‘I was beginning to regret choosing crime as the subject for my mold-breaking bestseller – the red tape was fierce.’ Today I am delighted to host an extract from The Awful Truth About the Herbert Quarry Affair, a book purportedly written by the main character in real time… How does that work? Denis Shaughnessy is […]
I think Denis Shaughnessy just invented a new genre. This is crime fiction, but it’s also a wickedly funny send-up of crime novels. It’s a wonderfully self-aware text, in which a completely not self-aware author creates chaos by writing literally whatever comes into his head and hoping the reader will let him get away with […]
When I have nightmares, they are often about ants. Ants spilling frantically from an anthill, swarming over my ankles as I try to escape – or worse, suddenly clambering over my recumbent limbs as I sunbathe, jolted out of my peaceful reading by thousands of tiny feet pattering over my vulnerable body. *shudder* I’m certain […]
Today I am delighted to welcome Sarah Govett to Buriedunderbooks to discuss her new dystopian thriller, ‘We go on Forever’. I enjoyed this so much that I actually already reviewed it yesterday, but just to recap, here’s the premise: *** Arthur is dying. He must transition within the next four weeks or face permanent memory […]
‘I am Ana. I was the wife of Jesus.’ So begins this fascinating tale of a woman who is born into the deeply patriarchal world of first century Galilee and is sold by her father to her husband, but longs to control her own destiny. Along the way she marries Jesus Ben Joseph, more commonly […]
It normally makes a brilliant party, the murder game. But that’s only true when no one actually dies… What’s it about? Secrets. Shame. The ancient history that binds friends together long past the expiration of their shared joy. The set up: Polskirrin, a beautiful house on a remote Cornish coastline. Eight guests, two hosts and […]
Once upon a time I thought I was tired. I worked hard. I worked long hours, during term time at least. I loved my job and, as a teacher, I worked daily with groups of up to 31 children, who mostly did what I asked them to do. Then I had children of my own […]
How do we ever reach the truth? In Riku Onda’s deliciously disturbing tale, multiple narrators seek to bear witness to a terrible event, but it is clear that each brings their own prejudices and preoccupations to their retelling. How then, does one achieve clarity and understand the heart of the matter? Perhaps the emotions and […]
The detective and the celebrity blogger. Together, can they catch a serial killer? ‘Death Deserved’, the first collaboration between two well established authors of Nordic Noir, Jorn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger, is a brilliantly engaging tale of a police man hunt that seeks to apprehend a flamboyant serial killer who’s determined to manipulate the […]
One crossed wire. Three dead bodies. Six bottles of bleach. What a strapline! I was sold, but if you want more… What’s it about? Where to begin? Insomniac Seth, who is married to borderline-alcoholic Maeve, gets to know suicidal Hadley as a result of a crossed phone wire and a weird late night hobby. Hadley […]