Heart stopping thrillers out this month: The Detective by Matthew Reilly, Last One Out by
The Detective by Matthew Reilly (Orion £22, 400pp)
Sam Speedman is no ordinary private detective. For a start he is on the autism spectrum, which means he takes great care to prepare for anything. Plus, he’s pretty skinny, below average height and wears thick glasses.
But he is good with computers, is a licensed attorney and has a doctorate in criminology. In this – his first – case, he confronts an age-old conspiracy which has seen 24 sex workers go missing over 150 years in the Deep South, while every single person who went to investigate their disappearance also vanished.
Speedman uncovers a conspiracy among rich families in the former Confederacy to conceal their crimes, and puts himself in grave danger. Smarter than Jack Reacher, he is one of the most interesting characters to emerge in a long time. Do not miss him.
Last One Out by Jane Harper (Macmillan £20, 384pp)
Not so much a clear-cut thriller as an exquisite lament for a lost son, a lost marriage and a lost town with a dark mystery at its heart.
Harper’s sixth thriller centres around Ro Crowley, a woman in her 50s, who lost her son, Sam, five years ago in the dying town of Carralon Ridge, Australia.
The young man was in town to celebrate his 21st birthday, only to disappear while visiting deserted houses. His rental car was parked outside, and there were just his footprints – one set in and one set out.
Now Ro has returned for the anniversary of that tragic event, only to find the community collapsing in the shadow of the vast mine on its outskirts. A few inhabitants remain, including her ex-husband, but who is at the heart of this riddle?
The Stranger on the Stairs is available now from the Mail Bookshop
The Stranger on the Stairs by Ruth Mancini (Century £16.99, 368pp)
Bella Nicholls was just seven when she came downstairs one morning to discover her mother tied up, gagged and dead on the kitchen floor.
The little girl was the chief prosecution witness when Jamie Clarke was convicted of murder. She had seen him in the house before she went to bed.
Now, 20 years later, he has been released and Bella has begun to wonder whether she was right. Could there have been someone else in their house that night?
Clarke has always maintained his innocence, and has since met middle-aged law lecturer Eve Shotton, who believes in him. But is he really innocent, or a convincing liar?
So begins this deeply felt, moving story about the complexities of justice. Exactly who should you trust – or believe?