June 25, 2020 Westwind by Ian Rankin Paperback review by Rob Spence It comes as a bit of a shock to realise that Ian Rankin has now published well over thirty…
June 27, 2019 Cari Mora by Thomas Harris Review by Basil Ransome-Davies The day my review copy of Cari Mora arrived I spent the afternoon strolling on Morecambe’s splendid promenade. The view…
February 26, 2019 To Kill the Truth by Sam Bourne Review by Rob Spence We live in an age of fake news, propagated by politicians, celebrities and media organisations. Perhaps we always have –…
June 5, 2018 Star of the North by D B John Reviewed by Annabel Very few westerners get to visit North Korea, and DB John is one of them – he’s seen the public face…
March 13, 2018 The Extremist by Nadia Dalbuono Review by Marina Sofia You might be forgiven for expecting this book set in Italy to be translated from Italian, given the Italian sounding…
August 31, 2017 The End of the Web by George Sims Reviewed by Harriet No, the title doesn’t refer to a predicted end of the internet. This is a 1976 novel, written before such things…
June 8, 2017 Running Blind by Desmond Bagley Review by Annabel I’m delighted that the vogue for republishing the best thrillers from the 1960s onwards as exemplified by the books of Lionel…
October 25, 2016 The Girl in Green by Derek D. Miller Reviewed by Gill Davies In the past, I have hesitated to read a novel that uses dreadful contemporary events as its plot and thematic…
October 13, 2016 Nothing Short of Dying by Erik Storey Reviewed by Basil Ransome-Davies Erik Storey’s début novel, which bids to inaugurate a series, comes garlanded with approving quotes from established authors Lee Child…
August 18, 2016 The Night of Wenceslas by Lionel Davidson Reviewed by Harriet Is there no end to these amazing novelists who appeared to have sunk without trace and are now being revived for…
August 13, 2016 Passage of Arms by Eric Ambler Reviewed by Harriet This is the third of Eric Ambler’s newly reissued novels I have read in the past few months, the other two…
July 7, 2016 A Kind of Anger by Eric Ambler Reviewed by Harriet ‘Unquestionably the best thriller writer ever’, says Graham Greene on the cover of this new British Library Crime Classics title, one…
April 26, 2016 The Light of Day by Eric Ambler Reviewed by Annabel Ambler was one of the great British thriller writers and his works are ripe for reappraisal. They had gradually become out…
April 12, 2016 Fever City by Tim Baker Reviewed by Annabel I was only three when JFK was assassinated, remaining blissfully unaware of the events that etched themselves into the psyches of…
January 29, 2016 The Good Liar by Nicholas Searle Reviewed by Gill Davies This is Nicholas Searle’s first novel. He apparently began it while a student of the on-line Curtis Brown Creative Writing…
October 29, 2015 The Dark Inside by Rod Reynolds Reviewed by Gill Davies This is the first novel by Rod Reynolds, a British author who is working comfortably within the conventions and settings…
October 28, 2015 The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagerkrantz Reviewed by Harriet Reading continuations of series by celebrated dead authors is always going to be a bit of a gamble. I’ve had some…
April 28, 2015 The Lady from Zagreb by Philip Kerr Reviewed by Linda Boa Well, after a short break, during which the ubiquitous Philip Kerr wrote Research and Prayer, Bernie Gunther has returned by popular demand for his…
April 9, 2015 Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson Reviewed by Harriet I must admit that I’d never heard of Lionel Davidson before this novel came my way. I now know him to…
January 27, 2015 Spy Out the Land by Jeremy Duns Reviewed by Rob Spence Don’t read this book. Don’t, that is, unless you have read Jeremy Duns’s previous three Paul Dark spy thrillers, because…
January 23, 2015 Gray Mountain by John Grisham Reviewed by Harriet I first discovered the novels of John Grisham over a decade ago, and had a terrific splurge, which I remember enjoying…
January 19, 2015 Runaway by Peter May Reviewed by Harriet I left a note for my folks on my pillow. I can’t remember now exactly what it was I wrote. Something…
October 9, 2014 The Spring of Kasper Meier by Ben Fergusson Written by Liam Roberts After an engrossing and thrilling first chapter, readers may expect a zipping crime novel full of action and intrigue, which The…
April 18, 2014 An Officer and A Spy by Robert Harris Reviewed by Falaise Robert Harris’ An Officer and A Spy is a tour de force of historical fiction, an account of what Harris himself has described…
