The Ice Angels by Caroline Mitchell, Paperback Original, £9.99
Detective Elea Baker has not stopped searching for her daughter Liisa since she was taken aged 12 while walking home from school in the depths of the Finnish winter 10 years ago. Now girls are disappearing from the quiet streets of Lincoln and when one is found on its cathedral steps clutching a clue linked to Liisa’s abduction, Elea is brought to the UK to help solve the case. After living a nightmare for the past decade, Elea feels she is close to finding her daughter’s abductor and is determined to make them pay – whatever the cost. The Ice Angels is a dark, compelling read with engaging characters it will be a joy to see develop throughout this intriguing new series. 8/10
Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward, Hardback, £16.99
Nowhere is a verdant valley surrounded by rock walls in the mountains that has become a refuge for runaway children. Adults cannot enter and this promise of freedom sees Riley, 14, pull her brother Oliver, seven, from his bed in a nearby town in the middle of the night. After an arduous climb, the pair find a new family living off the land in the mountain, but Nowhere has a dark past and its sanctuary comes at a terrible price, as they soon discover. The new thriller from the bestselling author of The Last House on Needless Street is a beguiling, haunting modern fairytale with shocking twists that readers will not be able to put down. 9/10
The Final Score by Don Winslow, Hardback, £22
No one portrays the criminal classes and the hard, morally damaged men who try to catch them better than Don Winslow and the six novellas in The Final Score are a masterclass in character, dialogue and plot. The tension never lets up and the only thing higher than the body count will be your pulse! Inexplicably, the US thriller writer remains something of a well-kept secret among British readers, despite enjoying huge global success with his narco-trilogy: The Power of the Dog, The Cartel and The Border. Having ostensibly retired, it’s a joy to have Winslow back and we must hope his purple patch continues with another full-length outing. Absolutely gripping. 9/10
The Edge of Darkness by Vaseem Khan, Hardback, £22
The sixth outing in Vaseem Khan’s endearingly quirky Malabar House series sees India’s first female detective, the joyously independent Persis Wadia, exiled from Bombay to Kohima in the unruly Naga Hills District ahead of the country’s first post-independence elections. It’s a punishment posting, removing her from her father Sam and Scotland Yard colleague Archie Finch – who remains fighting for his life in hospital – and a sign her career is in freefall. But when a local politician turns up headless in a locked room, an Agatha Christie-esque set-up, if ever there was one, only one person can solve the mystery. Persis is a brilliant creation and this is historical fiction at its finest. 8/10
