date with Justice #9 The Dales Detective Series
Chase, Clare - Mystery on Meadowsweet Grove #12 Eve Mallow, Saxford St Peter
Chester, Fliss - Death in the Crypt #5 Cressida Fawcett, 1920s
Chowdhury, Ajay - The Spy #4 Kamil Rahman ***
Coombs, Alex - Death in Nonna's Kitchen #2 Old Forge Cafe Mystery
Dahl, Alex - Girl Friends
Davis, Lindsey - Death on the Tiber #12 Flavia Albia, the adopted daughter of Marcus Didius Falco
Dawson, Mark - Bloodlands #23 John Milton
Dean, John - To Catch a Lie #11 Detective Chief Inspector Jack Harris
Dranfield, Wendy - Grave Mountain #7 Detective Madison Harper, Colorado
Dylan, Rhys - A Matter of Evidence #12 DCI Evan Warlow
Edwards, Mark - The Darkest Water
Ellis, Emmy - Crushed #2 DI Tracy Collier
Ellis, Emmy - Skinned #3 DI Tracy Collier
Ellis, J R - The Canal Murders #10 Detective Chief Inspector Oldroyd, Yorkshire
Fields, Helen - Profile K
Ford, P F - Death in Wild Boar Woods #6 Slater and Norman
Ford, P F - Death in the River #7 Slater and Norman
Frear, Caz - Five Bad Deeds
Freud, Emily - Her Last Summer
Gallagher, Charlie - The Girls Upstairs #9 Detective Maddie Ives
Gauntlett, A E - The Stranger at the Wedding
Giles, Stewart - The Loner #27 DS Jason Smith
Golden, Kelly - The Perfect Teacher
Golding, Julia - The Persephone Code
Grace, Fiona - A Mystery in Bloom: Murder in the Marigolds #1 Alice Bloom
Grace, Fiona - An Impossible Heist #5 The Maid and the Mansion
Hall, J M - A Clock Stopped Dead #3 Retired schoolteachers Liz, Pat and Thelma
Halsall, Rona - Bride and Groom
Hamdy, Adam (with James Patterson) - Private Monaco #19 Private series
Harris, C S - What Cannot Be Said #19 Sebastian St. Cyr, Regency England
Harte, Stephanie - Double Trouble #1 The Kennedy Twins
Heald, Ruth - My Husband's Affair
Hedges, Carol - Pride & Pestilence #11 Victorian Detectives
Hewitt, J M - The Perfect Village
Hollingdrake, Malcolm - Edge of the Land #3 Merseyside Crime Series
Horowitz, Anthony - Close to Death #5 Detective Daniel Hawthorne
Hurst, Daniel - The Doctor's Child #4 The Doctor's Wife
Hurst, Mark - My Partner's Friend
James, Ed - With Soul So Dead (ebook only) #5 DI Rob Marshall
January, Ava - The Mayfair Dagger
Jensen, Louise - The Intruders
Kara, Lesley - The Other Tenant
Kasasian, M R C - The Montford Maniac #2 Violet Thorn
Keel, Ellie - The Four
Kelly, Erin - The House of Mirrors
Kirk, JD - Where the Pieces Lie #19 DCI Logan
Lancaster, Mary - Petteril's Wife #5 Lord Petteril
Lee, M J - The Coffin in the Wall #1 DI Emma Christie
Leigh, Judy - Bloodshed on the Boards #2 Morwenna Mutton, Librarian, Cornwall
