To the lovers of Nordic Noir, we can only say ‘The shadows are darkest where the sun shines the hottest.’ Welcome to the world of Sunshine Noir. Take off your parka and mukluks, toss aside your mittens and ushanka hat, and settle under a sun umbrella to enjoy hot stories from around the planet.
Sunny South Africa
Deon Meyer takes us to the scorching Karoo for Fever. This is more a post-apocalyptic coming of age story than a traditional mystery or thriller. The Times and Steven King both raved about it. The small community remaining after a deadly pandemic sets up their new home near the Gariep dam, hopeful that the water and hydroelectricity will help them keep the remnants of the old civilisation, but also build a better one.
For a traditional thriller, try his Thirteen Hours, but have plenty of time. You won’t stop reading until the last page.
Sweltering Greece
Put on your dark glasses and indulge in armchair travel with Jeff Siger’s Murder in Mykonos, the first of the Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis mysteries, all set in Greece. Unpopular with the powers that be, Kaldis is sent to peaceful, tourist haven Mykonos. When two young women are murdered, the pressure is on, not only to solve the murders, but also to save the island’s tourist industry.
Nigeria
Femi Kayode’s Lightseekers is a stunning debut. The first line paints the scene: ‘The October sun is as hot as the blood of the angry mob.’ Three young men are mercilessly beaten before being set alight. The question is not who committed the crime, but why and who was behind it. One of the grieving fathers hires Philip Taiwo, an investigative psychologist who specialises in the motives behind crimes and mob violence. He soon finds he’s taken on far more than he bargained for.
Bombay, India
Step back a hundred years and meet Perveen Mistry, Bombay’s only female lawyer, as she makes her debut in Sujata Massey’s multiple-award-winning The Widows of Malabar Hill. When she raises questions about the validity of a will, Mistry is thrown into the complexity of religious and legal diversity in a country struggling to free itself of British rule.
Ghana
The Missing American is the first novel in Kwei Quartey’s new series featuring female private investigator, Emma Djan. The plot revolves around the activities of the young men who make fortunes scamming people on the internet with the assistance of witchcraft from traditional priests. Along the way, one of their targets goes missing. Emma has to find out how and why. It’s up for an Edgar award this year.
Istanbul, Turkey
Step back another hundred years, and watch Investigator Yashim become embroiled in a plot to overthrow the Ottoman Empire in Edgar-winning The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin, the first of five Investigator Yashim novels. You will be able to hear the sights and sounds of the city, smell the spices of the souk, as the wily inspector plies his trade.
Meanwhile, back in South Africa…
Mike Nicol’s crime fiction is a treat. Take Power Play. Staccato prose, tense plotting, intriguing characters. Don’t even think of crossing one of Nicol’s villains. The sun beats down on beautiful Cape Town, but this isn’t the city tourists see. Abalone smugglers. Secret agents with hidden agendas. Chinese smugglers. Rival gangs for whom murder is just part of the job. And a nod to Shakespeare thrown in.
Down Under, Australia
In Ned-Kelly-Award-winner Candice Fox’s first novel in her Crimson Lake series, itself titled Crimson Lake, ex-detective, Ted Conkaffey, teams up with private investigator and convicted murderer, Amanda Pharrell, to help her solve a case of deception and obsession. What a pair! Beware of crocodiles when you set out your deck chair on the beach to read the story.
Florida: the Sunshine State
Pick up Jonathon King’s Edgar-Award-winning The Blue Edge of Midnight, the first of the Max Freeman Mysteries. Ex-cop Freeman exiles himself to the steamy Florida Everglades, wracked with guilt over the death of a twelve-year-old. When he finds the body of a young girl in the swamp, he becomes the prime suspect and has to dig into his own past to prove his innocence.
