They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression, but sometimes you honestly don’t need a second chance. Sometimes you make a great first impression, like each of these five unique detectives (official, and otherwise) did in their debut novels. Over the next three months, all five are coming back as each has their second book in their respective series coming out. If you have not looked into these books yet, or didn’t meet these characters the first time around, it is certainly not too late to catch up.
Kate Marshall
First appearing in Robert Bryndza’s Nine Elms, former police detective Kate Marshall is taking on another case as a part-time private investigator with her research assistant Tristan in Shadow Sands. Bryndza gives readers another fast-paced, tension-filled adventure with Kate, but now we also learn more about Kate herself. Shadow Sands takes place about two years after the events of Nine Elms so we see how Kate is dealing with the aftermath of those events, and how she has moved on. There are spoilers for Nine Elms within Shadow Sands, so reading these two in order is recommended. Additionally, so much what makes Kate who she is comes from the events of Nine Elms. Shadow Sands is scheduled to be published November 3, 2020.
Detective Inspector Eve Hunter
DI Eve Hunter was introduced to readers in the recent winner of the Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Debut of the Year, Hold Your Tongue by Deborah Masson. Detective Inspector Eve Hunter is a leader in the Major Incident Team of the Aberdeen Police. She is a detective in a similar vein to DI Helen Grace from M.J. Arlidge’s series: incredibly tough and smart, but determined to carry her own baggage and never ask for help from those who genuinely would offer it. Hunter will be returning in Out For Blood, another dark, gritty, intense detective thriller where Hunter and her team will be tracking down a serial killer who is set on revenge. Police procedurals may not be for every reader, but if you enjoy them, are curious about them, or have not yet tried them, Masson does exquisite work with this genre, always keeping the reader at the edge of their seat. Out For Blood is scheduled for publication November 19, 2020.
Detective Natalie Lockhart
We were introduced to Detective Natalie Lockhart in Alice Blanchard’s Trace of Evil and we catch up with Lockhart and the other members of the Burning Lake, New York Police Department in The Wicked Hour. We pick up about 6 months after the events of Trace of Evil. There are major spoilers for Trace of Evil throughout The Wicked Hour, as so many of those events had long lasting effects on many of the characters. There is of course a fascinating new mystery to be solved in The Wicked Hour, but where Blanchard has done a phenomenal job is in treating these characters as very real people and letting them grieve, have PTSD, and work through fear and flashbacks. Much like in real life, after we experience trauma we are not just magically okay after a little bit of time has passed. I love how these characters have to work through, and deal with, what they have gone through, and they carry their scars with them. The Wicked Hour is scheduled to be published December 1, 2020.
Detective Shana Merchant
Tessa Wegert first brought us Detective Shana Merchant in Death in the Family, an exciting locked-room style mystery with a modern day Agatha Christie vibe. We learned a little about Merchant’s background while she was conducting her investigation, but there are still lots of missing pieces. We know she was a detective with the NYPD and had some type of interaction with a serial killer. But within a year she was no longer in the city but was working in a very small police department in upstate New York. Detective Merchant is returning in The Dead Season where she will again have to face that same serial killer. As readers, we learn much more about Shana because she herself will have to dive back into her mysterious past. The cat and mouse game she is coerced into playing soon starts to involve even more innocent victims. The Dead Season is scheduled for publication December 8, 2020.
Rachel Marin
Another heroine who is not actually a detective, Rachel Marin and her family experienced such horrific events, she had become something of a vigilante when she was introduced in Jason Pinter’s Hide Away. She ultimately becomes an actual consultant for the police department in her small Illinois town, where she has fled following an unspeakable crime that destroyed her family and peace of mind. As Hide Away ends, Rachel has just begun to believe there are at least a few people she can, perhaps, trust. When we see her again in A Stranger at The Door, she is still in a good place, building a stable life. Her skills are again called upon for assistance in investigating a mysterious death, but there is also a threatening figure from Rachel’s past who reappears. The secrets Rachel thought she had buried may be exposed, endangering her and her children all over again. Pinter’s fast-paced storytelling shines in this always exciting series! A Stranger at the Door is scheduled for publication January 12, 2021.
If, like me, you enjoy getting into a series from the very beginning, when there are not multiple books to read just to catch up, any one of these crime fiction series’ could fit the bill. Some are grittier than others, some focus more on character while others focus more on the mystery itself, but most everyone can find something to get excited about with one of these fantastic crime-fighters!
