Library Journal - Summer Debuts

From the current page on mysteries at Library Journal:

Summer Debuts

June is busting out with an excellent selection of intriguing first novels and new series. In Nicola Upson's audacious debut, An Expert in Murder, her protagonist is none other than classic crime author Josephine Tey. The Streets of Babylon, Carina Burman's first entry in a new trilogy about a Swedish crime-solving writer, is remarkable in its early Victorian setting and strong female characters.

A genealogist plays an investigative role in Dan Waddell's series launch, The Blood Detective. Evan Marshall introduces Anna Winthrop, a New York City sanitation supervisor, in Death Is Disposable, and Slovakian Police Commander Jana Matinova makes her crime fiction debut in Michael Genelin's Siren of the Waters, sure to be one of the best police procedurals of the year.

Read LJ's reviews of the above titles and more - here. I'm itching to get hold of Siren of the Waters, published by Soho Press.

Library Journal newsletter - new titles

The latest newsletter has the following paragraph on what's coming soon to the US:

Crime in translation and foreign mysteries continue to wash up on our shores. In June, the Milan-based publisher Baldini Castoldi Editore enters the U.S. market for the first time with Giorgio Faletti's I Kill, a psychological thriller set in Monte Carlo—a huge best seller in Italy. Also passing through customs is the first Arabic detective novel published in English. Set in Casablanca, The Final Bet (American Univ. in Cairo Pr., May) by Abdelilah Hamdouchi is the dark tale of a handsome young Moroccan accused of killing his much older wife.

The Scandinavian crime wave features Johan Theorin's Echoes of the Dead, winner of Sweden's Best First Crime Novel (Delacorte, Dec. 2008). Other exotic settings to be highlighted include Taiwan (Francie Lin's The Foreigner, Picador, Jun.), Slovakia (Michael Genelin's Siren of the Waters, Soho Crime, Jul.), and Mongolia (Michael Walters's The Shadow Walker, Berkley Prime Crime, Aug.).

The British invasion this summer and fall has a strong Scottish flavor, with two novels set in the Shetland Islands, Ann Cleeves's White Nights (Minotaur, Sept.) and S.J. Bolton's debut, Sacrifice (Minotaur, May). St. Martin's Minotaur executive editor Kelley Ragland describes Sacrifice as “a totally gripping read with an atmospheric setting and a modern-day story inspired by an ancient legend.”

Set in Aberdeen is award-winning Stuart MacBride's fourth DS Logan McRae procedural, Flesh House (Minotaur, Oct.). “This might possibly be his most violent book, but he's just so good and slightly ignored in the States,” raves Macmillan library marketing director Talia Ross. And September marks the arrival of Ian Rankin's highly anticipated final John Rebus mystery, Exit Music (Little, Brown).

Giorgio Faletti's I Kill is not (yet?) listed on amazon.co.uk but the rest are. Euro Crime has already reviewed the UK editions of Michael Walters' The Shadow Walker and Ian Rankin's Exit Music.

Read the whole article, which also includes an interview with Meg Gardiner and a feature on audio books, here

Thanks Library Journal!

Yesterday was a full day, setting off at the crack of dawn to get to London to have a peek at the London Book Fair for my first time. I left the show several hours later laden with catalogues and a few proofs. I'd bumped into Ali Karim (Rapsheet, Shots etc) in the 'Noir' seminar which featured John Banville aka Benjamin Black.

I met up with Petrona at the British Library for a drink before we repaired to the nearby Pizza Express which was out of both asparagus and fudge pieces. The company more than made up for these disappointments.

Checking my blog this morning I'm very chuffed to see that Euro Crime has been named one of Library Journal's top eight mystery blogs. See the full list here!