Who’ll crack the icy mystery?
(Head of Zeus £18.99, 304pp) SUBTLY observed, this book focuses on Jenny, a young new mother struggling with her baby. She is also haunted by chilling dreams, which presage something dreadful is about to happen.
It’s set in the weeks before Christmas, in the cathedral city of St Albans, which is trapped under a blanket of snow.
The frozen body of a young girl is discovered under the ice in a lake near the city centre — and Jenny’s house.
DCI Maarten Jansen is the senior investigating officer, assisted by DI Imogen Deacon, but they have little to go on, until Jenny starts discovering clues that appear relevant.
Added to the fact that she also seems to be wrestling with her own demons, this leads them to wonder if she knows more than she is letting on.
Supremely atmospheric and suspenseful, this debut from a former English teacher announces the arrival of a special talent. It is that good. LONG ROAD TO MERCY (Macmillan £18.99, 416 pp) ONE of the greatest thriller writers in the world, Baldacci never disappoints. Here, he steps up to a new level with the introduction of FBI agent Atlee Pine, an original, feisty, female lead character.
Tall, athletic and a former Olympic-standard weightlifter and specialist in martial arts, she’s a natural loner who likes to make her own decisions — so much so that she’s posted to the wilds of the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
But she is also a twin, whose sister, at the age of six, was abducted from their bedroom by a serial killer. And the memory haunts her.
Pine is called to investigate the disappearance of a rider in the canyon whose mule has been killed and mutilated.
So begins an extraordinary story that involves a nuclear device and sees the agent break every rule as she turns into a female version of Jason Bourne. Thrilling and utterly compelling. We will hear more of Pine, I’m sure. STILL LIVES (Quercus £14.99, 384 pp) THIS high-concept literary thriller focuses on the LA art market and, in particular, the controversial artist Kim Lord’s new show.
Her exhibition features a series of self-portraits, in which she impersonates the female victims of some of America’s most famous murders, including the notorious Black Dahlia, who was cut in half by her attacker, and Nicole Brown Simpson.
The show has attracted enormous publicity but, at the gala opening, the artist is nowhere to be found.
The police investigate — eventually arresting Lord’s new boyfriend on suspicion of her murder. Has the artist suffered the same fate as the victims she has portrayed? And, if so, where is the body?
The story is not only a taut, elegant mystery, but a subtle examination of the way in which American society has become obsessed with the violent deaths of strikingly beautiful women.
The author’s distinguished background in the art world pays dividends.