Blood brothers

CRIME novelists are a bit like buses, says Jane Wood. No good new authors come along for months then suddenly a log-jam of them arrives together. Hence Orion books' latest bold new initiative. The publisher is celebrating the New Year by launching nine new crime novels by nine new crime authors on an unsuspecting world.

They are:

Judgement Calls,by former US Assistant District Attorney Alafair Burke (who just happens to be the daughter of James Lee Burke)

Frozen by British TV producer and director Richard Burke (no relation of the above)

Bloodless Shadow by British solicitor-turned-bookseller Victoria Blake

Phoenix by British Crown Prosecution Service criminal lawyer John Connor

The Stone Angels by Stuart Archer Cohen, who lives in Alaska with his wife and children

The Devil's Redhead by former real-life San Francisco private eye David Corbett

The Colombian Mule by Italian Massimo Carlotto - who was once framed for a murder he didn't commit, was subsequently pardoned, and went on to become a human rights activist

The Jasmine Trade by Denise Hamilton, a Los Angeles-based journalis.

The Third Person by Leeds-based Steve Mosby.

They may not all become John Grishams or Tom Clancys, agrees Jane, publishing director of Orion Trade and one of the editors who selected this new crop of fresh young crime-writing hopefuls.

But finding new writing talent is hugely important. Where would the Scott Turows and Michael Connellys of today be if they had not been given a break?

And if only two or three of them make it really big, it will be mission accomplished.

They all have the right credentials, apart from Alafair Burke - who wasn't particularly keen to trade on her father's name, says Jane, but didn't object either. Otherwise, they are all unknowns. But you can expect their writing to have the grit of authenticity.

There are criminal lawyers, journalists and former private eyes among them - people who have lived the kind of stories they are writing. And there is Massimo Carlotto.

The Italian's life is more colourful than any novel, says Jane. Framed for a murder he didn't commit, he went on the run from the police, was betrayed then tortured and convicted in a trial that became one of Italy's most notorious miscarriages of justice.

On being pardoned years later, he embarked on two careers - as a human rights campaigner fighting on behalf of innocent people trampled by Italy's justice system, and as a writer. "Carlotto certainly knows of what he writes," says Jane. "And he looks the part!"

He certainly does, as the publicity photo of him looking Ernest Hemingway-ish, with giant cigar clamped in firm jaw, shows.

Does Jane have a favourite among the nine new books - or a view on which of the authors are most likely to make it big? If she does, she's not saying.

It's a matter of personal taste, she says. Some, such as John Connor, are more traditional thriller writers. Others, like Steve Mosby, have an edgy, dark feel. "But they have all got different qualities."

So you will just have to decide for yourself.

Our handy guide to the plotlines may help....

All nine books in Orion's 'New Blood: a fresh injection of crime talent' promotion are published today, at £9.99 each.

Judgement Calls by Alafair Burke

Samantha Kincaid is a divorced Deputy District Attorney in Portland, Oregon, who specialises in prosecuting those who lure young girls into prostitution. One morning a horrific new case lands on her desk - a 13-year-old who has been abducted, drugged and raped. A legal thriller with a twist that is stuffed with authentic detail

Bloodless Shadow by Victora Blake

Samantha Falconer is a private eye with a past. Offered a case that takes her back to Oxford, the city of her childhood, she finds herself caught up in the search for a woman who has gone missing from the university. But the closed academic world is unwilling to give up its secrets. And then Sam receives a letter from her father - who has been dead for 28 years.

Frozen by Richard Burke

Harry may be one of the most likeable narrators you'll find in a crime novel. When he starts to tell the story of how his best friend Verity came to wind up nearly dead at the foot of Beachy Head, you're hooked. A crime novel infused with love, loss, nostalgia, regret and betrayal.

Phoenix by John Connor

Detective Constable Karen Sharpe is having a bad day. It is the eighth anniversary of something so deeply buried she had hoped to forget it ever happened. And then her boss, Detective Sergeant Phil Leech, is executed in a military-style killing - and his pretty informant winds up dead on a South Pennine moor with bullets through her face and chest....

The Stone Angels by Stuart Archer Cohen

For Buenos Aires policeman Miguel Fortunato, an investigation into the murder of American author Robert Waterbury leads to an increasingly murky battle against corruption and massive corporate crime. Dark and corrupt, Buenos Aires itself is the centre of a novel that could have been entitled BA Confidential.

The Colombian Mule by Massimo Carlotto

When Colombian Arias Cuevas is caught trying to smuggle drugs through Venice airport, it's not prison he's frightened of - it's his aunt. Because it was her cocaine he took off with....

The Third Person by Steve Mosby

"This isn't some kind of 'dear John' letter. I'm coming back again". That's what the note on the kitchen table said. But it was the last Jason ever heard of his girlfriend Amy Foster.

He sets out to find her - and discovers she had a dark and secret life on the internet. He starts to cruise the same horrific websites she logged onto to try and find her kidnapper. And one day, in a place called The Melanie Room, he finds him....

The Devil's Redhead by David Corbett

Drug smuggler Dan Abetangelo is just out of jail after ten years. He sets out to track down his former lover and partner in crime, red-headed Shel Beaudry - setting in motion a brutal chain of events which engulfs Dan, Shel and her new lover Frank in a full-scale drug war. A Bonnie-and-Clyde on drugs for the modern generation.

The Jasmine Trade by Denise Hamilton

Seventeen-year-old Marina Lu lies dead in her shiny Lexus in a shopping centre car park. As Los Angeles Times reporter Eve Diamond investigates the case, she realises there's more to Marina's death than meets the eye.

Updated: 11:39 Wednesday, December 31, 2003