LIEUTENANT Mario Conde, the hero of Havana Blue, the third of Leonardo Padura’s Havana Quartet to be translated (by Peter Bush) into English, is charming, intelligent, usually fed up, often drunk.

He wanted to be a writer, but drifted into being a policeman and was too lazy to drift out again. He is called in over the new-year weekend, hugely hungover, to investigate the disappearance of Rafael Morin, a Cuban trade official.

For Conde, the investigation brings bittersweet memories. He was at high school with the man but, more importantly, had lusted after Tamara, the girl who married Morin. His inquiries reawaken his feelings for her. The search uncovers various sexual secrets and murky financial dealings, but, as with the first two novels in the series, the plot is not the main attraction. Conde and the city of Havana share star status, both lovingly portrayed, both fraying at the edges, both prone to depression, yet full of joy.

The American Thomas Perry has for years been writing first-rate crime novels that are not always available in Britain. Nightlife is a taste of what we have missed.

It opens in Portland, Oregon, as Tanya Starling shoots dead in his bath the man with whom she has had an affair. She leaves calmly, alters her appearance, fraudulently obtains identity papers, kills another man, goes elsewhere.

The pattern continues. Gradually the police, in the form of Catherine Hobbes of the Portland homicide division, realise the links between the crimes and begin to catch up with the serial killer. Tanya’s systems for mesmerising men to do her bidding, and the steps she takes to change her looks and identity, are described in gripping detail.

Predictably, Hobbes becomes the prey. There’s nothing original about the formula, but Nightlife is well written, cleverly crafted and tension-filled. Quercus has also published Perry’s acclaimed 1982 debut, The Butcher’s Boy.

The title character of Steve Mosby’s The 50/50 Killer is a sadistic psychopath who follows young couples, hacks into their e-mails, then kidnaps them. He tortures them both and puts to one the frightening proposition: “One of you will live; the other will die. The choice is yours.”

What would you do, Mosby seems to be asking the reader. The action, taking place over two days, is seen from the point of view of several participants, but mainly through the eyes of Mark Nelson, a detective on his first day with his new force, rushed into trying to save the potential victim of the killer’s latest 50/50 exercise. Mosby — a 30-year-old from Leeds, on his third novel — writes with confidence and originality, and displays an impressive feel for horror.

Havana Blue Bitter Lemon, £8.99; 286pp £8.54 (free p&p) Nightlife 384pp The Butcher’s Boy 352pp Quercus, £12.99/£10.99 £11.69/£9.89 (free p&p) The 50/50 Killer Orion, £9.99; 320pp £9.49 (free p&p) 0870 1608080 timesonline.co.uk/booksfirst

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