reviews

  JACQUES, I believe in hope, too. And now I believe in Promises. I never made any because I couldn’t. I make this one. We will see our house, in your paradise…”   The Soldier’s Home, actor–writer George Costigan’s follow-up to the best-selling The Single Soldier, finds Jacques Vermande living in France in the early … Continue readings →

  The second of Peter Murphy’s books featuring charmingly self-depreciative Charlie Walden, Judge Walden Back in Session is an absolute joy to read. Set in south London, where Charlie is Resident Judge of Bermondsey Crown Court, it features five stories which can be read as standalones but are better, in fact, read in sequence. I … Continue readings →

  From the very first line of Anne Coates’ new book, Songs of Innocence, we’re immersed in the action. Two young boys dislodge a body while fishing illegally in the Ponds in Peckham Rye Park. As investigator DS Benton talks to the witnesses, his old foe, journalist and protagonist Hannah Weybridge just happens to arrive … Continue readings →

   ‘Wisdom, compassion and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of man,’ said Confucius. And they are probably the three words I would use to summarise my father. He was also conservative to a Victorian degree, patriarchal and emotionally distant. A private man who liked parties. An adventurer who stayed home on the … Continue readings →

  Of course, it was the ultimate indulgence. Friends, lovers, people you cared for. They tied you down, kept you dependent, made you vulnerable. And worse, they paid for their friendship with vulnerability. When someone wants to hurt you they target those you love most.” – Claymore Straker, island off the East Coast of Africa   … Continue readings →

  On one momentous night, in October 1992, birth, death and fire collide in the coastal town of Southend-on-Sea. Twenty-five years later, a young true-crime podcaster reports on the events of his birth date, drawing particular attention to the rape and murder of 19-year-old Heather Bowyer, a crime which remains unsolved. So begins Isabelle Grey’s … Continue readings →

  Most good crime fiction is location rich, the authors giving us insight into the workings of a particular place, be it city or countryside. In Salt Lane, author William Shaw gifts us with the backdrop of almost alien Dungeness, on the Kent coast, to where protagonist Alex Cupidi and her daughter, Zoe, have relocated … Continue readings →

  In a year of extraordinarily good crime fiction, much of which has been published by small or independent presses, Orenda does it again, hitting the mark with Johana Gustawsson’s excellent novel, Keeper. Canadian profiler Emily Roy and French writer Alexis Castells, introduced to audiences in the critically acclaimed Block 46, get a second outing … Continue readings →

  Crime Scene Books are publishing the Amy Lane series by Rosie Claverton for the first time in paperback, as part of their 2018 programme. Released on 19 April, Binary Witness and Code Runner introduce new readers to the unconventional partnership of reclusive computer whizz Amy Lane and her side-kick, former crook Jason Carr. Binary … Continue readings →

  I ALMOST WEPT WHEN THE CHARLIE RESNICK BOOKS CAME TO AN END. They were brilliant – not just crime fiction at its best, but also insightful political and social commentaries on the state of Britain at the time, set to a lot of great music. I didn’t read any John Harvey after that, so, … Continue readings →

  FROM ITS VERY FIRST LINE, Cormac O’Keeffe’s debut novel, Black Water, reels us in – and there is no option other than to stay the course of this fast-paced tale, set in the underbelly of Dublin. The black water of the title refers to a stretch of the city’s Grand Canal, where locals war … Continue readings →

  They were known as the Wildflowers, the lot of them. Spent every summer here. Oh, the people they used to have staying. The glamour of it! You’d walk past on the way back from the beach and you’d see them above you, gramophone on, drinking cocktails, women in those beautiful dresses, and their kids … Continue readings →

  IAN RIDLEY’S THE OUTER CIRCLE opens on a swelteringly hot day in August 2012, just after the closing ceremony of the London Olympics. The capital is euphoric, the city basking in ‘sunshine and pride’, ‘at peace and ease with itself’ after the glory of the Games. Tolerance is the name of the day and … Continue readings →

  ‘Can I make you a cup of tea?’ she asked, turning back to face him. Without answering, he raised his arm and struck her a powerful blow in the middle of her chest. He felt the blade slide in and stop as it hit bone. Her blue eyes widened in shock and her mouth … Continue readings →

  A STYLISH NOVEL SET IN POSTWAR TANGIER which pays more than a nod to classic noir – really, what’s not to like? And Christine Mangan’s fictional debut, Tangerine, ticks all those boxes, and much more. Beautifully packaged, with a black-and-white cover model channelling a young Lauren Bacall, the book is a well-crafted mystery, competently … Continue readings →