A look at the month’s best new releases in crime fiction, mystery, and thrillers, via Bookmarks.
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Ben H. Winters, Big Time
(Mulholland Books)
“A weird and wonderful cautionary tale … It features the month’s most engaging investigator, a schlumpy bureaucrat roused to action.”
–Sarah Lyall (New York Times Book Review)
Colin Barrett, Wild Houses
(Grove Press)
“Barrett’s dialogue, spiked with the timbre of Irish speech and shards of local slang, makes these characters sound so close you’ll be wiping their spittle off your face … The craft of Wild Houses shows a master writer spreading his wings — not for show but like the stealthy attack of a barn owl. Despite moments of violence that tear through the plot, the most arresting scenes are those of anticipated brutality … Barrett cleverly constructs his novel … Given the pervasive gloom, the fact that these chapters spark with life — even touches of humor — may seem impossible, but it’s a measure of Barrett’s electric style. Tense moments suddenly burst with flashes of absurdity or comic exasperation. Clearly, those years of writing short stories have given Barrett an appreciation for how fit every sentence must be; there isn’t a slacker in this trim book. Even the asides and flashbacks hurtle the whole project forward toward a climax that feels equally tensile and poignant, like some strange cloak woven from wire and wool.”
–Ron Charles (Washington Post)
Maggie Thrash, Rainbow Black
(Harper Perennial)
“Stunning and intense … At once a rivetingly dramatic procedural and an intimate portrait of a relationship forged in trauma.”
–Bridget Thoreson (Booklist)
Andrey Kurkov (transl. Boris Dralyuk), The Silver Bone
(Harpervia)
“It is a gift for crime fiction fans that he writes in this genre … Kurkov, as filtered through the supple translation of Boris Dralyuk, infuses The Silver Bone with wry humor.”
–Sarah Weinman (New York Times Book Review)
Tana French, The Hunter
(Viking)
“Suspense is in the details — small details — scattered throughout … The extraordinary sequel to … A singularly tense and moody thriller, but it’s also an exceptional novel because of its structure.”
–Maureen Corrigan (Washington Post)
