It’s that time again, already. The book club is due to meet next Wednesday (8pm GMT on Google+ Hangouts) to discuss Peter May’s The Blackhouse. So we need to decide what we want to read in August and what better than a bit of summer crime for a beautifully warm month – wishful thinking?
So here are your choices. Let me know your vote in the comment section, on Twitter using the hashtag #crimebookclub or on the Facebook page.
Murder in Mykonos by Jeffery Siger
A young woman on holiday to Mykonos, the most famous of Greeceas Aegean Cycladic islands, simply disappears off the face of the earth. And no one notices.
That is, until a body turns up on a pile of bones under the floor of a remote mountain church. Then the islandas new police chiefathe young, politically incorrect, former Athens homicide detective Andreas Kaldisastarts finding bodies, bones, and suspects almost everywhere he looks.
Teamed with the canny, nearly-retired local homicide chief, Andreas tries to find the killer before the media can destroy the islandas fabled reputation with a barrage of world-wide attention on a mystery thatas haunted Mykonos undetected for decades.
Just when it seems things canat get any worse, another young woman disappears and political niceties no longer matter. With the investigation now a rescue operation, Andreas finds himself plunging into ancient myths and forgotten island places, racing against a killer intent on claiming a new victim who is herself determined to outstep him.
Rush of Blood by Mark Billingham
A perfect holiday. The perfect murder…Three couples meet around the pool on their Florida holiday and become fast friends. But on their last night, their perfect holiday takes a tragic twist: the teenage daughter of another holidaymaker goes missing, and her body is later found floating in the mangroves. When the shocked couples return home, they remain in contact, and over the course of three increasingly fraught dinner parties they come to know one another better. But they don’t always like what they find: buried beneath these apparently normal exteriors are some dark secrets, hidden kinks, ugly vices… Then, a second girl goes missing. Could it be that one of these six has a secret far darker than anybody can imagine?
Cold Grave by Kathryn Fox
It feels like the safest place on earth, a family-friendly, floating palace. But, as Anya Crichton soon discovers, cruise ships aren’t all that they seem. Statistics tell us that a woman is twice as likely to be sexually assaulted on a cruise ship than on dry land. Customers aren’t screened, so the ships are a haven for sex offenders and paedophiles. With no policing, and floating in international waters, sexual assaults and passenger “disappearances” are uncommonly frequent. So when a teenage girl is discovered, dead on the deck of the ship that she is on, Anya feels compelled to get involved. There’s no apparent cause of death, but Anya’s forensics expertise uncovers more than the ship’s doctors can—or want to. With the killer still on board, and subsequently a crew-member found shot, it becomes clear that the safe haven of the cruise-ship is actually anything but. And, as Anya comes under increasing pressure to abandon her investigations, will she continue? Or do whatever it takes to keep her own family safe?
I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday!
Steph Rothwell says
Any?. Seriously, I’ve read the Mark Billingham, it’s very good. I’m not sure if I’ve read the Kathyrn Fox, but I will vote for that one anyway.
MarinaSofia says
Oooh, great choices, they all sound really good! I love ‘holiday’ type locations and stories. Holidays are so anticipated that it’s difficult for them to live up to expectations. I’ve never read Kathryn Fox though, so I’ll vote for that.
Margot Kinberg says
Rebecca – Great choices! My vote’s for the Siger, but any of them would be just fine.
cheriereich says
All three sound pretty good. I must admit the Greek one catches my interest the most because of the location.
DJ Kirkby says
I vote for Rush of Blood.
cleopatralovesbooks says
Brilliant choices I’m keen to read Cold Grave
Rebecca Bradley says
melmck @melmckissock · Jul 9
@RebeccaJBradley Hi Rebecca, my vote goes to Murder in Mykonos, sounds a little different!