Lewis, Susan - A Sicilian Affair
Lindsay, Douglas - The Last Great Detective #6 DI Buchan
Lowe, Andrew - Tender is the North #9 DI Jake Sawyer
McDine, A J - The Baby
Mackay, N J - The Sweetheart Killer #2 DI Sebastian Locke
Maitland, K J - A Plague of Serpents #4 Daniel Pursglove
Mitchell, Caroline - The Last Guest House
Morgan, Anna-Marie - The Powys Murders #22 DI Yvonne Giles
Morrison, Lynn - The Cryptic Cold Case #7 Dora and Rex, 1920s
Mosse, Greg - The Coming Storm #2 Alexandre Lamarque
Mosse, Greg - Murder at the Theatre #3 Maisie Cooper
Murray, Andrew Hunter - A Beginner's Guide to Breaking and Entering
Nadal, Jay - Stakes Are High #11 DI Karen Heath
Negus, Trevor - The First Cut #12 DI Danny Flint
New, Jacqueline - Hand of the Wolf #3 DCI McNeill, Edinburgh
Noel, Sarah F - A Discerning Woman #6 Tabitha & Wolf
Nore, Aslak - The Sea Cemetery tr. Deborah Dawkin
North, L C - Clickbait
Organ, Emily - The Baker Street Murders #7 Augusta Peel, 1920s
Parker, Kate - Deadly Gamble #11 Olivia Denis, 1930s London
Piazza, Jo - The Sicilian Inheritance
Probyn, Jack - Death's Taste #5 DS Tomek Bowen
Puleston, Stephen - Looking Good Dead #12 Inspector Drake
Reich, Christopher - Matterhorn #1 Mac Dekker
Rutherford, Robert - Seven Days
Samuel, Peter - A Love to Remember #1 Inspector Rupert
Sargeant, Rachel - Her Deadly Friend #1 DI Steph Lewis, Gloucestershire
Sellers, Daniel - Murder on the Clyde #3 Detective Lola Harris, Glasgow
Shenjé, Kuchenga - The Library Thief ***
Sherwood, Kim - A Spy Like Me #2 Double O Trilogy (world of James Bond)
Silva, Jo - Death Comes to St Ives #3 The Edge of the World Detective Agency
Simms, Chris - Midnight Rambler
Smith, Alex - Truly Madly Deadly #15 DCI Robert Kett, Norfolk
Smith, Miranda - The Writer
Spain, Jo - The Trial
Stacey, L H - Buried Secrets
Stewart, Laura - Death at the Hunting Lodge #3 Amelia Adams, Scotland
Stockham, Alison - The New Girl
Stone, Dan - Hidden Enemy #3 Jack Kane
Sutton, Paula - The Potting Shed Murder #1 Hill House Vintage Murder Mysteries ***
Thomas, Russ - Sleeping Dogs #4 Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler, South Yorkshire
Thomas, Scarlett - The Sleepwalkers
Tyce, Harriet - A Lesson in Cruelty
Waller, Anita - The Girls Next Door
Walsh, Bridget - The Innocents #2 Variety Palace Mysteries
Whitehouse, Lucie - Last Witness #3 Ex-DI Robin Osborne, Birmingham
Whitelaw, Jonathan - The Concert Hall Killer #3 Bingo Hall Detectives
Wilkinson, Kerry - The Call
Williams, Jen - The Hungry Dark
Wingate, Marty - A Body at the Dance Hall #3 London Ladies' Murder Club

