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Hammond. Like Philip Marlowe—or
Robert Parker’s Spenser—Andy has a
sharp eye for telling detail and male hab-
erdashery. The resulting tale may not be
stunningly original, but those who enjoy
newish reworkings of classic PI tropes will
be satisfied. Agent: Cynthia Manson,
Cynthia Manson Literary. (Oct.)
Naked Flames
Graham Ison. Severn, $28.99 (208p)
ISBN 978-0-7278-8963-8
In British author Ison’s diverting 17th
Brock and Poole mystery (after 2018’s
Deadlock), curmudgeonly yet likable Det.
Chief Insp. Harry Brock, of the Homicide
and Major Crime Command West, and his
team, including his clever sidekick, Det.
Sgt. David Poole, investigate the suspicious
death of a nudist, Robert Sharp, in a fire at
a naturist club near Harrow. The fire chief
at the scene tells Brock that the evidence
suggests that the victim was dead before
the fire started. Not surprisingly, Sharp
turns out to
have been a con
man and a phi-
landering hus-
band, who has
left a mean-
dering trail of
broken hearts
and angry, disil-
lusioned women
across Britain.
Could one of
them have wanted him dead? Meanwhile,
Brock takes one tiny step closer to the 21st
century when he buys a book called Computers
for Seniors for Dummies so he can understand
the computer lingo his colleagues use. A
fine ensemble cast and some amusing dia-
logue lift this reassuringly anodyne offering.
Fans of sweetly old-fashioned police pro-
cedurals will be rewarded. Agent: Bill
Hamilton, A.M. Heath (U.K.). (Oct.)
A Shadow Falls:
A Jenny Aaron Thriller
Andreas Pflüger, trans. from the German by
Astrid Freuler. Dover, $16.95 trade paper
(448p) ISBN 978-0-486-83734-5
In Pflüger’s uneven sequel to 2017’s In
the Dark, German special ops agent Jenny
Aaron learns that Ludger Holm, the crim-
inal who blinded her five years earlier, has
bequeathed her $2 billion in a bank in
Marrakech, Morocco. Aware that this is a
lure, Aaron leaves for Marrakech with her
mission partner, Ulf Pavlik. Upon arriving,
they discover that the Broker, one of the
world’s most dangerous terrorists, is after
the money—and that he was behind the
murder of Aaron’s beloved father. Her quest
to avenge her father’s death is particularly
fascinating, and she must rely on her aug-
mented senses of smell and hearing to
defend herself. Unfortunately, the dozens of
secondary characters and a subplot involving
Aaron’s department leader make the main
plot difficult to follow. Nevertheless,
compassionate moments between charac-
ters add poignancy, and a subplot involving
Aaron potentially regaining her sight
intrigues. Despite some flaws, this is a
thriller worth reading. (Oct.)Of Vengeance
J.D. Kurtness, trans. from the French by Pablo
Strauss. Dundurn, $17.99 trade paper (160p)
ISBN 978-1-4597-4375-5
The anonymous narrator of Kurtness’s
satirical debut, which won Canada’s
Indigenous Voices Award for French
Prose, kills people just because they annoy
her. She becomes aware of her “vocation”
at the age of 12, when she accidentally
kills a classmate. His death plants the
little seed of mayhem in her soul. As an
adult, she works as a translator of such
reality TV shows as Polygamous and Proud
and Dwarves: Larger than Life. Her free
time is spent getting even. She begins tar-
geting vehicles “driven by people who
consistently committed basic infractions.
Excessive speeding, failure to stop for
pedestrians, sound pollution, general
boorishness.” As she expands her mur-
derous activities, she laments, “There are
just too many people to choose from.” She
also rambles on about agrifood conglom-
erates, money-grubbing businessmen,
complacent politicians, and radioactive
waste disposal, among other peeves.
Kurtness writes smoothly, but the black
humor won’t be to every taste. Readers
into passive-aggressive fantasies will best
appreciate this one. (Oct.)The Experiment:
The Kinship Series
Robin Lamont. Grayling, $12.95 trade paper
(288p) ISBN 978-0-9858485-8-3
Lamont’s enticing third mystery fea-turing animal
rights investi-
gator Jude
Brannock (after
The Trap) finds
Jude working
for the Kinship,
an animal rights
organization.
Her responsibil-
ities include
planning and
running covert operations to obtain evi-
dence of violations of the federal Animal
Welfare Act, which governs the use of ani-
mals in lab experiments. Jude’s current
target is Vermont’s Amaethon Industries,
a prior offender aiming to test a new drug
on dogs and rodents, to whom she’s dis-
patched a new team member, Tim Mains,
to work undercover. She becomes increas-
ingly concerned when she’s unable to con-
tact Tim after he sends her an email
stating that he’s on to something big.
Since Jude slept with Tim before he went
off on his mission, her concern is also per-
sonal. Jude eventually heads to Vermont
to look for him, posing as his sister to
maintain his cover. Lamont continues to
deepen the characterization of her flawed
lead in the service of an engrossing plot.
Readers will look forward to Jude’s fur-
ther adventures. (BookLife)SF/Fantasy/Horror
Alien Archives
Robert Silverberg. Three Rooms, $16 trade
paper (404p) ISBN 978-1-941110-80-5
Reaching back to the beginning of his
career, SFWA Grand Master Silverberg
collects 18 stories featuring alien encoun-
ters, some fond and some fearful. From
the light humor of a flight attendant
dealing with a group of aliens and their
complaints (“En Route to Earth”) to the
psychodrama of an abused child using his
anger with his father to strike a blow
against the entities who rule a conquered
Earth (“Beauty in the Night”), Silverberg
delves into the human heart as revealed by
alien eyes. The discoveries are sometimes
left to the reader, as when a biologist of
Native American ancestry struggles to
decide whether his mission is to study or
to exterminate a herd of alien grazers