Interview with Robert Crais

Michael Connelly’s Latest Novel, along with Robert Crais, Gillian Flynn

A definite chill is in the air, which means it’s the perfect time to curl up with a new book. Or, better yet, a stack of new books. This month brings new installments from perennial favorites and sees the teaming up of both two beloved characters (Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller) as well two well-known authors (Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke, who join forces for the second book in their new joint series). Whether you prefer a World War I espionage tale or LA cops walking their beat, there’s a wide variety of crime fiction out there to read this November.

 

The Crossing

Michael Connelly (Little, Brown, November 3)

Michael Connelly's Latest Novel

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In this twentieth Harry Bosch installment (after 2014’s The Burning Room), the veteran LAPD detective is retired and reluctantly working for “the other side,” namely his (half) brother, defense attorney Mickey Haller and Haller’s client Da’Quan Foster. Haller is convinced that Foster, on trial for rape and murder, was set up, despite DNA evidence that puts his client at the scene. No one is better than Bosch at ferreting out the truth, even in the deepest recesses of the LAPD where secrets get buried for reasons people want to forget. The closer Bosch gets to the real killer—or killers—the more concerned he becomes that the people he trusted for the last thirty years maybe aren’t the good guys after all. Connelly has earned his spot as master of the police procedural and when he lets his two series leads loose in the same book, the result is pure crime fiction electricity.

 

One Man’s Flag

David Downing (Soho Crime, November 3)

one mans flag

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Following 2014’s Jack of Spies, Downing’s British agent hero Jack McColl is in India in 1915, monitoring potential revolutionary rumblings but mostly brooding about his recent breakup with American journalist Caitlin Hanley, who’s back in London. Hanley is anxiously waiting for the impending execution of her brother, Colm, for treason related to consorting with the Irish Citizen Army. News of a potential arms deal between the Germans and the Irish revolutionaries bring the two ex-lovers to Dublin as World War I intensifies around them. With his usual degree of historical accuracy and a keen eye for detail, Downing delivers another suspenseful spy thriller.

 

The Grownup

Gillian Flynn (Crown, November 3)

Anything new from the author of Gone Girl is cause for celebration, even if it’s just a short story. Originally published as “What Do You Do?” in George R.R. Martin’s Rogues anthology, this is Flynn’s take on the classic ghost story. Told from the point of view of a seasoned scam artist, a woman who makes her living pretending to be a psychic, in true Flynn fashion, it takes a turn—a very unexpected one that won’t be spoiled here—very quickly and walks a fine line between pretending to believe in the supernatural and actually believing. In a mere 64 pages, Flynn gives readers a full-on psychological thrill ride that will leave them breathless and even more eager for her next full-length novel.

 

The Promise

Robert Crais (Putnam, November 10)

Crais_the_promise

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In Crais’s sixteenth Elvis Cole installment, the Los Angeles PI is on the hunt for Amy Breslyn, a missing woman who stole nearly half a million dollars from her employer, Woodson Energy Solutions. When Cole digs deeper, he learns that Breslyn’s journalist son died recently in Nigeria following a bombing. His investigation soon leads him to a booby-trapped house in Echo Park, a bomb-filled location that also catches the eye of LAPD K-9 Officer Scott James and his German shepherd, Maggie (the stars of the 2013 standalone Suspect). The two crime-solvers ultimately join forces, along with Cole’s taciturn partner, Joe Pike. Pike reaches out to a mysterious mercenary, Jon Stone, who makes Joe look like an open book by comparison. Those who enjoyed seeing James and Maggie in action in Suspect will welcome their return, especially alongside the indomitable duo of Cole and Pike.

 

All Dressed in White: An Under Suspicion Novel

Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke (Simon & Schuster, November 17)

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The second installment in Clark and Burke’s collaborative series (after 2014’s The Cinderella Murders) finds TV producer Laurie Moran and her Under Suspicion crew tackling the story of a runaway bride who vanished the day before her wedding. Five years earlier, Amanda Pierce was all ready to walk down the aisle in a lavish ceremony at a fancy hotel in Palm Springs, Florida. But she never married attorney Jeff Hunter, running away instead the night before, never to be seen again. Amanda’s mother, Sandra, asks Laurie to look into the case—Under Suspicion’s specialty is dramatizing cold cases and often solving them as a result—because she’s positive her daughter didn’t leave willingly. Laurie and her crew gather the cameraman and the wedding party, including bridesmaids and groomsmen, back in Florida to try and recreate the fateful day. Secrets start coming to light, both about the wedding weekend and earlier, during the wedding party’s time together in college. Classic suspense and a cold case clamoring to be solved combine for a top-notch read in this most welcome joining of talents.

 

 

 

Posted in Blog Article, Monthly Reads.

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