Zen and the Art of Murder by Oliver Bottini
Translated by Jamie Bulloch Reviewed by Terence Jagger We are not in Japan, but Germany; set in the snowy Black Forest, not far from the French border, this novel starts…
Nine Lessons by Nicola Upson
Reviewed by Harriet Nine Lessons is the seventh of Nicola Upson’s crime novels featuring the mystery writer Josephine Tey (1896-1952). I normally have a few reservations about the seemingly fashionable…
Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke
Reviewed by Gill Davies This is Attica Locke’s fourth novel and a stunning follow-up. Black Water Rising was set in 1981; Pleasantville in 1996 and both used the crime genre with deep political insight…
Murder on the Pilgrims Way by Julie Wassmer
Reviewed by Victoria If you are like me and enjoy the format of traditional cosy crime – an atmospheric setting, a great cast of possible suspects, a second body that…
Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano
Translated by John Brownjohn Reviewed by Annabel I’m very glad to have met the irrepressible Auntie Poldi! Our narrator, her beloved nephew, tells us what she is like: a glamorous…
She Died Young by Elizabeth Wilson
Paperback review by Gill Davies She Died Young was published in hardback last year and is now available in paperback. It is the fourth novel by Elizabeth Wilson, better known (to…
Paradise City by Joe Thomas
Review by Annabel Joe Thomas lived and taught in São Paulo, the most populous city in the Americas and Southern Hemisphere, for ten years. His observations and experience of living…
The Pledge, by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Translated by Joel Agee Reviewed by Eleanor Franzén In a mountainous Swiss canton not far from Zurich, a little girl’s body is found. She is only seven or eight, with…
Sirens by Joseph Knox
Review by Annabel Literary noir, in its general sense of typifying dark, cynical and unpleasant crime novels, (as opposed to the classic interpretation of hardboiled style novels where the protagonist…
Death Going Down by María Angélica Bosco
Translated by Lucy Greaves Reviewed by Gill Davies Thanks to Shiny – and the publishers – I am discovering and enjoying new crime writers. The latest one is the Argentine…
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Reviewed by Harriet It’s one thing to read about detectives, but quite another trying to be one. I’ve always loved whodunits – I’ve not just edited them, I’ve read them…
Deep Water by Christine Poulson
Reviewed by Gill Davies I was very pleased to find a crime novel with no paedophiles or serial killers, or – for that matter – without a feisty female detective…
Where Roses Never Die by Gunnar Staalesen
Translated by Don Bartlett Reviewed by Gill Davies Where Roses Never Die is my first Gunnar Staalesen novel. Staalesen is Norwegian and he has been successfully writing crime fiction since 1977,…
Blood Wedding by Pierre Lemaitre
Translated by Frank Wynne Reviewed by Annabel In the UK, Lemaitre has been best-known for his ‘Brigade Criminelle’ trilogy of novels featuring the detective Camille Verhoeven. Irène, Alex, Camille: read them…
The Loving Husband by Christobel Kent
Reviewed by Harriet He was in the room. She didn’t know how long she’d been asleep, but she’d been dreaming. In the dark someone padded between the furniture, and loose…
Death in Profile by Guy Fraser-Sampson
Reviewed by Simon Full disclosure from the off: I am longstanding blogging friends with the author of this book, and also an admirer of his earlier fiction (sequels to E.F….
The Ex by Alafair Burke
Reviewed by Ann How well does one human being ever really know another? This is the question that criminal defence lawyer Olivia Randall is forced to ask as she attempts…
Behind Closed Doors by Elizabeth Haynes
Reviewed by Gill Davies Behind Closed Doors is the second novel in Elizabeth Haynes’s new series featuring the Major Crime team in Briarstone. The first was Under A Silent Moon, published in…
The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths
Reviewed by Ann As far as I am concerned there are few pleasures greater than a new novel from Elly Griffiths in her series featuring forensic archeologist Ruth Galloway and…
After You Die by Eva Dolan
Reviewed by Gill Davies After You Die is when the police arrive, and crime fiction begins. An explosion in a house in a village outside Peterborough leads to the discovery of…
Hush Hush by Laura Lippman
Paperback review by Gill Davies Laura Lippman is a very accomplished crime writer. She began her writing career as a journalist on the Baltimore Sun and has written a number of successful…
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…
Cut Me In by Ed McBain
Reviewed by Annabel Ed McBain (aka Evan Hunter, although that wasn’t his original name either) was a prolific author, writing over eighty novels. These included over fifty ‘87th Precinct’ books; with…
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…