4 Crime Fiction Debut Novels with Buzz

Threats (M)
by Amelia Gray

David, a retired dentist in an unnamed town in Ohio, is pretty sure his wife, Franny, is dead. But he can't quite figure out what killed her or why she had to die. Disoriented by grief, David struggles to unravel these mysteries--which become increasingly baffling when he starts finding a series of elaborate and escalating threats hidden around his home.


"Written in 77 brief, anecdotal chapters that accentuate Gray's wry, punchline humor, Threats is a comic success, part metaphysical detective story, part comedy of errors." - Booklist

The Whisperer (M)
by Donato Carrisi ; translation by Shaun Whiteside

Six buried arms. Six missing girls. A team led by Captain Roche and internationally renowned criminologist Goran Gavila are on the trail of a serial killer whose ferocity seems to have no limits. And he seems to be taunting them, leading them to discover each small corpse in turn; but the clues on the bodies point to several different killers.

“This is a novel about serial killers and as such is more about the manipulative process than the particulars; readers who appreciate manipulation, both of plots and themselves, by the author, and those who appreciate a shock of bloody horror will be absolutely enthralled by this offering.” - Library Journal

Hard Knocks (M)
by Howie Carr

Following the lead of Boston crime-thriller writers like Dennis Lehane and Chuck Hogan, New York Times bestselling author and radio sensation Howie Carr delivers a hard-hitting tale of survival, betrayal, deceit, and murder...in other words, a fictional odyssey through the last thirty years of crime in Boston. Jack Reilly, a dodgy ex-Boston cop, is trying to make ends meet as a private investigator. When a client is killed, execution style, Reilly finds himself in a whole world of pain. Someone wants him dead - but why?

"Colorfully corrupt characters and hard-charging storytelling should please some genre fans, but others may find that Jack's function as the author's mouthpiece to vent about the city's changing demographics leaves an aftertaste too bitter even for noir." - Publisher's Weekly

The Cop with the Pink Pistol (M)
by Gray Basnight

NYC Detective Donna Prima, busted down to desk clerk for reasons known only to her and her captain, goes out on what looks to be a routine burglary call in Greenwich Village. There she meets actor Conner Anderson, who's enjoying overnight success in TV's most-watched daytime soap, Vampire Love Nest. Conner, a wannabe detective since boyhood, alerts Donna to some strange goings-on in the bar across the street, and Donna sees her chance to make a big-time bust and have her detective status restored. There's only one catch: Conner wants to be part of the investigation. Against her better judgment, and only because she finds Conner so attractive, Donna agrees, and the two set out to discover the connection between a blue-collar watering hole and an upstate New York trash-hauling company, which may or may not be involved in the theft of uranium from a nuclear power plant on the Delaware River.


"With a wink and generous helpings of tongue-in-cheek humor, Basnight dishes up a delicious debut that will strongly appeal to anyone who loves amateur sleuths and colorful cops. Don't worry about keeping track of all the classic crime film and fiction references that Basnight peppers throughout the plot; I, too, gave up." - Library Journal