What I'm Reading...

 

I'm currently reading Petrona entry You Will Never Be Found by Tove Alsterdal translated by Alice Menzies. This is the second in the High Coast series set in Sweden, three titles are available so far.

I would strongly recommend reading the first, first (!) - We Know You Remember - as there are significant spoilers for it in You Will Never Be Found. 

I am enjoying this series with its somewhat remote rural setting and a lead character who is at home with it and knows all the local information. She also has a mother with early onset Alzheimer's which she has to manage and a brother who has gone off the rails.

 

Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Longlist - Authors of Colour

When the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Longlist was announced there was some backlash, most noticeably about the "entirely white longlist" [The Guardian]. Since then there has been further clarification on the judging process and an invitation for underrepresented parts of society to get in touch:

"We are always interested to hear from potential members within the industries listed above to join the Awards Academy. We are particularly keen to hear from those who feel they would bring a different perspective to our existing Academy and who can help us achieve our aim of being truly representative of all sections of society – including those who may be underrepresented in the UK crime writing scene – this includes, but is not limited to, individuals of colour, those with disabilities, individuals from the LGBT+ communities or from working class backgrounds. Please contact info@harrogate-festival.org.uk for further information."

The following information on the judging process is excerpted from their FAQ (the underlining is mine):

Submissions for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year are open to all publishers, who are invited to submit up to three titles per imprint. Novels written by UK and Irish passport holders are eligible and titles must be published in paperback for the first time from 1 May 2023 to 30 April 2024.  There is no fee at point of entry. The longlist of 18 titles is selected by the Awards Academy.

The Awards Academy is made up of over 30 journalists, reviewers, booksellers, bloggers & podcasters and representatives from within the industry. It includes members from a number of minority communities. The Festival Programming Committee and representatives from all Awards sponsors and partners are also included in the Academy. From 2025, Awards Academy members will be offered a fee for their contribution on the Academy.

All titles are available digitally to all members of the Academy. The Awards Academy members are all avid readers of crime fiction, so we expect they will already have read a significant number of the books that are submitted for longlisting over the course of the previous year. The longlist provides a snapshot in time of the genre, and with the Academy being large and reflecting a range of tastes and viewpoints, we do not expect every member to have read every book that is submitted.

For the Crime Novel of the Year Award, the Awards Academy chooses a longlist of 18 titles from the titles submitted by the publishers. Each individual member of the Academy is asked to rank their top 18 books and the titles with the highest overall scores go though.

What's not mentioned is that though the Award is free to enter, I understand that there is a significant fee to pay should you be longlisted and again if shortlisted. I've also heard that there is a very short judging period.

Here are some authors of colour who might have been eligible for the 2024 Award. These books have been published in the UK in paperback, in the time-frame (May 23-Apr 24), however I do not know the authors' passport status!

Kia Abdullah - Those People Next Door (b. England) HQ

Amen Alonge - A Good Night to Kill (b. Nigeria) Quercus

A A Chaudhuri - The Final Party (b. England) Canelo Hera

Ajay Chowdhury - The Detective (b. India) Vintage

Louise Hare - Harlem After Midnight (b. England) HQ

Alex Khan - Until Death (b. England) Canelo Hera

Alex Khan - The Scorned (b. England) Canelo Hera

Vaseem Khan - Death of a Lesser God (b. England) Hodder Paperbacks

Sujata Massey - The Mistress of Bhatia House (b. England) Soho Crime

Christie J Newport - The Ordinary Man (b. England) Joffe Books

RV Raman - The Last Resort (b. India) Pushkin Vertigo

Nilanjana Roy - Black River (b. India) Pushkin Vertigo

Meeti Shroff-Shah - A Matrimonial Murder (b. India) Joffe Books

Sunny Singh - Hotel Arcadia (b. India) Magpie 

NB. A number of these authors are appearing at this year's Festival.

The 2024 Award submissions period is gone but is there anything to be done about 2025?  It appears that with this current system it all starts with the publishers:

If they don't publish authors of colour then they're not going to get on the longlist.

If they don't submit books by authors of colour then they're not going to get on the longlist. If the books are submitted but don't get sent to the Academy members during the preceding months then they're less likely to get on the longlist given the time constraints.

What can we readers do? Read and review the eligible books, blog about them, ask your library to buy them, tell the publishers how great they are so that when they come to choose their 3 titles per imprint they'll remember these books. Maybe apply to be an Academy member?

Here are some possible entries for the 2025 Award, using the same criteria as above:

A A Chaudhuri -  Under Her Roof (b. England) Canelo Hera

Ajay Chowdhury - The Spy (b. India) Vintage

Dorothy Koomson - Every Smile You Fake (b. England) Headline Review

Nadine Matheson - The Kill List (b. England) HQ

Dreda Say Mitchell & Ryan Carter - Girl, Missing (b. England) Thomas & Mercer

Abir Mukherjee - Hunted (b. England) Vintage

Harini Nagendra - A Nest of Vipers (b. India) Constable

Suk Pannu - Mrs Sidhu's Dead and Scone (b.?) Hemlock Press

Kuchenga Shenjé - The Library Thief (b.?) Sphere

Paula Sutton - The Potting Shed Murder (b. England) Renegade Books 

Tania Tay - The Other Woman (b?) Headline Accent

Nicola Williams - Until Proven Innocent (b. England) Penguin

My database though extensive is not comprehensive so please do leave comments about authors I may have missed, and of course any errors.