Our libraries are now open – for limited browsing and the ‘Select and Collect’ service they’ve been running whilst the libraries have been closed. The mobile library is also back and on Tuesday the van came almost to our door, backing down our access drive! We still couldn’t go in the van, but could ask for books. There were no books by the authors I wanted, but there was plenty of crime fiction to choose from – I realise now how limited my crime fiction reading has been as these are all by authors I hadn’t heard of before.

As they are all new-to-me authors I’ve included some details about them – two are American , two are British and three of them are also screenwriters.

From top to bottom they are:

The Promise by Robert Crais, an Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novel.

Robert Crais is a New York Times bestselling author of twenty novels, sixteen of them featuring private investigator Elvis Cole and his laconic ex-cop partner, Joe Pike. Before writing his first novel, Crais spent several years writing scripts for such major television series as Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, Miami Vice, Quincy, Baretta, and L.A. Law. He received an Emmy nomination for his work on Hill Street Blues, and one of his standalone novels, Hostage, was made into a movie starring Bruce Willis. His novels have been translated into forty-two languages and are bestsellers around the world. A native of Louisiana, he lives in Los Angeles.

Book description: Loyalty, commitment, the fight against injustice – these are the things that have always driven Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. If they make a promise, they keep it – even if it could get them killed. When Elvis Cole is hired to locate a woman who may have disappeared with a stranger she met online, it seems like an ordinary case – until Elvis learns the missing woman worked for a defence contractor and was being blackmailed to supply explosives components for a person or persons unknown.

The Hunt Club by John Lescroart, the first Wyatt Hunt murder mystery.

John Lescroart is an American author best known for two series of legal and crime thriller novels featuring the characters Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky. In addition to his novels, Lescroart has written several screenplays. He is the author of twenty-nine novels.

Book description: Wyatt Hunt is a self-employed P.I., working low-profile surveillance and insurance fraud cases. Following the death of his fiancée and a twelve-year stint with San Francisco’s Child Protective Services, he isn’t looking for any trouble. So when a federal judge is found murdered in his Pacific Heights home with his mistress, Wyatt figures it’s someone else’s case – until his friend and business associate, attorney Andrea Parisi, becomes the lead suspect in the murder. The case takes a wild turn after Andrea mysteriously disappears, and with the help of his confederation of friends, stringers, and associates – known as the Hunt Club – Wyatt does whatever he must to find Andrea and bring a murderer to justice.

Sacrifice by Max Kinnings, an Ed Mallory thriller.

Max Kinnings is a screenwriter and novelist based in Oxford, England. Max has written feature films, Act of Grace (2012), Alleycats (2016) and The Pagan King (2018) as well as various projects in development including an adaptation of his novel, Baptism. He is the author of four novels, Hitman (2000), The Fixer (2002), Baptism (2012) and Sacrifice (2013). He was the ghost writer of actor/comedian Rik Mayall’s bestselling spoof autobiography, Bigger Than Hitler Better Than Christ (2005) and part of the writing team for the award winning Sony PlayStation game, Little Big Planet 3 (2014). Prior to writing full-time, Max spent twelve years devising advertising and marketing campaigns for music festivals, tours, comedy shows and West End theatre productions. He lectures in Creative Writing at Brunel University London where he was recently awarded a PhD.

Book description:

London, Christmas Morning.

09:13am. Disgraced hedge fund manager Graham Poynter hides shamefully in his Belgravia mansion.

10:16am. A masked intruder stands over Poynter and his terrified family, while the last remaining security guard hangs impaled on a railing spike outside the house.

10:38am. Surrounding the scene are police helicopters, special forces teams, and Ed Mallory – blind hostage negotiator – who must stop this twisted retribution.

Her Father’s Daughter by June Tate – other people who borrowed this book said they didn’t know what to make of it – it’s funny book, not funny ha ha but funny peculiar, so I thought I’d see what I think.

June Tate was born in Southampton and spent the early years of her childhood in the Cotswolds. After leaving school she became a hairdresser on cruise ships the Queen Mary and the Mauritania, meeting many Hollywood film stars and VIPs on her travels. She has written 22 books. I found this post on Allison and Busby’s blog about how she constructs an authentic sense of period in her novels.

Book description: On the night before the grand reopening of Club Valletta, former Wren Victoria Teglia can’t help but wonder what her late father would think. She can still clearly remember the day her mother told her that, rather than simply being a courageous hero, her father was also a criminal, and his club was a hotbed of prostitution and illegal gambling.

I’m not sure about any of them – so, I’d love to know what you think – have you read any of these books, if so did you enjoy them? If not, do they tempt you?