Breaking into the crime game isn’t easy, but every month, a few brave and talented souls make a go of the mystery racket. For readers, there are few experiences so thrilling as finding a new author whose career is just beginning and whose work promises years of enjoyment to come. But it’s sometimes hard to find those debuts. That’s where we come in. We’re scouring the shelves in search of auspicious debuts and recommending the very best for your reading pleasure.
Rea Frey, Not Her Daughter (St. Martin’s Griffin)
Frey’s powerful debut novel is stirring up excitement around the crime and mystery world. Not Her Daughter is an emotionally poignant and utterly gripping tale about mother-daughter relationships, the ethics of family bonds, and the fear that surrounds a central transgression: kidnapping. This is as provocative and insightful a debut as you’ll read this summer.
Caz Frear, Sweet Little Lies (Harper)
A strong debut procedural, Caz Frear’s Sweet Little Lies artfully weaves together a pair of investigations. Detective Constable Cat Kinsella is summoned to Islington, just around the corner from her father’s pub, where a girl has been murdered. The new case puts Kinsella on the trail of an old one—a girl who disappeared from a town where her family was vacationing in Ireland, decades before. Frear manages the suspense skillfully and drives both strands forward with meticulous investigative work. Fans of new wave British procedurals will certainly want to keep an eye on Frear as her career moves forward.
Howard Michael Gould, Last Looks (Dutton)
There’s a long tradition of comedy-mysteries, and from the very start, Hollywood’s played an important role both as lampooner and lampooned. The latest crime comedy to poke fun at the wonderful world of showbiz is Last Looks, which should be filled with authentic Hollywood details, given the author’s long-term career in the film industry before turning to fiction.
Sandie Jones, The Other Woman (Minotaur Books)
When Emily randomly meets Adam one night at a pub, she doesn’t think she’s setting herself up for a nightmare. Yet she’s trapped in a psychological suspense novel—and a very good one at that—so we can predict that the course of love is going to be littered with obstacles. The most formidable challenge Emily faces is getting along with Adam’s mother, Pammie. Son and mother are unusually close, and soon Emily fears Pammie is trying to sabotage their blooming relationship. Yet Adam does not see the conflict between Emily and Pammie (i.e. Pammie’s constant gaslighting and undermining of Emily), so Emily is on her own. Can she save her relationship from the interventions of a meddling mother-in-law?
Laurie Petrou, Sister of Mine (Crooked Lane)
This is just one of the many books coming out about sisters this year (there’s definitely a trend) but one of the most compelling in its subject matter. Two sisters team up to get rid of one’s unwanted husband, yet freeing themselves from the tyranny of men opens up deep wounds from the past, and the bonds between sisters grow ever closer to breaking.
