Us Conductors by Sean Michaels
Reviewed by Susan Osborne Curiously, Us, Conductors is not the only novel published in January to feature the theremin, the musical instrument whose strange haunting sound once heard is hard to forget….
The American by Nadia Dalbuono
Reviewed by Linda Boa Following The Few, the first in this series, The American sees our lone wolf detective, Leone Scamarcio, take on a case which leads him deeper into the political arena, where conspiracies…
His Monkey Wife by John Collier
Reviewed by Simon When I told people that I was writing about bestiality during my DPhil, they were a little surprised that it got a look-in amongst the charming middlebrow…
Death on the Riviera by John Bude
Reviewed by Simon I’ve got all the John Bude reprints that have appeared in the British Library Crime Classics series, and have given several to other people, but Death on the…
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Reviewed by Annabel The anticipation of re-reading a book first read and enjoyed as a child always gives me a feeling of mild discomfort. Can it work on an adult…
The Last of the Bowmans by J. Paul Henderson
Reviewed by Annabel Do you remember how the wonderful TV series Six Feet Under began? In the opening scene, one of the key characters, Nathaniel Fisher Sr., is run over by a…
The Roar of Morning by Tip Marugg
Translated by Paul Vincent Reviewed by Karen Langley Silvio Alberto ‘Tip’ Marugg is an author new to me, and one who has quite a small body of work. Of Dutch-Antillean…
The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton
Paperback review by Judith Wilson This book arrived with impeccable timing: I was tired of unseasonably warm UK temperatures and longing for a December frost. From its snowy jacket design…
The Little Red Chairs by Edna O’Brien
Reviewed by Karen Heenan-Davies When Edna O’Brien released her memoir Country Girl in 2012, there was intense speculation that this would be her swansong. She is after all in her eighties. But those pundits…
The Invisible Guardian by Dolores Redondo
Translated by Isabelle Kaufeler Reviewed by Marina Sofia The Baztan valley in the Pyrenees in the north-east of Spain is misty, rainy and remote. Immersed in Basque traditions and superstitions,…
Dry Season by Gabriela Babnik
Translated by Rawley Grau Reviewed by Chelsea McGill Ana, a 62-year-old graphic designer from Slovenia, has run away to a completely foreign place – Burkina Faso. There she meets Ismael,…
American Housewife by Helen Ellis
Reviewed by Linda Boa This slim collection of a dozen stories by American novelist and short story writer Helen Ellis is something of a wee gem. With stories ranging from…
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe & Dracula by Bram Stoker
Reviewed by Harriet I suspect that neither of these two great classics has ever been out of print since their respective first appearances in 1719 and 1897, and a quick…
In Bitter Chill by Sarah Ward
Paperback review by Gill Davies This is Sarah Ward’s first novel. She is a very experienced reader of the genre – she blogs at Crimepieces and reviews and judges Scandinavian crime writing. It…
The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson
Reviewed by Eleanor Franzén Forgiveness is a word like tiger–there’s footage of it and verifiably it exists but few of us have seen it close and wild or known it…
Murder of a Lady by Anthony Wynne
Reviewed by Hayley Anderton I do love the British Library Crime Classics series. It feels like it goes from strength to strength, or maybe it’s that this past year’s offerings…
Dublin Seven by Frankie Gaffney
Reviewed by Laura Marriott On a small crossroads near the bottom of Manor Street, one of the main through ways in Dublin 7, there is a rundown, abandoned pub called…
Coffin Road by Peter May
Reviewed by Linda Boa If you had killed someone you would remember. Wouldn’t you? In his latest novel, which it goes without saying will be absolutely huge, his legion of fans…
Numero Zero by Umberto Eco
Translated by Richard Dixon Reviewed by Paul Fishman For a short novel, Numero Zero is amazingly leisurely and discursive. It’s like an Arabian Nights for conspiracy theorists, historians of the late 20th century and…
The Long Room by Francesca Kay
Reviewed by Harriet A gripping story of obsession and spies set in eighties London. So says the blurb on the back of this truly excellent novel. But this is no…
The Lives of Women by Christine Dwyer Hickey
Paperback review by Susan Osborne Christine Dwyer Hickey is the kind of author for whom there’s no fanfare of Twitter trumpets heralding her next novel, no drip feed of showy…
The Great Swindle by Pierre Lemaitre
Translated by Frank Wynne Reviewed by Annabel French author Lemaitre is best known for his gory yet gripping trilogy of serial killer novels featuring the detective Camille Verhoeven. They aren’t…
Death on the Riviera by John Bude
Reviewed by Simon I’ve got all the John Bude reprints that have appeared in the British Library Crime Classics series, and have given several to other people, but Death on the…
Spotlight on Young Adult Fiction – early 2016
By Memory and Jenny From music to murder, from a hospital ward to Haworth Parsonage, Jenny and Memory highlight the most exciting young adult novels of the season in the…